The other day, my wife came home furious because she had missed a perfect score on her English exam by one question. "It was about someone named Frank Sinatra. Who diablos is Frank Sinatra? Why can´t they ask about someone famous, like Pedro Infante?" "Pedro who?" It turns out that Pedro Infante is merely the most beloved figure in Mexican history, including revolutionary martyrs, futbolistas and bullfighters. He recorded more songs than Bing Crosby, and made more movies than John Wayne. There is a cable channel that shows his old black and white flicks around the clock. He died in a blaze of immortal glory at the controls of his private plane, with a metal plate in his skull from a previous wreck ( not a fast learner ). Forty some years after his death, they still have memorials and parades in his honor, as though he were Elvis or something. And to think I´d never heard of him! In fact, it used to amaze me to discover that my friends down here never heard of, say, Garth Brooks or Smokey Robinson, while they were equally bewildered that I did not know of Luis Miguel and Agustin Lara. It´s like a parallel universe down here, where cultural icons are given a different face and name, like the Catholic priests did with

the Aztec gods. Instead of Madonna, they have Gloria Trevi. Kenny Rogers is Vicente Fernandez. Bob Dylan is Alex Lora. Mariah Carey is Shakira. There is sad to say, no MIlli Vanilli. There is a certain amount of cultural crossover, though. Good old Bugs Bunny and his cartoon pals are huge down here, though the names have been changed so that spanish speaking people can relate more with the characters. Yosemite Sam is Sam Bigotes. Daffy Duck is Pato Lucas. Fred and Barney are Pedro and Pablo. Meanwhile, the Hispanic wave is sweeping over the U.S.A. Salsa now outsells catsup. The Latin beat is heating up the pop charts. Half the guys in Major League Baseball are named Martinez. And there is no end in sight. As the world lurches into the 21st century, it is inevitable that cultural interchanges will only increase. We will see more piñatas and chili peppers in the US, and more Christmas trees and hamburgers in Mexico. It is always a bit sad to see traditions such as basketweaving and mariachi give way to grafitti and rap, but that´s the price of neoliberal globalization, I guess. So go ahead, Hollywood, send down your Star Wars, Los Simpsons and MTV. But, please, just for me, don´t send the Brady Bunch!