Way behind again on the blog, ah well. At least some folks have been commenting to keep me motivated and let me know I'm really not just talking to myself. Muchas gracias!!
So, about the "real" Mexico. This is one of those phrases I hear from people, mostly gringos, now and then that just makes me wonder. For instance, a friend told me not long ago that they wanted to come to Mexico to visit, but they wanted to see the "real" Mexico. Hmmm...ok so that means what? That they want to go out to a small pueblo somewhere where most of the people are poor and maybe wear indigenous dress, where the water system is bad and the tortillas are good, and where the locals will look at you funny and wonder why a gringo would be visiting this place? Well, that certainly is one real Mexico and there is plenty of it. But it's hard to say it's THE real Mexico.
This past weekend we went to visit a little town outside Mexico City called Tepotzotlan. It has something of the feel of a small pueblo still, with a large old church and cobblestone streets, but modern banks have also moved in and I even found the special diet imported cat food that Rufus needs in the small vet store there. Instead of hand made goods being sold in the center market, men walk around with poles carrying plastic water guns and Winnie the Pooh balloons. And that does make me sad in some ways. Winnie the Pooh, one could argue, is definititively NOT the real Mexico.
But the museum in the old church there also does a good job of showing that it's hard to say just what the "real" Mexico is. Its displays of the conquest and colonial period of Mexican history show both the indigenous and the Spanish artifacts together, side by side, and all mixed up with each other. Because that's what made Mexico, this mixing of two starkly different civilizations, traditional and modern, linear and cyclical, doctrinal and mystic. It was a forced mixing to be sure, one based on oppression and control, but in the end neither culture completely conquered the other, and what was left was this crazy, contradictory place and people called Mexico.
And so the real Mexico? Well, it certainly is those small pueblos and the indigenous peoples struggling to survive an onslaught of globalization and modernity. But it's also this urban megalopolis where a quarter of the population of the country live. And it's the crowded tourist beaches and the raunchy border towns. It's even the millions of Mexicans living in the U.S. sending money home and hoping for the day they can bring the rest of their family north.
So, when you come to visit, and I hope you will!, just don't ask to see the "real" Mexico. I wouldn't know where to start.
2 comments:
Of all the towns throughout all of Mexico, I had the opportunity to visit Tepotzotlan - it is a charming little town!(in 2003, it seemed to be on the cusp of being "discovered" by tourists... is that still the case?).
Hopefully, you were able to wander into the ice cream parlor not far from the church. About 98 different flavors of ice cream - very fun!
Just a reminder, also, that I'm SURE you are experiencing Mexico as about real as it gets. Bridget, know that you are doing your part toward peace and harmony between the U.S. and Mexico. Thanks!
Take care!
Great post! That's something I always wonder about as a tourist. So many thing are part of a "world culture" and can be found in New York, Bangladesh, or Mexico. And you can't necessarily say that these aren't a real part of each nation's culture. But, as with Winnie-the-Pooh, just because I can find McDonalds hamburgers in China, that doesn't make them Chinese cuisine. I'd still eat at a McDonalds in China, just to see how it differs. That's what makes travel interesting.
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