{"id":1957,"date":"2014-02-11T14:26:09","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T14:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=1957"},"modified":"2014-02-11T14:27:05","modified_gmt":"2014-02-11T14:27:05","slug":"tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mexican5Steps2\"<\/a>If you are going to be spending a lot of time in Mexico then you will find that the country houses a rich and fascinating culture. Many visitors there fall in love with it so much that they feel the urge to try and become a real Mexican.<\/p>\n

If you want to live like a local then here are a few fairly simple steps to follow:<\/p>\n

1. Drink Lots of Tequila<\/b><\/p>\n

If you have drunk tequila<\/i> somewhere other than Mexico then you already know that it is a fairly strong drink. Sorry, did I say fairly strong<\/i>? I mean absolutely blooming knock-you-down strong. Drinking it in Mexico is completely different from doing it anywhere else, of course. In its country of origin it is a part of the culture, with many songs and TV programmes mentioning the drink. If you like the drink you should take a trip out to see how it is made, as the blue agave plant is harvested and then put in an oven before being mashed up to extract the juice.<\/p>\n

2. Eat Tortillas with Everything <\/b><\/p>\n

You probably already know a little about Mexican food as well but that won\u2019t prepare you for the local cuisine. Mexican cuisine is famous for being spicy but there is a lot more to it than that. Menudo<\/i>, for example, is a popular filling soup made with the gruesome parts of the cow you don\u2019t usually get to see at meal-time. However, if there is one type of food you should get used to it is the humble but versatile tortilla<\/i>. Mexicans eat them with everything and they make a tasty and interesting accompaniment to just about any meal.<\/p>\n

3. Learn Some Typical Words and Phrases<\/b><\/p>\n

Wherever you go in the world it is a great idea to learn some local phrases. The Mexican version of Spanish is rich with colloquialisms and you will have great fun learning them. The television is a great place to get started, with the Cantinflas<\/i> films and the El Chavo del Ocho<\/i> programmes among the classics you can\u2019t miss. Phrases you might want to learn include no hay bronca<\/i>, which simply means that there is no problem. Chido<\/i> means cool and you probably guessed what \u00e1ndale<\/i> meant when you heard Speedy Gonzales shout it over and over again. You\u2019ll feel great when you finally get to say it in a normal, real life conversation.<\/p>\n

4. Listen to Mariachi and Rancheras<\/b><\/p>\n

Music plays a big part in Mexican life and there are some great musical styles to choose from. Modern options include rock from bands like Mana and pop from Paulina Rubio and Luis Miguel among others. Mariachi <\/i>is a more traditional type of music, with the musicians usually dressed up in elaborate outfits known as charro<\/i>. Rancheras<\/i> are songs sung by a single performer with a guitar and are often passionate, fish clenching affairs that may strike you as a touch overwrought at first. If you want to be a real Mexican you\u2019ll need to start to love hearing them, though.<\/p>\n

5. Go to Rodeos<\/b><\/p>\n

There are many popular sports in Mexico but the traditional rodeo<\/i> is the one you should be most interested in finding out about. These can involve horses or cattle and are fascinating events for a visitor. The typical clothing here is the same charro<\/i> style you might have seen those mariachi <\/i>performers wear and which is used for a variety of other traditional occasions as well. You will hear a lot of those typical phrases we mentioned earlier at these events, so you might want to take a Spanish language level test<\/a> before you head over to Mexico, to see how you are likely to get on with the language.<\/p>\n

What else would you like to do in Mexico in order to feel at home?<\/p>\n

\"Mexican5steps\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are going to be spending a lot of time in Mexico then you will find that the country houses a rich and fascinating culture. Many visitors there fall in love with it so much that they feel the urge to try and become a real Mexican. If you want to live like a(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236,28],"tags":[66,278,260,37,44],"class_list":["post-1957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-must-know","category-culture-travel","tag-language","tag-mexican","tag-mexico","tag-spanish","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"\nTequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Looking to move to Mexico, or just obsessed with the culture? Learn how to fit in with these 5 steps!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Looking to move to Mexico, or just obsessed with the culture? Learn how to fit in with these 5 steps!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-11T14:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-11T14:27:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/\",\"name\":\"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-11T14:26:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-11T14:27:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e374acb890d7d8ff832ab9000b12bcec\"},\"description\":\"Looking to move to Mexico, or just obsessed with the culture? Learn how to fit in with these 5 steps!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e374acb890d7d8ff832ab9000b12bcec\",\"name\":\"Robert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6e7377b5c33c414b6535e0a7b650743?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6e7377b5c33c414b6535e0a7b650743?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Robert\"},\"description\":\"I moved from the UK to South America to save the rainforest but ended up saving myself from a boring career in banking instead. I have now worked online as a freelance writer for almost a decade, covering every subject from Bitcoin to golf and from backpacking to the smelliest kinds of cheese. Languages are my favourite subject, as they are fun to write about and I can pass on useful information too. Despite knowing approximately 3 words in Spanish when I first boarded a plane here, I have managed to survive, although with the occasional cringe-worthy misunderstanding along the way. My first Spanish classes were in Ecuador, where I also discovered what really happens to water when it goes down a drain on the equatorial line. After that, I started travelling South America and picking up as much of the language as I could. I am now married to a Bolivian and my daughter has Spanish as her first language but speaks English like a bonnie wee lassie from Braveheart. We travelled to Europe for a spell but we feel more at home here, with a laidback lifestyle and nice weather. Much of my Spanish I learned on the hoof, working in a bank in Spain and desperately trying to explain credit card charges to immigrants whose Spanish was as limited as mine. I also tried running a shop in Bolivia, which threw me in at the deep end. Nowadays, I work on my PC while learning new words from musical geniuses like Los Aut\u00e9nticos Decadentes and Celtas Cortos. My interesting career path really comes in useful at times as a freelance writer. I sometimes wonder if there is anyone else out there whose CV has UK mortgage underwriter and Bolivian pig farmer owner on it. If there is then I would love to hear from them. There is nothing better for me than settling down to type something fun that might educate or entertain the people who read it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/admin\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/robert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps","description":"Looking to move to Mexico, or just obsessed with the culture? Learn how to fit in with these 5 steps!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps","og_description":"Looking to move to Mexico, or just obsessed with the culture? Learn how to fit in with these 5 steps!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2014-02-11T14:26:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-02-11T14:27:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":280,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Robert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Robert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/","name":"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg","datePublished":"2014-02-11T14:26:09+00:00","dateModified":"2014-02-11T14:27:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e374acb890d7d8ff832ab9000b12bcec"},"description":"Looking to move to Mexico, or just obsessed with the culture? Learn how to fit in with these 5 steps!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Mexican5Steps2-e1392128661970.jpeg","width":450,"height":280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/tequila-and-tortillas-become-a-real-mexican-in-5-steps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tequila and Tortillas: Become a Real Mexican in 5 Steps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e374acb890d7d8ff832ab9000b12bcec","name":"Robert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6e7377b5c33c414b6535e0a7b650743?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6e7377b5c33c414b6535e0a7b650743?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Robert"},"description":"I moved from the UK to South America to save the rainforest but ended up saving myself from a boring career in banking instead. I have now worked online as a freelance writer for almost a decade, covering every subject from Bitcoin to golf and from backpacking to the smelliest kinds of cheese. Languages are my favourite subject, as they are fun to write about and I can pass on useful information too. Despite knowing approximately 3 words in Spanish when I first boarded a plane here, I have managed to survive, although with the occasional cringe-worthy misunderstanding along the way. My first Spanish classes were in Ecuador, where I also discovered what really happens to water when it goes down a drain on the equatorial line. After that, I started travelling South America and picking up as much of the language as I could. I am now married to a Bolivian and my daughter has Spanish as her first language but speaks English like a bonnie wee lassie from Braveheart. We travelled to Europe for a spell but we feel more at home here, with a laidback lifestyle and nice weather. Much of my Spanish I learned on the hoof, working in a bank in Spain and desperately trying to explain credit card charges to immigrants whose Spanish was as limited as mine. I also tried running a shop in Bolivia, which threw me in at the deep end. Nowadays, I work on my PC while learning new words from musical geniuses like Los Aut\u00e9nticos Decadentes and Celtas Cortos. My interesting career path really comes in useful at times as a freelance writer. I sometimes wonder if there is anyone else out there whose CV has UK mortgage underwriter and Bolivian pig farmer owner on it. If there is then I would love to hear from them. There is nothing better for me than settling down to type something fun that might educate or entertain the people who read it.","sameAs":["http:\/\/admin"],"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/robert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1960,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions\/1960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}