Stereotypes: 

A few stereotypes that I have about Mexico and Mexican culture are first, that much of Mexico is rather lawless, that many people get away with more misdemeanor type crimes involving alcohol, drugs, robbery, etc. Also, it seems that lately there have been many greater crime issues especially that of murder and drug trafficking in the northern border towns of Mexico. Another stereotype I have is that Mexico is a very machismo society. Meaning that it is very aggressively male dominated. I also have the idea that Mexico has more racial inequality due to the less defined lines of European, Indigenous, or African descent. Along with with that I think that Mexico also has fewer institutions dealing with these things and that Mexico, has the backwards motto of guilty until proven innocent. Other than that, I feel that many Mexicans resent Americans for their government as well as overall arrogance and see college aged Americans as arrogant, careless, rich, wild, party animals like seen in many movies and also popularized by media and songs in the US. 

I was just talking about how I feel safer here in Merida than I do in my hometown of Columbus. I was also just talking about how all the taxi drivers, bus drivers, restaurant workers are nice and never felt like I was being taken advantage of for being a foreigner. I also didn’t experience many signs of people being prejudiced against people from the United States, and everyone was really friendly and eager to learn about our culture. The house I stayed in was very nice and clean, much like a nice house in the United States, I never got sick from the food, and I even ate from the street carts, the water is not an issue unless you drink it from the faucet, which no one does, and pretty much every other stereotype I had was broken as well. Mexico is a beautiful and diverse place and it is not far behind the US in any aspect like technology or anything. Like I said before, the stereotypes people make are because of the lack of knowledge they have. I thought I knew a bit about the country and the people of Mexico,  and so I had some general stereotypes and ideas, but when I got here I realized it is completely different than I ever could have thought.

Expectations:

My expectations for this study abroad experience in Merida are all encompassing and limitless. I expect to have a new and wonderful experience as soon as I set foot on the ground at Cancun. I hope to be immersed into a whole new culture at that point, and then even more so when I escape the touristy area when I arrive in Merida. All the while, enjoying the long bus ride with classmates and seeing the foreign flora and fauna. I then expect to meet my host family, do some exploring of the city and settle in after an exciting first day. From then on I plan to exert myself in class as much as possible learning everything I can while I am in this wonderful school setting and completely throw myself into the culture of Merida. I expect my host family to get along marvelously and together we can learn very much from one another and they can help me to understand the culture, language, and traditions of the Yucatan. I can not fully say what all of my expectations are because I just expect to have the best time of my college career and experience something completely new, foreign, and different to me.  My main expectation is for this to be a life changing experience for me.

All I can really say is that my expectations of this program and Merida in general were based on something I completely had no knowledge of, even though I’d been researching and studying about the city and the culture for a while. I in reality had no idea what I was getting myself into. Every expectation I had was completely shattered. The beauty of the city, kindness of my host family, the enjoyment of everyday, everything was something I could not predict and cannot even begin to explain. The only way someone can see how great this city is and the culture of the Yucatan is to come here and see it and experience it for yourself.