Thursday, April 8

who is amorita?

Once upon a time - I came to Mexico and met Jaime.  I figured (as I was in Mexico for only a month) that he would be my cute Spanish tutor and salsa instructor out at the bars we all went to (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday...it was all the same).  I was right and wrong.  Right ~ our hours of chatting brought my Spanish to a new level.  Gracias!  Wrong ~ he's still learning how to move his hips and really only likes the salsa that you slather on your taco before eating it in 2 bites.
And the thing I definitely never expected was my capacity to calm my type A, "this will never work because I can't plan every detail" side - and engage and trust in a long distance, bilingual, bicultural relationship.  The visits to and fro began after my summer jaunt to Mexico - and we both got a taste of each other's lives in Milwaukee & Cuernavaca.  After 2 long (but fun) years of visits - I'm now down here, in the middle of Mexico...living life and trying to take it all in.  A hope is that this blog will help me to stay focused on the interesting and awesome aspects of living here...instead of complaining about how hot it is and about missing all those peanut butter options.  

So there's the quick backstory to be able to tell you what amorita is and where it came from.  During one of my long weekends in Mexico - Jaime and I were hanging around...probably drinking a beer or sipping a cup of coffee.  Back then I had a rough time trying to show my affection verbally so it came out a little robotic at times...a little forced maybe - but at least coming from a genuine place (Jaime slowly wore me down and I currently am much better at not hesitating before saying something sweet).  Anyway - he was probably being super cute and nice and I wanted to join in!  I'm sure I half mumbled something that almost passed as a compliment..."Tú también eres muy especial para mí..."  and then wanted to end with the Spanish default pet-name, amorcito.  I would say it's the equivalent of "babe" in English.  But of course, my attempt to be sweet was thwarted by the Spanish language's incomprehensible diminutive structure (it's probably not that bad...I've just never taken the time to look up the official grammar rules...ito? cito? ecito?).  So that only thing I could spit out was amorito.  

Maybe that sounds like not a big deal - but imagine in English...there is a difference between someone saying, "You're really special to me too, babe." and "You're really special to me too, bub!".  Small error - but nobody wants to be a bub.  Jaime heard it and gave me a curious but sympathetic look, kindly telling me to not forget the "c" in amorcito.  But I guess my diminutive ignorance was so "cute" that it stuck.  He is officially mi amorito and he's even adopted the feminine form for me...amorita.  I love my little nickname...however I have to admit that when he says in public, I take a quick glance over my shoulder to see if there's a Mexican man raising an eyebrow or a Mexican teen chuckling at us.  

Do you think the fact that I had this perfume at the time helps my case??  I thought so...