Pre-departure: Mexico (LRW)

My accent map (I'm from PA)

The three questions that identified me as someone from the west

Reflection on the pre-departure readings:

Although Karl Ove Knausgard and Trevor Noah have very different styles of presentation (as different as a comedian from South Africa and a reflective Norwegian writer could possibly be), their descriptions of America from a foreigners perspective are somewhat similar. Both experienced difficulty with strange phrases and accents (i.e. a napkin is not a serviette, and being fluent in English does not necessarily mean you can be easily understood). Noah picked on stereotypical American stupidity with the "surfing AIDS" bit, and Knausgard commented on the "enormous girth" of North Americans, while wearing "tight T-shirts with their bellies sticking out proudly." It was strange to think how normal customs, such as tipping, feel strange to foreigners, and caused me to question what customs may be normal in Mexico that I may find unusual.