End of Semester

Halftime of my 2 years in Mexico - 1 year over, 1 more to go. Time really flies.

Some of my fellow students finished their studies and as you can imagine, there was considerable need for "fiesta" after having worked - supposedly - hard on their thesis...

"German connection" with 4 of them having finished their thesis. Mind the "bottle" on the right...

Mexicans seem to be big on souvenir photos, so even in our classes we shot some...

Apart, even more of my friends will go after this semester. Most of them had decided to stay for one year instead of just one semester. But as I said - time flies and now also the whole year is over. Enjoying some last quality time...

Also my roomie from United States leaves. As he still wanted to buy a "Lucha Libre" ("Free Fight") mask, I took the opportunity to see my first Mexican wrestling match.

The arena was still pretty empty at the beginning. But hey, it's Mexico - spectators arrive at least 1 hour late.

I just read the "rules" right now on Wikipedia, but believe me, practically there are no rules.

The guys "fight" in teams of three against each other - inside and outside the ring.

I thought I would hate it, but actually it's pure show.

They don't really hit each other and it's more about their gestures and how they act.

The whole events takes about 2 hours with lots of teams and different costumes.

Even a caveman with a bone in his hair was featured.

Many times the match continues outside the ring

Conclusion? Better than expected, but once is definitely enough. The best thing was that we went as a group of five roomies, so it was definitely fun.

So, enough pictures for today - still some thoughts to write down.

I recently read a lot about the "German Angst" regarding the introduction of the Free Trade Area between the US and Europe, the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Although I think that a lot of the German criticism is exaggerated, I do understand some worries. Indeed, I feel as if for Americans everything "natural" is just dangerous. Hence, Germans fear the invasion of chickens previously "desinfected" with chlorine dioxide. And of course the highly controversial GMO foods. This really came to my mind when I had dinner with my US American roomie some days ago. First: My flauta without cream and without cheese, please. Second: After the meal you have to take some pills which supposedly prevent that your metabolism will digest the meal's fat. And third, of course you have to go to the gym after the meal.

I asked him if such cares are common in the US and he said yes. Also my German friend who studies in the US confirmed, that you only have two extremes: Extremely unhealthy or extremely "healthy" people. Although my roomie is kind of ambivalent, as he indulges in packaged convenience store pizza, giant burgers, you name it... So what's the deal? As I said - to me it appears as if everything natural - even eating - is considered dangerous for a lot of Americans and hence treating chickens with chlorine dioxide becomes totally comprehensible. I think, most of the problems with the currently negotiated TTIP hence arise from cultural misunderstandings and diverging customs from which results fear. And anxiety is hard to come by with rational arguments like the gains in overall welfare this new free trade area would bring.

And talking about the natural thing: In Germany there's the "all-natural, organic" movement. Industrial products are "demonized". Ironically, here it always becomes kind of an adventure to buy these "all-natural" artisanal products. Buying cheese from the small shop in this hidden street? Sure, it's handmade, but who knows how long it already lies in the shelf, if the refrigeration worked continuously (which you should not necessarily presume, as power failures are not too extraordinary here), and if the hygienic conditions during the production process were decent... At these moments industrialization becomes a merit.

One last thought, totally off-topic: In a recent job interview for my internship I was asked about to what I still couldn't get used to after living after year in Mexico. That is, which difference is still most evident to me. Although I had never thought about this before, I immediately knew what it was: The noise. You never have silence. Believe me: Never. And - I didn't say it, but it's like that: Almost all Mexicans I know need music - for everything. They get up with music. They walk around with music (thank you, dear mobile phone producers, for having transformed each and every mobile phone in a jukebox), they shower with music, they eat with music, they watch TV with music, they hear music with music (not joking: They don't have a problem with turning on two tunes at the same time), they study with music, they even sleep with music