I try to go on a trip every month, so in June, I booked a flight. Two weeks later I landed in Mexico City!
Even though Mexico City is our neighbor, I realized I knew very little about it besides hearing news (oftentimes negative, especially under the era of Trump) from the media. I decided on Mexico City because my friend, Lyndon, was living there for a month. He just finished his first year of medical school and has this summer off for research. So, I found this as a great opportunity to visit him and learn more about Mexico.
The wonderful part about traveling is that you can’t really expect anything to come out of a place that you visit. You may expect to do an entire laundry list of things, but in the end, you might just ditch that list and move along with the energy of the city. That’s what happened to me, and I met some unexpected people and wound up in random places. But I had a blast doing it.
I was humbly surprised by how much I enjoyed Mexico City. Trips like these make me appreciate this world and how different we all are.
Mexico City has such a dense history. It was originally built on a lake during the Aztec period (seriously, a lake!). They were able to erect an artificial island, and to this day, Mexico City is sinking. I don’t want to go into the details, but the native people who founded this area were highly intelligent beings. They discovered so much about the solar system and astronomy long before the white man proclaimed it.
The Neighborhoods
Mexico City has some of the coolest neighborhoods, each with its own personality and reputation. I stayed in the Roma neighborhood, which is known for being the young and hip area alongside the La Condesa neighborhood. I walked aimlessly for miles searching for some cool places to snap pictures, eat some amazing, authentic street food, and relax at cafes. I walked and biked everywhere because that’s how I learn best: slowly and steadily so I can take in all the sights and smells.
The People and Culture
I think the biggest take-away from this trip was my absolute enthrallment with Mexico’s culture and people. I became friends with Lyndon’s roommate, Manuel, who is a radiology resident at the nearby hospital. We had numerous conversations where we talked for hours at a time (some lasting 3+ hours!). We talked about so many topics, from his personal life to the different cultures in Mexico; from the different types of dancing to Mexico’s huge drug trafficking issue and politics. I wanted to learn more and more with each conversation we had going deeper and deeper. I was also surprised by how much we clicked despite the language barrier and basically knowing him for only a few days. Again, these cross-cultural experiences with me traveling to places that I knew little about — they are truly my teachers, mentors, and life’s heartwarming treats.
I’ve also appreciated the importance of relationships with others. Even though I hadn’t spent that much of a significant time with Lyndon since our time abroad in Oxford, England for one summer, we were able to stay in touch throughout my year in Thailand and his few months in Guatemala and first year in medical school. There are a few people who you can travel with, and Lyndon is one of them. I think we share the same approach to traveling, and we also don’t get on each other’s nerves, haha. The point is, try your best to stay in touch with friends because your relationships with others shape you, for better or for worse. So you better find friends that make you better.
Not Goodbye
Leaving Mexico City was bittersweet. I caught a nasty stomach bug from the street food, so I was ready to get better by eating some clean food back home in LA. But I was also sad to leave this city right after I got into the swing of things. I know I’ll be back, though. I still have much more to learn.
I want to learn more Spanish, explore more of South America, wander through the streets of Medellin, Colombia, where the story of Narcos was based off (Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel), camp and hike through Patagonia (while wearing all my Patagonia gear), eat my way through the street food, hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and learn more about the history and culture of these countries. Possibly a short stint in one of these countries?? Who knows.
All I know is that this is just the beginning of my journey across this hemisphere.
