In my late 20’s I took a Spanish immersion class where I would be staying with 4 host families in two weeks.  My parents were concerned, my friends worried, as the stereotype of gang-ridden border towns and tourist-preying resorts were the typical idea of a trip to Mexico.

My experience couldn’t have been more different.  In Mexico, as it were, there is strong emphasis placed on the “f” word – fun.  Eating, drinking and dancing are to be expected at family get-togethers.  Large families (with 15 brothers and sisters, for example) throw epic parties.  During my 14 days south of the border, the low-stress, highly social Mexican culture was a welcome change of pace.  

My first stop was Mexico City (or “DF”, Distrito Federal), one of the largest cities in the world at 21 million people (metropolitan.)  Coupled with its high crime rate, pollution is also infamous in Mexico City.  One day in the 1980s the air contamination was so high that thousands of birds actually fell straight down from the sky.  When air quality is especially poor (most days), simply breathing is equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes per day.

More than the pollution, the cab drivers were the scariest part of my 2 weeks.  I often contemplated telling my lead-footed driver “I’d like to go to school, not to orbit”, which I actually learned in Spanish thanks to a handy phrasebook I picked up.  

Poverty was unlike anything I’d ever seen in my (at the time) limited international experience.  As we were driving, I noticed that at every stoplight there were people performing magic tricks, cleaning your windshield, and selling random items (mechanical pencil refills, ugly blow-up animals, etc.)  I even saw a few people blowing fire.

The most surprising part, however, was the commitment to family time.  While most teenagers in the USA look for reasons to escape time at home, kids in Mexico enjoy being with their parents.  Family love is displayed freely and simply.  A goodbye kiss and soft-spoken prayer from a mother to son before departing for school.  A daughter smiling as she dances the salsa with her father in the kitchen.  A mother and her kids sprawled lazily on the same small couch, laughing lightly, while the grandmother observes from a comfy chair.  She smiles.

One of my host dads (‘papa’) said something funny after a conversation about the myriad of problems plaguing Mexico.  “Carlo, you should realize that thanks to Santa Anna (famous Mexican war general) you are not Mexican,” he joked.  

“No papa,” I thought.  “It’s Santa Anna’s fault I am not Mexican, but thanks to him, I am proud to be a Texan.”  

Staying with a family is an authentic window to a culture.  If only our students could have more host family experiences – we’d see a lot less war in this world.