I delivered my talk yesterday to about 30 companies here in Queretaro Mexico and made many new friends and contacts.
One of my slides contains a Mexican saying that I also included in Chapter 2 of Software without Borders, in the section that discusses outsourcing to Mexico:
“Pobrecito Mexico—tan lejos de Dios y tan cercas de los Estados Unidos!”
“Poor little Mexico—so far from God and so near to the United States!”
I first heard this expression from a Mexican speaker at a conference in Costa Rica a few years ago. Everyone in the audience laughed, especially us Americans. Later, I found this exact expression in Spanish online and I included it in the book.
So I asked the audience if they know this saying. They all laughed and then they started commenting amongst themselves. Finally, one of them smiles and says, “Yes, this is our saying, but you have one of the words wrong. The word ‘cerca’ means near. Not ‘cercas’, that means fence or wall. You know, like the wall the United States wants to build at the border.”
More laughter.
Ay Caramba! The devil is in the details!
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