The Mexican Anglophile
It’s sometimes difficult for me to understand how a sheltered Mexican-American boy from the suburbs of Los Angeles came to be such a passionate Anglophile. Although I grew up in a comfortable, middle-class home, my parents had never travelled outside of North America. There was no direct or obvious family connection to England – either by war, marriage, friendship or anything else.
Looking back, the first time there was some inkling I had a deep, personal connection to England was when I went to see “Mary Poppins” as a boy. It was an incredible epiphany. I loved the accents and the quaint settings. Later, I heard about the Titanic tragedy and read Walter Lord’s “A Night to Remember”. It all felt somehow familiar and even magnetic. Whenever I met someone with an English accent or saw someone on television or in the movies who spoke with a Cockney, London, or Northern accent, I was transfixed.
As a middle-aged adult, I finally had the opportunity to visit England, and I ended up staying in London for six months. While it was a bit of a shock at first, since I didn’t know what or where anything was, once I got my bearings, I felt very happy and at home there. The row houses, the Underground, and the double-decker buses were all new to my actual experience, but they all felt very attractive and comfortable. In fact, if you ever see or have ever seen the film, “Shaun of the Dead”, with Simon Pegg, the scenes around his home were filmed in my old neighborhood in Crouch End along Nelson Road and Weston Park.
When I finally had to leave to come back to the U.S., I was heartsick, because I really enjoyed the life I had in London, and I could see that I could easily spend the rest of my life there. London is extremely cosmopolitan and such a cultural, historical and transportation hub, so there are always new people and things to see.
Once I was back in the States, I continued working for the English company that first employed me when I lived in London. I even adopted a posh English accent to speak with the prospects I called. It just felt right and less distracting to do so.
While in London, I also made a number of good friends with whom I am still corresponding. They are from the entire range of the British Commonwealth: the Seychelles, Australia, England, South Africa, Canada, and New Zealand.
One day, I hope to get back to London and maybe even retire there.
