A whirlwind adventure Past Review

Christmas day I was boarded a plane to Merida, Mexico to have a two week intersession course with Professor Fiser and Beeler. Each day was jam packed with events, plant visits, farm visits, etc. Before the trip I had no comprehension of the complicated relationship between Mexico and the United States. I now understand first hand NAFTA, factories, Walmart cucumbers, and the bribery and corruption in Mexico, something I could not wrap my head around, even in the readings before the trip. On new years eve we were celebrating the new year and met some nice natives who offered to give us a ride home. After spending the evening with them, we did not hesitate jumping in their car. A couple of blocks away from casa Millsaps, we see police lights and heard frantic dog barking. We were being pulled over. Our professors had warned us not to get pulled over by cops because they could easily throw you into jail. I began to worry a little, and form my introduction to my Mexican cell mates incase it came to that. We were there for forty-five minutes, pulled over literally because the police felt like pulling us over. Our Mexican friend returned from talking with the police and told us they wanted money, so we emptied our pockets and handed over some money so that they would let us continue our trip home. As we drove away, I asked her, ‘So you have to bribe to police?’ Samantha’s response to me was, ‘That wasn’t a bribe, those are just the police.’ I could not believe that the corruption had become so normal and was so expected that she did not even consider paying the police to let us go as bribery. Even though we were 100% innocent, they were in control. This is applicable on such a bigger scale throughout business in Mexico. I did not believe such corruption was possible, until we got pulled over by the police because they felt like it.