Stereotypes:
I don’t know that I have any stereotypes of Mexicans because I don’t know enough about their life style or history to make any. I know that Mexican men here in America don’t hesitate to stare me down when I walk by, but that’s not a stereotype if I experience it first hand every time. Plus I know several women who have been to Mexico and they told me the same thing. I guess a popular stereotype that Americans in general have of Mexicans is that they will do anything for cheap. I’ve heard that they will do the dirty work for little pay, but I’ve never experienced that so I have no idea if it’s accurate. I guess it’s good to go to Mexico with no previously formed stereotypes, so I have an open mind to everything.
Expectations:
Cuando voy a la Mérida, México, espero aprender muchas cosas sobre de la cultura Mexicana. Espero hablar español con fluidez. Creo que cuando vivo con las personas que hablan español, yo entenderé el idioma mejor que antes. Espero tener una nueva perspectiva del mundo cuando vuelvo.
In Merida:
Cocimos al dueño de una tienda en el Mercado. Se llama Chafí Dajdaj Alam. El ha trabajado en su tienda por 40 años! Es un negocio familiar que fue empezado por su papa. Tiene una empleada que es su ayudante. Tiene un hermano que trabaja con él también, pero está enfermo.
El vende huipiles, fustanes, y mucha ropa típica de Yucatán. Sus materials son de los pueblos. La gente del pueblo hace la ropa a mano y también a máquina. Hay mucha competencia con otras tiendas: con diez tiendas, más o menos.
El es un hombre bueno y agradable. El nos ofreció un buen precio por todas las cosas, especialmente a Molly y a Tomás. La cosa favorite de é les el huipil. No tiene otras tiendas. El nos dijo que vende más los sábados y menos los miércoles. Lo pasamos bien y queremos regresar pronto.
After Merida:
Expectations:
I tried not to form any expectations before I came here because I didnt want to be let down and I did want to be pleasantly surprised. I truly was. Literally, everything was amazing here. My living conditions, my family, my roommate, all the activities I took part in. Everything was perfect and this was one of the best experiences of my life. I feel like if I would have made expectations about anything ahead of time, I wouldn´t have been able to go with the flow of things. This way I could adapt much easier and keep an open mind about everything I experienced. The future is no place to place your better days! I enjoyed every minute I was in as it was happening, and just went where the days took me without planning too far ahead and expecting things to work out the way I wanted them to.
Stereotypes:
I didn´t really have any stereotypes before I came because I didn´t know a whole lot about Mexico or the culture before I came here. The only thing I assumed would be the men acting more perverted than I was used to. That was confirmed for sure because I got a hell of a lot more attention here than ever before. Men were extremely obvious and didn´t try to hide anything from me. They would say or do anything to get my attention. It´s not that big of a deal because they didn´t mean any real harm, but it was difficult to get used to. Other than that everything here was exactly what I could have hoped for it to be and more.