What I Call Home ^^

Mexico... you've probably heard of it: Speedy Gonzales, Tacos, Tequila, Cactus, Chili, Carlos Slim, Sombreros, Ponchos, Piñatas and much more. And probably you've also heard the "dark details": Drugs, Poverty, blah blah blah; which are actually not as important in my writing and in my way of looking at this relatively big country trapped between The States, The Latinos, the Pacific Ocean and Cuba.

I've met people from different places. Some have asked me if we speak Mexican, my answer to that NOO! We speak Spanish!. Some have told me that Mexico is a city in Spain, but sorry that's not correct, we are a country in America. I've also heard "Do you go by Donkey to school?", sorry that would be kind of cool, but no, I drive a car.

First, What I think, including a little context for those not familiarized with the topic. Mexico is not exactly a First World Country, but it's in a pretty god place in the list, and day by day it's getting better.

Our public education is not the best, and yes, not all of our children have the opportunity to learn how to read, and yes, not all of our teenagers have the time to go to high school because they need to get money for their homes. But we have young people that are able to look for solutions, even when the recourses are short, we have people that got the chance to attend to a private school and get a high level  education, and have started looking for solutions, helping others, developing incredible ideas.

The politics in Mexico is basically divided in three, the conservative, the liberals and the communists; but in the end everybody is controlled by the same people year after year. Will get over it.

Yeah, we have drug dealing, but if you don't mess with 'em they won't mess with you, so take a breath is not that scary as it sounds on BBC News. Just think of an American Movie,  the mexican mafia can't really do something without screwing it up.

Mexico is a country where the diversity of food is extremely big, it goes from a plate that's really spicy to the sweetest candy you can imagine, we have a magical history in our cities because we have old pyramids and classic spanish XVIII century buildings in the same Plaza, we receive information from the "Important Countries" and from the poor. We still have people in our towns, where they build everything by hand and where you see children smiling, because even if it's not the best quality of life, it's one of the happiest populations of our planet.

I was away from home for a year, now I'm back. I missed it, like hell. I can confess, before I left I thought it wasn't that cool, but now I can tell I love it, and I'm really thankful I'm from this land. I really had luck because where I live is a mix of the best of the 1st. World countries and the best of The Rest, and maybe a little taste of Mafia.

-Luisa Alcocer