Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Experience/thoughts about Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize
I have never visited Honduras, Belize, or Guatemala, but I have been to Mexico a few times. When I was a much younger Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, we would occasionally go down to Tijuana, or TJ, when we had a long weekend. I'll be honest- we weren't really going down to experience the culture. We would go down to drink at the bars, just to go somewhere different. My experience wasn't all that pleasant. The last time I went I was with a group of 3 buddies and we were drinking at a bar, minding our own business and ended up getting mugged by a group of 10-15 Mexicans. I was knocked unconscious by a guy with brass knuckles and came to after my buddies had carried me to my truck. All they got off of us was a few bucks, some smokes, and some cans of dip. Maybe because of my bad experience, the first three things that come to mind about Mexico or Central America are fairly negative. I think dirty, corrupt, and desolate. This is surely an unfair assessment, but this was my experience. Tijuana was filthy. Everything was covered in dirt and dust and there was trash everywhere. I think corrupt probably from listening to the news coming out of Mexico about the political corruption and widespread police corruption. If you watch the news, they portray it as a country where every cop and politician is on the take, living under the control of drug cartels. Most of our movies focus on this aspect of Mexico. I think desolate because of what I saw when traveling to Tijuana. The landscape was barren, like desert. This I know is only a small part of what it is like, but I never got to see the tropics of Central America which I am sure are very beautiful. I look forward to learning about Mesoamerican culture and the arts to counterbalance the perceptions I have based on my experience. I know that this region has a lot to offer culturally and historically, I am just trying to be honest.
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all these places are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteand yes hopefully we will learn more about them.
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ReplyDeleteMy first comment didn't have my name; still learning. I'm giving it another try:
ReplyDeleteIt’s sad to read of your experience in getting mugged, obviously that will leave a strong negative impression. I have a negative perception as well, but in learning about the history and culture, and reading some of our classmate’s experiences, I can’t believe I am contemplating perhaps one day visiting again. My mother has been going to San Miguel de Allende regularly and, she’s told me it is wonderful and that the people she has met are incredibly nice. Tijuana is unfortunately what so many of us first experience when visiting Mexico, and from what I understand it is likely the worst of Mexico.
Hello Greg, I glad you understand that the crime and coruption of Mexico come to mind when I think about Mexico. There are alot of beautiful places there but also alot of poverty and crime. I will tell you now that I dont see anything in the near future that is going to change this. Things are only going to get worse, but hopfully all the good will survive!
ReplyDeleteDuane Boucher
Greg - I certainly appreciate your honesty, but I don't think that you can compare all of Mexico to Tiajuana. I have been there a few times myself, but chose not to re-visit it in my blog. I hope that one day you get to experience the Mexico that I have come to love....
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