Mexico Travel Alert

When contrasting my first hand experience here in Mexico to the recent accounts they have heard on the news, some of my loved ones have taken the opinion that I do not take the danger seriously. But, if you read the above sentence again through the lens of a historian, you would remember that a first source (i.e. me) is always better than a second source (i.e. the news), which I am also reading as I am constantly talking to people here and listening to their firsthand accounts.

Now saying that, I'm not trying to make the case that Mexico is not dangerous. There are places where I do not feel comfortable to go, and others where I will go with much caution. One of those places is Mexico City. I don't know what you have heard of the danger there, but I'm not going to expand on it for now. I don't want to freak anyone out as I will be going there tomorrow!

Now, having warned you of the danger, let me say that we are only going to be in the city for one day and one night, we are not allowed to leave the hotel after dark, and our program director will be watching us carefully the whole time. She's been doing this for over 10 years with no trouble, so she knows how to maneuver the city.

Knowing what I know, I wouldn't go there alone, but because my study abroad program is taking an official trip there, I can be really excited about it- it's such a notorious city, I just have to see it. It also has one of the world's most prestigious museums, the National Museum of Archeology, and I'll finally get to start putting actual matter to all of the ancient cultures and art I have been learning about this semester! Besides that, we will get to see the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, the ruins of the most important Aztec building- the very site where the Spanish first conquered the Aztecs! On Sunday, we're going to Teotihuacan, and I'll get my first glimpse of the Mesoamerican Pyramids. :)

I'll have fun, I'll be careful, and I'll be home safely on Sunday night. Hasta luego!