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- Student
- 03/06/2024
Learn Spanish! Tasting a new culture! These were among the motivations for me to embark on this adventure.
I did an internship at UNAM as part of my Master's program in Mechanical Engineering. It is the largest and oldest university in Latin America with a campus so big that there are several bus lines running across the campus, special and free for students.
Part of the campus is even UNESCO World Heritage Site. Almost all communication at my internship was in Spanish, so highly recommended if you are eager to learn the language.
People are often put off by the bad reputation Mexico still has for crime. As in any big city, there are obviously neighborhoods that are better not to go to, but otherwise I actually experienced it as a safe and very beautiful city. Something I had to get used to is the hustle and bustle that can be there from time to time and the chaos in the traffic, but I could laugh about this from time to time. Fortunately, I myself stayed in a quieter neighborhood with lots of greenery, Coyoacan.
If you like good food, Mexico is also the place to be. On every street corner there is a stall where you can get tacos, enchiladas, quesedillas and much more for next to nothing. Mexico is also a country of beautiful nature and rich history. For example, there are a number of volcanoes around Mexico City, one of which I climbed to the top: Nevado de Toluca. This volcano is inactive, but you do have great views of Popocatepetl, an active volcano on the outskirts of the city, from here. Unfortunately, the haze you see in the valley is smog. You don't see this when you walk in town and it didn't bother me, but from this height you could clearly see that it is a problem.
Furthermore, I went to the state of Chiapas in the south of the country for a week. This state has a very different climate than Mexico City, namely tropical. I got to visit beautiful waterfalls and Mayan temples there. All of Mexico is full of archaeological zones, which are very interesting to visit.
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