This month’s edition of Monocle, my favourite magazine, has an in-depth survey of Mexico (running at 36 pages) that features the best in current Mexican design, music, literature, business, media, hospitality and gastronomy.
It is very refreshing to see such a positive portrayal of the Mexican reality, as most international media tend to take the easy route, focusing only on what’s wrong (which we already know) instead of what’s right. Highly recommended!
Monta kertaa olen sanonut että Suomessa ei saa hyvää, aitoa meksikolaista, vaan texmexiä. Kun ei täällä ole laatuisia meksikolasia ravintoloja, suomalaiset ovat vaan tavaneet Santa Maria tai Old El Paso, joka on meksikolaiselle ruualle kuin lohihampurilainen suomalaisille.
Sen takia, tämä kirja on minun puolesta hyvin tervetullut, koska puhuu ruuasta jolla olen itse kasvanut ja löydät siellä melkein missä vaan, ei taco-kuoreista jotka vaan tapasin Pohjois-Europpassa aikuisena.
Helsingin Sanomien arvostelu löydät tästä, ja voit ostaa useimmista paikoista.
A man without an abundant experience in politics, a man very different from his predecessors and one of whose parents had been born abroad, runs for the presidency of his country through a grassroots movement, great oratory and the promise of change in big, bold letters. His campaign imposed his candidacy on his party and eventually clinched the presidency with enormous expectations. The handover between administrations was smooth and the incoming government met with support from the international community.
I'm not talking about Barack Obama in '09, but Vicente Fox in 00'. I hope against hope that the sky-high expectations don't crash this time, as the challenges are many.
There's been a lot of discussion in the traditional media and the blogosphere about Mexico becoming a failed state after a report by the US military on such eventuality. Frankly, as gross as the news on the Mexican drug cartels are, I think it is an exaggeration for two simple reasons:
I'm not innocent enough to say that everything is going beautifully, but I have a thermometer that most people in the international media don't: family and friends living in the country. I'm sure many of them would among be the first to start leaving if the situation becomes as untenable as these reports claim. Otherwise I'll keep on hoping for the best and agreeing with opinions like this.
In the meantime, tourism seems to be more affected by the international credit crunch than by that kind of news items. Fair, since most tourism attractions are very far away from where these sad events are taking place. As a tourist, I'd be more afraid in Los Angeles or Chicago than Cancún or San Miguel de Allende.
Mexican education has a very strong nationalist component, and we are taught to view with a certain suspicion foreign influences, which is quite ironic when you consider that everybody came from somewhere else. Phrases like "México lindo y querido" (beautiful & beloved Mexico) or "Como México no hay dos" (there is no other country like Mexico) are commonly heard, and Mexican naturalisation and investment laws are extremely restrictive, which everybody seems to find normal.
When I moved to Finland, after going throught the whole language and acculturisation process, I realised that many of those views held while and where I was born were rather chauvinistic, when I found similar situations in the country where my home is. Phrases such as "On lottovoitto syntyä Suomeen" (being born in Finland is like winning the lottery) and the sad state of the immigration debate in Finland currently have shown me how wrong the attitudes I encountered when growing up are, since they assume that one group or the other hold a monopoly on truth and are categorically better than the rest.
I'd rather learn the best from everybody I encounter.
You may be aware that Mexico is not one of the most egalitarian societies on this planet, and socioeconomic differences are very much a part of the social fabric. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a middle class family in the capital, with access to good schooling and domestic and international travel.
While growing up I think I tried to make the best possible use of these opportunities, but when I reached my teenage years I realised I truly disliked the pseudo-elitist environment I was brought up in, and got rather fed up with those social standards on what to wear, how to act, what kind of music to listen, what car to drive, when to gossip, etcetera.
Fast-forward 10 years. I had been living in Finland for a few years and moved to Brussels to study my masters degree. The school was not very big, so for extra-curricular activities and a couple of courses they tended to band together the undergraduate exchange students and the foreign graduate students for what one could call "economies of scale".
Two of the exchange students were from Mexico, and one of them embodied pretty much everything I disliked of that environment I had left: the feigned (or real) ignorance and lack of curiosity, the social and religious conservatism, the gossiping and the materialism were all there, and I couldn't avoid this person for half a year.
Needless to say, the beginning was quite hard, but it definitely taught me to face my own prejudices and not only deal with it, but actually get along pretty nicely and (most importantly) sincerely. While we didn't become best friends, I believe we were able to have a good working relationship, which is one of the most valuable lessons learned from my time there.
The lower one is part of an album called Easy Melodías,which is pretty much impossible to find these days.
And you get music like this (link in Spanish), by the Banda Plástica de Tepetlixpa from the southeast of Mexico State, Mexico. I especially liked their rendition of Yellow Submarine, but be warned, this kind of music might not be for all tastes.
I'm a big fan of Monocle magazine, and was quite amused when they talked about their main tips for the Mexican government in the year to come, which I quote below:
Even though all are relevant and rather urgent, the first one was the one that got me thinking. One of the things that works especially well in Finland compared to Mexico is the taxation system.
We might disagree on the amount of taxes you have to pay (that's a whole other discussion), but it is amazingly easy to pay them: you only give an estimate at the beginning of the year, get a tax card, give it to your employer and then taxes are discounted automatically during that fiscal year (which is the same as the calendar year). If your estimate was off the mark, you can check your pre-filled tax return the next May, and you may even get a refund the next December. In 7 years I've never needed to ask any help from an accountant, and I've never had a problem.
No wonder Mexican tax payment levels are lower than Botswana's compared to GDP. Can they try to improve this for the new year?
So, as you know, we recently launched certain new products and services at an event in Barcelona (that I didn't attend this year). I've been following the reactions to this in social media for a while, and of course am a heavy user of our own services.
Now imagine my pleasure when I check Mexico City in Ovi and I find this:
I knew that we had 3D landmarks, but seeing so many in Mexico City (especially the Angel of Independence) just brought a huge grin to my face. Especially since I'm so far away from there, and won't go back this Christmas.
