Back in 2004 I traveled to Mexico City (a.k.a. Mexico Shitty). It was supposed to be a magical trip that would re-invigorate my faith in our neighbors to the South...

On the ENTIRE PLANET there are only 4 third-world countries that border what are considered first-world countries. Three of those are Iran, Iraq and Syria, which border Turkey. (I would personally contest Turkey being considered first-world...)

The fourth country is Mexico... which in 2004 had the illustrious title of "Kidnapping Capital of the World."

However, Mexico City didn't turn out to be the utopic paradise that you might image...

The driving of a culture is, in my opinion, a good reflection of the culture in general.

For example, in germany, the people drive VERY fast, very well, yield to each other, and obey the laws... They are uptight yet very skilled and precise drivers.

My experience of Mexico City was that people drive 5 cars wide in three lane roads, drive over the center median into oncoming traffic to get a few extra car-lengths ahead, and take red lights to be a vague suggestion. (people sit perched at red lights looking for an opening to shoot through...) I saw three brutal t-bone accidents and one pedestrian dead in the road in a whopping 2 days of driving in Mexico City. My cab driver spent 15 minutes trying desparately to enter a traffic circle leaving the airport because no one lets anyone in... you have to jam your way through traffic like a bull. 

To add to the glee of driving in Mexico, the government and people take such pride in their capital city that the roads are pitted with potholes the size of open graves... I drove the length and width of Belize without a hitch, but blew out both tires and bent a rim hitting a 4 foot pothole on a freeway overpass between the two largest freeways in the capital city. Hecho en Mexico.

Much like the drivers, the shop owners and police officers seemed to view us as obstacles to be navigated, pushed around and taken advantage of.  People were continually trying to screw the stupid tourist out of money, send you in the wrong direction, and generally make life miserable.  (And in the police's case, they were successful).

A mere three days into our Mexico Shitty vacation, we decided to rent a car and get the hell out of dodge. We were pulled over by police before we could leave the city, who wanted to give us the 'going away present' of claiming I ran a red light (note: I was quite possibly the only person in mexico city who wasn't running red lights), and literally had us empty our wallets into his sweaty hands, rather than take us to jail.

Ah, the memories.

On our drive to the coastal jungles to the East, we started to think perhaps we made a mistake... Maybe Mexico wasn't all that bad. Maybe we weren't thinking clearly becasue of the horribly polluted Mexico City air, which you can TASTE as much as smell...

But then we passed Pueblo... Pueblo is a sweeping city that looks like it was constructed with the exclusive use of cinder blocks... However, prior to the completion of a single building in Pueblo, there was apparently a mass exodus of all the adults, leaving only children to live in the post-apocalyptic garbage heap that remained.