When I told my friends I decided to study a semester in Mexico City they all thought I was crazy. My friends and family were telling me: “You can go everywhere in the world, why would you decide to go and study in Mexico for 6 months?” Deciding to study in Mexico while I had many things going on in Amsterdam was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make so far. My friends kept reminding me of all the cool stuff I was going to miss if I would decide to leave to Mexico City for 6 months. I was originally supposed to leave to Mexico on July 16th of 2010, but because of a few unfinished projects in Amsterdam I last minute decided I could not leave Amsterdam yet. I’m glad I didn’t leave on July 16th because the summer of 2010 was by far the best summer I have had up to date. 

On January 5th of 2011 I left the coolest city of the world for the biggest city on the face of the earth. From the moment I touched down on Mexican soil I knew that English was not going to get me very far. Luckily for me my Spanish is not as bad as I thought it would be. My landlord picked me up at the airport and drove my roommate and me to our apartment. Like most international students we live right around the campus. The next day I got to explore my neighbourhood a little bit. I went to the bank to change my beloved Euros’ for some Mexican Pesos. It was pretty weird to see two huge security guys walking around the bank carrying large machine guns I only see in videogames. After collecting my Pesos I walked in the burning sun to go and see my new school. The campus of the Tec de Monterrey is amazing compared to the facilities offered by schools in the Netherlands. The campus itself is huge and it looked even better then the pictures I’ve seen in the brochure. 

After I was finished exploring the campus, I went to the school’s lunchroom to meet some of my classmates. My eyes lighted up the moment I realized I was not the only African student at my school. From the moment I met my French/Senegalese classmate Alioune, I knew directly we were going to become friends. 

For all the people who think I came to Mexico just to have fun, I suggest you think again. Besides Law courses I study a psychology course called group dynamics, International Relations, Macro economics, Spanish and I’m conducting a research about the future of the distribution of Music. 

Teotihuacan 

In my first week the international department of my school organized a trip to the archaeological site of the ancient city of Teotihuacan. To the Aztecs, Teotihuacan was a holy place, where the sun, moon and universe were created. It was they who gave Teotihuacan its name, meaning “The place where men become gods”.  Along with my fellow students we took a tour through the city. If you ever get the chance to visit Mexico City I suggest you check out this amazing archaeological site.  

Acapulco 

On January the 21st my school organized a trip for all exchange students to go to Acapulco. There are about 110 exchange students studying at the TEC this semester. The exchange group consists out of Korean, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, American, Australian, Colombian but mainly French exchange students.  We stayed at the Ritz, which is located right at the awesome beach of Acapulco. Everything from the food to the drinks was pre paid which was pretty sweet. My new friends and me rented some Jet ski’s to explore the coast of the pacific ocean. During our stay the temperature in Acapulco was around 30 degrees Celsius and the water temperature was very nice. This was by the way the first time I swam in the Pacific Ocean. 

Mexico is a lovely place to be, deciding to study a semester here was a great decision. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. I will try my best to update you guys more often. 

Talk to you later!