Not just chips and salsa...

Yes, I could rant about all the different types of food I tried, and how I'll probably never eat Taco Bell again.  I could tell you about the random little hispanic boys that I met, who wanted to dance with me... and how one of them still talks to me on Facebook.  I could preach to you about how it's okay to brush your teeth with the water in Mexico, and I could fill you in on the different types of cars that drive around.  But you know what, I'm going to do more.  We're not going to just scrape the surface, we're going to unveil the true topics of Mexico, the "meat" of the trip, and discuss the whole international experience.

Like I'd mentioned before, traveling abroad is something every student is encouraged to take part in at least once while in college.  For me, I had pictured my first experience being somewhere in Europe... but Mexico was perfect!  I don't even know where to begin with the new and exciting things that I took part in.  I met some of the sweetest people, and we're still friends.  I made a whole new circle of friends in Mexico City, and even have a "Mexican Family" that I am encouraged to visit whenever I want!  I tried different foods that I never thought I would.  I listened to music I never even thought of listening to.  I climbed pyramids, rode bikes around a campus, spoke the native language on a daily basis, and even got kicked out of a Mexican Walmart. (I may have embellished that last one, but we really were asked to sit our bags in the front of a store, and just decided to leave-- saying we got thrown out seems cooler, right?)


Let's break down the experience into parts:

our little family! :)

Family and communication: I stayed with a 25 year old college student, who spoke very very little English... Let's just say GoogleTranslate was our best friend that week. Her name was Nalleli, and her parents lived close by, but her mother only visited a couple of times. Nalleli and I grew to understand each other through glances, facial expressions, hand gestures, and my broken Spanish. I had taken four years of Spanish in high school, and boy was I thankful! I was able to decipher what Nalleli was telling me, and I was able to conjugate a few verbs into a botched sentence. Never did we get frustrated with one another, we always were laughing and smiling. Music was a bonding element-- she liked American artists like Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, etc. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love music. Nalleli's friend, Viridiana, had been out of town our first couple of days, so my classmate Angel stayed with us at our humble abode (a.k.a a cute little apartment). It was like a giant slumber party the whole week. When "Vidi" got back, she ended up staying with us in the apartment too. So, picture this: 4 girls, 2 American, 2 Hispanic in a little apartment living together-- it was entertaining to say the least! Nalleli's mom spent the night once, and made us Tacos for breakfast, she visited while Angel and I weren't feeling well too. We all went out to eat, saw the town, etc. The only complaint I'd have about living with a 24 and 25 year old girls is that we didn't get the full effect of family living. Other students stayed in a house with siblings, and parents, maybe even some pets. I loved my experiences with the girls, but they felt like sisters or like our best friends-- which was awesome too! No matter the fact though, we had an awesome time. Nothing was ever boring, and we always were laughing.

Notice how tall I am in comparison to the guy? hahah 

Entertainment/Night Life: The first and last nights we were in Mexico, we experienced the night life of Mexico City. What would I compare it to? New York City on crack. There were people everywhere, random valet services, girls in dresses, people lined up outside of clubs for blocks, loud music on every corner, and flashing lights. Venders for random trinkets, and food lined the streets, and the sound of bumping music could be heard from blocks away. The first area we went to was, come to find out, the gay part of the city. It was similar to our LGBTQ community, like in Northside... but it was different. You wouldn't actually know that's where we were until you actually stopped and paid attention to the people around you. Men were holding hands, in fabulous little ensembles. And women were holding hands as well. No one seemed taken back by this display, and it was quite respectable. I have a lot of gay friends, which is no secret, and for me, it was awesome to see that the people of Mexico City were so open minded to the idea of homosexuality. Although I am straight, it's cool to see the gay community not being frowned upon, like it so often is in America. Regardless, the music they played in the clubs/bars was very similar to ours, and there were even better remixes. When the Spanish songs came on, I still was able to dance to the beat, it's just I had to mumble along to the words. This is where I met Raul, a friend of Kristen's host, Jimena. He spoke English rather well, and taught us a lot about the culture. He became a new friend for the week (and even today, he still chats me on Facebook, planning for my return to Mexico, and his arrival to Cincinnati. Not to mention, I think he has a crush on me... but that's for a whole other story).

During that first night, we also met up with one of Nalleli's friends who spoke English: Carmen.  She was hillarious!  She taught us some interesting words in Spanish, as well as some dance moves.  I was forced to take a picture with a really cute guy who only spoke Spanish, we were later going to salsa dance, but I had to leave.  Bummer.  Reguardless, we had an awesome first night experiencing the night life.  The funny thing about it all was that we left around 2-ish, and people looked like they were just going out to the clubs, the city must never sleep! On our final night in the city, we experienced similar habits. We found out that alcohol is cheaper than water or pop... But I don't drink, so they splurged for me! :)  We danced, or tried to dance in some of the most jam-packed placed I'd ever seen.  We had to be careful not to spill drinks on one another, and to make sure I was hitting anyone with my hair!  hahah.  We finally found the dance floor, and began to dance the night away.  Angel and I had luck with the fellas... they all wanted to dance with the foreign, American girls.  Too bad no one ever realized that Angel wasn't hispanic. hahha.  But irregardless, the fellas liked to ask us to dance, even if we couldn't salsa that well.  One boy decided to talk to me a lot, he even wanted a kiss... that's the last time I try to freshen up my breath on the dance floor.  Luckily I knew enough Spanish to avoid the awkward moments.  Let's just say the Mexico way of dancing involves a lot of touching, sweat and random words being whispered into your ear.  Finally, people caught on to our American-ness, when we did the "American girl dancing".  People asked where we were from, and we found a guy who had lived in California.  Awesome, right?  We stayed out for a long time, then had to wait around to figure out where our car was.  The valet service mixed with traffic and crazy drivers makes for an interesting scenario!  But it was great!  There is so much to do in Mexico City: clubs, bars, dancing, drinking, eating, fashion, shopping, parks, bike rides, metro buses, tours, walking, etc.  The list goes on and on.

Parks and Recreation: Throughout Mexico City, it is easy to spot the many beautiful buildings, monuments, parks, and architecture.  Our week was filled with trips to various cathedrals, parks, restaurants, etc.  When we heard that PDA was not a big deal in Mexico... we didn't believe it until we saw it all around us in the parks.  Sometimes it was hard to distinguish if it was two people or one.  Couples were everywhere, on every park bench, by every fountain, and showing their affection for one another all the same.  The parks here were beautiful, much different than our parks.  There were a lot of exotic looking trees, with gazeboes, and fountains everywhere.  Couples, children, and even dogs roamed the parks and monuments.  While we were being tourists and snapping pictures, the natives would stare at us, and sometimes laugh.  But it didn't bother me... we were foreigners.  How funny is that?? I was finally a foreigner.  Who would have thunk it?  We visited many of the YMCAs that were stationed around Mexico City.  In American, when we think of the YMCA, we think of a place for families to go swimming or play sports... in Mexico, and other countries, yes they are used for recreational activities, as well as for Universities.  Like the girls that we stayed with, the YMCA was their college, where they learned whatever classes they needed to earn a degree.  America is one of the few places that does not have a University linked with the YMCA.  Most of the students I talked to told me they wanted to major in some type of recreational studies, so the University of the YMCA seemed to be a perfect fit.  Many people in Mexico, especially students of UNAM ride their bikes often.  At the campus, there is a station to rent bikes, I thought that was pretty cool.  Since the campus is so large, students are able to borrow a bike and get to their classes across campus.  For me, the campus seemed to fit the cliche of a typical college, which was cool.  NKU definitely does not fit this quota.  NKU is known as the "concrete campus" with a different layout-- which is still cool. Duh. :) Go Norse!  Anyway, there are plenty of opportunities to exercise, and enjoy the scenery outdoors.  We saw many people running for exercise, as well as biking.  

Meals: it seems like in Mexico, eating is a bigger deal than it is in America.  We often times eat fast food, and just eat whenever we can... because we're always on the go.  In Mexico, it seems that sitting down to eat is an important part of being a family.  In restaurants, when we were just eating lunch and watching the soccer game, there were numerous families enjoying time together and watching the game. When you eat together, its like a bonding experience, and you have a chance to catch up on each other's day.  In America, we take eating a meal together for granted.  Also, while on the topic of eating... it seems like the people of Mexico are able to eat more frequently, or maybe they just eat more than us.  Who knows.  It seemed like Nalleli and Vidi were surprised that Angel and I weren't hungry often, and we only ate small portions.  Maybe it was just the adjustment process.  Also, they eat tacos at every time of the day... it doesn't matter if it's breakfast, lunch or dinner-- they can eat tacos whenever, however.  Let's just say I haven't had a taco since I've been back... maybe in a month or so, I'll try one.  We ate ice cream a few times we were there, that's an awesome treat that we all enjoy! Contrary to what we think-- burritos, chips and salsa, and nachos aren't authentic Mexican dishes.  This surprised me, I usually eat burritos.  They put lime, what they call lemon, on everything.  I think it adds flavor, and takes away from the heavy spices.  They drink pops from glass bottles, and cans... and would rather drink a beer with their meal.  I shall not bore you with the details of all this... you can read my journal for all that jazz. 

One of the markets that we visited, there were a lot of venders

Shopping: Although we went in thinking that everything in Mexico would be cheaper, we were fooled. Between the currency difference, and the fact that the money felt fake-- shopping was an interesting experience.  I had gotten a travelers card, where it could be used as a credit card... but little did I know, it didn't work everywhere.  At the mall, of all places, my card was rejected, and I had to take a trip to their ATM.  Here, is where I realized how different looking their prices looked in comparison to American dollars.  A dress there looked like it costed $300, but in reality, it was closer to $30.  hahah Their pesos are thin and colorful, with little butterflies or other shapes on them.  I felt like I was playing monopoly the whole week I was there.  The change pesos threw me for a loop.. they looked like quarters but combined, they could work for $5!  Who knew?  At the market places, we were encouraged to barter.  Vendors had different types of purses, clothing, jewelry, movies, cds, etc.  These marketplaces were very similar to our flea markets.  You could buy knock-off RayBan's sunglasses, Hollister shirts, or maybe even some Chanel jewelry.  When we walked around the mall-- it was comparable to our American stores.  As we walked around and compared stores to our H&M, our Wet Seal, Forever 21, Claire's, etc. The stores were interesting to compare to our American stores... they had Tommy Hilfiger, and Loui Vuitton, but it was just interesting to compare... 


Transportation: Let me start off by saying that I never saw a wreck, so that's a plus!  But, the drivers were the craziest thing I'd ever seen!  It didn't matter if the people were drunk, they drive crazy sober!  They call it multitasking, and being aware of their surroundings... I call it luck.  I was scared when we first got into the bus from the airport-- I figured, if we didn't die on the plane, we'd die by car ride! ahhh. There was bumper to bumper traffic at times, and sometimes there were cars that cut buses off-- but never was there a wreck.  It seemed as though turn signals were never used, and traffic lights were more of a suggestion, not a mandatory rule.  The caution lights were used a lot when stopping to drop someone off, and air-conditioning was not common.  People rarely stuck their hands out the window while driving, like teens do here. And I never have seen as many Volkswagen Beetles, as I did in Mexico City.  Apparently it's a common car, and they came in various size and colors.  Many people drove motorcycles, and bikes.  We rode around on a metro bus one day, where we took a tour of the city.  The metro bus is similar to a subway, but above ground.  They also have some sort of train-like device, which seemed to go very fast.  So, as in America, there seemed to be multiple types of transportation...