6 Misconceptions Most Americans and Canadians Have About Mexico

Note before we get started: I’m going to call folks from the States “Americans” in this piece for the sake of clarity, but I explain here why I think the term is pretty dumb. If the Spanish language can have a word for “person from the United States” (Estadounidense) I don’t know why we can’t figure one out in English. There are 35 countries that make up “The Americas” so I just find it bizarre that it’s the most widely used term for people from just one of them.

Mexico City being a babe. Photo by Carlos Aguilar on Unsplash.

As I get ready to make my yearly holiday pilgrimage back to the United States from my home in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, I wanted to share this list. During my time back in the Midwest, dispelling rumors and misconceptions about Mexico is something that subtly happens on a daily basis.

It happens in the majority of conversations that I have about Mexico when a shared anecdote gets a “REALLY?” in response or a strange question as a follow-up. I don’t fault my friends, family, or strangers who have this reaction to having their understanding of Mexico not match the snapshots of my life that I share.

It’s a natural reaction to having new information not align with what you’ve been told is true you’re entire life—and growing up in the United States, we’ve been fed a number of false narratives about Mexico. We’ve been banged over…