The stereotypes I have right now about Mexico are being greatly influenced by this new show that I have been watching called Breaking Bad.  The show deals a lot with the drug cartel in Mexico, and so they show a lot of Mexican bad-guy-drug-lord-types who are ruthless and only care about one thing: money.  I know that not every one in Mexico is like this, and I am sure that I will not run into any of these violent types but if I did, I feel like I would end up dead just like the girl in the program before me.  Even if they aren’t true, the stereotypes I have about how violent the drug dealers are down there are enough to keep me far away from them, if I can help it. As far as the regular people that I will actually probably meet down there, I have pretty much no stereotypes or expectations.  The men might yell a few cat-calls at me, but that’s really no different than here in the States.  On the whole, I think people will generally be pretty nice and laid back.  I am just not very familiar with Merida, so I really don’t have too many stereotypes about the people there.  I just hope that it’s as safe and friendly as it sounds.

         My main expectation for my time in Merida is that I will become fluent in Spanish and better at listening and understanding Latin American accents.  Based on my study abroad experience in Spain, I am confident that after 10 weeks of speaking Spanish constantly and being around native speakers of Spanish, I will be fluent.  Another expectation I have is that I might not get to have as much fun in Merida as I did in Spain because I will be afraid of not staying safe.  I am worried about all the violence that I have heard about and I am going to try to stay away from dangerous situations but I hope that that doesn’t prevent me from having fun during my time in Merida.