Cinco de Mayo in the United Arab Emirates … well, it’s May 5. The end. The day after May 4. The day before May 6.

Cindo de Mayo does not exist as any sort of holiday here because Mexico may as well be on the moon to the overwhelming majority of people who live in this country. Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos, Arabs, Britons … Mexico just doesn’t show up in their worlds.

And it strikes me, on Cinco de Mayo, especially, that I miss Mexico over here.

It’s not as if I were part of Cinco de Mayo parades back home. But I took advantage of a chance to have a margarita and some nachos. Maybe some dinner.

What Cinco de Mayo reminds me of is … how removed I am from Mexican culture, so familiar to everyone in Southern California. The work ethic. The tight families. The food.

Given a choice of one food that I would eat every night for the rest of my life … I would pick Mexican. A tostado today, a burrito tomorrow, enchiladas the day after, a couple of tamales, some tacos … repeat. Forever.

Mexican food here, though, is only a rumor. It may be out there. But we can’t really verify it.

Problem No. 1 is … almost no Mexicans in this town. Abu Dhabi prides itself on its multi-cultural mix, but it does not appear to include Mexicans. Just not here. They have an embassy, so there must be a few dozen Mexicans in town, but … not enough to be noticed.

Mexico doesn’t come up. The New World is just some hazy far off concept in this really old part of the Old World. About all I’m sure the locals know about Mexico is … that they usually make the World Cup.

Mexico shouldn’t feel badly about it. Just as Americans couldn’t find the UAE on a globe in less than an hour, I am convinced that the locals here don’t know Costa Rica from Puerto Rica. They wouldn’t know the U.S. if it were not the world’s only superpower.  It’s about distance and religion and culture.

Back to food.

Even if, say, a gringo wanted to open a Mexican restaurant, the market for Mexican here would be severely limited. They have so many other national cuisines vying in the marketplace. And Mexican is just too exotic. Or not exotic, so much as just unimaginable. It doesn’t come up in Indian movies. It isn’t eaten by Brits. Pakistanis don’t sit around dreaming of tacos. It’s just too unfamiliar.

Mexico is a long way from here. In just about every imaginable way.

We have heard tell of one Mexican restaurant in town, up in Khalidiya Mall. We were told it’s”not bad” … but we were told this by Canadians, and we carry that Southern California snobbery thing about how nobody in the U.S. really knows Mexican food except people living in the border states. We are convinced this alleged Mexican restaurant would only make us feel worse about what we are missing. The authentic versions, that is.

I miss California every day. Some days, I miss Mexico, too. Cinco de Mayo is one of them.