Mexicans Love Tattoos

I have 10 tattoos. While a lot of them are covered up most of the time, I have some pretty prominent ones, such as my autumn leaves on my chest. I’m used to the stares and the occasional remarks (negative or positive) but I have never received such an abundance of comments before I went to Mexico.

Here’s a photo of me with some old coworkers in Argentina, because a photo of just my chest tattoo would be really weird.

Awkward employee chats

I was staying at a resort, so there were employees everywhere. The bellboys, the cleaning guys, pool-side waiters,

I got this tattoo in honor of my 6 week trip home while living in Argentina. Read about it.

restaurant waiters, cooks, and so on. I got a lot of uncomfortable (albeit sometimes flattering) stares. I’d say about 8 times out of 10, after an employee helped me they would just linger for a moment, awkwardly, before making the decision to say something.

All of them loved my tattoos and would ask about how many I had and where I got them. They would then launch into a story about how many they had, where they were, why they had them, etc. I was honestly concerned that a couple waiters might rip off their shirts right then and there. Once, I was having breakfast with Cailin and I went into the buffet area to get some eggs. Cailin thought I had somehow gotten lost because I was gone for 20 minutes. In reality, I was just trapped in and in-depth conversation about tattoos with the chef.

$300 tattoos and everyone likes the dinosaurs

I have several large, intricate tattoos, many of which cost me well over $300 and several hours in the tattoo chair. I also have two dinosaurs, drawn child-style on my either side of my right ankle. There’s a happy brontosaurus and an angry T-Rex. I got them on a whim, typed up a Spanish paper in the lobby while I waited and paid I think $50 bucks for the both of them. They are everyone’s favorite. I don’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed that all the other, much more impressive tattoos are being shafted.

Rawr!

There are no leaves in the desert

Like I said, my most prominent tattoo is the autumn leaves I have tattooed on my chest. While they are pretty clearly leaves, I have suffered through many an idiot who think I have a giant butterfly or flames tattooed below my neck. Usually, I am so disgusted by their stupidity, that I can hardly hold back the sass when I correct them. This was different in Mexico.

When I explained that the tattoo was autumn leaves, I got a lot of blank stares. It wasn’t until the second or third time that I realized something – there are no autumn leaves in the desert.

Many of the employees had lived in the desert their entire life. Of course they are unfamiliar with autumn leaves! There are no leaves there! And it’s always summer! I never considered how difficult it would be to describe the changing of leaves to someone who has never experienced it.

I love that Mexicans love tattoos. In my travels, I have found that most Latinos are all about tattoos, which is a refreshing mindset to encounter compared with what I usually get at home.