First Week, First Impressions

Note: Since I wrote my last blog post, I have added a few pictures to compliment the narrative – so scroll down to my previous post and check them out! Also, as soon as I’m able to secure a strong internet connection (the one in my apartment building is pretty weak), I will post lots of photos online).

First impression #1: Monterrey Tec is an excellent, beautiful, and very wealthy university. Our first full day in Monterrey, my dad and I decided to walk to the Tec (no “h” in the Spanish spelling, so the abbreviation here is just “Tec”) campus and check it out. First of all, I am very lucky because I live an easy 5-10 minutes walking from campus. Once we arrived, I discovered that I would be pretty safe on campus; I had to explain to a security guard that I was an international student at Tec (with no ID yet) in order to be able to enter the campus. The campus itself is beautifully landscaped, with modern architecture and lots of trees. We also stumbled across a peacock hanging out there! (And I’ve been told that there are deer, or “Bambi” as they are called by several Europeans here learning English who don’t know the word “deer” yet). It was clear that the campus offers a lot of services and facilities for students, and that I will be well taken care of.

I hate to admit this, but I was actually pretty surprised at how excellent of a school Tec clearly is. I had heard reports of its quality from various sources, but still I couldn’t get out of my head all of the negative news stories about Mexico that had been pounded into my head by the media for the last several years. It is one of my goals through my year in Mexico as a Rotary Scholar to shed light on the true nature of Mexico, as I will experience it. For starters, I hope my readers will realize once and for all that Mexico is producing incredibly intelligent, educated, capable, and well-rounded young men and women ready to go out into the world and contribute something beautiful.

First impression #2: Despite its industrial character, Monterrey still has a lot of culture. The evening of our first full day in Monterrey, my dad and I decided to visit Barrio Antiguo, the old, historic part of the city. There we met up with a girl from Memphis named Sara, who has been a godsend in helping me get adjusted to and figure out things in Monterrey. She moved to Monterrey a few weeks before I did, so she had just “been there, done that.” Anyway, Sara, my dad and I went to Paseo Santa Lucia, a river/canal that runs through Barrio Antiguo. They have tourist boats there that take you down the river and back, and although we waited for almost two hours in line (!!), it was worth it. By the time we got on the boats, it was dark outside, and the lights of the Paseo (“passageway” is the loose translation) were beautiful. We passed a few Mexican cultural bands that were playing beautiful music, as well as a few restaurants on the water’s edge. Kind of reminded me of Venice. After the boat ride was done, we stopped and had tacos at a little taco shop, which is the typical food/restaurant here. The tacos, although small, are nothing like what you would eat in the U.S. – sooo much better!

My dad and I went back to Barrio Antiguo the next day to walk around some more. One of the best things we stumbled across was a band playing salsa, merengue, cumbia, and other cultural music in a big patio area, where there were a lot of random couples dancing! There was a whole crowd of people surrounding the people dancing, watching and listening to the music. It made me so happy to be in Mexico. We then walked across the street to a cathedral, which happened to be in the middle of a Sunday evening service! We were there for the last ten minutes of it, and both the singing and the church itself were absolutely beautiful.

After the service we wandered along the Paseo, and stumbled across a flea market where they were selling a lot of cultural items, like woven cloth dresses and handmade jewelry. There were also a few stands with Mexican food, and we both sampled mole, a spicy Mexican chocolate spread which is more spicy than chocolaty! I think you might have to be Mexican to really enjoy it...


Our last stop was at a restaurant on the river/canal, where we ate outside and enjoyed old U.S. love songs (haha) sung by Mexicans attempting an American accent.

First impression #3: The natural wonders surrounding Monterrey are incredible and breathtaking. The following day my dad and went to La Cascada Cola de Caballo, or Horsetail Waterfall. It’s in a town called Santiago, about 30 minutes from Monterrey. We had to drive a little ways up a mountain, and then park our car and walk to the national park, where the waterfall was. There’s not much more I can say in words to describe its beauty, so here are some pictures, even though they don’t do the waterfall justice:




Afterwards we ate at a little restaurant overlooking the valley:


We shared slices of steak (carne asada), tortillas, guacamole and salsa – a typical Mexican meal. And of course, cerveza (I would have preferred Corona to Tecate, but that was all he had. Tecate is like the Budweiser of Mexico). The steak was cooked on the grill right there as we waited, and all the food was fresh and delicious.



I experienced the natural wonders of Monterrey yet again just a few days ago. My friends and I went to Las Grutas de Garcia, a set of caves about an hour outside of Monterrey. The grutas doesn’t really mean “caves” though. It’s more used to describe stalactite and stalagmite, which is a much more accurate description than just a “cave.” The caves were at the top of an incredibly steep mountain, up which we had to take a cable car, and they were the most incredible things I had ever seen. They were filled with white-crystal stalactites and stalagmites. The air was cool and crisp, a welcome change from the 110-degree heat we’ve been having. The caves would have been creepy, but for flood lighting in various nooks and crannies, accentuating the designs of the grutas (actually, the lighting may have made it more creepy). We walked around for an hour or so, up and around the various passageways and staircases. After the tour, we dined in the little town of Garcia, which felt like a ghost town as there was barely anyone around and there was ominous music playing in the town square. The food was delicious though!

First impression #4: Monterrey is a safe city. You can take a deep breath; Monterrey is one of the safest cities in Mexico. Since it is a big city, I do have to be careful about walking alone at night, petty theft, etc., but really I feel safer here than in Memphis, my home town. Ironically, I am more worried about the cops here; they are notorious for being corrupt, and I’ve been told to keep a few hundred pesos on me as a bribe (anywhere from $30-$50 USD) in case I’m stopped for something they say I did. But don’t worry, I feel safe here, and am not experiencing any of the violence you may here about in the media.

First impression #5: Monterrey is a very international city. I spent the last week in orientation for international students at Monterrey Tec. There are about a thousand extranjeros, as they’re called here, from all over the world. Tec prides itself on its international flare, and it seems to me that other universities here do as well. The locals are accustomed to accommodating the extranjeros, and it seems that every semester the Mexican students seek out international students as friends. I have a Mexican friend assigned to me as a “buddy,” who has been very helpful in showing me around the city and getting acclimated. I have made friends with French, Germans, Canadians and Australians primarily, and have also met people from Sweden, Finland, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and many other countries. I came to Mexico hoping and expecting to have my eyes open to Mexican culture, and in the process am having my eyes opened to a wealth of other cultures and languages (I even feel like my Australian roommate and I don’t always speak the same language!).

I like to think that I’ve always had an open mind to other ways of thinking and to other cultures, but I realize now that I could only absorb so much living in one country for my entire life. Of course, my semester in Costa Rica helped a lot, but there was still so much U.S. influence it was sometimes hard to differentiate between cultures. It is suddenly hitting home that there is a whole world out there, much larger than the one that my life has been more or less centered around. Those of you who know me know that I consider myself pretty culturally aware, but now I see how vital it is for me to interact and make friends with people from other cultures for it to really sink in. There is only so much that textbooks can teach you.