Guadalajara, Guadalajara, you have the most Mexican soul!

A year ago I was granted the international mobility grant for Guadalajara.

At the start everyone was congratulating me, you are going to eat so many tacos(!), Mariachi music is amazing, be careful with the tequila... Then came the obvious question of: Guadalajara in Spain or in Mexico? Please... it's called INTERNATIONAL mobility.

The thing is that I only had two months to think about it a little and go about getting all the preparations and procedures ready (which I will talk about in a different post). And then came the 10 - 15 days before my leaving day and then came along all of the negative comments of the world:

- to Mexico?!?! Be careful, let's see if they are going to kidnap you!

- to Mexico?!?! Be careful, let's see if they will rape you!

- to Mexico?!?! Be careful, let's see if you get robbed!

In the end, as you can imagine, my head wouldn't stop over-thinking the situation. Everyone around me spoke without actually knowing, basing their informations on some news that they had heard once on some kind of media source or by word of mouth (nothing related to any story told by anyone they know), and saying things without stopping to think that maybe, they are judging without all the information.

The thing is that the 5th of August I set off on my experience; from Madrid airport flying to Mexico City (CDMX) and from there, I flew to Guadalajara. That was the moment that I started my 5 incredible months discovering the Mexican culture.

I am not going to deny that when I arrived at my room a feeling of disappointment/fear came over me and it was like, what am I doing here and how did I even set about coming here?! You know, those nerves/fears when starting a new experience, in a country which is so different but so similar to yours at the same time, and with completely new people.

I was in this marvellous city from August till December and I couldn't have been more happy than to have lived this experience.

I chose Guadalajara because I had a friend living in Mexico City and she gave me advice about the different options that I had. Guadalajara has everything good about the city but without the chaos of living in one, or basically: it has a big historic quarter, parks, shopping centres, markets, however it doesn't have the size nor the same amount of habitants per square metre as, for example, CDMX, so the life there is a lot more manageable.

There are different places for going out the clubs (they are called antros, a word which has a bad connotation, but don't believe that the locals are taking to you to a dodgy place due to their name). They are very very well air-conditioned (obviously varying depending on which one you go to); but you have different options such as Bosse, La Santa, Lola Lolita, La internacional and Strana, which are really good.

If you are not into going out partying then there are other options, such as going to a restaurant, to a shopping centre (with a VIP cinema, something which seemed strange to me as we don't have them in Spain, or at least not that I am aware of) or to a bar to have a drink with your friends. In this case, the options that I recommend are: El Rey, la Chupitería, Bar américas (to go to for afters), Morelia's Bar, Pinta Negra or Cervecería Chapultepec (but as I said, there are hundreds of options).

Keep in mind that by coming from Spain everything will seem super cheap when converting from Euros to Mexican Pesos, so your options for going out will have multiplied, make the most of it!

As for the food... you could write about it for 3 days and it still wouldn't be enough. Mexican food is something you should try because I am not able to explain it. There are hundreds of combinations of flavours, colours, textures.

There are infinite options to chose from, believe me that not everything boils down to just tacos, nachos and quesadillas like a lot of people think. I recommend that you try everything that you can (without going overboard, you don't want to end up in hospital), as much the sweet things as the savoury.

As a personal recommendation, I would say that when a Mexican tells you that something isn't that spicy, it's SPICY, and when they say that it's spicy, you're better off not trying it if you don't want your mouth to set on fire.

In terms of the climate, Guadalajara is a warm city. The "tapatios" which are what the natives here are called), will tell you that in winter it is cold, but I was there during these months and the most that I had to put on was a sweatshirt of a denim jacket. For the rest of the year, you can wear short-sleeves.

What I recommend is to bring clothes suitable for rainy weather if you go there in September or March, since these are the rainy seasons and it is usually raining all day, not non-stop but in little bits.

I also recommend bringing some good shoes if you are going to do some tourism, since the Mexican roads and landscapes are full of crossings and rough terrain, which will really come in handy when exploring new horizons!

Finally, in terms of transport, I have to say that I have always got around by using Uber. It is very cheap and honestly the nicest way to travel. Guadalajara has a metro/train and lots of different combinations of buses in case you don't want to be ordering cars your whole stay, even though in my opinion that is the best option.

This is everything for now, if you have any doubts because you are about to go on a similar adventure, don't hesitate to contact me, I would love to help you and I will tell you everything that I can based on my experience.

My advice is that if you are not sure whether or not to go on the trip, don't think about it any longer and GO! Travel, enjoy, get to know new people and places, immerse yourself in the culture, try all the food that you possibly can and make the most of every moment!

You don't know when you will next have an opportunity like this in your life, I promise you that you won't regret it: Guadalajara gives off energy and joy left right and centre!