Tired of Being a "Nomad"
Her last letter from Mexico! Estefanía González traveled around for two months – and is now adding a semester to her stay abroad.
Feb 11, 2016
From the Torre Latinoamericana (Latin-American Tower), a skyscraper in downtown Mexico City, Estefanía looks out across the city.
Image Credit: Emiliano González
Countryside in Viñales, Cuba.
Image Credit: Estefanía González
Callejón de hamel in La Habana, Cuba, is a narrow street with many murals.
Image Credit: Estefanía González
Estefanía González and Giuseppe Nigro in front of street art on Callejón de hamel.
Image Credit: Laura Zunker
A fruit stand in Trinidad.
Image Credit: Laura Zunker
After two months of backpacking, I'm tired but happy to be back in the capital – where it all started. It's noisy and crowded, and I miss the beach on the Pacific coast, where last week I was still surfing and eating ceviche (a typical Latin American dish of raw fish and lemon). But I am happy to be back.
The trip was fantastic, even if it is exhausting in the long run to lead a "nomadic" life. Cuba turned out to be difficult sometimes: Everything there is very expensive, and as a tourist, you constantly have to watch out, to not be ripped off. And I hadn't expected to find such social inequality in a communist country like Cuba.
I was very impressed with Cuba's natural landscapes, and especially with its music scene. Every evening there was live music and dancing on every street corner and in the bars, and they serve the most delicious mojitos! But at the end, I was very happy to return to Mexico – it almost feels like getting home.
After six months, my official semester abroad is now really over. But I have decided not to fly back to Germany yet. I am very pleased that during the coming semester, I will be staying here to do field work for my master's thesis. I am really looking forward to see what will come next.
The time that I spent in Mexico by far exceeded my initial expectations. I learned a lot, had the good fortune to be taught by great professors, and was welcomed incredibly warmly from the first day on. And on top of that, I made friends for life. What good luck, that I do not yet have to say good-bye to Mexico!