I’ve been living outside of the United States for almost eight years now. My reasons for leaving are manifold! After listening to my thoughts for a while you may understand them.
First of all before I continue with this let me explain something. The word Expat should not be translated as ex-patriot. I was ever a patriot in extreme bellicose nationalistic sense of the word. Lets just say that I have issues with my birth country.
I would like to comment on current events from my provincial outpost. Patzcuaro is located in central Mexico up in the mountains. It was mostly agricultural and rural but is rapidly changing. The local economy has been tourist driven. There is a small expat community of close to two hundred souls. It is composed of mostly Americans, with some Canadians and a few other Europeans locally referred to as gringos. We are a very small part of a town of approximately one hundred thousand.
There is group of men that meet for breakfast once a week. It is a loosely structured collection of, let us say oddballs for lack of a better word. Since we cannot change things in this country most discussions turn to world and US politics. Over coffee we have fixed many of the world’s problems only to see them unravel again and again.
So in this blog I am just trying to set the background for the discussions that follow. One view I am throwing out for discussion on why should we care about what is going on in the world? We have our own world here and there is not much that can be done to fix things back home? So why even bring this up?
2 comments:
As you know, I have been living in Mexico for 18 years. I am not an ex-patriot, I'm just someone who decided to live elsewhere. I still pay keen attention to what's happening in the U.S. as it affects us here. I came here because I couldn't live on the money I was receiving. I gave up my home, my family and my friends to make the change...better than living in a cardboard box on the street! I also was becoming disenchanted with the attitudes and the changes(not good) that were taking place in education, politics and the workplace. Unfortunately, it hasn't gotten better since I left. I am sad to see what is happening in my homeland and even sadder that not much is being done about it.
I appreciate and acknowledge your reasons for not being too keen on the US. It has become ever so much more difficult to live in there! The poor have become poorer and everyday life has gotten to be a hassle. What used to be a fairly simple task such as crossing the border has gotten to be a major undertaking. It is so sad a thing the state of affairs in our homeland!
Still even though the dark clouds linger I am still a bit optimistic as to the outcome. But change has to start very soon in order for things to start changing course. My best hope is with my own children and their children. For the most part they are not biased and they are open minded to new ideas. A good start would be to make an effort to reverse the trends taking place in education. It may be too late for us but I still have hopes that our children's children can escape the current trends.
Post a Comment