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schely10 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: Guadalajara, Mx

Hello all!

I will be coming to mexico in june. I am a 5'8" african american female. I'm sure I will stick out Laughing

!! What can I expect? Also, I was thinking about driving there from here, but I've read a lot of horror stories about lone female drivers in mexico. What would you suggest i do, drive or fly?

I will be teaching english through the internetworks company for my first year there. My possible location will be guadalajara. I will be looking around for a better spot after my arrival. Any suggestions? I like city life, warm climate (no frost AT ALL), or not far from a nice beach area.

Hopefully, I will be able to land a decent job. I have a BA in international studies; an MA in adult education. I have been teaching middle school in baltimore city for 3 1/2 years; however, I am not a certified teacher, nor do i have an efl cert. At one point in life, i was fluent in spanish, but due to lack of use, i now only have a basic command of the language. I've been reviewing some books, but hopefully, just being there will bring it back.

Do you think i will have problems because i'm black? I am a very friendly person, so I hope not.

Gringo Greg · Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 2:32 pm Post subject: no

No problems for the most part, Mexico isn't like Asian countries where you might have a big problem. I am not gonna say you are gonna have little problems, but I doubt it. When I taught in mexico, I had a black colleague and he really enjoyed his teaching and Mexico.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

schely10 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: Guadalajara, Mx

Thanks guys! Thats good to know. What about the driving thing? Safe? Unsafe? Is it worth it to have ones own transpo in the cities there? I know that it would not be wise to take a car to mexico city, but that is not one of the areas that I considering.

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

Driving is a bit exhausting through northern Mexico, but I drove to central Mexico from Santa Fe, New Mexico, 10 years ago in a 1965 VW Beetle! I kept the car for 6 years, finally sold it. You don't really need a car here.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

Gringo Greg · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:21 am Post subject: nix the car

I agree, Nix the car, just a lot of expense and not a lot of advantages. Mexico is not the US and it is easy to get around without a car, try that in Phoenix or LA. I think you will want a car if you are in Mexico long term, but if you want to truly make it in Mexico, you gotta start living like a Mexican and having a car other such luxuries will slow that down.

There are lot of ways to get from the border, back in 1997, I did it on the train, 1st class, 36 hours to Mexico City. I have done it by plane, I have done it by car and I have done it by bus. The best way is by plane, just a few hours and you are there and it doesn't cost much more than busing it there.

schely10 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: Guadalajara, Mx

Thanks for the info guys! I really didn't want to bring the car anyway because it would take about 4 days to drive from Maryland into Guadalajara! I was not looking forward to THAT!

Schely

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

Just in case you start to reconsider: if you can drive from Maryland to Guadalajara in 4 days I will eat your car!

schely10 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: Guadalajara, Mx

M@tt · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 473 Location: here and there

I think it's doable, if you don't mind driving really long days. But I'm just a guy looking at a map and it looks really short from here. Like about 12 inches, and that couldn't take too long.

About your race, I think you will have good and bad results. You will get more attention and interest because you are different, and that can be good. You will also be the first black woman many of them have ever seen and you can be like a spokeperson for whatever, dispelling misconceptions, if that turns you on. But like in the US, you will face a lot of ignorance from people who form ALL their ideas about different people from TV programs. Maybe it will be easier since you're a woman. It also depends, of course, on the types of people you hang around with. Either way, I would never let it keep you from coming because it shouldn't be too bad. In fact, I hope you make it because Mexicans need to meet black people. In 7 months of traveling and living here I think I've seen 5 or 6, and like 3 or 4 of them were American tourists. For almost all the people I know, I am the first foreigner they have had extended contact with.

schely10 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: Guadalajara, Mx

Thanks Matt,

I was not going to let that deter me from coming anyway! I cant wait to get there!

MELEE · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 11:32 pm Post subject:

Matt gave you a good answer!

I'd like to emphasize (and this goes for everyone, but to minorities to a greater degree) be prepared for people to ask personal, prying, direct and even outright stupid questions. Things that would be considered extrememly rude at home. People aren't being rude, because its simply not rude in this culture to ask how much people earn or why people over 30 don't have any children. I imagine you might get a lot of questions about your hair, or because of what they see on TV and in movies if you own a gun.

Like Matt said you'll have a chance to educate people, but on those difficult days, when everything seems to be going wrong anyway, it could get pretty annoying.

Best of Luck on your adventure!

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

richtx1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 115 Location: Ciudad de M�xico

The Original Poster has an impressive background. "Race", as we use the term north of the border, doesn't have much meaning here (try explaining what and why affirmative action laws are to Mexican executives).

Afro-Mexicans are statistically rare. Most "black Mexicans" are recent immigrants, or second generation Brazilians, Cubans or other Latin Americans. As an African-American, the OP may be an object of curiousity, but I have only heard of two problems -- along the Guatemalan/Belizian border "black" foreigners are sometimes assumed to be in the narcotics trade, and SOME students have had idiot teachers who told them "Black English" isn't an understandable dialect. What I find annoying about the latter is that I use tapes by the late Barbara Jordan to teach enunciation.