Documenting Adventures and Food and Stuff : A Country Without (or with very few) Mexicans

Wow - where are all my Latinos!?! How could they not have made it to this side of the world yet? I did not expect how much I would miss Hispanic food, culture, language, and just plain seeing Hispanic people (of any variation) on a day to day basis. Its one of the many aspects that makes Wellington seem very foreign to me.

It really hits me hard in the markets. To list a few: there are no tortillas, no dried beans of any kind (some places do have lentils though), no salsas (I like the mild ones), cinnamon does not come in sticks, no enchilada sauce (I also use canned sauce when I make enchiladas) and cilantro is called coriander.

I could have really used a fellow Mexican over the past 3 days. When we moved into our new apartment the curtain was broken and a chair's screws were loose. The manager said she would send her handy man over to fix it. Seems like two simple enough jobs, right? I'm sad to say they weren't and my patience over a period of 3 days was tested to the max. Basically the curtain and rod needed to be replaced and the chair's screws need to be tightened so it wouldn't be wobbly.

Now this is not a bad thing, just different, but I'm learning that New Zealanders aren't big on efficiency, like to talk things over, and discuss details...a lot. My handy man Graham is no exception. He began by coming over Wednesday at 8am to inspect the job. He looked around and got all the information he needed and reviewed all the specific details with me about what he discovered during his inspection. He wasn't ready to start the job just yet, he needed to talk it over with someone and he would come back in an hour with more information. An hour later he returned - he gained no new information from the person he talked to but he felt better about the situation. This was repeated Thursday morning from 8am - 1030am - he looked at everything, talked it over with me, made a mental list of the tools and supplies he might need, and left. When he returned on Friday (at 8am) he came empty handed - no curtain rod, no tools, nothing! He wanted one more look - granted he said he was nervous about a work situation his wife was dealing with but dang - get it together! He left for 45 mins, returning with all his supplies and again wanting to review the procedure with me. Around 1115am I wanted to yell: listen handy man, we can't take a siesta or eat until the works done ok? Let get it done! I finally took charge, became the pushy American (in one of my many conversations with Graham, he relayed to me that New Zealanders don't like pushy Americans), and focused him on getting the work done. What this situation needed was a Mexican - Me! I got the tape measure, measured lengths and widths, made little marks with a pencil on the wall, put the hooks in the curtain, told him where to drill, and 30 mins later the curtain was hung. By 1215pm Graham was off and I was finally able to take a shower.

I know this post is mostly me venting but to be fair, this whole ordeal took up three mornings of my week. I know from the bottom of my heart, if this guy was a Mexican - he would have come in, done the job, and I would have made him something to eat - case closed. I guess what it really boils down to is I miss LA, a faster paced life, Latinos and all their glory.