Where to go Mexico?

U.S. Folks go to Mexico for Sun, Sand and Margaritas. They have no a clue as to what they are missing

Travel into Mexico's colonial cities and undeveloped tribal lands and you will be rewarded with a new life experience that for me constituted a rebirth as an American. A new view of America that does not necessitate a transplanted European view of "civilized". Mexico's ancestral civilazations, Olmec and Mayan cultures, predate the less advanced Greeks and Romans.

I have traveled most of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Mexico is by far the most interesting of the three nations. Only in Mexico can you find pyramids, colonial cities and ancient cultures with traditions and lifestyles still in tact after thousands of years. Only Mexico, with her neighbors to the South, is home to North America's last remaining rainforest; whose fauna includes 30% of this continents animal species, 26 of which are endangered. Only in Mexico will you find the copper canyons of Chihuahua. These pine, palm, manzanito and fern lined canyons are four and one half times larger than the U.S. Grand Canyon and home to one of the most peaceful and sane cultures known to mankind - The Tarahumaras.

The Tarahumaras, or RARAMURI, which they prefer to be called, are the indigenous inhabitants in this region. When you are visiting the copper canyon you are in their world, leaving are "civilization" behind. The Raramuri take only what they need from the earth to live; thus protecting the earth from exploitation. They describe as "the devil's work" modern man's preoccupation with accumulating wealth. Tarahumaras argue that if they behaved like us they would destroy what is sacred as the miners and loggers who invaded their lands did. They lived harmoniously with nature before Mexicanos and foreigners came to exploit the canyon's natural resouces; almost destroying in a scant 100 years what the Tarahumaras did not harm in eons of only taking what they needed from the earth.

The Tarahumaras argue that the "accumulation of wealth" activities of the "Gabochi" (man with facial hair) not only destroys nature but detracts man from quality of life pursuits. They argue that adopting the "Gabochi's" habits of working long hours to accumulate more would cause the loss of precious time. Time better utilyzed in making their instruments (violin,guitar, percussion), playing with their children, tending their livestock or enjoying their game of endurance. A competition to cross the finish line, chasing a ball up and down canyons for 65 to 100 miles in a day of play.

I love living in Mexico and what it has taught me about being more humane. It is as goofy as it can be but not so goofy as it appears on the surface. When you consider the stressors and risks of living in the U.S.; Mexico, in a crazy quilt sort of way, is a saner and healthier place to be. I hope you enjoy this journey with me and gain some healthy and respectful insights regarding your neigbors across the border.