I’ve been in Mexico for almost two weeks now, and while I am excited and like a lot of things, I have also come across a few issues I have here.

Without further ado, here are five things I don’t like about Mexico:

It’s cold inside

While you are turning green because I’m on a holiday in Mexico, I’m turning blue because it’s so cold in here. I didn’t pay good money to haul my ass away from the deadly cold Finland, only to freeze myself in what I thought is a tropical country. I of course checked the weather beforehand to see what I need, and I do have winter clothing, knitwear etc with me, but I thought that would be for me to use outside on the evenings, or for the part I travel in Finland, but no, I need it inside! There was of course no problem in the Mayan Riviera area, where it was really warm even at night time, but inland, Jesus fucking Christ I’m freezing inside!

I’m currently in Puebla, and I had this same problem in Mexico City too, both being inland, high up, surrounded by mountains, and it’s winter time. It’s all nice outside during the day, I can even get away with just a t-shirt and jeans when it’s sunny, but as soon as I go inside, I’m freezing. First I though it was just me being a bit tired and hungry, which is when I get easily cold, by no, it’s not just that, it’s actually really cold in every apartment I’ve been in Mexico, apart from the ones in Mayan Riviera.

I come from Finland, a land that is known to be really cold, but we have heating and insulation in our houses so it’s nice and cozy inside, even when the temperature outside is sub zero. Here in Mexico, they apparently have no fucking idea how to build warm houses, or they don’t just care, either way, I hate it. There is no insulation in the houses, no heating, there are barely glass in windows, and every door and window has cracks so that it’s basically windy inside. They are also fans of tile floors, which keep really nice and freezing all throughout the day.

I’m pretty sure it’s about 12 degrees Celsius inside right now, and I’m wearing two layers of wool knits and a pair of wool socks, still freezing. I’m already dreading going to the shower, and even more, coming out from there. Being cold makes me cranky as fuck, if you didn’t already figure it out from this rant.

No sound proofing

This ties in with the previous issue, because it has to do with how houses are built. Having no insulation, double glazed windows or double doors, means also that all the sounds from outside, and from other apartments, carry in really easily. And Mexican cities are really not the quietest places to begin with, so you hear everything like it’s happening in the next room.

I’m quite sensitive to unnecessary sounds; people speaking, music I didn’t choose to listen, gunshots, fireworks I’m not seeing, dogs barking, a taco cart hollering until midnight… “Tacos, tostadas, enchiladas…..” on repeat. And no, I won’t wear earbuds, those feel annoying.

Can’t put toilet paper in the toilet

This is by far the most disgusting thing in Mexico, and the biggest reason why I consider this as a third world country. The piping in the toilets here is so narrow that if you put toiler paper in the toilet, you can clog it really easily, so instead, you throw it in the waste bin next to the toilet. DISGUSTING! Even if you were to take out the trash every day, it’s still disgusting. Apparently this is not the case in every place, but how the fuck am I supposed to know which toilet has small pipes and which don’t, but all the public toilets seem to have huge signs everywhere that you should not put toilet paper in the toilet. DISGUSTING!

Can’t drink water from the tap

I come from Finland, where you could literally drink water from the toilet and it’s cleaner than the tap water in Mexico. Nobody drinks water straight from the tap in here, and everyone has to haul water bottles from the store, very annoying. It’s a bit hard to remember that sometimes, and more than once I have almost drank the water for example when I’m washing my teeth or in the shower. That being said, I do wash my teeth using tab water, because I have a pretty strong stomach, but I always have to remind myself “don’t swallow don’t swallow don’t swallow.”

Pollution

Final big thing I don’t like about Mexico, is the amount of pollution, especially in Mexico City. I can definitely feel it in my throat, and it keeps ruining my sleep on many nights. I have ruled out other causes for my throat hurting and itching, because I’m hardly ever sick, and if I am, it lasts usually two days. Now I’ve had this throat cancer since Krakow (the most polluted city in Europe) from a month ago, and it’s not letting go.

The other thing with pollution is the soot that covers everything, it’s small black particles which you can’t always see, but are basically slowly turning everything black if not cleaned regularly. I might be exaggerating but I feel like if one were to wear a white t-shirt and spend the whole day outside in the centre of Mexico City, the shirt would show signs of soot on it by the evening. Not a fan.

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There is a saying in Finland and it’s often said in a sarcastic tone, that travelling opens your eyes, and it’s very true. This trip, more than any other I have taken in my lifetime, has shown me how good I have it in Finland, which is something I knew already, but don’t always remember to appreciate. People like to ask me why I don’t move to a cheaper country to live because I could blog from anywhere in the world, and the above reasons are one of the biggest for that, along with little things like safety, “free” education and health care.

While I love to see new places, I’m always happy to go home too. Clean air and water, the quiet of the countryside, going to a hot sauna and curling up in front of a fire while it’s snowing outside. I’m coming home for Christmas.

Muu maa mustikka, oma maa mansikka.

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