Mexico City is a city with its own characteristics. Unfortunately, the difference between rich and poor is still very large and you encounter this everywhere: walk 5 minutes and you will end up in a completely different neighborhood. The food here is delicious, healthy (not at all!) and cheap. Moreover, Mexicans don’t eat anything without ‘salsa’ (even popcorn!). The most remarkable thing that happened to me? The water system of the city had to be repaired and the entire city did not receive water supply for one week long…

Then the people: Mexicans are extremely hospitable, social and love parties. As a foreigner it is therefore really easy to make Mexican friends. I live in Condesa, a quarter with many expats and exchange students where always something is going on. I follow my courses at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Santa Fe. The distance from my house to university is only 10 kilometers, but sometimes it takes me one and a half hour to go home (the traffic in this city is extremely busy!). Next to the courses I follow, I participate in projects with two companies: Unilever and Coppel. This gave me the opportunity to take a look in Mexican business culture and the logistical problems companies encounter here.

Mexicans are very different from the Dutch. Time pressure does not exist here and they have never heard about burn-outs. Sometimes it is not that easy to make agreements with them, but their social character always makes up for that. From the first day onwards, they all wanted me to show their country and to integrate me in their culture (and their parties). We, as Dutch people, could definitely learn from that.

Next to my daily life in Mexico City, I have enough free time to travel during the weekends and explore Mexico as much as possible. Mexico is really diverse and you can find here everything you want: beaches, mountains, cultural cities and nature. In 3 weeks my semester already comes to an end, but fortunately I will travel for a few more weeks to enjoy the Latin culture. And my most valuable experience here? Disfruta tu vida!