REPORT IDEAS FROM LATIN AMERICA
We still don't have information about all the countries in Latin American country that isn't on the list, please e-mail us telling us what life
in your country is like.
ARGENTINA
Diego
I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From my city I like the downtown part, Corrientes street, from Pueyrredón to Alem, it´s full of cinemas, bookstores and coffee shops. San Telmo is also very pretty especially at night, it's a "barrio" with a plaza (square) called Plaza Dorrego and it has several bars around it. In some of them a musical group plays there on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Susana
Well I should make a difference between life in the capital city, Buenos Aires, which is where I live and the rest of the country where life is more peaceful and the people are warmer and friendlier. Still, I like Buenos Aires, we're a strange mixture of Spanish and Italians because we are mostly decendants from immigrators from those countries.
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MEXICO
Fernanda
17 years old
The life in Mexico is made of many different cultures. We should know that Mexico is not a place full of "Charritos" shouting "¡Viva Villa!", "¡Viva Zapata!" or "¡Viva the Revolution!" neither is it that pueblito in which Speedy González used to shout "¡Yepa, Yepa, Yepa. ..Ándale, andale!
Mexico is a great deal more than that. Mexico is the result of a conquest that provoked the largest mixture of cultures that we know. The life in Mexico is full of happiness, of parties and gatherings that soften the bad political situation that is lived. One of the biggest parites is celebrated the 1st of november, the Day of th Dead, to conmemorate friends and relatives who have died. The Mexican food, that in some foreign countries is known, has the seasoning of the Mexican ground. The cocoa that is used to make chocolate is one, the corn that forms a basic part of the Mexican food is found in atole, tortillas, tamales etc, and the epazote are some of the most important things that form part of the Mexican kitchen.
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Ana
16 years old
I live in Mexico City which is one of the biggest cities in the world. What I like more about my country are the people and its traditions. People in Mexico are very friendly and they always try to make you feel at home. My favorite tradition is the Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos). This name often scares foreigners who don't understand it. On this day we set up altars to remember friends and relatives who have passed away. We decorate the alters with things they liked, cigarettes, tequila or their favorite food, and we also place symbols for each of the four elements: water, air, fire and earth. All the alters are decorated with yellow flowers called cempazuchitl which are supposed to help the dead find their way to the food we've set out for them. We also eat sugar candy shaped like skulls on that day that often have your name written on it. I guess this sounds weird or macabre to a foreigner but to us mexicans it's a celebration that we're still alive and in a way it's mocking Death. This feast is a perfect example of how the old prehispanic traditions mixed with the european ones becoming truly MEXICAN. I really recomend to all of you that you visit Mexico when we are celebrating this day (1st of November) so you can experience a very mexican tradition.
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Mrs. Fernandez
I live in Mexico City, a regular overpopulated city. With lost of problems and lots of advantages, culturally, socially, educationally. The country is something else. We have so many different subcultures and flolklore. Indian groups, archaeological sites, beautifull landscapes.
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Ramon Cisneros
20 years old
I live in Mexico, in the city of Puebla, I have lived here since I was born and I'm glad I live here. I have been in Moscu, South Africa and Kuwait, and although I loved the experience there, I prefer living here. You can tell the difference, mainly because here in Mexico there's still is a very close family union, that I believe makes us friendly and always smiling, as they say you'll always be received warmly in Mexico. We are open people, giving, very noble, with a good heart, as always there are exceptions, but in general I believe that that is the character of the Mexican. Also I must mention that we are not like many foreigners think, always sitting besides a cactus drinking pulque or tequila and sleeping. Sometimes we can be lazy but not that way. We are very religious people
The main problems here are almost always monetary, and these trigger other like the insecurity and unemployment. There is also a noticeable social inequality and racial discrimination, yes that's right discrimination. Here the discriminated ones are the natives, I believe that is something that has been inherited from long ago without even really noticing. Although the government says that Mexico is a country where there is equality between citizens, the natives are always treated as second class citizens and in many occasions their rights are ignored and they are even jailed for crimes they have not committed, only because they don't have a translator (In many of the regions nonurbanized regions Spanish is not spoken but different dialects).
On the other hand, Mexico is a rich country in biodiversity, with deserts and rain forests, forests, mountains, volcanos, rivers, prairies, marshes, which are truly wonderful. As a boy I was in the Scouts and had opportunity get to know many places that are surprising and beautiful. The life in the small towns is something else. All the people know each other and greet everyone even though they do not know them. People are very generous and are very nice. They are hard workers and always very smiling and they know how to live in precarious conditions. They are happy and have another idea of the life.
In Mexico friendship is something very important and sometimes it is even said that there are times in which you appreciate a friend more than a brother because you can't choose your brother but you can choose the friend. When we really care for a friend we try to integrate him or her to our family. We are very affectionate and I believe that is what I like of my country among other many things.
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Alejandro Correa
16 years old
The life in Mexico, just like in the rest of Latin America, is becoming more and more similar because of the globalisation. The large cities are already almost the same everywhere. The difference can be seen in the level of social development of the lower classes, that live in small rural towns. There they still have an impressive delay, with low levels of education and a life based on the agriculture and mining.
Mexico is a great country. It has a very diferent and impressive culture from the rest of the world. It is a country full of traditions, and counts with excellent natural and human resources, but these could be better used. An example of this are the things for which Mexico is known through all the world, for example, its archaeological ruins or its paradise like beaches. The people are very kind, something that is becoming less and less usual in the world.
Things that displease me are the following. The government is a very corrupt one (just like many others in the world), and this stops Mexico from being part of the first world because of the constant economic crisis that we suffer. The other thing I dislike is the negative thinking that exists among some people who consider all mexicans to be bad at everythign they do and that we will never be able to change this. However, you must remember that these is just my humble opinion.
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Ricardo
18 years old
I'm 18 years old and from my point of view the life here in Mexico is very agitated, everyone is always in a hurry to get someplace. The truth is that one becomes accustomed to this and sudenly it stops bothering you, but you still notice it especially when you return from holidays. Leaving Mexico City behind and seeing the rest of the country I think that the beauty in Mexico is its diversity in many aspects.
The different cultures and etnic groups that inhabit in our country make Mexico very rich culturally. In mexico all kinds of environments exist: sea side, mountain, forest, desert, rain forest, plains, and there are also different cultural regions like the Peninsula Yucateca, the region of the Gulf, the Coast of the Pacific, the central valleys, the volcanic ranges, the Bajio and the border zone, all these zones differ in traditions, language (spanish with many accents, but also prehispanic dialects ), and food among others things. This makes Mexico a very diverse and interesting country.
If you get tired of something you simply move to a diferent region and find a new form of life. Something that is truly despicable in this country is the government and the corruption that waste the country's cultural, industrial, mineral, rural and historical wealth. The government should change and rebuild a Mexico where we take advantage of all its beauty and resources.
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PERU
Ahmet
The best thing about living in Peru is the people, because they're very friendly. The bad part about living in Peru is that it is an under developed country and there is a lot of political trouble. For fun, I like sports, playing soccer and playstation. In Peru summer starts in December and goes through January. Winter is in July when it's very cold. Peru is devided into three zones: The coast..near the Pacific Ocean. That's where Lima, the capital is. I live there. The middle part is the Sierra, where the Cordillera de los Andes is. And the last part is the jungle, the Amazonas, where it's really hot. We have different weather in each part of Peru. It rains hard in the jungle but there's hardly any rain in the coast. One of the coolest places is Machu Piccu.
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