Interview with Neli

Neli first came to Exeter in 2002 to learn English for a year, from Mexico City. She made great friends here, as well as improving her English and meeting her future husband (Mark). After her year studying English in Exeter, she went back to Mexico to finish her Philosophy degree at the prestigious Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM). Mark surprised her by going out to Mexico and ended up living almost a year there with her family. They then maintained a long-distance relationship between the UK and Mexico for several years, before getting married in England in 2006. She now lives with her husband and son in Exeter and works part time at a charity called Refugee Support Devon. During her free time, she likes to keep herself fit doing exercise such as swimming, and she loves badminton but has not been able to play much over the past few months due to the pandemic. She also enjoys going out with her friends, listening to music, and dancing. Neli talks of missing the warmth of Latin America compared to the coldness of the UK, both in climate and in character. She discusses language ability as a barrier, the relationship between language and identity, and how people can share language, but have no other common ground. Through living here, she now understands the culture much more and has some wonderful friends here, of whom she met a lot of at the English Language School in Exeter. Neli highlights how important food is to Mexican culture and identity by bringing tortillas and chillies as objects that remind her of home, and these are items that she really misses living here in the UK. She talks of the aromas from her grandmother’s cooking and the depth of flavour in Mexican cuisine.