1 Matching Annotations
  1. Jul 2021
    1. Anita:That's fascinating. To go back to something else, I asked you what you missed from the United States. Let me ask you that again. You said you missed the tastes. Can you expand on that?Beto:I miss the taste. I miss the relaxation, everything that's around in the States. It's very –you don't stress that much. I used to travel around at work and the view is beautiful. There's a lot of places that are beautiful. I haven't had a chance to travel here. But the food, the American stuff, the things I used to do early in the morning like to go to this American restaurant and ask for my hash browns, my bacon, jar of orange juice and a coffee, it’s just amazing. The cook was my friend and, he knew me already. "Hey Beto." "Hey my friend. Same?" It was amazing. Something that we don't have here. Something that's missing here when you go in, the way they treat you, it's beautiful.Anita:What do you mean the way they treat you?Beto:Like they always smile at you. They actually say good morning, good afternoon. I never had a bad experience at a restaurant. Most likely, in a public area, never had a bad experience.Anita:When you went in there, he remembered your order.Beto:Yes. They remember my order. It was amazing because they got me there. Now I know why Starbucks puts your name on the little thing because by putting your name, it's like you are part of this place. They make you feel like you are part of that specific restaurant. Not like what you see in the movies. But I had a lot of restaurants where I used to go in, and they were all my friends and they told me here, "Why don't you change your name when you, when you make- " "I don't have to, everybody knows Beto."Beto:I go, they know Beto everywhere. Every time it's like, "Beto, hey Beto, amigo, same?" "Yes. But now make a little bit more toasty." It is beautiful. I mean I got the taste of American food and all of the areas. I even went to Chinese places. There's a lot of people there. I mean I never had a bad experience. It was good.Anita:The last thing is, tell me this lasagna story again.Beto:Oh, the lasagna.Anita:Then I'll let you go.Beto:[31:47] Okay, well we're talking about discrimination in this case. I was just cooking lasagna and my family told me, "What are you doing?" "I'm cooking a lasagna. You guys want some?" This was a beautiful lasagna in a crystal base. They told me, "Why don't you cook something Mexican? You're in Mexico." "What do you want me to cook, beans?" "Some beans, I don't know, something Mexican." "But I love lasagna. You guys want to have some lasagna?" "No, it looks nasty. No." This is one of the things that you encounter when you're here that we're talking about people that are trying to learn and people who don’t want to know what's going on. It's like, "Taste lasagna. Have a little taste?" "No but it looks nasty." "It's just pasta there and then tomato. Take a little taste." "No, I’ll just go back to my kitchen and have some beans and chicharron and all this Mexican food."Beto:I mean, I like it, but I also like to have something from over there or what I used to eat over there. I brought my microwave. I'm living like I’m in the States. I mean I try to make my living like in the States: nice and easy. When I met my wife, I had all my stuff, my cooking stuff. She was like, "What is this?" I have my [inaudible 00:34:04] I don't know like heat, not the microwave. The other one.Anita:A toaster oven?Beto:Toaster oven, yes. "Why is that? What's that for?" "Well, I cook lasagna, and I make potatoes with cheese and I put a lot of stuff on it and I cook there." "I didn't know you cook." "Yes, I do.” Sometimes I don't like to eat a lot of greasy stuff from here. I do want something else. I want something that can remind me of the States. That's true. I cook. I also make, for myself, big pieces of meat, and I cook them there. Yes. It's like, "Why are you like that?" Because I used to go to restaurants, Black Angus. Oh my God, beautiful meat. I love meat. That reminds me of the meat. I can even have it medium like I like it. It's not that I really love to cook, but I have to cook because I want a little bit of over there.Anita:What's the food that most reminds you of over there?Beto:American breakfast. It reminds me the most. American breakfast is the best. Sausages. I love sausages. When I had my first sausages with honey, it's like meat and sweet, but that taste in your mouth, it takes you to some other place. Like, this is good. It's like the American breakfast with sausages and bacon. I used to put a lot of honey syrup. It's like, "This is great. Let me have another one." Or I used to stop by in the mornings. That's one of the things that really reminds me, because the morning there, everybody's awake early and there's a lot of places already open for you to have this good American breakfast. It reminds me a lot because you go there, and I have my hash browns, bacon, my big orange juice and coffee, American coffee. Here, well it's very tough to decide. There's nothing like over there. It reminds me a lot.

      Reflections, The United States, Favorite parts, missing