Our next trip is to Mexico! I thought this would be a good second stop on our journey since I also speak Spanish and there are some things about Mexico I would like to clear up. I think there is an unfair stereotype of Mexicans here in the United States and it really needs to end. Mexicans are not just illegal alien day laborers who always take siestas, they are lovely, normal people. Americans are too quick to judge others who they do not understand. Mexico and its citizens have more to offer than cheap tacos, paint jobs, and drug cartels. Today we will be exploring some beautiful aspects of Mexico and its culture.
The stereotype we are going to disprove is the food. Mexican food does not consist of tacos and burritos like Taco Bell makes it out to be. The food served at Taco Bell is Tex-Mex, a mixture of Mexican and Texan food and is nothing like traditional Mexican dishes. Mexican food is actually very complex and contains many more ingredients than Tex-Mex does. One popular dish is mole (pronounced MOE-lay). It is a sauce that can be put over some kind of meat, usually chicken or turkey. It can have up to 30 different ingredients but it always contains some kind of chili pepper and chocolate. Although I have never tried it, I would definitely like to because it seems like an interesting combination of flavors. Here is a picture of mole:
<--- Yum!
http://pinterest.com/pin/562457440932027843/
The next two stereotypes I am going to combine together to disprove at the same time. Mexicans are not all day-laborers and Mexico is not completely full of drug cartels. Mexicans are perfectly capable of holding high-paying, steady jobs like doctors and lawyers. If all Mexicans were just day-laborers the society and economy would completely collapse. Now for the drug cartels. While there are a couple drug cartels that have become more powerful recently and have been in the news, there are some places in Mexico that are completely free of drug violence. It is like saying the murder rate in Chicago represents all of the United States. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about the Mexican Drug War which includes a map of the affected provinces:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War#Effects_in_Mexico
I hope this has made y'all realize that Mexico is not what Americans make it out to be. It is much more complex and developed than we are brought up to believe. Here is one more picture of Mexico that should prove my theory that Mexico is a beautiful place:
A lovely sunset in Cancún.
http://pinterest.com/pin/52213676901962398/
Your travel advisor,
Kinley
P.S. If you would like to see an article that deals with why we have these terrible stereotypes of Mexicans in the first place click here:
http://yawpingmylifeaway.blogspot.com/2013/02/blame-it-on-mexicans.html
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