I remember about a year ago when I made a college visit here to the University of Florida with my mom.

It was a gloomy November night when I arrived at the Gainesville Regional Airport and there were no cabs waiting outside to pick people up. The airport at 11 PM seemed as if it was only open for me and and her; the 30 other people who came on the plane with us all had parked their car before they took their trip and had left already. There was a security guard way off in the distance, but I think he was just waiting for us to leave so that he could go home. It was definitely not the best first impression to give my mom while visiting one of my potential future colleges.

 Anyways, I somehow convinced my parents that this was the place where I wanted to transfer for several reasons and finally ended up here. As you may know, there are not a lot of international students here at the University of Florida, compared to the University of Miami for example, which almost doesn't feel like part of the United States. As I'm starting my second year in the Gator Nation, I have made some humorous observations about people's reactions when I tell them that I'm an international transfer student from Mexico. Below are the most common:

One of the aspects that I find pretty hilarious is whenever I'm talking to people and they identify a non-american accent in my pronunciation. Then automatically they ask me where am I from, and I tell them I'm from Mexico. It is so hilarious to see how instantly they tell me "oh, oh! I took Spanish in Highschool, listen!" and they start "speaking" in Spanish to me. I just laugh and try to continue with the conversation in Spanish, until they no longer know what to say. It's crazy how many people have asked me to teach them Spanish while I'm in Gainesville that, if I taught them all and actually got paid, I would probably be the richest teacher on the planet.

Another funny detail is whenever I go to Chipotle with some friends and tell me something like "I looove mexican food that's why I always come to Chipotle". I mean, I get it, Chipotle has a great taste and is under a student's budget, but it's so far away from real Mexican food. I tell my fraternity brothers that they should come visit me to Mexico and try the real deal: tacos, enchiladas, sopes, REAL burritos, etc. This is something I'm really looking forward to. 

Thirdly, it's pretty comical whenever we're at a bar and the song changes and "Suavemente" starts playing. My buds all look at me and say like "Adolfo, this is your song dude". Although it's a Spanish speaking song, that doesn't mean it's Mexican. Elvis Crespo, the artist, is Puerto Rican, but still, you can't help but laugh and go along with it. 

The last one, and this is probably my favorite one, comes on Cinco de Mayo. I remember when I woke up that day and got a bunch of texts from my friends such as "Happy 5 de Mayo mane" or "Yeeeeeeeeehaah, hope you have an awesome day bro". For Americans, this is a random day to get drunk, wear ponchos, sombreros and moustaches. For Mexicans, this is the most common day ever. We DON'T celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is the same as Six de Mayo or Seven de Mayo, it's the most normal day ever. I mean, there was a very important battle on May fifth where Mexicans defeated the French, but other than that, it's a very casual day; everyone goes to work, some students go to school (public schools decide to give it as a holiday, private schools don't), and no one get's drunk. I remember how last Cinco de Mayo I spent it in West Palm Beach with a friend, and he was like "Congratulations on your day dude" and I answered, "thanks?" Still, it's pretty sweet how Americans celebrate this day as their holiday and make it an excellent excuse to load up some Coronas at the beach.