For the better part of my life Mexico has meant vacations; a beautiful country to go to, whether east or west coast, where the people are nice and the food excellent. Four years ago, I made my vacation destination, my home, selling my house and most possessions I had in Montreal and moved to Puerto Vallarta, where the temperature never reaches the minuses and the rain, for the few months it does rain, is warm.
When people learn of my move, they first say, you are so lucky to live in such a paradise, immediately followed by aren’t you scared of all the violence, because of course when most strangers see the news on television, they automatically think that violence is all over Mexico, they do not have a good idea of Mexico’s geography, sad but true.
With a history that spans some 30 000 years, my wish would be for Mexico to be able to let other countries know not only where it’s at on the map but that there is so much more to this wonderful country than the violence that occurs. Be it, it’s art and food culture, if only that.
Mine might be a simplistic view, in lieu of all that as been happening lately but maybe sometimes, simple isn’t so bad.
Written by Sophie Regimbald for Caras de México. Click here to read more articles examining Mexican identity.