Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm contemplating a move to New Mexico.....just where is the question.
First off, I have lived in Colorado for several years and due to a "family emergency" needed to return to the Northwest. I would love to get back to the Southwest ASAP. During my years in CO, I drove to and through NM several times. I've found it a lovely state. The sun, the scenery, the culture and so forth but of course, visiting an area and living in an area are two different things so..........
-I am a single male in my early 40's
-I prefer slow but steady growth
-I work in a low pay, high turnover field of social services. I don't mind the low pay as long as I live in an area with a low cost of living
-I am an english only speaker. Mentioned because I know about the high hispanic population in New Mexico and working directly with people, knowing conversational spanish would be a good thing. IMPORTANT: I do NOT mind going back to school in order to learn spanish but, I want to get a job that pays the bills first and then go to school to take classes in order to advance my career.
-I prefer small town over major metropolitan area but as a single guy in my 40's I don't want too small of a town
-A distinctive spring, summer and fall are important. I could live with or without a cold, hard winter
-I prefer jeans and t-shirts over suit and tie
-I prefer coffee and beer over latte's and cocktails
Hmmm...what else?
Actually, I've been checking out the Clovis/Portales area but thought I'd ask here for possible leads to other places I haven't thought about.
-I am an english only speaker. Mentioned because I know about the high hispanic population in New Mexico and working directly with people, knowing conversational spanish would be a good thing.
You can get by with just English unless you find a job which absolutely requires that you speak Spanish.
I guess I'm nervous because of the type of job I do. I always seem to work directly with people and prefer it that way because I don't like 9-5 office work.
DIRECT Care staff is usually high turnover due to the low pay but whenever I look for a better paying Case Management position (or something similar) It normally has "bi-lingual required"
I sure wouldn't mind a career change but I got to do what I can do now.
I have never met a native New Mexican who did not speak English. Since my Spanish dialect is from a different geographical area as a courtesy I ask anyone first if I may speak Spanish with them.
It is very easy to insult someone by trying to act like you are of their culture or try to pretend you speak their language.
Do what you have to do, learn Spanish if you believe it will help.
The key phrase you used though is Native New Mexican. What about the immigrants? Legal or not.
The area I was looking at is very agricultural. I know that there are a lot of agricultural areas that use immigrant labor during the harvest season and with the New Mexico climate...you probably have a long harvest season.
The frost-free season in the main agricultural areas of New Mexico is late April through late September/early October which is pretty close to most other parts of the country and only temperate crops are grown here (nothing tropical).
If you want to live in an area with a lot of farming, I would suggest the lower Rio Grande Valley around Las Cruces. Around Clovis/Portales, the main ag industries are ranching and dairy though there are some considerable onion and peanut farms as well. The Rio Grande Valley is much more diverse with corn, lettuce, grasses, and of course chiles. There is also some cotton and several major Pecan orchards in the southern part of the state.
In Northern New Mexico, farming is done on a very local scale, almost subsistence level except in the middle Rio Grande where there are a lot of feed crops grown. These are still pretty small by most commercial standards, though.
Why would a Spanish speaker be insulted if you tried to speak Spanish with them? I would think they would be grateful...I have heard others say this and it has always puzzled me..Could someone actually be that "thin skinned)?
I'm contemplating a move to New Mexico.....just where is the question.
First off, I have lived in Colorado for several years and due to a "family emergency" needed to return to the Northwest. I would love to get back to the Southwest ASAP. During my years in CO, I drove to and through NM several times. I've found it a lovely state. The sun, the scenery, the culture and so forth but of course, visiting an area and living in an area are two different things so..........
-I am a single male in my early 40's
-I prefer slow but steady growth
-I work in a low pay, high turnover field of social services. I don't mind the low pay as long as I live in an area with a low cost of living
-I am an english only speaker. Mentioned because I know about the high hispanic population in New Mexico and working directly with people, knowing conversational spanish would be a good thing. IMPORTANT: I do NOT mind going back to school in order to learn spanish but, I want to get a job that pays the bills first and then go to school to take classes in order to advance my career.
-I prefer small town over major metropolitan area but as a single guy in my 40's I don't want too small of a town
-A distinctive spring, summer and fall are important. I could live with or without a cold, hard winter
-I prefer jeans and t-shirts over suit and tie
-I prefer coffee and beer over latte's and cocktails
Hmmm...what else?
Actually, I've been checking out the Clovis/Portales area but thought I'd ask here for possible leads to other places I haven't thought about.
Im from Portales and am very familiar with Clovis, you can direct message me if you have any more questions about the area.
I dont know Spanish and never really had to learn, there are mainly two types of people in Clovis and Portales, the Mexicans(non-native New Mexicans) and the Whites, there are some Spanish(native New Mexicans) but Eastern NM is not like the rest of NM, it dosent have that Native American,Spanish,Southwestern vibe to it, Eastern NM is culturally more like West Texas(TX Panhandle) than anywhere else in NM. Clovis has the highest percentage of blacks in the state,but its still a low percentage.
small towns can be hard for single guys, most people settle down early and start families very young in NM. There are 2 bars in Portales so you can probably find you a gal there.
Im not sure about the job, for the most part Portales weather is nice, even the average highs in the winter time in January are in the mid 50's, but it is often windy in Portales so that makes it sometimes feel alot colder than it is, and I hope you like wind cause there is alot of it there. The seasons are nice though.
Portales and Clovis are conservative towns, just a bunch of small town people enjoying the simple life. Its more cowboy boots and belt buckles, beer and chicken fried steak/enchiladas than suit and tie, latte and cocktails. Los Angeles has their liquor store on every corner, ABQ has a Walgreens on every corner and Portales/Clovis have a church on every corner.
I would recommend the area, at least to try it out, if you like the plains and a isolated simple life, then you found your kind of town, closest town is 20 miles away and the closest interstate is atleast 2 hours away.
Why would a Spanish speaker be insulted if you tried to speak Spanish with them? I would think they would be grateful...I have heard others say this and it has always puzzled me..Could someone actually be that "thin skinned)?
You don't speak two languages do you?
How many times have you heard people talking in a foreign language and someone in your group saying "they are talking about us" (usually they are not).
Why do some gang members not like to be stared at.
No one in this thread said "Why would a Spanish speaker be insulted if you tried to speak Spanish with them". I said "Since my Spanish dialect is from a different geographical area as a courtesy I ask anyone first if I may speak Spanish with them."
So do you walk up to someone who appears to be talking Spanish and assume they are Spanish?
I am sometimes bothered when I am having a conversation in a group and some unknown person comes up and butts into the conversation trying to sell something or just starts asking irrelevant questions. What ever happened to "Excuse me but can you help me".
How do you think some Spanish speaking people feel when a group walks buy trying to make up Spanish words. How about in Italy with Italian? Or in Germany with German? Or Japan?
So if I wish to speak to someone in Spanish I first ask if they speak Spanish and if they do I then ask if we may converse in Spanish. Korean school children ask Americans similarly related questions.
Why do you assume someone is "thin skinned" because they expect to be treated with some common courteousness?
Rich
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 05-01-2010 at 10:53 PM..
Reason: Oh so bad spelting
Interesting topic. When I was in a small town in Italy many people assumed I was German and even Germans came up and start speaking to me in their language. The Italians were surprised when I told them I was American. I do look like my German grandfather and I'm guessing it was because they saw a lot more Germans than Americans. I was amused but not insulted. When I was in Japan, the Japanese were much better at guessing I was American and would often ask politely if they could practice their English with me.
It wouldn't occur to me to try speaking to a New Mexican in Spanish. I assume they're all English speakers or are bilingual.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
