Mexico: Adriana, 14

My name is Adriana, I am 14 years old and I live in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Mexico is a country which has every potential to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. We have awesome places with a lot of nature; forests and jungles, wonderful species of animals and plants. There are also some extraordinary touristic destinations and beautiful beaches. One of the beaches I personally really like is Quintana Roo which has pyramids such as Chichen itza.

Our biggest problem, however, is the people. They unfortunately dont do anything to improve the potential Mexico has. I think that we as Mexicans are really selfish, problematic and kind of lazy. There are also problems like stealing, narcotics, drugs and corruption in the government. I know that many polititians have offered people money in exchange for their votes, some of them accepted and others didn't. Other problems, especially drugs and tobacco are the ones that are really serious thee days, mostly among the teenagers. I haven't tried them, but I am just one in a million; generally it is more common with teenage boys than girls.

But on the other hand all these problems are not as serious as they may look like for people from other countries, because of the attention around them in news and so on.

You may walk in the street having fear of something bad to happen, or you can just face the possibility, be cautious and i swear nothing wrong will happen to you. People can be really kind, you just have to get to know them. We are funny, laid-back, happy, creative and we never give up. I wouldn't say we are not intelligent, we are just not very dedicated to study.

The only thing that stops you from knowing who Mexicans really are is a wall built of stereotypes. You may for example think that everyone is corrupted, but we are not all like that. Also not everyone takes drugs and there are definitely not thousands of narcos living everywhere around us. We have a daily routine which is the same all the time. Going to school or work, having fun from 4 to 8 (this could be to watching a series, reading a book, doing some sport (football, volleyball, basketball, but mostly soccer). Some other things I usually do are to chat with friends via Facebook, go to a party, draw something, go to city and just walk, hang out with friends or play on a musical instrument. We love listen to music like banda, rock and roll and obviously pop. In my case i prefer rock and pop (I am in love with Imagine Dragons, The Fray, Guns n Roses, ACDC and Taylor Swift). Some banda singers I like are Julion Alvarez, Gerardo Ortiz, Banda MS and la arrolladora. In the evening you take a shower and go sleep. And on Saturday and Sunday you could do anyhing you would like, but most of the people principally just rest after a very loaded week.

I really love my country, with everything it has, with all the good and all the bad things. Sometimes I feel like I would like to live in some other place but then I remember tacos and I always prefer to stay :). I am staying here in Mexico because I won't give up on it, I will do my best to change it to get better and make it a wonderful country in every aspect. Sometimes I feel bad because I live here, but it could be worse, so I thank God for letting me be here, even though sometimes it is a mess. Most of the Mexicans believe in God; 90 percent of us are Catholics and the rest just believe in science.

Just as there are some bad days, there are some really good ones too. I love my country, I love Mexico. So if you ever had that chance, come and visit us. You will experience fun, weirdness and difference. And I swear that nothing bad will happen to you if you are brave enough to come. Try the tacos, every kind of salsa and banda music, I bet you will love it just as much as I do.

Adriana, 14yrs, Mexico

#sharedstory #northamerica #14yrsold