The ugly side of Mexico City

I love Mexico City. Not for the first time did I say this in my previous post.

But there is one thing which really pisses me off: Insecurity.

For sure: I will be the first one telling you to come to Mexico, in case you hesitate regarding drug trafficking, shootouts, etc. You know, media reports are biased and unbalanced. Yes, according to the Global Peace Index, Mexico does rank #138 out of 162, just between Rwanda and Ethiopia (Germany #17, Japan #8, Iceland #1).

But: As always, it strongly depends on where you are. As long as you don't head straight to such infamous areas like Ciudad Juárez, Acapulco (not talking about the army-protected beach areas), Michoacán... it's highly inlikely to fall victim to Mexico's "drug problem".

Mexico City is by far not as black as it is painted. In fact, several cities in the oh-so-safe USA are statistically more dangerous. Yet: Mexico City still is what it is: One of the biggest cities in the world. This always goes hand in hand with all kinds of strange people.

I'm lucky enough not to be of Asian origin like H. is, because then you really are a rare sight in Mexico and attract a lot of attention. Especially as a girl you will be referred to as chinita (the typical Mexican diminutive of "china" - Chinese girl). Normally, people will just say this while they pass you, leaving you puzzled why this statement had been necessary at all. Sometimes however you will be engaged in a conversation with that person. How many times did I hear something like this:

"I'm not from China. I'm from Corea."

"Oh, you are not from China? So you are from Japan?"

"No, from Corea."

"Ah, and what does a Japanese girl do here?"

If the person boasts a slightly broader geographical knowledge, the conversation will most likely be:

 "I'm not from China. I'm from Corea."

"Ah Corea. North or South Corea?"

Ignorance is bliss...


Ah, and then of course you have these strange guys...

H. with her "fan"

But ok, this is nothing you couldn't take with a good portion of humor (which is what H. does) and even if it's annoying, it's obviously not what I mean when talking about insecurity.

No, what I really don't like is the latent insecurity lurking everywhere. Taking the metro when it's crowded? Bye bye wallet (Theft). Taking a taxi from the street? Of course not (Danger of being kidnapped). Walking in the city centre by night? Good luck (Danger of getting robbed). Stopped by the police? You'd better not have a corrupt officer in front of you (Apart from having to pay a lot, a friend of mine was beaten up by some of these guys).

As I said: Always and everywhere in the world can you be at the wrong time in the wrong place. I was lucky. All this didn't happen to me (*knock knock*).

But what I do have are annoying stalkers. And this is what pisses me off. To be followed by strangers is very scary, I can tell you. Unfortunately, this happens every once in a while. Waiting at red lights. A guy is turning his head in your direction. Just a glance. Suddenly his eyes return to you, just to switch back to the traffic light again. He pretends not paying attention to you. But you in turn are fully aware of his strange reaction.

The light turns green, he walks, you behind him. He slows down in order to get behind you, otherwise he wouldn't know in which direction you'll go. He falls back to get some people between him and you. Putting his hood on (oh man, how suspicious can one act) and following you. You enter a store and see him passing by, searching you in the shop with his eyes. As soon as he has passed, you leave, hurrying in the opposite direction. Turning around the corner, you start running. As fast as possible to your home, but of course always checking that you are not being followed anymore. Not a unique event...

Last Sunday I was on a tianguis (street market) and probably I wouldn't even have noticed the guy with his baseball cap if he hadn't coughed slightly, but extremely close behind me. Now, at a crowded street market there will always be people close to you. But when I turned around, his look was really strange.

I didn't show any further uneasiness and continued walking. But as soon as there was a small space where I could make a step aside and stop, I let him pass. He moved on, only to look back at me after some metres... As I said, such things happen rather frequently and so I try to calm down, thinking "hey, perhaps he was as surprised as you and thought that you were the one trying to follow him".

So, I didn't think anything of it anymore, turned around and happily proceeded with my grocery tour. But after half an hour I noticed that the same guy was behind me again. WTF? Once more, at the next possible spot I stopped. He did so too at a nearby stall and pretended some interest in the goods on display. When he noticed that I didn't do any move, he decided to pass me and talk to another vendor. The vendor sent him to a stall at the other side of me. So the guy passed again. I still didn't move, just looked at him.

He talked to the vendor at the third stall and it was him who sent the vstalker even further away from me. Of course this was not in the intention of the guy with the baseball cap. Reluctantly he made some steps in the direction he had been indicated. At some point he was far away enough (yet, not more than approximately 10 metres) to get out of sight. I slowly made some steps aside and then jumped through a space between the street stalls, running sideways outside of the market and then turned into a street leading away. After having ensured that there were some people on the road (the least thing you'd want is to be out on a limb), I ran up to the next corner, then slowed down and mixed with the crowd. Of course it was out of question what to do: Return home as fast as possible.

I didn't spot the guy anymore, but today on my way to work I felt that it was him who was approaching me, staring at the ground... Am I developing some kind of paranoia?!

But seriously: I don't think that these situations are downright dangerous, but they make you feel really uneasy. And it's annyoing that such events are not extraordinary at all. And there you have it: Mexico City is a great place to be. But what I used to say at the beginning of my time in Latin America hasn't changed: Two years is enough.

There are many positive aspects of living here and many nice things to experience and see...

... but latent insecurity doesn't make Mexico the place to be for longer - at least for me...