Learning about Canada in Mexico

(This was written earlier this week. I'm just now getting around to posting it.)

At this time last week, I got into a van at the resort I was staying at in Mexico, preparing to go on a tour of underground caves.

There were three perfectly friendly people waiting for me in the van. They said hello, asked me what my name was, and then asked me if I spoke French.

I thought that was weird. I'm from Kansas, and have spent all but two months of my life in this state.

No, I do not speak French, I told them.

They said they knew about tornadoes, the yellow brick road and Dorothy. I told them that's pretty much all you need to know about Kansas, well, that and cows.

They told me the next group of people we were picking up were Canadians who spoke French. The wife told the husband to say hello to them when they got into the van. The husband agreed to do so.

They also warned me, the lone American in the van, that French-speaking Canadians are not pleasant people.

My friendly Canadians told me the French-speaking Canadians would not talk in English around us, would not acknowledge us and would generally be miserable human beings to be around.

This was news to me. I thought all Canadians were friendly? Apparently I don't know as much about Canada as I thought. (You mean I don't know everything there is to know about life? Gah.)

The French speaking Canadians got into the van. The friendly Canadian guy told them hi. They looked at him and didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Haha!

At the caves, we had to separate into groups and sign some paperwork. The French speaking Canadians did not speak a word of English. They requested their tour be in French and paid no attention to the English speaking people.

I was sitting there, in the middle of the jungle in another country, listening to these jerks probably talking about us in French, when one of the French-speaking women turned around right in front of me.

She had a tattoo on her shoulder. Guess what language the tattoo was in?

It was in English.

As a lover of words and language, I love the irony in this.

I want to say the quote tattooed on her shoulder was a Bible verse, which makes this situation even more ironic and hilarious.

I'm going to get words from God tattooed on my body, but I'm not going to talk to you.

People are fun to observe sometimes.

Sidenote: Most of the paperwork we had to fill out involved one person in the household completing the forms, meaning that husbands generally filled out the forms and the wives didn't have to.

My Canadian friends offered to put me on their paperwork so I didn't have to fill it out (essentially inviting me to become a member of their family for a day). Aww. I declined, but thought that was kind of cool of them to offer. I love English speaking Canadians!

They also said I could be in their family photos in the caves, but I also politely declined that offer. Also, that was a really nice gesture on their part.

I love some parts of Canada. Other parts, not so much.

Me in the caves. It really was a beautiful thing to see, minus the water part.