10 ideas about Mexico which are not true
In the minds of most people, Mexico is usually seen as a beach resort destination or a corrupt narco-state run by drug lords. However, most people don’t know the truth about Mexico, its culture, and its people.
1.The capital of Mexico is Mexico City
Most people still think that the capital of Mexico is DF. However, that’s not true anymore. The actual capital now is CDMX –in english Mexico City. Just like the US capital of Washington, Mexico City is distinct from the various states that make up the rest of the country, and it is closely controlled by the federal government which is based there.
2. Traditional Mexican food are burritos or Chimichang
Everyone seems to love Mexican food, so much so that it was recently classified as an irreplaceable part of the cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. For example, in Mexico, nobody eats Chimichanga or burritos filled with rice,
Not only that, most authentic Mexican food is not very spicy or hot — it’s sour due to several limes (in Spanish simply called lemons). Outside of Mexico what people refer to as “Mexican food” is often actually is Tex-Mex
3. Mexicans always have dark skin
When my friends look through my photos taken in Mexico, I often hear ‘he/she doesn’t look Mexican’. Assuming all Mexicans have dark skin and black hair is a huge mistake as there are plenty of Mexicans that are as white as Northern Europeans. Not only that, in big cities like Mexico City there exist huge communities of Mexicans with Jewish and European roots
4. Mexican Spanish is like any other Spanish
Mexican and Spanish vocabulary differ, “coger” in Spain the verb means “to take”, it’s common to say “voy a coger un taxi” (“I’m going to take a taxi”) but in Mexico we say “voy a tomar un taxi”.
Here are some more examples of vocabulary that differs between mexico and spain
Spain: Un ordenador (“computer”) México: Una computadora
Spain: Unas gafas (“glasses”) México: Unos lentes
Spain: Un bolígrafo (“pen”) México: Una pluma
Spain: Una patata (“potato”) México: Una papa
Spain: Un melocotón (“peach”) México: Un durazno
5.Mexico is unsafe
According to US travel advisory board: ‘Mexico City (also known as CDMX): No advisory is in effect.
CDMX: The place is safer than some of the big cities in America or even Europe. Of course, bad things happen like anywhere else in the world, but in Mexico most homicides happen between the drug gangs, not regular citizens.
6.Mexico is a third world country
The term ‘third world’ was invented during the Cold War as one of three geopolitical divisions of alignment. Countries aligned with the US were considered “first world”, those aligned with the Soviet Union were “the second world”, and non-aligned countries were “the third world”. Although the Cold War ended 25 years ago, the term “third world” became synonymous with poverty in colloquial speech while the other two terms disappeared.
If one were to rank countries by GDP per capita, Mexico lies somewhere between Turkey and Brazil. Like any developed state, it offers plenty of modern hotels, houses, and exclusive restaurants. On the other hand, the gap between poor and rich is quite big — while some households have a maid and a driver, most others don’t even have enough to live on.
7. Mexico is always hot
Mexico is a big country; therefore, the weather varies. Some zones are indeed perpetually hot, but in some areas, it even snows sometimes. Central Mexico has a high altitude and so temperatures vary throughout the year. Personally, CDMX has the best weather in the world (Average temp a year of 65F)
8.México’s top places are Cancun, Puerto Vallarta or Baja California
Tourists usually only know about two Mexican locations: Cancun and Baja California. However, those places don’t represent the whole country at all if you visit them as a tourist in the so-called ‘zona Hotelera’
Both places are very ‘Americanized’ — everyone speaks English and things are expensive.
However, outside of the big resorts, these places are not very nice. Mexicans usually go to different resort towns such as Acapulco, Playa del Carmen, Huatulco, and many others.
9. Mexicans don’t celebrate 5 de mayo. Independence Day is on 15 of Sep
Mexico declared independence on September 27th, 1821, but the beginning of the independence war was Sept 16th, 1810 — the day that’s celebrated as Independence Day. It follows from the day of the Cry of Dolores (El Grito de Dolores), on September 15.
Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day, it only commemorates the Battle of Puebla in 1862 when Mexico won against the French army. It’s pretty much only celebrated in Puebla and by Mexican immigrants in the United States.
10. Mexico is in North America
I often correct people when it comes to the geographical location of Mexico. People usually think that since Mexico is a part of Latin America it’s located in either South or Central America. But Mexico is a part of North America, along with the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean islands.
I live in Mexico now I came from india in 1996 for work and fell in love I have travelled extensively within the country tried variety of Mexican food and made my best friends in this country , Many people have misconception about Mexico and their information is based on stereotypes and bad press and because of this they’re scared to go to Mexico, but not many people know what is Mexico known for.
Aashiesh Pounj Co Founder Pikkop
