Today I met with my conversation partner, Omar, for the
second time. We met up again in Union Grounds for about an hour and caught up
from the last time we saw each other. It had been awhile and a lot had happened
to the both of us. Therefore, we had a lot to talk about such as fall break,
school and football games. I really enjoy my conversations with Omar and find it
especially interesting hearing about his experiences in America after living in
Mexico his whole life.
Funny enough, even though Omar and I had a ton of other
topics to talk about, we spent most of our time talking about a seemingly
insignificant topic—food. Omar began by telling me that the food here in Texas
is a lot different from the food back home in Mexico. Also, American eating
habits are much different from Mexican eating habits. His uncle, who has lived
in America for a while, has been influenced by the American culture. Omar said
that his uncle eats a lot of fast food and does not make a lot of home cooked
meals. Omar does not like this. He wishes his uncle would cook some meals and
sit down and eat with Omar. Omar prefers to prepare his own food because that
is what his family did back in Mexico. Also, Omar told me that this past
weekend he had his first “Mexican food” in America. He was appalled because it
was not real, authentic Mexican food. The food he ordered was nothing like the
food he would eat at home and he did not enjoy his experience in this restaurant
at all. If anything, it just made him miss Mexico more because this mockery Mexican
food reminded him of everything great about his home. I then asked him what
true Mexican food is like, because to me the only good Mexican food I know of
is Chipotle (I know it is pathetic). Apparently, burritos are not popular at
all in Mexico. I found this extremely surprising because one of my favorite
things to order in a Mexican restaurant are burritos! Tacos, however, are
popular in Mexico and they will put beans and meat inside them. The typical
family in Mexico will cook all of their meals together which normally consists
of some sort of meat, rice and beans. I especially found this last piece of information
very interesting. Families in Mexico will prepare their meals and eat them
together. In America, this is becoming rare. A lot of families in the United States
will not even sit down and eat together, which I believe to be an important
part of family life.
Even though Omar was upset by his experience in the Mexican restaurant
he visited this past weekend, he has ate at a few good places here. One of
these is a Mediterranean restaurant located on West 7th called
Terra. I was thrilled when Omar said he loved this restaurant because Terra is
my favorite restaurant located near TCU! It seems only natural that Omar and I go
eat there together some time, considering we are both big fans of the restaurant.
Omar and I then got on the subject of our favorite foods.
Omar’s favorite are tamales, which he said he has not been able to find in
Texas yet. When I was telling Omar about my favorite food, I told him that I am
a vegetarian, which he thought was crazy. The Mexican food culture relies
heavily on meat so he could not believe I did not eat any meat! When I told him
one of my favorite foods is tofu, he had no idea what I was talking about, so I
had to pull up a picture of it on my iPhone.
After talking with Omar, it is crazy to see the differences
in how people in America eat and how people in Mexico eat. Omar said he is
having a hard time adjusting the food here in Texas because it is so different
from the food he is used to eating. Putting myself in Omar’s shoes, I could not
even imagine going to Mexico, especially as a vegetarian, and trying to adjust
to the food that is prepared there. It would definitely be a large obstacle.
However, other than challenges with food, Omar seems to be doing great in
America. He said he loves the Intensive English Program and is doing well in
it. He just had his first round of finals and he thinks he did well on all of
them. I am so glad to see Omar doing well so far in America. I can see his
drive and passion to be successful in life and I know he deserves the best.
Tamales-Omar's Favorite Food
Tofu-My Favorite Food
Courtney, I think food is such a fascinating thing to talk about with people from different cultures. People from other cultures rarely seem to enjoy the Americanized version of their home food. But for some reason when I traveled abroad this summer, I thought the European version of American food was better than the American food in the United States. I guess America just has lower standards of food?... Also I had no idea you were a vegetarian, but it does not surprise me. I am sure you have heard and been to the Spiral Diner on Magnolia, but if you haven't you should try it! It's vegan!
ReplyDeleteI feel like food is a great topic for people to bond over. Even if you have different tastes, like you and Omar, you can usually agree on one thing that you both like (Terra grill). I wonder how Omar would classify typical American food, like how we think of Chipotle as Mexican food? I kind of wish our eating habits mirrored Mexico's more as spending time eating together is a great way to reflect on the day and catch up with people or family you haven't seen. Unfortunately, with the pace of life getting faster and the increase in convenience foods, I don't think we will be transitioning towards this anytime soon.
ReplyDelete