Another side of Mexico...

Everything I've said previously about the character or culture of Mexico, does not seem to apply in the touristy beach areas, or at least not in Acapulco.

On the bus ride there, which nearly makes the trip worthwhile in itself due to scenic views of mountains and rainforests, the fist ominous sign appeared when we stopped at a toll station that had been taken over by a band of 30 or so masked men. There were two police cars and several armed police men, watching the guys with shirts wrapped around their faces rob passengers and siphon gas from passing cars. Clearly the cops were getting some sort of cut. Sign number one that we were not in for an ordinary vacation.

For all six of us to stay three nights in a pretty classy beachside hotel with a bangin pool and nice view, it cost about 45 bucks per person. Cheap lodgings are definitely a perk of Mexican vacationing. However, things did get a little expensive. Normal Mexican prices don't really apply in tourist spots. Food was pricey, bars were pricey, and then there was the continuous slew of people trying to rip you off. In my experience in D.F., people are pretty damn nice. They're honest and up-front with their prices, which are fair but can still be haggled down. These people were not really like that. They know you're only gonna be there for the weekend, they aren't gonna see you again, and they assume you're just some wealthy white American, so what's the harm? Waiters ripped us off, cab drivers tried to rip us off. Even the police were looking to charge us.

We were walking along the beach and two cops came up and started asking us for our IDs. It was dark and late and they were looking to find kids with drugs, that they could blackmail into paying them. They thoroughly searched the guys in the group (apparently they aren't allowed to touch women) and only backed down when my friend Joe started yelling in Spanish, "What gives you the right to do this? We weren't doing anything suspicious. Hey, this isn't Arizona!"

I'm sure they make a good profit doing that because drugs seemed to be pretty friggin popular there. Everywhere we went, didn't matter if it was ten in the morning, someone wanted to sell us coke. They offered my friend Steve prostitutes a couple times. Is this really our image abroad? They were so sure that we wanted some. We're Americans, why wouldn't we? Apparently, that's what young Americans do on vacation. We reap the benefits of gang violence and sexual exploitation because, hey, we're just looking to have a good time, right? Who cares if the entire tourist economy is catering to our vices, and Latin Americans are degrading themselves to make a buck? It's not my fault. Right?

The beaches were pretty, and when you got out of the resort areas, people got friendlier and stopped trying to make a buck off of you. There are some beautiful rainforest areas, including an island you can hike up to get a view of the city. There's also a pretty awesome hike you can take to see ancient petroglyphs, which was my nerdy dream come true (history AND a rainforest? Great stuff). However, the further you got from the beach, the more poverty you saw. It seemed like most of the city didn't gain much from the tourism. I guess when so much of the money comes from drugs and other tax-free ventures, money goes to cartels and there's not much left over for infrastructural and social reforms. Then again, if the cops are any indication, state organizations might not be the most trust-worthy. So, even if the government was making money, there's nothing to insure that corruption doesn't stop it from getting back to the people.

If I didn't speak Spanish, I don't think I would go to Acapulco. Even with my Spanish I don't think I'm going back. You couldn't stroll down the beach without being offered twelve thousand products. It made me feel guilty for my privilege and angry at the lack of options these people had to make a living. I was also angry about being taken advantage of so often. Even on the way back to the bus station, the taxi driver tried to charge us about twice the set price to get there. The SET price. It was on a sign at the hotel and he was driving a hotel taxi. He said it cost more because it was raining.

It was worth seeing just to be exposed to that part of the country, that kind of culture. However, I don't think the experience is really worth the money, nor does it reflect what I've come to appreciate as the spirit of Mexico. Maybe white guilt is making me feel bitter about the whole thing, and I just want to turn a blind eye to how so many places in the world work. I guess it's like, coming to the U.S. and only seeing Hollywood. You would think there was a lot of cheesey tourism, homelessness, drugs, prostitution, and people trying to overcharge you for everything. Oh wait...maybe that is how the country is. I just don't have to deal with it that much because I'm wealthy enough to go somewhere else. Like here, I can go somewhere nice in the city, or somewhere quaint like Cuernavaca. Stick to the museums and churches and you don't have to look at the people on the outskirts. Only when you're at the beach, and people won't leave you alone, are you faced with the consequences of your own country's selfish foreign policy and the economic dependency we have all helped create.

Sorry. That was preachy and kind of a downer. Moral of the story, I didn't really care for Acapulco.