During my summer vacation I went on a trip to Mexico City and it was not at all .
In Canada I felt free to do whatever I wanted but in Mexico City I .
felt that I had lost that freedom. Much like in the short story "Blue Against White" by .
Jeanette Armstrong, I felt very out of place in the big city. Everyone spoke Spanish,.
people would stare at me because of the color of my hair, and I could not go anywhere .
by myself because it was too dangerous. I was unprepared to deal with the physical .
reality of Mexico City, it's foreign language, it's impoverished people, it's pollution, .
and it's frightening crime rate.
Wherever I went in Mexico City there were always people begging me for .
money. Often there would be children or families sleeping on the street. I felt bad when .
I had no money to give them because they looked so poor and destitute. Fifty percent .
of Mexico City's population is very poor and I found this very disturbing. .
When I got off of the plane I noticed the pollution right away. It was like being hit .
with a wave of exhaust fumes. At first I thought it was only the smell at the airport but .
after leaving I found that the smell was Mexico City's air. After being in Mexico for .
awhile I became acustomed to it like a stale perfume. The cars in Mexico City generate.
a lot of pollution and so do smokestacks from factories. I did not get sick from the .
water because we had a water purifier on the faucet. However, when we ran the tap .
without the purifier, the water was brown and not fit to drink.
In Mexico I was unable to go anywhere by myself. The crime rate in Mexico City.
is so bad that you are almost guaranteed to be robbed or mugged if you go out alone. .
This is more true for people who do not look Mexican, like myself. At home I never felt .
insecure or in danger but here I knew things were different. On my way to a club for .
example, I saw a group of men with pistols run and pull a man out of his truck, across .