Mexikid: Chapters 4–8

by Pedro Martín
In this graphic memoir Pedro/Peter Martín recounts the summer when his big family took a road trip to Mexico to tighten loose ends and bring his legendary, bandit-fighting Abuelito to live with them in California.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–8, Chapters 9–11, Chapters 12–16, Chapters 17–20
40 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. mercilessly
    without pity
    Motorhomes are like giant apartment-sized pinball machines!...Especially when they're on the move. That's when they will mercilessly knock you into all the fancy sharp edges and hot surfaces.
  2. conveyance
    something that serves as a means of transportation
    But Amá was a champ at it. Her mom-center-of-gravity allowed her to pour milk in any moving vehicle without spilling a drop. Not just motorized conveyances! Apá said she could do it from the back of a horse at a full gallop.
  3. gallop
    a fast gait of a horse
    But Amá was a champ at it. Her mom-center-of-gravity allowed her to pour milk in any moving vehicle without spilling a drop. Not just motorized conveyances! Apá said she could do it from the back of a horse at a full gallop.
  4. predecessor
    one who goes before you in time
    Years of playing Winnebago Wizard and it predecessor, VW VAN—The Super Sardine Can, had also honed Amá's other travel skills.
  5. hone
    refine or make more perfect or effective
    Years of playing Winnebago Wizard and it predecessor, VW VAN—The Super Sardine Can, had also honed Amá's other travel skills.
  6. pun
    a humorous play on words
    Snapped-in-half bananas had even less appeal than bathroom bananas.
    Ew. No pun.
  7. attraction
    an entertainment that is offered to the public
    California had some of the best attractions, but we never, ever stopped at any of them. These were some of my favorite nonstops: Santa's Village, Giant Artichoke Fruit Stand.
  8. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    My dad was famous for many things. Least of which was his disdain for stopping at roadside attractions.
  9. scalding
    extremely hot
    But why? He flips cups of scalding hot coffee for his customers! It's cool!
  10. flimsy
    not convincing
    It's not shameful! It's supposed to be amazing, according to the flimsy context clues on all the road signs!
  11. incidental
    not of prime or central importance
    He can flip cups while he does backflips! The backflips are purely incidental.
  12. simultaneously
    at the same instant
    And he can whip ribbons of scalding coffee from both hands, simultaneously!
  13. border
    a line that indicates a boundary
    While we waited for the grown-ups, we decided to be responsible and bundle all the poor kids' stuff and our new stuff for the trip over the border.
    Good night, sweet new loot!
  14. loot
    goods or money obtained illegally
    While we waited for the grown-ups, we decided to be responsible and bundle all the poor kids' stuff and our new stuff for the trip over the border.
    Good night, sweet new loot!
  15. charity
    an activity or gift that benefits the public at large
    Look at all this! How many people did you tell about us bringing charity bundles to Mexico?
  16. counterfeit
    not genuine; imitating something superior
    Well, well. This doesn't look like normal travel luggage. Looks like you have a lot of stuff here to sell on the other side. Look! you've even created tiny counterfeit price tags! This is obviously contraband, señora!
  17. contraband
    goods whose trade or possession is prohibited by law
    Well, well. This doesn't look like normal travel luggage. Looks like you have a lot of stuff here to sell on the other side. Look! you've even created tiny counterfeit price tags! This is obviously contraband, señora!
  18. confiscate
    take temporary possession of a security by legal authority
    Then all these things stay here. We'll confiscate them for the government!
  19. affiliate
    join in a social or business relationship
    Ugh! What did we tell you? You say nothing! And never affiliate yourself with any particular gang!
  20. wrath
    intense anger
    Hmm. So, Mexico, you have delicious pineapple treats, eh? Well played, Mexico. I'll reserve my wrath until after my ice cream.
  21. unregulated
    not subject to rule or discipline
    A Mexican Boy's Guide to: Unregulated Toys
  22. ingenuity
    the power of creative imagination
    Mexican ingenuity + no oversight = fun!
  23. machete
    a large knife used as a weapon or for cutting vegetation
    A Mini Machete: It's actually sharp and has the word "Mexico" painted on it so you know that the guy killing you is from Mexico (Or just a classy tourist like my brothers!)
  24. constitution
    the way in which someone or something is composed
    Yeah, it'll give you chorro. You kids don't have the right kind of bacteria in your gut to digest raw milk. Since we were born here, we have the right constitution for raw Mexican milk.
  25. vulnerable
    susceptible to attack
    See? You guys made fun of us for not being born in a hospital. This is where your clean hospital births have gotten you. Being only "somewhat American" has left you vulnerable to the simple licuado.
  26. wrangle
    herd or round up
    This is how you wrangle an escaping toro with el choro!
  27. terrain
    a piece of ground having specific characteristics
    From Tijuana, we drove on for a while before the terrain started to get really mountainous and scary.
  28. treacherous
    dangerously unstable and unpredictable
    This area was called Plan de Barrancas. A treacherous two-lane road up a very steep canyon.
  29. canyon
    a ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall
    This area was called Plan de Barrancas. A treacherous two-lane road up a very steep canyon.
  30. inadvertently
    without knowledge or intention
    Well, Hugo managed to touch all of them and inadvertently turned off the flow of gas from the full tank to the empty one...I think.
  31. debris
    the remains of something that has been destroyed
    It would take a scientist to explain it, but that ended up clogging the motor with debris from the bottom of the empty tank.
  32. nestle
    lie in a sheltered position
    Apá cautiously drove us to the first town he could find. It was a little, little place nestled deep inside of the canyon below.
  33. practically
    almost; nearly
    This looks good. Hello, sir! Table for eleven.
    Eleven? That's practically a complete mariachi band!
  34. subjugate
    make subservient; force to submit or subdue
    Are you going to tell us a looong story about how the Spanish subjugated the Indigenous people and stole all their great ideas?
  35. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
    I was going to point out that the bread for the torta was a vestige of the imperialistic French that occupied, and were eventually kicked out of, Mexico in 1867.
  36. imperialistic
    of a powerful country gaining control over weaker countries
    I was going to point out that the bread for the torta was a vestige of the imperialistic French that occupied, and were eventually kicked out of, Mexico in 1867.
  37. immersion
    complete attention; intense mental effort
    Well, lucky for you, you're about to get a country-sized immersion lesson into the Spanish language and your rich Mexican heritage too!
  38. heritage
    an attribute that is inherited from ancestors
    Heritage stuff? Like the stories about Abuelito and the Revolutionary War?
  39. undercurrent
    a feeling or tendency that is not explicitly expressed
    There were socioeconomic and political undercurrents that put all the land's wealth and power into the hands of foreign investors and rich land owners who subjugated the Indigenous people, and...
  40. agrarian
    relating to rural matters
    There's some really interesting history right here concerning the people's struggles for social and agrarian reforms.
Created on Fri Mar 29 16:30:09 EDT 2024 (updated Tue Apr 02 11:40:20 EDT 2024)

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