|
|
|
|
| |
| Misconceptions About Mexico |
Misconceptions About MexicoThere are a lot of misconceptions about Mexico and a lot of stereotypes. For example, I’ve been coming here since 1998, but I’ve never actually seen someone wearing a wide-brimmed sombrero while taking a siesta under a shade tree. I've never gone out dancing and seen the crowd suddenly break into a rendition of the mexican hat dance either. In the North you actually see a lot of cowboy hats and pickup trucks. I think it would be almost safe to refer to parts of Northern Mexico as "Lower Texas" sometimes. In Acapulco, you see a lot of shorts and flip-flops.
Another common misconception about Mexico is that it’s somehow primitive and backward. I kid you not, my grandmother once asked if they had television here. Well, dozens of channels actually. They've got broadband internet, modern hospitals, a high-tech manufacturing sector, their own film industry, why they've even got camera phones. If that's not progress well I just don't know what is.
What is different in Mexico is that all of these trappings of modernity are not spread evenly around the country. There are pockets of development right next to pockets of underdevelopment. There are, however, no sprawling suburban wastelands enveloping the cities like in the U.S.. There is also still a lot of tradition. If you look hard enough, you can find people living not so different than they did during the last days of Montezuma, though they don't always seem happy about it. A third major misconception is that Mexico it is unsafe. Truth be told, there are parts of Mexico that are unsafe. Really unsafe. Cuidad Juarez has to be one of the worst places on earth and, frankly, the other border towns are irredeemable hellholes as well. Mexico City can also be pretty sketchy if you wander into the wrong areas of just wander around alone at night. Weird things seem to take place down around the border with Guatemala too.
This may sound like a lot, but just imagine judging the United States by what happens in South Central L.A., Detroit, or Newark. Like the U.S., Mexico is really, really big. Just take a look in our map section.
I would say that Mexico is not only safe, it actually feels safer than the U.S.. I know I wander all over Acapulco and don't worry. For one, there always seem to be people around selling this or that, walking, or just standing around talking. I can't say that about my former states of Michigan or Texas back in the U.S. and I sure can't say that about my other favorite city on earth, Rio de Janeiro.
Mexicans themselves defy stereotype. You can find tall, blonde Mexicans as well as short brown ones. There are Jewish Mexicans, Chinese Mexicans, black Mexicans, you name it. You can find quiet, shy folks as well as guys that drink tequila and scream at the top of their lungs. You can find deeply religious Mexicans as well as some that have never seen the inside of a church. You can find the stereotypical Mexican macho walking down the same street as a Mexican drag queen.
Still, Mexico is Mexico and there is something unique about the place that really can't be put into words and that you can't find anyplace else on earth. If Mexico isn't one of the richest countries on earth when measured in terms of wealth, it has to be one of the richest when measured in terms of culture. I would say just keep and open mind and you'll find what you're after... Mexico really has something for everyone.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
| What's happening
in Acapulco? |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
