The best of Mexico, are it's people.

The best of Mexico is not it's beaches, its colonial towns or ancient Mayan ruins, but instead it is the people of Mexico. Mexican people are considered some of the friendliest and most hospitable people you will meet in the world. I want to devote this article to talk a little about what makes Mexican people so great.

Mexican people are considered the hardest working people in the world. Did you know that according to several independent studies in the United States and Internationally, Mexican people not only retire from work at much later years in their life but also work the most amount of hours per year than any other country in the world. So the stereotype of a Mexican guy with a big sombrero sleeping under a cactus is no more than just a myth. This fact of Mexican's being extremely hard working people sometimes goes unnoticed because of fact that their income is one fifth of that of their counterparts in North America, the United States and Canada. While Mexico is growing it has taken a long time to fix many mistakes of the past like the devaluation of the peso and corruption within the high level of government. Mexicans are up to the task though and the country is under major transformation.    

Mexican people have very very strong family bonds. The family is considered sacred for all Mexicans. There is no such thing as once you turn 18 you are on your own. Actually it is not unusual for a families to stay together and live in the same household for a longer period of time and for the parents to live with their children in their retirement years. It is considered "in-human" to leave parents to struggle on their own or for them to go to retirement home. However, the Mexican family goes beyond the immediate family, get togethers involve getting together with all the relatives, including second and third cousins and very quickly turning into a fiesta, where there is games played, music, story telling and yes probably some dancing. Be careful though because when visiting a Mexican family they may adopt you and make you one of their own regardless of your ethnicity or color of skin. The more diverse the merrier!

Holidays like the "Day of the Dead" have strong family meanings. We highly recommend you visit Mexico to celebrate this wonderful holiday. You will learn that the Day of the Dead marks the return of the Dead. The very basic idea is that this holiday which last several days and all starts with the first day being devoted to the day of the "little angels." This is the day when first the children and babies that may have died at birth or in the early years come back home to visit their family. After this, the rest of the famiily come back to visit their immediate relatives. For this you will see many homes desginate an area in their home where they will put pictures of their deceased family members such as a son, daughter or parent and next to their picture they will place things that that relative really enjoyed like candy or fruit or anything else that you remember. You decorate your home with many flowers and make it very cheerful including lighting of candles. Then when the day arrives, many claim they have seen changes or the dead leave little clues that they were there to visit them. During these days you also go visit the cemetery to leave flowers for other non-immediate family members and immediate family members. It is a big celebration for the dead and a way to remember them and welcome them back with the living. You can say it is almost like spiritual window where you can spend time with your lost ones. An amaxzing holiday and one that truely shows the love and strong family bonds that Mexican people hold.

Mexican people are very spiritual people. Mexican people believe that you are on earth and when you die you normally go to heaven, however Mexican people also believe in many spirits on Earth. It might be that because approx. 80% of Mexican people are of mixed ancestry of Europen Spanish decent and Meso American decents such as the Aztecs and Mayan that many people still have beliefs towards spirits that include earth's natural spirits from animals, plants, wind, sun and fire among other forms.

When traveling Mexico you will see many displays of Mexican spirits in homes, paintings and murals and even in holy sites and churches. The diversity of spirit, cultures, religion, food, etc is also what makes Mexican people so fascinating.

Music is about love and always a reason to dance.  A real pass time for Mexican people is listening to music and dancing. As the saying goes "if you are Mexican, then you know how to dance because its in your blood." Go to any Mexican event and it is only a matter of time before the music comes on and eveyone starts dancing. It does not matter whether the party is in a hall, beach, back yard, cement or dirt picnic area, that is no excuse to not dance and listen to music. Mexican people are happy people and things like laughing, dancing and listening to music is more important than material things. Due to their Catholic nature, they strongly believe that you are here on earth for a short duration and when you leave you cannot take anything with you besides your soul so they make sure to have a soul full of happy family moments.

Food is part of the culture. Ok, there is no denying that Mexican food is extremely good! However, what makes food part of the Mexican people is how they use food to bond family. Have you ever visited a Mexican family and not been fed? It is hard to leave a Mexican family's house without being offered delicious home cooking regardless if they are poor or rich. Food is part of a bonding moment and they make sure that your tummy leaves very happy. A time to laugh, enjoy and tell stories. The Mexican family table is sacred, with most familes doing a small prayer before their meal and they enjoying more than one or two hours laughing, drinking, including hearing some stories (good tales).

Love for God. Nearly 80% of Mexican people are Christian and mostly Roman Catholic. This does not mean you have to be religious to visit Mexico, but know that most of their values come from their strong belief in God and Jesus's mother which is the Virgin Mary. So when you visit Mexico not only will you see amazing and well perserved cathedrals but you will see Saints and imagery of Jesus and Mary almost everywhere. Litterally everywhere! People will pray in private or in churches or homes at least once per day. 

What Mexican people are NOT is drug dealers or crimminals. Mexico for the longest time had some of the lowest homicide rates in the world and still does in many regions of the country. Mexico city considered one of the biggest and most poplulated cities in the world was and still today is considered one of the safest mega cities in the world. A few incidents that media explodes into headlines does not represent the reality of everyday life. We can name many cities in developed countries that have a much higher crime rate but prefer not to get into enter into this type of sterotyping. Did you know that Mexico has only one (1) uno, yes one gun shop in the whole country! This one gun shop is located in Mexico city and at an Army facility. Although access to guns in Mexico is very hard, guns unfortunately are making their way to crimminal groups from outside the country for the purpose of protecting drug trafficing trade routes through Mexico. These crimminal groups in the thousands DO NOT represent the 130,000,000 (130 million) citizens of people but unfortunately the crimminal groups are the ones that make the news headlines, which regrettifully distorts the perception of the Mexican people and the country.

We hope you enjoyed this brief post of the Mexican people and you will meet them in your travel to Mexico. Make yourself at home when visiting Mexico.  As the saying goes by Mexican people of Mexico, "Mi Casa es Tu Casa" (My home is your home).