Goodbye Mexico

When I had to depart from Mexico City 2 days ago, I was actually feeling sad to leave this country which has impressed me so unexpectedly and in such a positive way. I’ve traveled most of the Yucatán Peninsula as well as the Chiapas region, and maybe it was there that I finally grew comfortable and content with being a globe trotter.

Mexico definitely did me good. Contrary to all the negative stories that are told about the country in terms of crime and violence, I haven’t had one single bad experience! I don’t want to deny that the crime and violence exists, but all the people that I met were extremely warm-hearted and friendly, and despite (or because of) the language barrier they always tried to help me. I have grown especially fond of the colectivo drivers and I chose the colectivos as my primary means of transportation. They are very inexpensive, the drivers never tried to rip me off with regard to the fare and they (or the other passengers on board) always told me where to get off so that I felt really safe and attended to.

I absolutely loved the food once I was able to eat again :-/

There are some scenes which have left a long-lasting impression on me: There is an omnipresence of police, military and private security guards, which often puzzled me because I could not detect the reason for them showing up on a truck, armed to the teeth.

Then there is the joyful mood and atmosphere among many people in defiance of all the hardships the country is facing. For example, locals were often dancing on the street to live music performed by some street musicians.

In San Cristóbal I observed how two indigenous women from the villages around came into town to withdraw money from an ATM machine at a bank. They were obviously not used to handling the technology (or were not able to read?) because they handed over their bank card to the security guard and asked him to withdraw the money for them. This especially struck me because I realized how helpless the indigenous people must feel. They have been disadvantaged for so long and they are now facing a world which depends so highly on technology that it is not possible to do without anymore.