:-)

Guess what that is! Yes, my (missed) suitcase. I'm really glad that it finally arrived. This morning my a parcel service ("Good morning, Mr. Manns. I've got a parcel here. Really heavy.").

Nobody told me where something went wrong or what went wrong but I guess that it didn't stay in Madrid where I changed planes. While they could tell other passengers directly that their suitcases or bags had stayed in Madrid, they couldn't tell me anything until yesterday night. Therefore, I guess the suitcase stayed in Mexico and arrived yesterday with the next plane. Maybe it was to heavy for the worker on the airport and he said: "I've got a pain in my back anyway. The guy who will come tomorrow can do that."

And now guess the weight of my suitcase...

30kg!!!

Back home

Those for who it makes a difference (I mean those friends who live in Germany or close and not far away anyway) should know that I'm BACK. Yes, it's true, my time in Mexico is over and I have to say it feels good to be at home again because:

• I can see my family.
• I guess I will see some of my friends here soon.
• I can eat German bread.

At the same time I'm already missing Mexico a lot because:

• I miss a lot of the people I met there.
• Life there seemed so easy there (now I have to finish writing my thesis and I have to look for a job).
• I definitely will be in trouble with German police;-)

And something funny: When I needed the toilet on the airport in Madrid, I looked for the basket for the toilet paper. I really forgot that I can trow it in the toilet again.


And something really annoying: One of my suitcases did not arrive. There were a lot of people who missed something on the arrival in Frankfurt but until today they can't tell me what happended to that suitcase. There are most of my books in it, my letter of reference I got from Volkswagen (I have to say which is quite good), one of my suits, things I bought for my family etc. I really want this suitcase back!!!

Ahorita

Some of you may know that in Spanish you can form the belittlement (shame on me if it is the wrong word; looked in up on LEO) by adding -ito or -ita to a word (depending on whether it is male of female). Example: el dibujo (the drawing) - el dibujito (the little drawing); la casa (the house) - la casita (the little house)

But it is not only to "transform" nouns by this way. It also works with adverbs. One of my favourits and very often used in Mexico: ahorita! Ahora means now, so little now. Very helpful for example when your boss asks you to do something... to be honest it is very difficult to explain in English or German what it really means. My trial: not exactly now but soon (where soon can be between "in 5 minutes" and "during the next week"). It guess it is also a cultural thing;-)

When I told my colleagues at work that we don't rally have a word for this in German (except for maybe in Schwaben) they asked me: "But how do you say ahorita then?" And they hardly believed me when I explained that it is either now (jetzt, sofort) or soon (gleich).

Death

Maybe you have heard about Día de los Muertos. I think in English that is called "All Souls' Day" and it is on November 1st (or 2nd?), as a Catholic I should know!;-) The Mexicans celebrate that day in a very strange way. For example when they prepare dinner there are also chairs and plates for the dead. Or it is a custom to give each other a sugar skull with their name on it. I would call it a bit macabre but well...

Our landlord explained to us that death is present in Mexico anytime anyway. If you remember what I keep telling about Mexican traffic, I guess you will agree. But there are more occasions to prove this. As a German I would say that Mexicans don't care much about security: cars that only exist because of the rust, the foundry at the Volkswagen plant where hot iron is moved in open containers, zebra crossings on the motorway...