3/29/2011

 Its been a short but at the same time a long week.


   Just yesterday my mom and I were talking about the different taboos that America has compare to the ones that Mexico has.  For two tremendous bodies of land being so close to one another, they are very different.


  Walking home from school, I saw a little boy drop his lolipop and than pick it up and try to put it on his mouth (Five second rule :).  His mom quickly stopped him and quickly jerked the lolipop off of his hand.  The mom told him not to eat because it fell on the ground and that it was now dirty and contaminated  with bacteria and viruses.   People from America are used to throwing things into the garbage once it falls on the ground, and not putting them into their mouth. Growing up, my mom would always tell me not to put things in my mouth once they have touched the floor. To people in America , eating something that has touched the floor could be seen as a folkway.


 On the other hand, in Mexico, people are used to the complete opposite, one could repeatedly see kids eat or put food in their mouths after it has fallen. I remember that on my last visit to Mexico, one of my cousins  was eating chicken wings, and before he knew, a chicken wing has fallen to the ground.  He quickly picked it up and once again put it on his plate ( he finish eating everything on his plate). Before he eat the chicken wing that fell on the floor,  I asked him if he was going to seriously eat, after it fell on the ground.  He said that he was and that it was normal to do such a thing in Mexico. I told him that in America once food touches the floor, the majority of the time, one will throw that food away.

I wonder if someone from America was to go to Mexico and follow their customs of throwing food away once it touches the floor, would they be seen as strangers and weirdos?

Would it be the same if someone from Mexico  was to come to America and follow their customs of throwing food away once it touches the floor, would they be seen as strangers and weirdos?