Seriously... The Girls Are In Mexico

The girls are in Mexico City! 

Nikky and Celeste take you through their first day in Mexico and everything they felt stepping into the country that raised their parents and ultimately shaped the girls. They get into culture, what surprised them, and moments that made them reflect. 

Basically... you're right there with them!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hey! I was gonna say Buenos días, me gente. Favorite thing right now. Um, hey, welcome back to Seriously Just Girls. Today is exciting. We're somewhere different today. Where are we? We're in Mexico City. Mexico City. Um, for all my family members that listen, please don't tell my dad he doesn't know of me. That is crazy. Long story. But you know what? That's okay. That's okay. She may be 25, but she's still someone's daughter, okay? And I and that's strict. He runs a strict program. You don't play around. Yeah, so to my cousins, please don't get me in trouble. Let's just keep this in the group chat. Yeah, don't say nothing. Which is so crazy. That's a good thing he doesn't have Instagram. No, I remember one time for my 21st birthday, I went to Miami and I told him you're like, Dad. No, I I want to tell you guys that my mom knows everything that I do because my mom is cool and she knows that everybody just wants to live their life. But my dad, on the other hand, he just he just he's not about that. He's a wants you inside. Yeah, he's a really cool dad, but he just really cares about my safety. He really worries about your safety. Yeah, so he always wants me home. And I'm just never home. But for my 21st birthday, I went to Miami, and I remember I think he was out of town for my birthday. Or I I left after my birthday. So he was home for my birthday because I had a big birthday party, and then he left to Mexico to see family, and I was like, perfect. He's not home, I'm not home either. And I took off, but he ended up finding out, and I think it was because I think maybe someone might have been like because I posted pictures on the city. Oh, Sabiasca Celeste. But I was like, What? Miami, she's at home, she's supposed to be at home. Well, she's not. No, but anyways, we're out here. So exciting. What are your thoughts so far? Um, my thoughts so far, I'm in love with the city. I love it. I think I would literally I would love to live here. I know that sounds so happy that you love it because I really have loved this place for a while. I started coming here when I was young because my older cousins lived here because they were going to the university out here, and then they started working out here. I actually have a lot less family that lives here than I used to. And I was about to say, I wish your cousins were still here because we could meet up and go party with them and stuff like that. Exactly. Exactly. No, it'd be so much fun. I'd stay with them. And yeah, but now it's just me, and I I'm really happy you love it. And so I think I was telling her, I was like, well, maybe now that you've been here and we can both say that it's pretty safe and easy to get around and it's easy to be comfortable here, more people will be open to coming. Yeah. I definitely want to come again um as soon as possible, actually. Because it really was that much fun. It's only our first day, too. I know. It's literally day one, and I hope that you guys don't get sick of us because we have some plans for this trip and this pod. Prepare to be sick of us.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yeah, prepare to be sick of us. I feel like you guys may already be sick of us, but get kind of sick, I guess. Sick in love.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Um sick in love. Um, we got in last night at about almost three, and Nikki and I are germophobes, and one thing we won't do is we will not get into bed with outside clothes or just not showering. So we both showered. I had to wash my hair because I'm scared of airport hair. So I had to wash my hair, blow dry it, and we woke up at nine, got ready. We went to breakfast at this place called Guina. C-U-I-N-A. So beautiful, so good. Yeah, I love when it's a whole experience. It's also beautiful to be there, and the food is beautiful, and then it just tastes beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

There's a dog breaking.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yeah. But that's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Our Airbnb is right in the middle of the city, I feel like. So you're gonna hear a lot of outside confusion.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

We are staying in Roma Norte. If you guys ever look into coming here, I would highly, highly recommend staying here. This is definitely the more gentrified area of Mexico City, I would say. Um, and people have mixed emotions about that, but I love it. There's a lot of people our age here. Yeah, we've been seeing a group of girls walking around all day. Thinking English. Need to make friends. We just need to. Yeah, that would be so exciting. That is Celeste's goal for the trip. Yeah. I love to make new friends and talk to people. Oh my gosh, we were so we how many steps did we do? Let's check my aura ring real quick. I'm pretty sure mine's is 13,000. That's insane. 13? Yeah, that's what I have. Hold on. Activity. 13,665. Oh, why is mine 14,247? Well, there's this updated. We've been going up and down because we're trying to wash our clothes at this Airbnb communal laundry situation. The way that I say that, it really iks me out. You know, I'm like, girl. But you know what? That's okay. It's okay. It's just for vacation. You have to try not to be as bougie on vacation, I think. You know, you have to lower your standards a little bit. Yeah. Anyway, so um, we did have breakfast at this spot. They had a dirty Orchatta. Celeste is never gonna forget it. I'm never gonna forget that drink. I I think that I wonder if they do to go. Because I don't want to eat there again, because we have to try other places, but I really want that drink. I really want that drink. It was so good. There's gonna be so many the the thing that I was looking forward to the most on this trip was good coffee. Yeah. Because I just knew that I think Mexico City has Mexico in general has the best coffee in the world, in my opinion. I've never been, I've never really experienced that, but I'm excited to. Um, and then we did a ton of walking. Clearly. We ended up at Parque de Something, Parque de España, and Parque de Mexico. Yeah, and at one point we were just sitting down, taking a little break, and these guys came up to us and they were like, Are you guys locals? But they're speaking Spanish, right? They're like, Son locales. And I was like, No. But it was it was a really awkward encounter, I think, because they kept trying to make conversation, not in a flirty. Yeah, they just wanted to talk. But I yeah, I think they want to make friends too. Yeah, they were trying to make some animations. And I was like, They were nice, they were really nice. They were nice, very respectful. I was telling Celeste when they walked away, I think we should have asked them to take pictures of us because we want pictures together. We'll get some. Yeah, but he was like, You guys speak really good Spanish, and I was like, eight or no, it was so funny though, because he's oh, where are you guys from? And we're like, we I hate answering that personally because I don't know what that means. I don't know where you're trying to find out. Growing up coming here, my parents would always say, the aquí, say the aquí, even though you're not just say the aquí. Or my dad would sometimes like, you could just lie. I don't know what if they follow, just paranoia, you know, especially back then. Um, so I hate answering that question. But we're like California, and they're like, Oh, us too. So I'm speaking perfect English. They're like, We're from Long Beach. We're like, you guys could have just said that. Yeah, didn't have the dry. Anyways, they're cool. We did some window shopping. You just want to buy everything here. They have the most beautiful jewelry, they have the most beautiful, just artisanal, yeah. Uh, beautiful, beautiful stuff. No, somebody send me $500 because I just want to shop. No, seriously, I just want to shop. That's all I want to do. And then we're gonna edit this at a coffee shop nearby. We're gonna romanticize that and then have this uploaded for you guys. And I think that I don't know, we're just trying to be as productive as we can on this trip. Exactly. We just want to make the most out of it for sure. Yeah. Um, so basically, what we want to do while we're on this trip is we want to record an episode a day, just do a recap and maybe a hot topic. And we want you guys to be on this trip with us, basically. And we hope that you guys tune in to our Instagrams too. We're you're not posting a lot, but I am.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

I'm being mysterious.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah, I don't know. What is up with this? I don't know. Can we talk about that for a second? Yeah, genuinely I don't understand. I genuinely don't know what's up with me with that. Because I don't know either. I don't want to post anything. I'm kind of just I think we talked about this on another episode too, where I just don't feel the need to post as often as I do. Because I feel like before I used to post all the freaking time. But I don't find a need, it's just fun. Yeah, it's right now, it's always just been fun to me. Maybe I don't think it's fun right now. Yeah, maybe I don't think it's fun right now. You know what? That's okay. I kind of went through a period too where I feel like I never posted. And yeah, I just I definitely want to get back to it. I just I wish you were though. You take so many good pictures. I don't know. I don't know what it is. And every time she's away, I'm like, Celeste, where are your pictures? Why aren't you posting? No, I've done so much traveling this last year month, and I feel like I've just there's nothing to show for it. I'm just showing posts. I feel like I will show you that is after. Well, I guess that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

But I'm gonna try to get back to it. Since we're in Mexico, we're gonna talk culture, and honestly, to me, just how much I love being Mexican and how much I love being Hispanic, I feel like over time, especially this year, I've just really I don't know. I feel like I've always loved being Mexican and speaking Spanish and going to Mexico, but I feel like within the last year I've just really learned to appreciate it and love it, especially with just everything going on in the world. I just appreciate my culture so much and I love it. And being here, I don't know, growing up, all I did was go to my dad's rancho. That was the only place. We didn't even go visit my mom because my mom's was a little bit dangerous, so we never went to see my mom's hometown or anything like that. And this was like the first time that I've actually been like traveling, seeing different places. I went to Well La Jara in the beginning of the year. I went, I'm in Mexico City now, and I just want to experience more. I think it's so beautiful. There's so many places. No, I actually agree. It is a really, really, really beautiful country, and it makes me sad when someone has a bad it has such a bad rep for being a big thing. I mean, I see reason for being that. No, I definitely do see why, but like I don't know. I'm not to get too much into it, but let's let's not to say there are states like that in the US that are just as bad or worse. You know, it's very controversial conversation in that aspect, but I think with a lot of respect and a lot of knowledge, you can have a very, very good trip in Mexico City or in Mexico in general, even if you're not from here, if you don't know the language. I mean, look, we're walking around here. Wait, I love how you say Mexico, yeah. Mexico, because I stayed here for a little bit when I was young. Is that how they say it? Mexico. I don't know. People just say I have an accent like pizza too. Oh, yeah, I don't know. Those are the only two words that people have told me anything. I don't know any other word. I don't know how to do the Z's, I guess. Mexico. I like it though, it's cute. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I wasn't dogging you. No, no, no, no, but people have wanted on that. Sorry to interrupt, and that's okay. Um, but I yeah, I think with a lot of respect and knowledge, I think you can have a very successful and memorable trip in Mexico and just gain so much more appreciation for the culture because it is wonderful here, it is so welcoming. You walk up and down these streets and you see so much diversity. Yeah, I feel like people don't know that about Mexico, and it's not just this here in the city, but I agree. I think I have gained a lot more appreciation for the fact that I am cultured because I I feel like there are people, oh what am I trying to say?

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Who aren't cultured?

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Yeah, who aren't cultured and just don't have the ability to learn their culture, yeah. For whatever reason. I I know people who are like Mexican and whitewashed, but also I know people who are undocumented that just can't come back right now, you know. So they never even got to know their hometown because they left so young. Like we're very privileged that we're able to come and see our roots. I I hit up my tierendira, you know, and I was like, hey, I'm coming or I'm here. She was like, how beautiful that, you know, you're in your home. Even though I wasn't born here, I do feel a little homey when I'm in Mexico every time.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

That's how I feel when I go visit like my dad's family. But I think just being Mexican comes with so much. In the beginning of this episode, we were talking about my dad and like how strict he is.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

And I feel like that's a lot of dads, a lot of Mexican dads. I don't think I'm the only one. I know some have it easier, and like, man, like a really strict mom. Lucky you. No, yeah. I mean, my mom is still pretty strict. My mom is a lot cooler than my dad, I will say, but my mom's still pretty strict growing up, and she was always very big on respect and with boys, and you know, she like wanting me to always respect myself and you know, make it known, make it known. She was always big on that. Um, she's more traditional, I think. Yeah, I think both of them are very traditional, both of my parents, but yeah, I I think so many people have strict parents, and it's good. I feel like it's nice in the long run, like when you get older and you start like you appreciate a little bit. Okay, thanks for protecting me from certain things.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yeah, but right now I'm like, guys, chill. I'm just trying to live. Can I just leave the house?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

No, but I feel like strict parents create sneaky children. Like, look at you. I am a little, you know. I am a little sneaky with my dad, and I'm not, I don't think I'm ever sneaky to the point where I'm doing something bad. I'm literally in Mexico City with my best friend. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Um, but I don't think he would see it like that, which is why it's a little harder. Yeah. So it is hard when you know he's not super open-minded. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. I get it. But regardless, I love my dad. Like dad, if you listen to this, I know you're not, but I know you. No. So funny enough, I speak Spanish because when I was around three, we came to Guaranavaca where my um grandma used to live, and I did not want to leave. After a week trip, I was like, no, I'm not leaving. I was crying, I was screaming, like throwing the biggest tantrum. You were three? Three or four, yeah. It was like bye. Yes, literally, my parents were like, Are you sure we will leave you here? And I was like, leave me here. I love it here. You were three years old saying that. Girl, I was crazy. And the fact that this is what I mean. My parents weren't strict. My parents are like, Okay, we're gonna let you make your own decisions, you know? At three years old. So this is why Ricardo, I have questions. So this is why I think this is the case. It was a house of only women. My grandma was obviously retired in that home. Both my Thez worked in schools, and so one of them someone was always home with me. And that's pretty much how I learned Spanish because I would just point at things when they would say it in Spanish, and everybody spoke Spanish. My aunt is a professor, so she would speak uh English to me and Spanish. Um, but that's pretty much how I learned Spanish. But my yeah, I stayed here for two months or longer. It was pretty crazy. Yeah, and my aunt just flew me back home before school started. Wow, that's insane. You were in school at four? It was like kindergarten. I think it was like before I started kindergarten. Wow, wow, which is why I think I still remember the English because that's your primary language learning years, you know. Do you still remember the English or the Spanish? The Spanish. That's why I can still speak Spanish because I did not grow up speaking Spanish at all with my parents. My dad still has a very, very thick accent. My mom uh migrated here when she was very young, so she learned English on her own when she was young. But my dad, because of his job, had to learn English, so he would go to work and then after work he would go to an English class every day. And I don't know for how long, but we had to practice English. He had to practice with us, so my brothers never learned Spanish. So my brothers are like no sabos, even though they grew up coming with me, but I know Spanish, and I think that's why I'm like more comfortable coming here on my own. Yeah, because I can get by. That's so crazy. I'm trying to think like how I learn Spanish because my parents speak both. My parents with your parents, I think even with my sisters and my siblings. I think we speak a lot of Spanish. But I'm curious now. I'm like, how did I learn Spanish? Yeah, maybe when you were very young, they only spoke Spanish to you. I don't think so either. I had my I had my siblings, and I don't think my siblings spoke a lot of Spanish to me when I was little. Do all your siblings speak the same amount of Spanish? They're all pretty good. I think they're all really good at it. Really? I think I'm like the worst at it. But I think you have really good Spanish.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Thank y'all.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

I take pride in it, but no, I think they speak it so well. My sister's really good at it. My oldest brother, he's really good at it too. My youngest, he is really good at it. But he wants to. He's a he's right up. I feel like he's like pretty much like Yeah, but he's better than me. He's definitely better than me. And he has, I think everybody speaks it so well. They speak it with really good accents, too. I don't know. I'm obsessed with how they speak Spanish and how my cousin speaks Spanish. I love when I go to Mexico and my native Spanish speaker. Yeah, no, guys, I love him. Yeah, no, es que get this though. Last night we're at the airport, and the the attendant is just speaking Spanish to us so freaking fast. He thought that I he thought that I lived in Mexico all my life or something, because I swear to you, I could not I could not understand a word he was saying. And so I have beef with that guy because he just kept talking, talking, and felt like I knew every word, but no, and but at the same time, hearing him talk, I was so amazed by it because I was like, he just spoke it so beautifully. Yes, as much as I was. He was like beautiful English talking, he spoke it really nice. He overcharged me for my luggage, so that's why I'm kind of pissed. But he could have totally let my four pounds of over he could have said something before he charged me. I know for a fact he didn't tell me that. I know for a fact, I know for a fact too. He did not tell you that you were overweight. Whatever. Point being that he was really good at speaking Spanish. One thing about me is I'm always gonna appreciate. You know what I think too? I think that if you took Spanish in high school, if you lived in Metzco for a month, you would become perfect. I took Spanish in high school, bro. Oh my god. Stay here for a month, it'll be perfect. I know. I I was just telling Nikki, I would literally love to live here, like even just for the summer. I would love to just move here, live here for the summer. I felt like that so many times because it's so nice. It's awesome here. I would even love to stay in this. We're staying in a really cute apartment and it's so cute. I wouldn't mind this. It's a really good location, too. Yeah, you can literally walk outside, there's so much. I love it. I I I remember I hate to talk about the breakup, guys. I feel like I talked about it and now it's done and the breakup's over, and I feel so good that chapter's closed. Uh-huh. But there's so many things that happened during the breakup, so that's what I refer to the most. But I remember when I was going bad, I was going through it really, really bad. And my mom was like, Why don't you just move? Mexico, Guadalajara. And I was like, Okay, like I was kind of like, I was kind of like, okay, I'm down. Well, yeah. And I remember that my mom was like, you could go to school out there, and she was like looking up stuff for me, and she was so sweet about it. And um, I think I just got really scared because I was like, oh, because if I were to move, I'd do school out here and I'd be committing to two or three years. And I was like, I felt when that option was given to me to go to school out here. I was like, maybe I'll just wait it out. I was like, this is my home. No, that is really scary. They wanted me to go to med school out here, and I asked them, I was like, Well, are the clashes in English? No. They're like, no. Why would they be in English? Oh. Well, it's an international school, god forbid. And I was like, oh wow, that's really scary. That's really intimidating. Yeah. I was just scared, yeah, because committing to that much time is crazy. But I think I would feel so powerful had I done that, because then I would have like, because the whole point in that was like, oh, I come out here, I get my degree, and then I move back and transfer my degree. And you can do that.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Yeah, you can.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

And so I remember I was like, I asked my mom the same question. I was like, so would I have to learn everything in Spanish? And she was like, Well, yeah, you're gonna be in Mexico. And I was like, okay, I was like, that's that's kind of cool that I'm gonna learn everything in Spanish, and then I'm gonna be able to come back to the US, where there's so many Spanish speakers and so many people who don't speak Spanish and aren't able to help. I was just like, Oh, I would love to be that freaking smart. I was like, I don't think I can do it. Aw, I don't think I can be away from my family for that long. What is something that is a culture shock to you out here so far in today's day? The mannerism, the fact that everybody has manners, right? Like literally everyone greets you and is so kind and helpful. Everyone is like everyone has this, one has that of this. We get complimented here. People are so nice here. Yeah, and it's not just here, I feel like in Guadalajara too.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Like that's the only other place I went to, but everyone was so nice to me and my sister when we went.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

No, I agree. But it was really funny. There's this guy the amount of times that we've been called Bonita today is very sweet. Yeah, very sweet. But there's like this guy who said it to us, and he was like an older guy. And he said it so fast. He said it, yes. Literally, he was like just walking past us and he was like, Bonitas. And I was like, Do you think because I know back home and like I know back home I feel Like older men, unless they're super fucking ballsy, like they don't think they don't say anything, they just stare and mug you. Yeah. And so I was like, do you think that maybe he just said it because he thinks we don't speak Spanish? Because we've also been told like four times, like, oh, are you guys from Colombia or Venezuela? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

No, no, no. We're we're Mexican.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

No, I think they really are just that. That's how I feel like that's how true Mexicans are, though. Like they are expressive and they are very sweet to their core and genuine. Like, I don't know how y'all could hate Mexicans. Like, I'm just sitting here thinking about it, and I'm like, I really don't understand. What's a culture shock to you? Um Frick. I would I would honestly say how beautiful it is out here compared to back home because of how you would think or how people make it out to the same. You can literally go to college. Yeah. Yeah, they they do. And honestly, like sometimes even I do. I think because I visited so much that I am aware. But maybe over maybe it's like nicer, huh? Yeah, it's so much prettier than back home. I'm like, wait, I don't even like living over there actually. No, and it's so I feel like they weren't doing it today, but like people will literally mop the floor here, like the concrete. Yeah, like there was that guy. I think I saw a guy doing it today, and I was like, Are you mopping the concrete? No, I just think it's so beautiful out here, and like the aesthetic and the architecture, and just it is very aesthetic. Everything is beautiful. I I'm sure there are certain parts that you know maybe are a little scary, but where we are staying, I'm like, it's beautiful. And where we're gonna go visit these next couple minutes. I think you're not seeing the bad part of Corona, like Elsinore, like it's everywhere. There are some bad parts everywhere. Yeah, and that's what I try to say. If you come respectful, if you come and try to act a ruckus, like the ruckus will get you back, you know? But if you're just here staying in your lane and being respectful, yeah, you're gonna have a good time. I agree. Because I will say when Nikki was saying, like, oh because I feel like where my dad's from, that's where I typically go. I don't see a ton of people because it's just like the ranch on its people who live there and who just come to visit family. Whereas here, I remember Nikki mentioning that there's so many people, it's a ton tons of diversity. And so I think that is another culture shock is seeing how many people do you want to come here and feel comfortable coming here. I think that's really cool to see. Yeah, um because I don't really see that like where my dad's from. So it's a lot more family out there. Yeah. I mean, it is a larger city, it's a very big city. Yeah, I love it here. My parents love it here. My dad ran the Mexico City Marathon a couple years ago. Oh my gosh, yeah, those guys that we met earlier today. Um, I asked them, I was like, so what have you done? What's because they asked us, they were like, so what? Like you guys are just like, it's like so awkward because I'm just like staring at Celeste, like, are we talking to them or are we not talking? Like, I will be friendly if you give me good vibes. I feel like I'm pretty good about that too, like intuitive. If you give me bad vibes, I won't. Like the lady, this lady at first, she was kind of scaring me. And she asked what floor we were on, and I was like, she lied, and she made us walk down the stairs. She made us go to that floor, and then yeah, and then walk down because she scared me a little bit, but she was really cool, actually. So maybe I'm not very, very sweetly. I'm not very sweet. I'm not alarmed because ever we've seen her three times because she is in the same building that we're in. We've seen her three times, and every time it's like the first time that she's seen us, it's like she forgot that we had a whole 30-minute conversation before that. Like she doesn't say, you know, like back at home, people will be like, oh my gosh, it's you again. Yeah, no, no, no. Like her, it's like starting from the beginning, it's like starting from scratch. She's hella funny. Like, so it's amigo. Yeah, mean amigo waple. I know I was like, are you trying to like yeah, she's doing his laundry because he's cute. I feel like we've talked about the positive side of being cultured, and we're both first generation Mexican women. And I feel like that does come with a lot of um, I personally feel like it comes with a lot of pressure because I just, I don't know, like if you really, really think about it, our parents have sacrificed so much. And I'm sure every culture, every generation, every race, everyone has made sacrifices in their life, but it just hits different knowing that there was a period of time where my family couldn't see their family because of immigration status and dealing with all that stuff, and so I just think I never try to take my family time for granted because I do think wow, my dad went years without seeing his mom or years without seeing his dad, and I just feel a lot of pressure, and I sometimes I'm like really hard on myself because I think like, have I done enough? Is the sacrifice worth it yet? And I don't think I've made it worth it for them. I may say that it has been worth it, but I think that there is a like kind of like a depressing side to this as well. I'm very fortunate that my parents learned to speak English, but I mean, I have cousins who still translate for their parents, you know. I feel like at four or five years old, you're learning to help your parent out when it shouldn't be that way. Yeah, I now that you're mentioning that, I do remember doing a lot of that when I was younger. I don't do that anymore with my parents, they don't need me to translate, but when I was younger, I remember doing a lot of that, and maybe that's where I learned how to speak Spanish. Yeah. Sorry, continue. No, no, no. I'm just thinking. No, it's okay. I just think that they're back with all the pressures of being first generation and even second generation. I'm sure there's still a lot of pressures. What do you think is the hardest part of being half this, half that? Because we're full Mets again, but it's like I come here and I'm not Mexican enough here, but then I go home, and growing up I didn't feel like American enough to be there either because of everything that was talked about in my home. And my parents did a really good job of keeping us cultured with our food, with our music, me speaking Spanish. We took two trips to Mexico every year. We always did that growing up. So I always knew like where my family came from. What do you think is has been the hardest part for you? Is it the tradition? I think probably the tradition. I feel like there's a couple different things, but definitely the tradition in my parents has been the hardest thing for me. Obviously, I'm very traditional as well, but it's another level. Yeah, it's another level with them, and I think that's something I've struggled. And we've definitely like my parents and I beef. We fight so hard when it comes to this because my my older siblings, we have a big age gap. So my older siblings definitely got a different side of my parents. My dad worked a ton, he still works a ton now. My dad loves to work, and my mom was always a stay-at-home mom, and so she was always really involved with my siblings, I feel like. But my dad, as far as my siblings, would kind of just get away with a lot. Yeah, my siblings just got away with a lot. They just got to do whatever they want. Because your parents weren't there. They that's what confuses me because my my parents were definitely more, or do you think because they were together? These siblings were together, so it's like they were taking care of each other, and they feel like it's just you. I think that's a good thing. You're like an only child right now. And you're also the only one that they can really tell what to do. You're like the last one standing. Right. But I never really thought about it like that until you said that. But I think it was because they were together all the time. They did more like family parties and they did more um Sunday outings. My sister used to tell me that every Sunday they used to go out and they would all go out as a family. We don't do that anymore. I spent a lot of time with my parents on our own, solo, but I don't really do it with my siblings anymore. I also think maybe another thing that was probably hard for me too when you're young and you see so many things online, or you just so many people out in the world. I saw a lot of the negative connotations that came with being Mexican, or and maybe that was because of the town I grew up in, or like I don't really know, but I feel like I felt a lot of that growing up too. And I'd I don't think it ever made me embarrassed or do you feel like it brought a little bit of self-shame? I don't think so. Not in my culture, not in my parents or anything, because like you said, you were always aware of where your parents came from, where you were from. I feel like I was always the same way. My parents were always we would go to Mexico a lot and we would see a lot of our family. So I I don't think I was embarrassed, but I definitely think that you just never really know what to expect from people or like how people feel about you. But I look very white. That's what that was gonna be my next point. Like it was so hard in school because people just always assumed that I don't know. I was like too white for the white girls, but like not Mexican enough for the Mexican girls, and I feel like it was really weird that it was pointed out because I now I don't see that with people. I'm not like, oh you're Indian or oh you're Persian or oh you're this. It's just okay. If it comes up, it comes up. Yeah. But I'm not like, are you in tune with your culture? You know, do you know enough? And I feel like people, I don't know. It's been a blessing and a curse too, because I think that I mean, I think that I'm very unique, and I do get very I get a lot of compliments, and it's been like great conversation starters where we were like, where are you from? Yeah, I'm like guess I always get Spain. People always think I'm from Spain. I'm like, I don't see that, but yeah, I get I've gotten Middle Eastern, but it's my dad looks very Middle Eastern. Supposedly our ancestors go that way, but I get Spanish, I've gotten French before, which I think it's the square face. A lot of French people have that. I don't know, but I never really get Mexican. Yeah, I don't really get Mexican. I feel like I get everything but that, and I'm like, no, no, no, just Mexican. I love when I love it. Spanish though, and they're like, ah, you speak Spanish? Yeah. I'm like, yeah, girl, I work all the time. Because listen, another thing, this is what I work in healthcare, and I cannot stand when they are trying to do half-ass Spanish to patients. I cannot. If you do not know Spanish enough, honestly, don't even try because I think it is such a disservice to patients who speak Spanish. That's why it's mandatory in hospitals for there to be an interpreter of some format, either a person or an iPad. And I think anything that has to do with healthcare, you better make sure that the patient knows exactly what is going on and not someone who's hesitating. They'll ask me to translate and I always say no. If it's like, oh, can you ask her if she wants coffee or water? Yeah, I'll do it, you know. But a doctor has asked me just last week, oh, I heard that you speak Spanish. Can you come translate for me? I was like, no, I don't know medical terminology. It's a disservice for me to do it. And he got annoyed, but I don't care. I'm like, if it were my parents or his parents, I'm sure that he would want them to understand things to the fullest. I think that has been like my biggest that's that's my tiff. That pisses me off. I don't like that. And I don't even feel like that just about Spanish speakers. I feel that way about people who do sign language, who only speak Chinese. Like we live in California. Let's step up our game, let's get an interpreter. We can afford it, especially at these hospitals. They make so much money. I think there's a little bit of a toxic side to our culture sometimes too. Like the strict parents, like to the point where it's like, okay, I have to live my own life. Um like the men. Yes, they can be very, very misogynistic. We call them machistas. Stay away from me. If you're a machista, don't even look at me, don't come near me. Step. We were just talking about five steps to the left and get away from me. Run away. Like a lot of Mexican men at least are very prideful. Why do we talk about it? Did that come up? It must have been about like our parents or something.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

I don't remember. Oh, I remember why. Because um, Mexican men love to pay for everything.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

And I think like if I'm with a yeah, I don't ever pay for anything if I'm with a Mexican man.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Well, I'm with a white guy and he'll be taking care of me. Thank you, Pookie. Love you. But I do feel like it's almost to an extent where like it's a control thing. Oh, let me pay for this. Yeah, that's what we're saying. And you cannot pay for any. And it's like, in that sense, like, obviously, yeah, it's nice, but it like leads into other controlling things. Like, I've noticed at least. I think even with the women, I think there's a lot of like internal misogyny because of just years of abuse from men. Um, I know like in our culture, it's very normalized. In a lot of non-Western cultures, it's very normalized to have very big age gaps in relationships, and that's very controversial in itself. I think it's just hard because I feel like there are generational traumas and cycles that we need to cut out and fix, but then it's like, how do you do that without losing your tradition altogether? Not saying that there isn't a way, but I think it's so difficult to get out of that mindset, even for men, or just like the woman being in a relationship with a man with a man like that, like it'd be so hard to not rewire it. Yeah, and rewire your brain. It's a big conversation. Like, I feel like when I if I really, really start to think about it, like right now we're like going off the spot, you know, but I know that I'm gonna think about it before I go to bed and just be like, damn, I just said this. But yes, but also all humans are so complex and like cultures. I'm no one to judge anybody's culture or my own culture. Like, I I don't know what it was like in the beginning, I wasn't there, you know, but it's from the outside looking in, and also from the inside looking in, we all have some things to work on, I think. That's just our two cents on our culture and what it means to be first generation. And if you guys relate, cool. If you don't relate, cool, you know, nothing is wrong with that. Nobody is better than anyone else. If you guys ever have the opportunity to come to Mexico City, I think you absolutely should. Yeah, I'm having the best time here. It's just so beautiful. Today it was raining, and Nikki and I were literally like trying to race back. I think we looked at the weather app and it said it was gonna start raining at four. It was like 3 45, and we were like, oh shit. We have to lock in. We gotta walk fast, Betty. It and we did, but it started four minutes before we got to the Airbnb. Started pouring. But it was really fun. We were soaked, my hair was wet. It was a time. We romanticized it. We're starving. What are we gonna do tonight? Um, we're gonna have tacos ornica, and then I think we're gonna go to that little spot that was recommended to us on top. Yeah, and I'm departamento. I'm gonna have a crispy beer with a rim. Mmm, I'm gonna have um a botella de agua. And it's gonna be yum. Water's always yum. Yes. Um I was gonna say earlier, I forgot to add this, but I really don't think I was ever embarrassed about being Mexican because I feel like I am so Mexican now. I feel like I am like over the years, I've just always been so Mexican. And maybe that's my sister's influence and like my brothers, because my brothers were very, very Mexican. Like, I have two brothers. My sister's very bicep. I'll just give her that. And I love it, I love her for that. My two brothers, I have one bicep brother, and then I have one that's can be bicep, but is more into like rap, and like he's a lot, he's a lot more he's a lot cooler. Yeah, he's a lot, not I don't want to say cooler, but he's a lot more um California. Yeah, he's cool. And I feel like growing up, that's all we would listen to. I don't know, I was just thinking about it. I just love being Mexican, I just love it. I'm thinking back and I was like, oh, like I remember my parents used to like host Garnas Alas and it would just be my siblings and we'd all get together. We don't do that anymore. It's so lame, but I wish we would. I wish we would all get together and when you have a family, you make sure that that happens. Yeah, I just want to be with my siblings. And it's all about starting new traditions. No family, no, I definitely want my kids to be cultured so bad. I thank my parents for that a million times. That took effort and sacrifice in itself. Like when my parents couldn't come to Mexico, they would just send me or send us. My brothers, like I said, didn't really learn Spanish, so they weren't as comfortable coming. But all through high school, I would come by myself in the summers, like a week or two, or spring break. And mom and dad, thank you so much for letting me do that. It just made me appreciate all of this so much more and find a lot of beauty in it independently, and not just because okay, guys, it's Christmas, we're gonna go to Mexico, we have to, you know. It was like because I had my own love for this country, and my parents supported that. So thank you so much. Thank you for all the sacrifices. I am really, really lucky to be a part of this culture. We are blessed. We are blessed, like we get so many fun things. Yeah, so we're gonna go have a good time. I'm really excited, eat some tacos. I'm starving. We're really excited for the rest of our week. We are, I feel like we should make a disclaimer that we are gonna try to do one of these episodes every day that we're here. If for technical difficulties we are not able to upload them, they will be uploaded eventually. Yeah, because we have no idea how much this Wi-Fi is gonna support these large files, but we will release them eventually. Yeah, if not, Nikki also has very detailed itineraries for the next couple days, so if we can fit it in, then yes, absolutely we will, and if we can't, then oh well. Because how often are we in Mexico City? Like, exactly. Exactly. So we're really gonna enjoy time, which we are like you guys are not ready for mop patrons. What are you so seriously serious about today? Um, as I said earlier, I really wanted to close that chapter, but before doing that, I really want to thank everyone. And I'm very serious about this, but I have gotten so much love and so much. Oh, you have over last week's episode, and I think that was a really big deal to me just because it was really vulnerable, you know? Like it really sucks having to talk about that and having to tell people what you put up with. And I literally received so much love. My sister texted me and she was like, I just cried the whole way to work listening to this, and it made me really emotional because obviously my sister has just been number one, she's been there through the entire thing, and anytime I was sad, I would just go to my sister's house and she just became my safe haven, you know. And that wasn't the only message that I received that just really felt so heartwarming. No, you really did get a lot, yeah, beautiful. So much love, and it was so nice to see that. So I just wanted to thank you guys. I'm really serious about showering you guys back the love because that was really sweet, and it just felt I was very nervous to drop that, but you've gotten so much support, and even if it helps one person, it's important. Yeah, so thank you guys for that. I'm very serious about that today. Last week. That is very sweet. What are you so seriously serious about? Taking a chill pill. Oh yeah, yeah. I'm a little I think I'm a little uptight sometimes, and I'm a little bit of an overthinker, and nobody kills my vibe. I kill my own vibe sometimes by getting in my head, and I just want to take a chill pill. I want to be better about just telling myself, oh, relax. I want to be able to clock it and be like, let's move forward. I really, really want to do an episode about anxiety and women's mental health, and eventually we will get to that. Um, but I struggle, I love traveling. Literally, I just got back from a trip four days ago, and now I'm on another one, but it really does trigger my anxiety so much, especially in a foreign country, because I'm so scared of the water, I'm so scared of the food, of the germs, of not knowing exactly what I'm trying to say. But I don't know, my dad always told me, do not live in fear, you can't live in fear. Anything can happen anywhere, like that should never stop you from traveling the world. My parents are very supportive in traveling, but I do get really, really bad anxiety. Really, really bad. So, like, even today we were walking, I'm like, I'm like anxious, I am sorry. And she's you're good, you're calm, I'm calm, we're calm. Like, okay, and we sat for a little bit and it was good, but yeah, I just want to be a little bit better about clocking it early on because I was I was fine. I'm fine, I'm living. Um, I don't think you're uptight really, yeah. I mean, at least not today.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

Yeah, no, like I've never experienced anything with you, like even well, we've traveled before.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

I feel like I get in my head like about the itinerary and just like about you know what it you know really what it is. Like, even when we ate, like I was waiting for you to be like, this is so good. This was so worth the wait. Or I literally got the iced coffee and I was like, oh fuck. This is so good. Like literally, my eyes would roll into the back of my head. I don't know what else to tell you. But I get that. No, I know it's a lot of push. And I felt like that was my brothers because I just went to New Orleans with my brothers and I would just be sitting there. I'm like, Do you guys like it? Was it worth it? Was it worth the wait? Because it's like my brothers, like you, me, like it's a lot of money and effort to travel. I've always wanted to be worth it for everybody. And if it's worth it to them, then it's worth it to me. And my brothers like, we're like, Nicole, it's good. And even if it's not, it's okay. Like, who cares? Yeah, and they would tell me like something everywhere. Yeah, it's okay. It's okay. And so, you know, that's pretty much honestly. Like, that's really what it is. That's my. I literally think I just worry. I literally think you don't have to worry. Like I I think I'm a type A traveler when I'm by myself, if I need to be. Yeah. But thankfully, I don't have to be with Nikki. Like, she takes care of it all, and I love her for that. I she just she loves to do that stuff. That's her thing. Um, which is why like I just let her do it. But I am not picky at all. I'm just happy to be here. I'm gonna be here with you. And nothing could make me upset. Not bad love that's not a good idea. Not bad coffee, not bad, nothing. Like, I am living. I know. Don't worry. But that's so good. That's tomorrow's hot topic. Yeah. Traveling with your friends. Let's do that tomorrow. Okay, yay. Anyways, thanks for listening. We love you so much. And stay tuned to some content that we're gonna try to put out for you guys. Yeah. See you later. Bye. Adios. No, we're gonna do an episode where we just speak Spanish. Oh, period.