Hasta Luego Mexico

This will be my final blog about my time in Mexico. I have had some great experiences here and it is going to be hard leaving some of the people I have met here. There are lots of things I will miss, and of course not miss; but that is part of the expierence.


Things I am not going to miss:

Pollution, I am entirely used to it and it is terrible. When I used to walk home from the gym my nose would burn from all the car exhaust. The city has made some regulations but there are so many people here I think it would be really hard to fix the problem.

On Sunday I went to the royal palace here in the city. It was the last thing left to do from my guide book. When we got to the palace located on the top of a huge hill, I looked out over the enormous city and could see the snow covered mountains. I knew they existed but there is always smog so they are never visible. It was really cool to finally see them after 4 months. The problem is the city is so high, 10,000 ft, these mountains trap the pollution and unless it is windy there is no visibility of the mountains.

I can't wait to breathe in the clean air in Minnesota.

Poverty

I will not miss seeing all the elderly woman begging on the streets on my way to work. Every day I see kids from ages 1- 8 that are either selling gum in the streets or just laying on the cement next to their begging mother. They obviously don't go to school and it is weird to think they probably can't read. If I were one of these people making 50 pesos a day I would migrate to the United States illegaly in a second.

The US can build all the walls and border protection it wants, but the problem starts in Mexico and the extremely corrupt government needs to solve the problem internally, the US is only a heaven for these people. The idea of making 7 dollars an hour in a field in America has a lot more appeal than making the Minimum wage of 50 pesos a day (about 3-4 dollars). When you see the immigrants don't blame them for wanting the same things we do, they just had no options in Mexico. It doesn't mean we can open the border by any means, but have some empathy.

This weekend we went to the tree lighting on the main street in the City. It is supposedly the tallest tree in the world. I found it funny that the government spent thousands of dollars (with sponsership from Pepsi)on this christmas tree when this country lacks CLEAN WATER and almost 50 percent of the people live in poverty.


Things I am going to miss:

Friendliness:
Mexican people are so friendly. They say please and thank you all the time. At work any time I finished a project or research something I would always get an email saying Gracias. We are quite polite in Minnesota, but the manners and human relations skills required to live in Mexico are high.

Everyday in the gym I have a conversation for at least 20 minutes with the trainer and then when my friends enter I can talk with them for up to 40 minutes. This doesn't happen much in the US because we value time differently and we always seem to be busy or in a hurry. I am going to miss these long conversations because Americans are known for being superficial.

I had to watch a video before studying abroad my freshman year and the video contained interviews from foreign students whom lived in the US. The main thing they didn't like about our culture was the shallowness we have with everyone. If you dont believe me think about it for a moment.

On campus everyday at Concordia we will say "Hi, How are you" the typical response is "Good" how are you "good". After these moments you continue to pass by them and go on your way. This would be considered very rude in Mexico because you would have to stop and actually have a conversation. Americans just say hi and pass by without having to really converse. The Mexican way of stopping and talking would sometimes be annoying because I would walk through the university hoping I didn't see anyone I know because I would rather just go to class and not have 15 minute conversations with everyone. I guess somedays it is nice being antisocial.

Not to mention you have to shake hands with men everytime you see them and give one kiss to each woman. In a group of 6 people it could take at least 2 minutes to greet everyone. In the US if we saw a group of friends we would say hello and pass by without having to touch and formally greet each person. If you don't believe Americans are superficial in this way try to have a 5 minute conversation with everyone you know next time you see them in public. One of the persons will probably be in a hurry or need to do something and the conversation will seem too long.

Cheap Food:

I am going to miss how cheap everything is here. A coffee is a little more than a dollar at starbucks. Donuts are only 33 cents. You can get a full lunch for around 5 dollars. Groceries here are really cheap and I hate how in the US if you want to buy anything it only comes in family size. If I want to buy spinach I always have to buy a family size bag for 3-4 dollars that always gets old because I am the only one eating it.

I noticed this in Spain too. The groceries are much cheaper and you don't have to buy in such big quantities. Groceries in the US cost so much money, no wonder everyone goes out to eat all the time. I will miss eating for little money, but drinks cost a lot in the city here, I'd say like New York City in many of the nice places.

Conclusion:

I have seen a lot and met many people in Mexico. I am not sure when I will come back, especially to the city. I learned here that I really don't know if I would want to live in a huge city. I have been to New York but I think growing up in Minnesota really makes me appreciate space and the quietness of our neighborhoods. I also and glad I don't live in a developing country. In the US we have opportunities to go to school, drink water out of the tap or get a loan for a house.

Americans can get cocky sometimes about all the things we have, but if you realize the amount of credit we have and use it is shocking. Latin Americans usually own everything they have. I would like to meet an American who owns their house, car or degree. I understand how great credit is, but the idea of actually paying for something in cash is interesting.

I think I will be done with blogging for a while. Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions about anything. I have now lived in three very differnet countries and can't wait to get home and settle down for a few years. If I feel the need to move again I will go, but after I get my feet on the ground.



Have a great Christmas and don't be so hard on the immigrants, they just want the same things out of life that you do. The idea of a country is just imaginary lines drawn on a map. I am pretty sure God doesn't know what a country is, it is something made up by man.