Two days ago, I moved from Copilco area of Mexico City to Lindavista.
To keep it short, it was a little bit of a pain in the ass.
The longer that I stay in Mexico, the more shit I have to carry with me to get moved over to the next place.
Fortunately, I don’t have enough shit yet that requires an actual moving truck.
An UBER driver works well enough even though the occasional one does get amazed or seemingly irritated at how much I’m trying to pack into his car.
Still, I always tip well for the help given how much I’m trying to move and the extra time it takes from him to get everything inside the vehicle.
And so I moved again two days ago at around 7 PM.
Keep in mind, it was a long trip of over an hour across the city as I was literally moving from the very south to the very north of the city.
Along the way, the taxi driver – who was a middle aged man – made some small talk with me.
Apparently, he spent time living in the US working in construction.
Though he didn’t say it, parts of the conversation made me suspect he was there illegally as he said he was “forced to leave” at some point.
But he was able to make plenty of USD that he could send back to his family.
Where his son is apparently an English teacher working in Ecatepec.
At any rate, the guy was curious also about me.
Asking “where I have lived in Mexico City?”
And was amazed at all of the different places I’ve spent time living in as I told him that I do move around quite frequently.
Of course, with my time laid out in Mexico, he eventually asked the question “do you like Mexico more than the US?”
Which, being honest, I find to be a very awkward question.
Let’s get into my thoughts on that as it isn’t an unusual question as I’ve been asked that by maybe half a dozen people now?
So is Mexico Better than the US?
First, I wonder if any Mexicans would find it offensive if I asked them the same question but in reverse if they happen to be living in the US.
I could’ve thrown it back at him and asked “do you like the US more than Mexico?”
And, to be fair, I’m sure some Americans and Mexicans would say yes to liking the other person’s country more than their own.
Still, I find it to be such a weird question to answer.
After all, if I say no, then I do wonder if I’m going to trigger some inner nationalism in the dude.
Break fragile egos and all.
Because, in my experience, Latinos more broadly can be a bit insecure about how other people perceive their respective countries.
With certain nationalities not being too much like that like Bolivians and others like Colombians being much worse.
And given the xenophobia that a few Mexicans carry against the US and Americans, you do have to be conscious of that if someone asks you this question.
On the flip side, how could one respect another person if they say that another country is better than their own?
Unless maybe the person is literally escaping the concentration camps of North Korea, your average person would look like a cuck if they said yes to liking another country more than their own.
Even if they genuinely did like a place like Mexico more than the US!
It would still border on cuckness if the person says yes because Latin America has no shortage of gringos who do genuinely hate where they came from and always shit on it.
Some of them even going so far as trying to “pass like the locals” and looking like clowns doing so.
Still, above all of that, I did hesitate at first to answer the question as I pondered how to phrase what I wanted to say.
And the 5 seconds of silence made the guy say something like “yeah, I understand.”
To which I answered the question by saying something like “well, I like both countries. I like the US more as a country but prefer living in Mexico.”
Followed up quickly with the real explanation for why Mexico is more beneficial for living in by talking about how I earn USD but spend in pesos.
Therefore, I have a cheaper cost of living and my overall quality of life is better without having to work too hard.
I could’ve elaborated more by talking about also how I already basically have a life here, most of my friends are here after the years living here and I’m just more accustomed to Mexico now.
Consequently, I do feel that you’re less likely to leave a place after it grows on you enough and you have enough history with it.
You simply grow a life there and that also keeps you there also.
However, once I mentioned the financial benefits, I couldn’t elaborate anymore as the guy put his 2 cents in.
Talking about how he understands as he went to the US for the same purpose of earning USD but sending it back home so his family can spend it in pesos.
In a way, I guess you can say financial motivations helped motivate both of us to make that first step to living abroad but in the opposite directions.
But yet with the same goal of exploiting the currency difference that allows for a better quality of life.
Still, to summarize my thoughts on his question, I’ve always said it to myself the following sentence: I’d rather be born in the US but I’d rather live in Mexico.
Simply because the US, in my opinion, is a better country than Mexico by quite a few standards and your average American is statistically more likely to have a better quality of life than your average Mexican.
Not saying you can’t have a good life as a Mexican – you can and many do!
It’s just that infrastructure and opportunities are better up there than down here for your average person.
But, having said that, the financial benefits of that currency difference is one motivation (among a small few others) that helped propel me to a life in Latin America long term.
So while I find the question to be awkward given I don’t always know how fragile or insecure the person asking will be, I’m also not going to give a cuck response that doesn’t even touch the truth as to how I feel about both countries.
As I said, I like Mexico but, all things considered, I do think the US is better.
I just prefer living in Mexico even though both countries have many great and negative things about them.
Anyway, that’s the article on a weird question I get once in a blue moon by the occasional local in Latin America.
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt