My Top Culture Shocks When I First Arrived in Mexico

EVERYBODY SPEAKS SPANISH. Now wait before you say, “Uhh.. Obviously Black Gringo, you’re in Mexico. Did you expect German, you donkey?”. Well, not exactly. It’s one thing knowing Mexicans speak Spanish. It’s another thing being engulfed and surrounded by the language 24/7. Outside of the airport, everything was in Spanish. The signs, menus, billboards, radio, everything. It’s a bit jarring to be surrounded by your native tongue all your life and just dropped into the middle of a foreign land. While overwhelming at first, it gave me more motivation to continue practicing my Spanish for my subsequent visits. But, I had a longgg way to go.

So, after getting myself settled for the night, the next day I went to the Bodega Aurrera, my first Mexican supermarket experience. I shuffled through aisles, awkwardly staring at the hiroglyphs on the aisle signs with Google Translate in hand. I grabbed some Zuccaritas (Latin American Frosted Flakes), a loaf of bread, and lunch meat. Aisle by aisle I went through the store just looking for anything recognizable and easy to consume when suddenly I see a huge shelf stocked with dozens and dozens of cartons of eggs… unrefrigerated.

Different Food Preparations

I freaked out. Why are all these eggs left out? Should I tell someone?? While I’m having a whole existential crisis over the state of these eggs I noticed everybody else just casually going about their day with no care in the world. So, I slowly backed away as if I didn’t see a thing and continued to circle the entire store several times for milk. No luck. I checked out and walked back home and immediately Googled why there were hundreds of eggs sitting on the shelf. I quickly learned that freshly laid eggs are naturally coated with a layer of mucus called the cuticle that provides protection against bacteria. In America, we tend to wash and sterilize the eggs, removing the cuticle thereby requiring the eggs to be refrigerated. Much of the rest of the world including Mexico leaves the coating on. Along with my search, I learned that milk is unrefrigerated here too (that’s why I couldn’t find any in the coolers). Americans use a different pasteurization technique to process the milk unlike many other regions of the world like Europe and Mexico. Regardless, both methods provide safe milk for you to consume. Pfeww.. Existential crisis averted. Weeks later I got some eggs and made a bomb ass bowl with chicken, black beans, and scrambled eggs.

Beauty

After the first shocks of landing into a new country, it gave me time to admire the beauty of Mexico. The people, culture, food, nature. Mexico is a beautiful country. I took my first excursion midway through my month long trip to Chichen Itza. I got to see the huge pyramid in person, outside of textbooks and pictures on the Internet. And not only that, I got to learn about the origins of the pyramid and the Mayan Empire. Again, I knew some of these things already, but actually experiencing it for myself was something totally new. I saw where they used to play Pok-ta-Pok, an ancient Mayan ballgame that would sometimes last for days at a time. After adventuring the ruins, we went to a cenote outside of Valladolid. I remember being stunned just seeing how massive the cenote was and how it descended into the Earth. I swam in it for a while before departing back to Cancun. It was truly one of my favorite days on the trip.

Although I was shocked in more ways than one, I’ve had a fantastic first trip in Cancun, Mexico and I knew immediately that I needed to come back again. So I did just that. I planned my next trip for the following Summer to Merida. I got packed up and ready for another adventure, more prepared than the last.

I’m The Black Gringo and this is my blog where I document my experiences traveling across Mexico and share tips and advice on how to live and enjoy your stay in this wonderful country. If you like what you’re reading, feel free to check out my other posts and adventures.