mexicana en parís

A few years ago, sitting at their dining table in Budapest, my neighbor's family asked me why I was studying Spanish, too. French they understood; it's such a beautiful language. But what good would Spanish do? Wasn't German the more obvious choice? Although they were well aware of my Hispanic heritage, it hadn't occurred to them that I shared it with much of the population across North and South America.

Europe is far from the Americas. That may be an obvious statement but I even mean it in the sense that Latin America is far beyond the realm of thought and consideration of many Europeans. For instance, moments after I proposed a Cinco de Mayo picnic on Canal Saint-Martin, my German boyfriend asked what the date was. Ignorant or not, Americans tend to "celebrate" the holiday anyway. Maybe the French are still bitter?

I'm mostly kidding. In the end, I think the real excuse for a celebration-less Paris is that France is simply quite far from Mexico. I'm glad it didn't keep him and I from enjoying cervezas and tacos though :). They were delicious, the weather was perfect, and the canal was buzzing with life last Sunday. Happy Cinco de Mayo, indeed. And in totally unrelated news, I got the Paris-based, 6-month internship I'd hoped I would!