MATT revisited

I don't know if any of you put yourselves on the MATT mailing list, but I did. And I regularly get emails from them with new stories. This week, the story that caught my eye was "American Perspective: Breaking out of the Expat Shell". It's a short story about a "trailing expat", a woman who's husband was transferred to work in Mexico City. After spending three months inside, afraid to go out because "people" said she needed a bodyguard and that it was dangerous, she finally decided she had to get out more. And now, predictably, she loves Mexico and Mexico City. And she said two things at the end of the article that really resonated with me:

1 - Mexican culture is so much less about consumerism than the US and so much more about spending time with family and friends.

2 - She still feels like an immigrant in Mexico... but now she feels like one when she goes back to the US too!

Next month, they are planning to focus on "The other immigration: Americans living in Mexico. How the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have migrated to Mexico talk about their experience adapting, living and growing in a new culture."

I tried participating in a discussion on this website after I first found it. I forget the subject matter... it was something about immigration. I entered an honest opinion about my observations of the economy here in Mexico and got such incredibly vitriolic responses. I answered them for awhile, keeping my cool and trying to have an honest and open discussion... but I gave up. The Americans who were responding to me were nasty and rude. So for now, Matt.org is a place to watch for me, but not a place to participate.

One more thing about MATT.org that I like. They have a People Finder service. Its easy and free to post a listing about someone you are looking for in Mexico or the US. Check it out here.