Mitchell Bradley
- Destination:
- Mexico
- Host Club:
- Home Town:
Outbound to Mexico 2007
Mexico is much like New Zealand. Except it is not. We both have cars, and electricity and both countries share the Pacific Ocean, but that is about where the similarities end.
I spent 12 months in a city called Culiacan in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, known for it's agriculture and drug-trafficking violence. Despite that, my year was a fantastic experience and an unforgettable introduction to a culture so foreign that I felt lost initially.
I had learned Spanish for five years so was prepared for the language and knew vaguely of tequila, mariachi and donkeys painted like zebras.
I stayed with two families and had some great opportunities to travel around Mexico with them and with Rotary. I completed five Rotary trips and two large ones with my family, visiting 22 of Mexico's 31 states from Tijuana to Cancun, separated by a distance of 3200 kilometres.
I attended a state university and participated in football as well as spending free time with the other 15 exchange students in my city.
The best thing about Mexico was the exquisite cuisine, from tacos to quesadillas to various forms of seafood to the range of hot sauces and salsas to accompany even the dourest of meals.
Perhaps the toughest aspect of life in Sinaloa was the climate with summer temperatures reaching up to 45 degrees but despite this my experience was immensely interesting and beneficial to me as a person.