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Published: November 30th -0001
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I was pumped up to enter Guadalajara, Mexico´s second largest city which I had heard so many great things about from los mexicanos.¨¨ I made it to the city center after spending about 45 minutes in traffic on the city buses, but no worries the sub 20 futbol game for copa americana was playing on the bus TV. I relaxed at Hostal Guadalajara for a bit as i talked to a couple from Denmark who were driving around Mexico and listened to all of their crazy stories. They were planning on driving 12,000 km over a month or so and said they had not encountered any serious problems thoughout their tour on the mexican highways (with safety or the corrupt police force). They looked tired and dirty and were only in the city for the night so I let them go to bed early.
I ended up going to a house party a few blocks away from the city´s main plazas that night. The majority of the time I chatted with this guy from Mexico City about his country´s political corruption. He said his cousin was shot in the face in Mexico City in some gang crossfire but luckily managed
to survive. After this he left the city for Guadalajara and basically never returned. He kept warning me that Mexico´s capital was an extremely dangerous place as I told him of my intentions of going there in a few weeks. He spoke of all the organized crime in his country and how the mafia rules everything- the police, politicians and military- by intimidation and throwing their money around. He mentioned that the politicians are powerless because often they fear for their lives. He also spoke of the grave poverty in his country and how so many people are starving to death everyday. As he spoke of the dark realities of Mexico I could feel the passion in his voice and he even started to tear up as he continued to reveal his feelings about his country´s grave problems. He asked me about what the view is of Mexico in the US and I told him that the media unfortunately portrays his country as this dangerous place where kidnappings and crime are a regular occurance. I told him that it was sad that many people in the US always believe what they hear on TV or read in the newspapers, which
often just focus on bad news which sells more resulting in more profits. I said it was a shame that you rarely see programs or articles in the media on all of great things Mexico has to offer- a rich culture and history, warm and hospitable people, beautiful climate and topography, and such varied wildlife offerings. I told him you really need to visit a country and draw your own conclusions and try not to let the media sway your opinion.
Unfortunately, the majority of the time in Guadalajara I was ill with the stomach flu and lost my lunch about three times. I consider myself lucky that things were not worse since I met a guy who ate at the same market as I did in Guanajuanto and was convulsing in his bed for a week thereafter. I had been really eating everything in sight for the first few days in my trip- tacos, gorditas, enchiladas, tostadas- you name it, I ate it. My sickness could have been a result of market food I ate a few days earlier in Guanajuato or just my body´s way of adjusting to all the heavy, fried mexican food I had been
consuming - who knows. I totally expected to get sick at some point on my trip and just accepted it as a write of passage into Mexico. I was just happy things were not worse and that my illness only held me back for a few days.
I gathered enough energy to check out the Lucha Libre- Mexican Pro Wrestling event at a stadium in a sketchy area of the city. What an experience that was!! Of course they followed the theme of good guy/villian just like I had come to know as a result of watching Saturday morning wrestling in the 80s and early 90s. The audience just took things to another level as they all yelled - ¨chinga su madre pandejo¨ (f_ck your mother) over and over again when the villians would start winning. Even 8 year old kids with their dads could be heard yelling all these vulgarities, it was truly an experience not to be forgotten!!
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veronica
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sad but true
corruption...a vicious cycle--i didn't know guadalajara was the second largest city. i'm thinking of taking a spanish course over there next summer. this is like a soap for me right now-lol. i'm reading all your blogs and they're getting better everytime---can't wait for the ending.