Misconceptions About Mexico

Misconceptions and stereotypes about Mexico abound. Try to free yourself of them all.

You can spend twenty years or more in Mexico and never actually see anyone snoozing in the shade under a wide-brimmed sombrero. You will never go out dancing and see the crowd suddenly break into the Mexican Hat Dance. The northern part of the country does have its share of cowboy hats and pickup trucks. In this regard, it looks like a Spanish-speaking version of Texas, given the ranchero culture. In Acapulco, you see lots of shorts and flip-flops instead.

Another common misconception about Mexico is that it is somehow primitive and backward. Your grandmother might have wondered if they have television in Mexico yet. Well, there are hundreds of channels, actually. There is broadband internet. There are modern hospitals, a high-tech manufacturing sector and a home-grown film industry. Mexico offers such ponderous modern technological marvels as the camera phone. In short, Mexico is able to provide all the technology and comfort that you will find in the U.S. or Canada.

The major difference is that in Mexico, all of these trappings of modernity are not spread evenly around the country or among the social classes. Pockets of high development co-exist right beside pockets of underdevelopment. If you look for it, you will find places where people live not much differently than their ancestors did in the final days of Montezuma. And just down the road, some of the world's most wealthy (like Carlos Slim) might have a sprawling mansion.

Another major misconception is that Mexico is unsafe. For sure, parts of Mexico are unsafe. Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo qualify as some of the scariest places on earth, and the other border towns may easily strike one as irredeemable hellholes as well. Mexico City can also be pretty dangerous if you stumble into the wrong areas or wander around alone at night. Also, odd things seem to take place down around the border with Guatemala.

This may sound like a lot, but imagine judging the United States by what happens in South Central L.A., Detroit, and Newark. Like the U.S., Mexico is a large, diverse country. The Mexico you find in Acapulco is not only safe, it actually feels safer than the US. One can wander all over Acapulco without worries. You will always see people milling around, selling this or that, walking, or just standing around talking.

Mexicans themselves defy stereotyping. You can find tall, blonde Mexicans as well as short brown ones. There are Jewish Mexicans, Chinese Mexicans, black Mexicans and American-Mexicans. 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 never darken the door of a church. You can find a rough and tough Mexican macho walking down the very same street as a Mexican drag queen.

There is something unique about Mexico that defies putting down in words. If Mexico is not one of the richest countries on earth when measured in money terms, it has to be one of the richest when measured in culture. The key to finding it is an open mind. Mexico really offers rich rewards to us all.