"esque habla mexicano"

Yesterday I saw one of my Nuevomexicano friends and I was reminded of an experience I had with his family when I was in middle school. I think his family was probably the reason why I became interested in New Mexican Spanish. My grandparents are from Belen, NM, so I had already had exposure to New Mexican Spanish, but since they had spent time in Mexico it was more “standard”. I recall finding it interesting that even though my friends mother claimed not to know Spanish she would always use Spanish words for certain things. For example I remember that she would always have us take or get stuff from the “cuartito”, never from the shed. One time she was sweeping and she asked me to get the… the… the thing that she couldn’t find a word for. So I said “I call a palita”, to my surprise, she laughed and said “that’s what we call it too. I remember having discussions with my friend and his parents (both Nuevomexicanos) about the differences and similarities between our cultures and our Spanish. I thought it was fascinating how they thought a tripa was a hose when, clearly, it’s an intestine. At that age, I began to form awareness of the variation of dialect amongst Nuevomexicanos and the Spanish that I had learned in Mexico. Perhaps my most interesting experience with my friends’ family was when I met his grandma, the cutest abuelita from old town Albuquerque that you could imagine and with all the attitude that you could possibly have. I distinctly remember my friend introducing me as being “Spanish” and he suggested I talk to her in Spanish. After a short conversation with her she turned to my friend and said “que bonito habla la lengua, esque habla mexicano”. At the time I was confused by that, I didn’t understand why speaking mexicano made my Spanish “pretty”.  Now I have a better understanding, she later told me that she didn’t like her Spanish because she was mocha. I share this last experience because I think it represents the stigma that New Mexican Spanish carries with it due to all the false stereotypes that have been attached to it.