By: Patricia Ortiz

This sign is at the border between the U.S. and Mexico. On the right of the sign it says the sam thing as on the left. Photo by: Patricia Ortiz

When people see their loved ones for the first time in a long time the first thing people feel is joy.  Sometimes this turns to fear when people are heading to Mexico.

Every time the news comes on it seems like something horrible has occurred in Mexico. It appears that during this year tragedies have grown in Mexico. The truth is that the situation is not as bad as it seems. Every year Mexican authorities have a program dedicated to protecting those individuals who make the trip to Mexico. Police cars are parked on the road, and the army is everywhere. When my family took the trip down to Mexico last December, a blanket of comfort came over us when we saw the authorities guarding those that were taking the trip. One thing that gave my family courage to go to Mexico even though we saw the news and the situation that was happening was that we were not going alone. My uncle and his family were driving with my family so that we would not drive alone. My uncle was not the only one that was heading down south with us, many other families were heading to Mexico.   

The safety that was on the road on the way to our town was with us all the way.  Sometimes the police would stop suspicious looking vehicles.  Every so often a car would be stopped at random just so the authorities could ask were the vehicle and the people were heading.  When we finally reached our destination we felt very safe.  The police patrolled the streets often to make sure nothing strange occurred in town.  When my family knew that we were being protected we could relax and have fun.  

My parents recently remodeled the house we own in Mexico this caused us to go furniture shopping days after we arrived.  That is never fun, but my parents convinced me to go.  Once our shopping adventure was complete, we went out to eat at this amazing seafood restaurant.  The restaurant we went to had the tables and chairs under a giant palm tree.  Palm trees lined the sides of the lake near the restaurant.  The lake had the cutest fish in it all of the fish came in gorgeous colors like vibrant orange, fiery red, and sunny yellow.  The fish were not the only wildlife in the lake.  Dukes in multiple colors swam about.  

Christmas was very special in the year 2010.  My cousin got married.  The marriage was probably one of the main reason why we gathered the courage to head down to Mexico.  My family being Catholic had the religious ceremony in the bride’s home town.  Later the reception was held at the groom’s town.  The food was typical Mexican food such as carnitas (pork chopped up and cooked in something similar to Crisco), arroz ( rice cooked with tomatoes), mole ( substance like sauce made with a special kind of pepper), frijoles charros (beans cooked with bacon, ham, hot dogs and tomatillos), and tortillas.  Once everyone was done eating the fun began.  Everyone got up and danced with the bride and groom and then when that was done everyone got up and danced.  All good things come to an end and when the party was over, the whole family had to stay behind and clean up the mess that was made.  Cleaning up the mess took part of the night of the wedding and part of the day after the wedding.  Once we were done cleaning up, we all sat down and shared funny stories of the wedding.

Overall our vacation was one of the nicest vacations my family has ever had.  The insecurity that people felt about going on vacation to Mexico is understandable.  The news and media all exaggerate at times about what is really occurring south of the border.  Some things that the media says may not be exaggerated but still everyone just needs to calm down and have faith that those whose  job is to protect the citizens will do their job well.  The public should calm themselves and remember that everyone needs to get over the fear of seeing loved ones that live far away.