by Joye Chase

Created on: September 06, 2008

We often have to experience things ourselves to change something about our life and thoughts. Experiencing a different culture can evoke more compassion and understanding than you might have had before.
As a Southern California girl I've been exposed to all the hot-button issues of illegal immigration. I've listened to the rantings on the radio and heard intelligent people converse about it. Illegals grouping at the local swap meet is a common sight. I've tried to buy something from a cashier who only spoke Spanish.

I had a dark impression of these runaways home country. I could never imagine breaking the law and risking everything just to leave my country. Of course, in America, we don't know how good we have it. We have so much extra in America that the homeless druggy down the alley can live for free off the excess that we throw away everyday. We can't imagine life without indoor plumbing. Women get up in the morning before their husband so that he never has to see them without makeup. Kids only think about the newest bling, and when they'll be able to have their own car. Our capitalistic system is evidently working, even in the current economic stalemate. We have so much.
With the illegal immigration issue rising to an incredulous statistic Mexico has become a repressive and third world country in the eyes of many people.
This is the outlook I had before I was introduced to the real thing.
I didn't know what to expect. Would the people be different? Was it safe to eat the food? How often should I wash my hands? But despite my slightly paranoid fears I was looking forward to practicing my Spanish lingo and experiencing the country firsthand.
It was rather hard to adjust to everything being in Spanish, and my ego was becoming increasingly humble as I realized how little of the language I actually knew. I remember walking around the Mexican city for the first time. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Sometimes, the most practical way of getting across the street is to j-walk! Crosswalks are few and far between though they are there. I risked my life about a dozen times crossing the same street in the middle of the road, trying to time the coming cars just right. About halfway through my visit, somebody pointed out the convenient little crosswalk about one hundred feet from where I had been crossing.
But apart from the adventuresome travails of the streets, I noticed something. Mexico was not half as foreboding or austere as I had imagined! The people were happy and the kids were the same bling-wanting, car-driving kids they are on the other side of the border! Oh, and three things Spanish women love: Fancy shirts, very dangly earrings, and high heels. Mexico has a romantic aura surrounding it. The toughness of the inner-cities are contrasted by the sentimentality permeating them with the penetrating antiquated architecture.
Part of the cities are not so beautiful. But I still learned something from my trip. Mexico is still a beautiful gem even though her government is unstable and her people are leaving in droves. The country has wonderful potential if someone cared enough to start something.
Illegal immigration is still a problem in America. And though I see how people would want to cross over to this country, I can't help seeing the country being left behind.

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