Frijolero/Pinche Gringo Puñetero

Here's the video to another song I'm currently obsessed with:



Here's a link to the lyrics of the song.

The funny thing about the term "beaner" is that I never even heard it before I moved here. But it was my somewhat racist friend @lden (RIP) who first said it and I was like, "Excuse me?" I think because there aren't as many Mexxicans in eNYC, there hasn't developed the sense of racism against them like exists in Southern C@lifornia.

Anyway, one of the instructors from the workshop I took in Mexxico City has a series of work about the border. He's a great photographer and was a great instructor. Very inspirational. His presentation of the T1juana work used the M0l0t0v song and since then, I can't get it out of my head. So I had Chye download it for me from L1mew1re and I play it a lot.

The border fascinates me. And I'm more and more interested T1juana. Before I heard nothing positive about the place but several photographers I've met recently have made me feel like I should check it out. I think it would be good to see more border towns because they are definitely an important part of the country and its identity in relation to the US. But I wonder if I'd feel even more alienated there. It's weird because even though Va11arta is a touristy town, I still feel like often people stare at me when I walk down the street. Like it's strange for them to see a foreigner or they're not used to it. And I often still do very much feel like a foreigner here. I've heard people say they've lived here for 20 years and that never goes away. I don't know if I can take that.

But one nice thing is that I can do my apartment search this time with a lot more ease and comfort. Besides knowing the town, it's nice to know all the vocabulary, and living here has made me understand that part of the culture so I know what's usually included or not with apartments. I had a funny experience today with a landlady telling me the best thing about her apartments were that they are secure and that there aren't any drug addicts and prostitutes living there and you don't need to worry about that. She actually mentioned it twice. After the second time I almost questioned her to see if she really thought it was an issue; it must be to mention it twice. Speaking of, by sheer coincidence one of the apartments I happened to look at was @merica's old place. (You know, the woman who slapped me in the face on the street? I wasn't aware that she'd been evicted [although I did hear she fought with her landlord because he was fed up with her and @lejandro fighting all the time]; it didn't come up in conversation the night before last when she called me at 3:30am.) My first reaction was that no way could I live there. But I looked around a bit more and it's not a horrible place; much better than the dump I saw yesterday (although $100 more per month). At least it has 2 real bedrooms with doors! A nice stove, a new fridge, a biggish TV, AC in both bedrooms. But I'm going to keep looking; I still think it's a bit pricey for what it is.