Many of my friends in Mexico tell me that I am more mexican than the chile. (Maybe it is because I like chile). The truth is I love Mexico and since I have spent close to half my life there, it is natural that it has become like home to me.
In fact most of my friends down there are more than friends, they are family.
First Impressions: I first went down to Cuernavaca in 1977, as part of a team of 3, sent by a children’s magazine (Bread For Children) I was with at the time.
I had already traveled to Mexico City (known as D.F. or Distrito Federal) by bus, so I was a little familiar with the city. However driving was another thing. Especially back in 1977!
The fun part was the signs. My spanish was at the time in its begining stages, but one of the girls with us was from Colombia, so the language was no problem. But oh my, the signs.
The thing that stands out the most to me about my first drive through Mexico City? The signs!
Along the Pereferico, one of the main axles of the city, there were signs showing the exits just as every city has. Only in D.F. they were not so easy to follow as most cities.
One sign said “Cuernavaca”. Great, we were getting close to the exit. But that was the last sign that mentioned Cuernavaca. The next one said “Insurgentes”. Now if you knew that Insurgentes would lead you out of the city in the direction of Cuernavaca you were fine. But we did not know that!
First Encounter with Culture Shock
Result? Close to 1am in the morning found us still going around in circles and learning a lot about Mexican culture. It seems that almost no one will answer your inquiry with “I don’t know”. They will make something up first. So when we asked for directions to Cuernavaca, guess what? We ended up getting more lost than ever!
Discovering the Friendliness of the Country
Finally an “angel” taxi rescued 3 tired and frustrated girls as the driver cheerfully told us: “Follow me”. Yes there are MANY people in Mexico like that, so willing to go well out of their way to help.
We followed him and were soon crossing the mountains to Cuernavaca where we were joyfully received by our hosts who were anxiously waiting our arrival. Our weariness was soon forgotten as we experienced the warmth of our new family.
I love Mexico! The people are so warm and friendly, that any frustrations you may face are soon forgotten!
Interested in learning spanish? Take a look at the only course on the net that will teach you real latin spanish, and get 10 free videos today Go here now!
Yuli
P.S. The signs on the Pereferico have been upgraded since my first trip, and now they are easy to follow.
Shileen
school grants
Jill
Bruce
January 7th, 2009 at 1:39 am
[...] Everything Set To Go. So we had an apartment to go to and a printer waiting for us. All we need to do was to take the original copy of the magazine down, some equipment to continue working with future volumes. There was even a car provided. Wow! The trip down was not too eventful until we reached Mexico City and I tell the story of that little adventure right here.. [...]
December 17th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Greetings,
I just wanted to share that through out the years we are able to learn from others, and our own, on how being a successful person. Especially if we have Christ by our side.