Language + Norms + Art * Technology = Generational Cohort

I studied four years of Latin in high school, am interested in lingua francas, and was blessed with a good ear and language acquisition skills. I was lucky enough to fall into a close-knit community of friends in Chitown and frequently traveled to Mexico City for family events. Later, I earned a Certificate in Spanish as an Additional Language from the Chicago campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

To be clear, I don’t speak Spanish. I speak a very specific Mexican dialect: that of an upper-middle class woman raised in Mexico City during the 80’s and 90’s.

After decades of practice, I’m near-native in my pronunciation and naturally use common slang and phrases. If you’re a gringo who speaks Spanish, I can guarantee you that I’ll make you feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement. The dissonance of my image and the sounds coming out of my mouth is vaguely intriguing for 95% of people with whom I interact. For the rest, it’s vaguely unsettling and there’s not much I can do to help other people’s anxiety. At home, I’m effectively a “Mexican dad” and my love language with my children is in Spanish. It’s a part of my identity now.

After surviving 8 winters in Chicago, I decided I wanted to take advantage of my language skills and seek opportunities to travel outside the United States.

In 2009, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China held their first summit and in 2010 BRIC became a formal institution. Following the Great Financial Crisis, Latin…