Mexican Starbucks

I wrote this entry a few months ago but never posted it. With two trips to Starbucks this past weekend, I was reminded of my un-posted commentary.


Starbucks (Mexican chain) - A little taste of America, in more ways than one.
Your welcome Starbucks for your new slogan.

I accompanied Sophie today to Starbucks. Having yet been to one in Mexico, and yearning for someplace warm yet outside of the house on this rainy day, I was happy to make the trek.

Little did I know that the Mexican Starbucks would remind me of America for reasons other than the sight of the Twin-Tailed Siren and its familiar, house-roast aroma. Looking around, I noticed the clientele of this Starbucks was exclusively lighter skinned than the average Mexican skin tone. It caught my attention right away because in the NPH home, most of the children are medium- to darker-skinned. In fact, any kid in the home that's slightly pale (and pale in Mexico would be an Anglo-Saxon with a nice tan) is usually given the nickname guero or "pale-one." The name has even spread to me, and many of my kids affectionately call me guera. Point being, in Cuernavaca for the first time, I was sitting with the most number of gueros that I had seen since my arrival six months prior.

I got to thinking about racial divides (forgive me for referencing a social construct), something still ever present in the United States but not something I had considered in Mexico up until that day in Starbucks. Why, in this cushy, high-priced coffee shop could I only find lighter-skinned Mexicans? Why, in the home I volunteer which aids orphaned, abandoned, and abused children, are 95% of the children darker-skinned? And why was I suddenly feeling so disturbed with myself that I felt at home immediately upon entering the doors?

The answers are all too apparent. How had I fooled myself into thinking we had progressed so much further than we actually have?