Xy talked to some of our new Mexican neighbors. Turns out they’re from — drum roll, please — Indiana!
We’re from Indiana too, in case you didn’t know. What are the chances? It’s like this little block in Mid-City New Orleans is being taken over by Hoosiers.
I talked to one of the guys, Antonio. He said he graduated from a high school in Indianapolis (on 38th Street?) five years ago. I was surprised, considering his shaky command of English.
I’m not sure if they’re American citizens or not. I didn’t ask. But I’m guessing they are here legally.
As for the family living on the other side of the Mexicans, it turns out they’re Guatemalans. We met a guy named Benito, a woman named Maria, and some others whose names I didn’t catch.
Xy brought some toys and school supplies, rescued from Habans, for the kids. They especially appreciated the bilingual books.
They’ve been good neighbors thus far. Early to bed and early to rise. Hurricane Katrina brought them here, just as it dispersed our neighbors. They came for the rebuilding work. And the Mexican guys were listening to some Latin hip-hop the other day that I thought was really cool.
Xy knows just enough Spanish to communicate. I’ve been thinking I should learn the language ever since we moved here six years ago and were befriended by Hondurans. It seems like an even better idea in Nuevo Orleans.
Discover more from b.rox
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Si, si.
Spanish is easy to learn and good to know. My own handle on it is shaky but I can get by, much to my lack of chagrin. I heartily recommend learning any of the ‘romance’ languages (well, I guess I am in favor of everybody learning every language, ideally — but I’m no hippie). Spanish is the easiest, I think, after studying Latin, French, Finnish, and Italian. Anyone who can teach me conversational French or Portuguese gets free piano lessons!