Greetings and first impressions of Mexico City
[This article was originally written for an e-newsletter sent out on 28 November 2005.]
Well here I am, reporting from Mexico City. I truly can't believe I'm here. Coming to a Latin American country has always been a dream of mine for many many years, and I have to pinch myself everyday to believe it.
It is also a great privilege to be able to serve God in this country. There is such a wide gulf between the rich and poor, and with so much poverty, crime and a sense of meaninglessness that you see in many eyes, there is great need to share the news of God's love among the people here. When I enter this country with my western riches like my Apple PowerBook (which you won't prize from my cold dead fingers), I struggle to equate the wealth I have with that of many people I see around me. Many people were shocked when I told them no one was paying me money to come out here, but I have more money allocated for my coming to Mexico (which isn't that much by western standards) than many people here will ever see in a lifetime. That's senseless to me. A topic for a future blog...
But yet what an amazing country this is! When I first arrived at Mexico City Airport at 6am on Sunday 9th October, I was picked up by my hosts by car. As we drove out into the city, the first thing I noticed was the huge advertising boards that dominate the skyline. Then I looked around me to see street after street of concrete buildings of all shapes, sizes and colours seemingly piled one on top of another - it's like they don't know the concept of planning permission.
My hosts took me for breakfast on that first day to 'Sanbourns', one of a string of department stores owned by Latin America's riches man Carlos Slim. We ate Chilaquiles, a traditional Mexican breakfast made of tortillas, chiles and cheese (actually, pretty much every food here is made of tortillas and chiles in one form or another, but that's another topic...). Afterwards, I stood outside, and took in for the first time the sense of standing on real Mexican soil. I was simply blown away by the knowledge of being in this whole new world, and began to feel that, after months and months of planning, a whole new phase of my life had at long last taken off!
Later on that first day, I was given time to settle in and was introduced to my host family with whom I would be staying for the next couple of months.
There is a lot more I could say about my first impressions and experiences of this wonderful new world, but I hope they will come out as I tell some of my other experiences in this newsletter, and blogs in the future...
To see pictures of my departure from the UK and arrival in Mexico, visit: www.flickr.com/photos/timthompson/sets/1396727/
posted by Tim Thompson | 12:22 AM
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