The Mexican "Ahorita"

in unsure times, it's the perfect response to everything

My Spanish hasn’t really improved from living in Mexico, I feel like I spoke more of it in Georgia because I was listening and speaking it all the time in the workplace, but here, it’s quiet and if I don’t need to buy anything in a town where not much is for sale, I don’t say much. Also, summer. Desert summer. I have a few neighbors and folks I see on the roads during my walks but we mostly chat about dogs. Salutations. I could dig deeper into how the crashing peso is doing, but it’s too hot outside to go into much.

Improved is my regional slang and specifically Sonoran jargon, but like having a Texas Instruments engineering calculator, it’s only good for specific tasks and you’ll likely never need it again.

Ahorita, isn’t just in Sonora but used heavily. The tiny casual cousin of Ahora (now) it doesn’t really mean what you think. In Spain or Sonora. Maybe eventually, in a second, okay but never, never never, or actually right now. You can’t pinpoint much in Mexico. There are predictable things, like the music they’ll play at the carne asada until 4am, and how many corn tortillas they’ll serve at dinner (840), but everything else is up in the air. VERGA is another popular word I hear on the streets. Verga is an multi purpose mystery of old cowboy dick language that means whatever they want it to mean, Noun? Verb? Adverb? Adjective?

Yes.

Ahorita has taught me much. Time is relative here so chill the fork out, mainly. The only thing that’s definite is the siesta hours of shop closure midday. Everything else, take your chances. There are no calendars, no day timers. I print out 12 sheets of paper at the ice cream and trinket store because I like to write on a calendar but it totally doesn’t matter what day it is. Here or anywhere if you think about it…unless you’re a banker or a stock market trader and even then you have to watch a world clock. And if you have a lunch date you’ll remember. Part of my deprogramming and life change and forgive me…JOURNEY has been to let go of a bunch of needless rules. I noticed that this month, I had yet to pull the August calendar page. Oh, how I’m a changed woman!

I’m pretty sure I’ve been dropped here to learn flexibility and nothing drives that home like Ahorita. I used to think I was flexible! Oh yea go with the flow Flossie over here but I just talked the game. As long as everything was perfect and magical or turned out “better” I was okay being flexible. But what do you mean you don’t have any real butter? Or coffee? Or beef cuts? Or my room’s not ready yet…don’t get me started.

I have seen that this leopard hasn’t changed her culinary spots too much but I’ve resigned to drinking Nescafe and it’s fine. I just don’t call it coffee. It’s fast, cheap and easy and there’s no clean up. See? Flexible. The butter? It’s not like I’m demanding grass fed butter. Or 5 types of French butter. Just that they don’t make me eat margarine and after the first full year, they started carrying butter in one store and in classic Mexican style, everyone copied it. Now they carry it in three stores. See? I’m making a difference. I matter.

Hubris made me think I would have gotten a vet clinic to open up by now or that there would be a shelter property that wasn’t my living room, or that there would be ZERO street dogs and maybe fewer backyard breeders. Surely some American chick showing up will change an entire culture regarding the terrible neglect of dogs.

Ahorita.

There are maybe 50% fewer street litters being born if I had to guess but I haven’t been on the east side for a while, it’s hot as balls outside and I don’t have the inner strength to see the despair over on that side of town. It’s brought where I am, but it’s scary over there. And sad. For people and dogs. But there are some people here who put out water buckets and some have 4 dogs in their little yard and poco a poco things have changed. Like the butter. it’s better than nothing, this minor progress.

I’ve learned by the way, that you’re never finished with the “journey”. You’re always almost there. Ahorita. Give yourself some space and some grace.

When I feel like I haven’t done enough to change the century’s old tradition of treating dogs like pigeons in Mexico I look back on social media pics from 3 years ago if there’s anything social media is good for it’s looking back. Have I changed the town? Probably not really. Maybe. Soon. Ahorita.

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