Introduction

I grew up in a middle-class white American family. My father's ancestry hails from Sweden, Belgium and other very white countries, my mother's from Ireland. We microwaved butter and cinnamon on our tortillas bought at King Soopers. The only spice in the cabinet was black pepper and even that was often considered too spicy for my mom. My Dad knew about three words in Spanish, margarita, hola and gracias (pronounced grass-e-ass). Christmas dinner was turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes and cranberry sauce. Being late was offensive. Things were neat and orderly. Vacation plans were made on excel spreadsheets (OK my Dad was an engineer so this might be atypical)
Somewhere during this pleasant and predictable upbringing I met the love of my life and for the last 5 years I've been transforming into a Gringa with a Mexican heart.
The other day I drove up to my house to find my father-in-law's car on our lawn. I laughed so hard and thought, I should be writing all of these crazy things down. If you are of the Gringo heritage I hope to shed some light on the unique customs of Mexicans. If you consider yourself Mexican, Mexican/American, or Latino, Enjoy!