1. Interview with Yeral October 20, 2015
Los Muertos Pub, Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is weird the way resort towns are weird. It’s a lively town built up to host a
lot of tourists. Many of them are American or Canadian, some are Mexican, and a lot of them
are gay. Puerto Vallarta is known for that. It has taco stands with rotating meat cylinders
roasting in the sun; a weird amount of really elderly Mexican women. Stripped Jeeps
driving through the streets with megaphones selling water or propane. But it also has
modern nightclubs and craft beer pubs and resort beaches. My partner Rune and I stayed in
a mostly Mexican apartment building in the city during our 10-day stay.
It seems like a coincidence: but there are a surprising number of people who came to visit
the city and ended up staying. My impression is that the Mexican government’s attitude
toward visas is pretty relaxed. One guy we met told us that if you go to the airport after
your six-month stay is supposed to end and say you lost your visa papers, they’ll give you
new papers that allow you another six-month stay for a small fee. We met lots of people
who came to PV and stayed for years, opening up restaurants or hostels, or just living off
their savings. It’s possible to live for really cheap in Mexico, as long as you can stand the
heat. It’s the most humid place I’ve ever been. To move is to sweat.
We met Yeral in a craft beer pub—Rune and I spend a lot of time in that kind of a place. The
pub was owned by an American guy from Salt Lake City; one of the guys who moved there
and stayed. Yeral’s name tag said she was from Boise so I asked about it. She’s about 25
years old, and she looks really happy. She said she moved here nine years ago and really
loves it. I hear so much about immigrants from Mexico, I thought it would be interesting to
hear from someone going the other way.
I was especially interested in this concept because of my family’s reaction when I said I was
driving through Mexico with Rune. They were terrified. I can’t overemphasize. Everyone in
my family told me I was insane to do it. Someone suggested, “there’s a reason they’re all
coming here.” I guess, implying the reason was violent crime. So far, I haven’t seen any
traces of violence or even crime.
So while Yeral was working, she was nice enough to answer some of my questions for me. If
you listen to the recording, you can probably tell—I was really surprised by some of her
answers. The interview was not what I was expecting it to be: an interview about an
American who got bored and flew to a Mexican tourist town to live the high life for a while.
That wasn’t really her story at all, so it was a great interview to humble my expectations of
a clean little package of a story. What she had to say was more important than what I
wanted her to say.
Yeral
Puerto Vallarta
October 20, 2015

2. Q: So, when did you get here?
Yeral: I got here the 18th of February. Nine years ago.
Q: You remember the exact date?
Yeral: The 18th of February, yes, exactly.
Q: Was it colder here?
Yeral: No, it was…it really doesn’t get cold here, so it was a little cooler, but not cold.
Q: It’s so hot, I can’t even handle it. Is it ok to you?
Yeral: You get used to it.
Q: So does your family know Mexico?
Yeral: Yeah, my mom and dad are both from here.
Q: From Puerto Vallarta?
Yeral: Yeah, from Puerto Vallarta, and they moved to L.A., and that’s where they met. My
mom came back and had me here, and so she went back and took me when I was a couple
weeks old. I grew up in the states, and I have three other sisters and brothers, and they
grew up in the States as well. And the reason that we came back is because my mom got
deported. My mom got deported.
Q: Oh my god, yeah. Ok.
Yeral: My mom got deported nine years ago.
Q: So that was under the Bush administration.
Yeral: Yeah.
Q: Ok, wow, can I ask…was it like a work situation? I never know how that happens; how
does that happen?
Yeral: I guess she says that one of her jobs tried to apply for a visa, and that’s what…like
she tried to apply for it and they said no, and they went to go look for her.
Q: Oh my god. I know that’s a terrible situation…so they like showed up at her door some
time.
Yeral: Yeah, they showed up at her door and took her.

3. Q: They were just like, “You’re coming with us right now.” ?
Yeral: Yeah.
Q: Holy shit.
Yeral: She was in pajamas, and [they] were like, “You’re leaving just the way you are,” so
they took her and she was like, “I’m not going to go back,” but I mean, she stayed here, and
eventually we just thought about it like…ok, I guess.
Q: So your family lives here now? Or your mom does.
Yeral: My mom does. And then my sister came down a year after she did and I came two
years after she did.
Q: So do you like it? Are you happy?
Yeral: Now I am. At first I wasn’t. Because you’re so used to the States and everything.
Q: So how old were you when you moved here? Like, high school?
Yeral: I graduated high school. I was 20 when I moved here.
Q: Ok, yeah. That’s like the age you up and move, right?
Yeral: Forcibly or willingly.
Q: How did your friends react?
Yeral: I didn’t tell them.
Q: You just moved here?
Yeral: I just started getting everything together, and I told my best friend and she started
crying. She was like a sister. She grew up with us. Her mom didn’t really take care of her, so
my mom was the one who took care of her, so when I told her she started crying, like, “No,
don’t leave.” She was the only person I told. She was like, “No way.” When I got down here, I
hated it at first. Honestly. I was like, “No way, what did I do.” But you get used to it. It took
me about two years to get situated, and then get a good job, and then start meeting new
people; friends. And then you start liking it.
Q: So now you feel like it’s your home, kind of?
Yeral: Yeah, I don’t think I’d ever go back to the States to live.

4. Q: That’s kind of nice to hear, honestly. It’s cool narrative to hear people talk about…more
people than just a couple are doing that. Do you know anybody else that moved?
Yeral: Yeah, totally. Well, not really moved. I don’t think anybody really moves to Mexico,
but I know so many people from high school, from middle school, from elementary school,
that their parents got deported, that they got deported, and now they’re here, and it’s all
over. They’re in Mexico City, Cabo, Mazatlan, everywhere right? And then we just all of a
sudden meet up on Facebook; they’re like, “You’re in Mexico?” ”Yeah!” “What happened?” “I
got deported too!” Yeah, a lot of people that I know.
Q: So they don’t do it on purpose.
Yeral: Well, most people that are here don’t come because they want to, honestly.
Q: But there’s so many people.
Yeral: There’s so many people. But once they get here they get so used to it. And it’s more
that you have to learn to live with it, and so they do, and they end up liking it. They end up
making the best of it and they find a good job and a good place to live, and they end up
saying, “Yeah, I like this place.”
Q: Puerto Vallarta is like—I’m not living here but I’ve been here for a little while and I can’t
believe how nice it is.
Yeral: This is actually my favorite spot. I’ve been to Cancun, Cabo, I’ve been to Mazatlan,
Acapulco, Chiapas, Vera Cruz, Mexico City, and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Q: It’s so nice. How do people feel about Americans? Or when they find out about you—that
you grew up in America? It’s probably different. How do they feel about tourists in this
city?
Yeral: Well, you’ve got to think about it this way too—Vallarta is based off tourism. That’s
where the money comes from, so Mexicans love tourists, right? They’ve got to. You do have
your typical Americans that think they’re better than everybody. You have your Mexicans
that think they’re better than everybody as well, right? But you do have your typical
Americans that are just like…they try to step all over you. But it’s everywhere.
Q: Was it an advantage to speak English?
Yeral: Huge. But at the same time, I grew up not speaking Spanish. So when I got here I was
like, What? Who? Where? I didn’t know who the president was, I didn’t know how to speak
it, I didn’t know how to do anything. So when I got here, it was bad. Now, I don’t know
either or. I’m like, I don’t care what America does and I don’t care what Mexico does. No
news, no nothing. If it doesn’t affect me, then I’m good.
Q: Can you see a difference in how women are treated?

5. Yeral: Here and the States? Yeah, I guess. Kind of.
Q: Personally.
Yeral: My point of view is that men here are a little more “my way or the highway.” Like, “I
work, you cook. I work, you clean. I work, you take care of the kids.” Recently a lot of
women are starting to speak up and step out. They’re like, “No, I want to do this too.” And
instead, some guys take it ok, and some don’t.
Q: It’s a culture shift.
Yeral: Yeah, it’s huge, because the guys are so used to having their way, and when they
work and bring in the money, they have all the say. When they see that a woman can do it
without them, then that’s going to start getting scary. But I also saw it in the states. I saw a
lot of it in the States. Women there are more independent and they have more support.
Q: By the government or the social systems…?
Yeral: Yeah, by the government. Here, yeah, they’re starting to. I also think it has to do with
them, because if they don’t want to, they’re never going to get anywhere.
Q: I know you have to get back to work, but thanks so much for talking with me.
It seems like deportation isn’t a story that’s told much anymore. Even though illegal
immigration to the U.S. seems like it’s leveling off, more people were deported during
President Obama’s administration any administration in history(depending on how you
define deportation). It’s an old story, but it was extremely real when I sat down to talk with
a girl my age, with my accent and virtually my nationality, and listened to her talk about
being made to move to Mexico, where she had to learn to speak Spanish knowing she could
not return to the country she where she grew up. Mexico’s a beautiful place, and it’s
misunderstood in a lot of ways, but Yeral made me wonder how many stories like hers are
floating around, outdated by repetition and a lack of national progress.