WEBVTT - United Stateless Podcast 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:05.880 Hey, what's up, Latino usay listener komotuta. So today we're 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:09.800 going to share an episode from the United Stateless podcast. 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:15.240 It's hosted by Mexican American Alexandra Ribera. The podcast documents 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:19.840 the stories of the so called returnees, people who emigrated 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.880 to the United States, largely as children, but have since 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:28.360 returned to their home country. In the first season, United 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:34.560 Stateless focuses on Mexico with stories of life, love, spanglish, 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:40.520 and cultural shock. When you're figuring out exactly where is home? 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:45.960 Listen to alex an episode from season one where Alexandra 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.720 explores what's it like to actually grow up in Mexico 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.680 and a warning to our listeners, this episode includes some 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:58.000 explicit language and mature content. Enjoy. 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.600 Most Americans don't know a lot about Mexico, even as 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.120 a kind of Mexican American. I can say that I 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.640 came knowing some stuff, but I don't think I was 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:16.320 really prepared for my first trip as an adult. Ye See, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.600 I hadn't been to Mexico since I was a baby. 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.200 When I was six weeks old, my parents were visiting 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.440 some family near the border, and they took me to 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:28.360 this town called Noglees. I guess my grandparents would take 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.520 my dad and his siblings there to go shopping, and 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.600 in the fifties it must have been a nice spot, 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:38.319 but this was the eighties and it was becoming ultra 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.480 and narco. We lasted only a few hours before my 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.960 parents got freaked out and took me and my brother 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.400 back over the border to Arizona. They haven't been there 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:54.720 since I was born in the US, but I grew 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.200 up in a community where a lot of people had immigrated, 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.120 and while they were there were representatives for pretty much 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.720 every livable continent save Australia. Almost everyone from a Latin 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.360 background was a refugee for most Salvador. My main exposure 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.760 to Latin identity growing up was a bunch of people 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.600 who had the very very specific experience of fleeing a 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:22.240 civil war. I definitely didn't have that. I didn't even 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.760 really speak Spanish at the time, but most of all, 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.079 my family had been in what's now considered the US 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.400 for generations, and my mom's not Latin. So when people 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.919 ask me what are you? I felt like I didn't 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.600 really have a good answer. The part was people really 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:39.959 wanted me to have a good answer They seem to 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.160 have this checklist in their mind that one needed to 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.600 check off in order to be sufficiently Latin. And I 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:48.440 never really checked off any of those boxes. And I 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.840 couldn't escape the question either. I mean, my name is 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:54.160 Alexandra Rivera. People would see my name and want to 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.240 be told a story that would make them feel comfortable 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.800 with identifying me a certain way. That was just, you know, 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.240 trying to live my life. I have to admit I 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:07.320 was really jealous of my classmates who had immigrated. I mean, 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.720 I wasn't jealous of the experience of being an immigrant. 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.480 I was jealous that they had a short, quick answer 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:18.760 to the question what are you? Because in my mind, 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.920 they didn't have these identity issues I was rapidly developing. 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:25.480 It was easy for them. They were Salvadorian and of conversation, 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.919 no explaining their whole family history upon meeting people. Also, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.280 in my mind, everyone was completely fluent in Spanish. I 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.640 was very jealous of that too. I compared myself to 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.240 the population around me and came to the conclusion that 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.400 we didn't really have anything in common. But then I 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:53.560 went to Mexico City for the first time. By this 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.160 point in my life, I had learned Spanish. My grandfather 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.880 had forgotten English due to dementia, so it became pretty imperative. 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.160 That plus a lifetime of strangers being disappointed that I 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.320 didn't speak a language that, quite frankly, a lot of 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.000 them didn't speak, and a few months dating a Spanish 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:11.720 translator really put things into motion. And I thought I 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.800 was pretty well prepared. I just traveled through Spain and 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.040 had been fine. In fact, I even knew some Mexican 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.599 slang for my dad, like he told me that people 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.560 called each other abato. He even calls white Ford F 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:28.000 one fifties vatomobiles. I thought I probably had an advantage 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.160 in Mexico because I'd grown up knowing some Mexican shit, 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:35.120 like that pasoli was a dish made exclusively with pork, 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.640 and that I could definitely understand the accent, and that 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.480 there were people that looked like me. I thought I 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:47.360 was about to experience a weird identity affirming homecoming. Long 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.400 story short, I was wrong about pretty much everything, and 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.279 I was about to experience a shit ton of culture shock. 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.160 So in this episode, I'm going to try and explain 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.279 what I learned about Mexico. So the best I can, 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.560 specifically Mexico City, where much of our story takes place, 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.000 because I want you to know what these returneys are 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.400 returning to, and if you're American, you probably have a 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.440 lot of ideas of what Mexico is like. There's Cancun, 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.839 really great food, a lot of crime or misconceptions like 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:22.240 it's hot everywhere. I actually had to buy sweaters when 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:43.320 I was there. I'm Alexandra Rivera and this is United stateless. 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.480 Well, Mexico City has so much to offer. I'm super 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.240 in love with this city. And the thing is that 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.680 it has everything a big capital of the world can 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.159 offer and probably half of the price. 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:56.040 This is Alejandro Montez. Alex is a filmmaker in Chilango, 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.080 which is the local term for Mexico City native. I 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.600 met Alex on my friend stay in Mexico City, I 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.040 run in New York had given me his number over WhatsApp. 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.680 Alex thought he was probably meeting a five foot two 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:08.800 Puerto Rican. Check he was on vacation, not a five 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.760 foot eight supposed mixed Mexican American who was going through 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:12.840 an identity crisis. 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.640 He kindly spent a lot of time educating me about 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:16.840 the country but. 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.600 It's it's really interesting because you have the best of everything. 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:24.680 You know, like you can go to the best art gallery. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.040 One of the best things of Mexico City or weather 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.000 we have most through most of the year a really mild, 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.440 good temperature. The other thing is that the city is 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.520 really green. We have so many trees, we have so 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:43.760 many flowers, like we have aah, like really good mix 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.760 of being on a city. But you can actually be 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:51.120 next to a really old tree. Because Mexico City, you're 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:56.440 actually walking on the notchtip land, you're actually walking on 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:00.120 the super ancient ground where the Aztecs were. 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:03.479 Mexico City has been around for a long time. Around 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.560 the year thirteen twenty five, the Mishika were also known 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:10.680 as the Aztecs, built the capital of their empire in Tenotechlin. 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.840 The story of the founding is very famous to Mexican history, 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:22.720 so much so that it's immortalized on its flag. One night, 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.640 the Machika's leader was visited by a god in a dream, 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.160 who imparted to them that they would come across an 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:32.120 eagle perched on a cactus devouring a snake. When they 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.480 saw this, he proclaimed they would know where to build 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.800 the city. So after several generations of wandering around North America, 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:43.679 the tribe came across the sacred symbol the issue the eagles, snake, 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:45.840 and cactus were on an island in the middle of 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:50.400 a lake. So Mexico City started out as a floating city. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:52.720 The Michika made a series of man made islands and 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.320 gardens and created canals that connected all of them. Think 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:01.360 of it as a massive venus with much more greenery. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.560 If you've heard anything about the Michika, it's probably that 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.760 they sacrifice people. This is not something the Spanish made up. 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:12.880 Several of the religious practices involved a blood offering, which 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.960 historically had been made by sacrificing someone in their own community. 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.000 But the Michika were very successful militarily, and they took 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.200 a lot of captives from other tribes in the Valley 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.440 of Mexico, so it became a much more common practice 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.400 for them to sacrifice a captive from a conquered area 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.040 than one of their own people. And since the gods 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.439 seemed to really be smiling down on them, they practice 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.360 sacrifice much much more than other cultures in the region. 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.920 When the Spanish came into the picture in the sixteenth century, 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:43.439 they faced a formidable opponent in the Mehika, but they 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.560 had an advantage, and not because the Michika leader Machtezuma. 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.200 The second thought that Hernan Cortez was the god kiss 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:54.280 Aquadal That was probably an invention by the Spanish. Turns out, 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.640 being the most hated tribe in the valley of Mexico 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:02.000 can make you some enemies. The local tribes contributed many troops, 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.080 as well as knowledge of the layout of the city. 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:06.920 The Spanish brought with them weapons that had never been 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:12.679 seen in the area before and small parks. After three months, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.360 the conquisadors and local tribes were victorious, but Tenotechlm was 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:25.400 mostly destroyed. After the victory, Cortez was able to take 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.840 much of modern day Mexico under his control. The colony 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.720 was called New Spain and lasted for three hundred years. 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.640 In the eighteenth century, the Spanish drained much of the 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.760 lake that Tenotechlm was built on, making way for more 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:41.959 buildings in Mexico City. This was an incredibly stupid idea 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.520 that has left the city in a very precarious situation 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.480 when it comes to the stability of its architecture. Note, 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:50.440 if you're going to build a city in an area 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.160 that is prone to earthquakes, don't build it on a 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.040 lake bed. There is part of the canal and island 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.839 system that exists today. It's called Zochimilco, and if you 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:06.160 or in Mexico City, it's totally worth the visit. According 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.400 to my dad's deep delve into genealogy, his Spanish family 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.800 came to Mexico City in the fifteen hundreds. They were 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.800 Sephardic Jews who were escaping the Spanish Inquisition. I'm not 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.640 exactly sure how my dad's family came to what is 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:22.800 today New Mexico, but I know that it was a 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.840 popular spot for people to move after the Mexican Inquisition. 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:28.920 My ancestors, who were part of various Pueblo tribes, had 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.040 been there for a while. At the time, New Mexico 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.360 was part of Mexico, along with states such as Arizona 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:39.040 and California, until the Americans invaded in the eighteen forties. 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.199 In nineteen twelve, it officially became a state. The thing 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.559 about New Mexico is that it feels like a different 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.120 country from the rest of the US. It's very Latin, 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.880 but it's also definitely not Mexico despite all of the 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:55.320 Chilean tamales. Although it has a lot in common with 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:58.680 Mexico in terms of shared history and cultural practices, it's 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.760 also kind of its own place, which was something that 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.840 hit home for me very profoundly when I visited Mexico 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:05.880 City for the first time. 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.720 I would describe Mexico City like a really like a 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:22.000 really young, funny bybrand city with a really old blood 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.480 and spirit, you know, like a superpower, you know, because 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.080 you can feel the magic of the place. That because 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.560 the Mexicans, because of our culture, we do have a 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:34.520 really magical way of thinking, a really magical way of 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:35.760 seeing life or death. 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.760 Although the Aztecs were conquered by the Spanish, their culture 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:42.840 and spirit was not. The spiritual and magical beliefs of 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.920 pre European contact Mexico are very much alive and well 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.880 in today's Mexico City, as well as like other places 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.360 in the world. Quite frankly, have you ever heard of 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.800 our cleansing, that rose quarts will help your love life, 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.920 that keeping aloe by the door keeps your home safe. 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.199 In the US, people have filed that under a phenomenon 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:06.200 known as New Age, but in fact those are all 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:11.240 pre European contact Mexican beliefs. It's not a new or 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:13.920 French thing there. If you tell your Mexican friend that 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.240 you're feeling off, they might tell you to go charge 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.640 your crystals. There are people in the street who will 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.160 cleanse your aura, and they aren't there for Taurus. Another 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.080 thing that survived Cortees the food. 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.440 And also the food I don't know, like there are 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.480 some tacos that it's just because they gave it to 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.080 you in a really low key restaurant, but if you 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.120 present them and put another plate thing in, you can 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.080 give it in a diplomatic dinner because they're so yummy. 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.320 Quite frankly, I was intimidated by the food when I 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.680 got there. I really wanted to go to one of 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:49.040 those street food stalls, but I was having a hard 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:52.559 time understanding people, and there are no menus at those 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.640 places by and large, so I tried to start out 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.800 with food I knew, like pasole. I quickly discovered that 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:01.560 I grew up with one. I a pasole, a recipe 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.560 that is most popular in Northern Mexico and New Mexico, 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.040 and thought that that was the only way to do it. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.320 Turns out it can also be made with chicken, and 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.840 sometimes it's made with no chili, And pretty much all 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:17.240 of my references were for the north of Mexico, and 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.040 people were very very quick to point this out. I 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.120 kind of felt the trade like I thought I knew 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.400 the answer to a test and then showed up for 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.480 the wrong class. And I was putting a lot of 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.080 pressure on myself to get it, because that was what 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.520 I conveyed back home, that I got it, that I 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.400 was like vaguely Mexican American, that that's what I had 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:42.040 settled on. And this realization that maybe I didn't get it, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.240 or maybe I was in the wrong part of the 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.520 country to get it hit me like a ton of bricks. 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.079 I felt like I had failed. And the funny thing 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.480 was people in Mexico knew that I was a foreigner. 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.360 No one was disappointed that I didn't get it. Or 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.720 by this point my self, doubt had reached the fever 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.520 pitch so bad that I was having trouble ordering coffee. 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.520 It was all in my head. Alex was very happy 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.480 to explain everything to me. It was almost like he 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:07.439 had a Mexico for dummy's curriculum. 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.840 And if you can find one or two friends that 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.400 would also show you the local we called changaro, like 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:17.599 this little like a food truck, you know, like a 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.960 little place we called Changaro. And if you find someone 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:27.560 that would show you where to it from the cheapest, 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:33.520 most low key changaro to a good restaurant, I think 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:37.320 that you will understand a lot of Mexicans and Mexico culture. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.480 Yeah, I will say when whenever I asked my Mexican 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:43.760 friends like, hey, let's go on to dinner, They're like, 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.080 we picked the most fresh up place possible. 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:48.080 That's why they saw you. 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.360 Yeah, you know, it's very hard to get a bad 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.880 meal in Mexico City. There's a lot of food I 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:58.280 found that I was surprised never caught on in the US, 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:03.680 especially the Costra. The first time I had it, Alex 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.680 took me to basically the Chipotle of tacarias in Mexico City. 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.720 You know, the chain that you don't feel embarrassed about 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:15.120 eating at. It's basically a taco made out of fried 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:20.240 cheese in a taco. It sounds like a recipe that 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.800 was made in Wisconsin by someone who had a vague 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:27.160 idea of what they were doing. It's amazing taco wise, 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.880 Mexico City is known for the alpastor, a marinated pork 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.840 and pineapple creation that borrows a lot from shwarma. In fact, 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.160 it was created by Lebanese immigrants to the region. Meat 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.840 tends to be very regional in Mexico, as most things are. 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.440 Actually the North is known for beef. Mexico City has 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:53.120 pork aside from street food in thakarias. Mexico City is 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.880 also home to two of the world's top fifty restaurants. 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:59.520 There are any Michelin stars in the country because there 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.600 is an a MI guide for Mexico, but if the 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.480 government ever decided to pay for them to come, I'm 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.880 sure they would clean up. I also want to clear 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:13.120 up a few things about the food. Number one, Burritos 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.160 are a Northern thing and they don't have rice in 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:19.560 them or French fries. Number two. While Nacho's were technically 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.280 invented in Mexico by a haired restaurant owner on a 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:23.880 border town who was trying to make a group of 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.880 Americans happy, Nacho is a nickname for a man called Ignacio. 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.880 It's not really a thing here unless you go to Chili's, 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.600 which is an American restaurant. The fijiita comes from Texas, 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:37.760 the chimmy chianga is probably from Arizona, and the crunch 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.920 wrap Supreme is from Taco bell I do want to 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.000 cave at that. Although it's hard to get a bad 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:46.280 meal in Mexico City, it's not hard to get food poisoning. 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.960 Although I haven't gotten it every time I've gone, I 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:51.760 did get it twice in a row the last time 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:56.040 I was there, and from Fresa places, not jiangaros. Fresa 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.280 means bougie. That's also not a foreigner belly thing. Locals 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.840 will sometimes take a yearly anti parasitic. But something you 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.679 don't need to worry about is the water or ice 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.240 or like getting a salad. Almost no one drinks the 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:14.879 water there, and no, there's no magical Mexican gut protocol 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.640 that makes locals immune to sell Manila. It would take 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.879 a whole second podcast to explain why water in Mexico 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.399 City is a problem. And there are people who insist 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.480 that the water is fine and it just has a 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:30.560 bad reputation. And it is true that not every glass 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.159 of water you draw from the tap has harm causing 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:38.920 bacteria in it. It's a possibility it's not a guarantee. However, 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.480 my friend turned me onto a water report from several 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:45.160 years ago that indicated elevated levels of mercury in the tap. 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.760 So I'll let you make your own decision on that one. 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.200 Because of all these issues, Mexico is one of the 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:56.120 highest consumers of bottled water in the world. I've even 0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:11.280 seen people in favelas with bottled water. Mexico in general 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.280 has big economic divisions. I think there are a lot 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.160 of people in the US who have this idea that 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.760 everyone in Mexico is poor and really wants to go 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.080 to the States. The short answer is that there is 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.000 incredible wealth to go along with that heartbreaking poverty. 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.000 So you can see the difference between all the big 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:38.040 corporate buildings and all the major transnational businesses. Next to 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:41.399 that place, there is a fabella. So that's something that 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.879 you can see all over. You can come from a 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:47.919 really posh neighborhood and solidly you cross a couple of 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.359 streets and then you are there in the little town 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:52.560 that gives service to that big, posh place. 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:56.640 What was it like growing up there? 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:59.880 Yeah, I mean it was interesting because in my upbringing 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:04.000 was kind of like I could see the best of 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.280 two worlds. Like from my dad's side of the family, 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:14.800 we come from a really humble working class origins in 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:19.880 which my grandpa was a carpenter and a handyman. And 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.480 from the other side, like, for example, my grandfather was 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.199 a doctor. My family from my mother's side was like 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:27.800 much more kind of like intellectuals. 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.400 But I could see like the differences. 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:35.159 My dad worked hard and really got to put himself 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.040 and now his family into a really better position. 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:39.320 So I grew up in with that privilege. 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.560 But I would go and visit my grandpa, we my 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.080 visit my cousins, and my family that would belong to 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:51.560 a working classic, very Mexico City based families. 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.040 The fact that Alex's dad moves social and economic classes 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.679 is not unheard of in Mexico, but it's definitely not 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:02.640 the no part of this was made possible because Alex's 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.359 dad was in Mexico City and he'd gotten a scholarship 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:08.320 to go to a better school. Mexico has public schools, 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:10.280 but the system is more broken than the one in 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:13.520 the US, and also being in Mexico City made him 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:17.119 more available for opportunities than if he was in another state. 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:21.080 Social mobility isn't as accessible in the States as our 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.000 ingrained mythology would suggest either at this point in time, 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:28.199 but that is also a different podcast. The US can 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:31.240 mean different things to different Mexicans depending on their income bracket. 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:33.560 For many people in Mexico, it's a lifeline for a 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:37.640 better quality of life. For someone like Alex it meant 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:39.240 luxury in a slice of fantasy. 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:40.960 I mean I. 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:44.600 Remember my first time to Disney, and I was like 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.520 six or seven something like that, So I mean it 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:53.080 was like so impressive and so mind blowing as a 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.159 kid to go and see all that incredible stuff. We 0:20:56.320 --> 0:21:00.960 could not sometimes be able to go so often to 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:05.159 the US, but some of my friends in this push school, 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:08.119 they would be going to ski and to Wale and 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:11.439 to you know, like so many different posh destinies in 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:12.040 the US. 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:13.679 But they would be coming. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:17.160 With you know, like the big toys and you know, 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:20.040 like everything that would land and clothing and all that. 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.080 But and I. 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.399 Was raised when I was a kid in it was 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:29.720 the eighties, so Mexico's economy in Mexico was still very 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:34.960 like closed, and so going to the US was something 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:38.879 that was like, yeah, like have some privilege. 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:42.320 A lot has changed in Mexico and Mexico City since 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:45.800 the eighties. Many mostly national corporations have made their lot 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:50.520 and headquarters in Mexico City. Why well, the Mexican government 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:52.600 is a lot more stable than many of its neighbors. 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:55.679 They haven't had a dictator in their modern history. The 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:59.359 currency hasn't fluctuated like it does in Argentina or Venezuela. 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:01.080 And sure are nartcos, but. 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:03.960 The cartails don't really venture into Mexico City. 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.760 A big change happened within the last several years. Let's 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.880 call it the rise of the digital nomad. You've heard 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:14.560 of Mexicans moving to the US, nice storming the border 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:16.760 if you believe some But have you heard of the 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:22.280 opposite phenomenon, people fleeing New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:27.200 for Mexico City. What do you think of the digital 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:28.840 nomad influx? 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:34.280 It's I mean, in my opinion, it's good in terms 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:38.280 of that, yeah, the actual. 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:42.679 Yeah, all the money that has been put on the 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:47.959 local economy. It helps, and it's something that right now 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:54.040 I think it's something super needed. Yeah, and so I 0:22:55.240 --> 0:23:01.240 definitely think that's something that in the long run will help. 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:06.600 But in the other sense, it's having the gentrification classic 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:11.439 phenomenon which is now starting to show, and the rents 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:14.520 are going up, and they are now like tweets and 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:19.119 memes now saying that, yeah, like the regular Mexican walking 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:22.119 in Droma or in Condesta, now it feels that we 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:24.040 are illegal immigrants. 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:28.639 Digital nomads are a complicated topic for a lot of 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:31.639 Mexicans living in Mexico City. When I was there, a 0:23:31.640 --> 0:23:34.320 lot of people were honestly pretty happy about the influx 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:38.159 of foreigners. I think that sentiment has somewhat changed after 0:23:38.400 --> 0:23:40.440 all of my Mexican friends were priced out of living 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:45.440 in Condesse and Roma. But on the whole, Mexicans tend 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:48.800 to really love foreigners. It's something that's ingrained into the culture. 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:52.840 Have you heard about this term Malinchismo, which comes from Malinche. 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:58.560