After traveling and living in many different states and towns in Mexico I have a small idea about what Mexico is all about.
It is a hard place to understand. There has been many wars and different governments within Mexico and this has a large influence upon the people and culture that make up the different states in Mexico.
Mexico is made up of 31 different states and one federal district. It is the third largest country in Latin America. Many different tribes and cultures lived here and there were wars among them for land and wealth. Most Americans think of the Aztec and the Mayans when they think of Mexico's past, but there were lots of other cultures here as well. There were many very well formed and prosperous cultures here.
When the Spaniards came, they destroyed the Aztec and Mayan (along with the other groups) way of life. The Indians were made to conform to the Spaniards culture. By 1574 Spain controlled a large portion of Aztec empire and enslaved most of the population. They killed approximately 24 million people between 1521 and 1605.
Missionaries started to arrive and convert the Indians to Catholicism around 1523. Then the Spaniards born in Spain that were here ruling the country, started to have problems with the Spaniards born in Mexico. The Spaniards born in Mexico had become rich and wanted the same rights in the political area's as the Spaniards that were born in Spain had.
The church was very strong and Spain was getting worried about the power of the church and its influence in Mexico. King Carlos of Spain expelled the Jesuits from Mexico in the late 1700's in one of the bloodiest wars ever. It was a horrible time in Mexico and during this time the United States was also involved in that war.
Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of Spain in 1808 weakened Spain's grip on Mexico.
In 1810, there was a huge war against the controlling government - much like the war that the Americana's had to gain their freedom. The Mexican constitution was established.
Unlike the United States, the Mexican government was not ever really in a stable strong position. Many policies and changes in government took place over the years.
The Mexican people grew tired of the unbalanced distribution of wealth and power, initiated the Mexican Revolution in 1910. (kind of like the civil war in the US). This 10 year civil war in Mexico resulted in no less than 2 million casualties. I think that the big difference between the Civil War in the US and the Civil War in Mexico was who died. In the US it was military deaths for the most part - 620,000 military died. But in the Mexican Civil War it was everyone - everyone in the town, everyone in the city fought side by side, there was military but basically everyone was fighting.
In Mexico today the wars are evident all over every where. There are statues of the leaders of the revolution in every town, streets named after them and they are held with great esteem.
Each state was influenced by the wars and how involved the people were in that state. Each state was influenced by the Aztec or and the other cultures that were here before Spain. Each state was influenced by the amount of Spaniards born here and the amount of Spaniards born in Spain. All blending down to what is known as the Mexican. But I see each Mexican (depending upon where they live and the degree of influence of the past upon that state) as being different from location to location.
Despite the political and social changes that have occurred over the centuries, evidence of past cultures and events are everywhere. The pre-Columbian ruins still exist throughout Mexico, reminders of the colonial past are evident in the architecture and the haciendas of the Don's are still around. All that blends down to the individual Mexican and makes up their unique profile. I find that evidence is within each Mexican I met.
Some Mexicans resent the American very much and do not want anything to do with America. There are Mayans in Chapas that still speak their old language and each tribe of Mayan speaks a different Mayan language. Some cannot or refuse to speak Spanish. They cook outside, live in these structures that are just boards put up in to a one room structure with no windows or doors and huge spaces between the boards. In one way the Mayans are the one culture that was not conquered. The jungles hold may such places. There
are 60 indigenous languages still spoken in Mexico.
Therefor the Mexican culture is so varied. There is great wealth and education among the Mexicans. There is great poverty with no birth certifications or educations on any level. Many live without water in their homes and with dirt floors. There is not really a middle class in Mexico but shades of wealth and shades of poverty.
The origins of the legal system in Mexico are based on the Greek, Roman and French legal systems. The U.S common lay system is based on the case law and statutory law of England and the American colonies before the American Revolution. Mexico's civil law system is derived primarily from Roman law as set forth in the compilation of codes and statutes of the Emperior Justinian, called corpus Juris Civilis.
But as everything in Mexico - the legal system is also very involved. Customs of accepted legal practices, that require the use of intricate regulations and elaborate writings associated with every important at in one's life, such as birth or marriage, and canon law, or religious law. The paperwork needed to do anything in Mexico is just unbelievable.
Life here in Mexico can and is anything you want it to be. Mostly dependent upon money not education or the law. There is no system here where the government helps the people to any great degree. Here a family or individual is expected to take care of their own.
In one way there is more freedom for the American here in Mexico than there is in the states...if you have money. Money is the key factor to the amount of freedom you have in Mexico. That is true to some extent everywhere in the world but in looking at the difference between the U.S. and Mexico - having money in Mexico allows a person to live with more freedom than in the states. Mainly because of the social system differences between the two countries. In Mexico, no one really cares how you live your life, they do not care if you go down a one way street the wrong way as long as you do not hit them. Society here does not care if your house if five stories or a shack. Society here just does not put any labels or limitations in your life. There are pros and cons pertaining to weather or not that is good or bad. Maybe the word I should use is diversity rather than freedom. I do not know but I know that I like the difference.
Up until now our friends have all been Mexicans. I have yet been able to define a Mexican but I like living with them and having them for friends.
There are many very beautiful Mexican women and the Mexican woman I have known have been absolutely impossible to understand. They are like a cactus. The inside sweet and tender but be very careful of the thorns.
Many Mexican men are very attractive and good looking. I have found them to be very polite and respectful to woman. Every Mexican man I know that is married loves his wife and family completely.
I have not felt myself in danger here at any time what so ever. I have felt lost and alone but not in danger. I have heard about dangers that others have had but with as much travelling that I have done, it has not been the case for me. I have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere at night and we were safe. I have been lost and not known where to go but I was safe.
Would I advise someone to visit Mexico. OH YES. The country is beautiful, some of the most beautiful beaches on earth, some of the most wonderful architecture, art, theater, history, - there is so much here to see and learn. But I would advise you to know Spanish before you come. Your trip will be a lot more easy and fun if you know the language.
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