An Expatriate Sees Mexico in a Whole New Light

I had been working as a freelance writer and blogger in Mexico City for about nine months when the swine flu began to take hold of the metropolis. “I’m from Los Angeles,” I thought, as events unfolded. “I’ve seen crazier things happen on the 405 freeway.” Reports of strange symptoms, surgical masks in the metro and friends joking about zombie attacks didn’t faze me, but when a small earthquake shook Mexico City’s foundation three days after the strange illness shut down the city’s schools, I began to question my sanity. Who would want to stick around such a cauldron of craziness? Well, I’m glad I did.

With commerce, education and entertainment temporarily halted because of fear that the virus would spread, I observed a more intimate portrait of the country. Yes, I found out it was considered perfectly hilarious to print up and sell “All I got in Mexico was the Swine Flu” t-shirts. But I also witnessed Mexicans like my friend Monica Martinez, a tour guide who wasn’t deterred by a city of shuttered museums, making the most of an otherwise grim situation. When her charge of culture-hungry Israelis couldn’t enter the Museo Frida Kahlo, she gave an impromptu history lesson outside the famous blue house and cued the group to break out their cameras when a janitor left the front door cracked open. I heard families in my apartment building howling with laughter as they enjoyed the unexpected vacation. And passing by a leafy park, I noticed a professor giving his students a lecture despite the citywide shutdown.

I’ve loved Mexico since my hair was in trenzas—having experienced its raw beauty in a time of crisis only makes me want to hold on for more.