With the ongoing border problems between United States and Mexico, and the increasing number of illegal Mexican immigrants, I chose to write my class report on Mexico. I live in a small community in South Carolina. My town seems to attract illegal Mexican workers. I believe because of the textile, and farming industries, and the low cost of housing it attracts many migrant workers. I work with several illegal Mexicans, and some of those I have become friends with over time. Because of this I have taken a personal interest in the Hispanic country of Mexico. I enrolled in the conversational Spanish class so I am better able to communicate with my new friends. I believe I am one of the very few in my community that accepts the immigrants. I feel as long as they are good respectful people, they should be allowed to stay and work here. I hope our Government can figure a way for the law abiding citizens of Mexico to be able to work here legally as long as they are able to pay taxes and follow the same rules as we do.

According to researchers, Mexico has been around for thousands of years. Thanks to modern technology, the Carbon 14 test on a human corpse found in Mexico dates back to approximately 10,000 years B.C. And agriculture can be traced as far back as 3,000 years B.C. Many types of people made up the Mexican culture, but they coexisted in harmony. They shared the same Government structure, and had similar religious beliefs. There are six main types of Mexican cultures that seemed to have the most impact on the country as a whole. These cultures are The Olmecs, which have been noted as being the first established culture. The Teotihuacans, reached 250,000 in population by 350 AD. The Toltec’s mainly lived in the northern region of the Valley of Mexico. The Mayans who were master architects, and were also known for their mathematical skills, and astrology. The Zapotec and Mixtec cultures were noted for their temples, pottery and metal work. The Aztecs who are probably the most well known of ancient Mexican culture, and were conquered by the troops of Hernán Cortés in 1521. The Government was restructured in 1929 by former President General Plutarco Elías Calles, who created the National Revolution Party. This party was restructured several times and in 1946 became the Institutional Revolutionary Party. In 1989 The Revolutionary Democratic Party was formed. Mexico experience a boom in their economy in the first half of the twentieth century, now making it the 13th most important economy in the world. In 1994, Mexico signed a treaty with the United States and Canada called the North American Free Trade Agreement. With this free trade agreement, Mexico anticipates the ability to modernize their country while holding onto its historical traditions and roots. The language in Mexico differs from that which you might hear in Spain. There are different dialects and sometimes different words are used to describe the same word we might use in English. Though Spanish is the primary language, there are fifty other languages spoken in Mexico, by approximately 7 million people. The economy in Mexico is cause for concern. This is the main reason why the Mexican citizens feel they need to risk their lives to cross the border into the United States. Hoping for a better way of life for their family, they will work low wage jobs in the U.S. For every one U.S. dollar, the workers can have almost eleven Mexican Pesos. This is significant for the families that live in poverty. They are able to improve their standard of living tremendously. Even though they have a free boom market that just entered the trillion dollar class over 50% of the citizens live below poverty level. The tourism and art industries are very important parts of the economy. The beautiful beaches and many historical sites are some of the main reasons why people travel to Mexico. In 2002, Mexico received 19.7 million tourists. Some of the most popular beaches are Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas, Cancún, Cozumel, Ensenada, Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta, and Playa Del Carmen. Many people come from all over the world to experience the crystal blue waters and superb snorkeling and diving through coral reefs. The Mayan Ruins are also a big attraction. The architecture and the ancient art work can be breathtaking while being historical at the same time. Some of the most notable Mayan Ruins include Mali Nalco, Chichen-Itzá, Tulum, Monte Albán, Palenque and Teotihuacán. Mexico is also recognized worldwide for its folk art traditions. The most noted among shoppers are clay pottery, colorful embroidered cotton garments, colorful baskets, rugs, and figurines. Some of the most noted artists incorporated political, historical and folk themes into their work. Some of the famous artists arrived on the scene after the revolution of 1910. In 1930, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and others began to paint murals that symbolized the Old World and the new Mexican Cultures. Mexico has a wide variety of music. The diversity in music is traditional, and the most well known style is mariachi, which is from the state of Jalisco. Family is very important in Mexico. The males are considered the head of the household, while the females are the homemakers. The divorce rate is among the lowest in the world. Statistically, less than 1% of every 1000 people who are married will seek divorce. The family union is the most important thing to most citizens because loyalty is one of their strongest attributes. While the outside world may see these relationships as loyal and loving, it has been noted that the women have accepted adultery and abuse as a normal way of living. Community is also very important to many Mexicans. In their culture, socializing with their neighbors is expected. The citizens form strong social ties to one another. You might travel to an area and see a whole city having a festival or a party. Mexicans take pride in their independence and appreciate that the world sees them as people with good community values. Mexico’s relationship with the rest of the world varies country to country. They believe in a tradition of non military intervention, and wish to live in peace. While they know they are not very well respected by the majority of the U.S. population due to the illegal immigrants, they openly welcome American citizens into their country. During the Spanish conquest, and colonization of Mexico, Roman Catholicism was established. Today more than 89% of Mexicans are Catholic, while 6% choose evangelical denominations, and the remaining 5% are either Jehovah witness or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As I mentioned in the beginning of my report, I hope that our Nation can come up with a peaceful solution to end the problem of illegal immigration. I think that it can be beneficial for both economies if we work together and set up guidelines for every Mexican immigrant. There are too many people that have attempted to cross the border and have lost their lives because of this.

Vocabulary Words 1. admission-entrada 2. actress-actriz 3. affair-asunto 4. aesthetic-estético 5. abrogate-abroger 6. baboon-babuino 7. backbone-espinazzo 8. basketball-baloncesto 9. astrology-astrolgía 10. baptism-bautismo 11. balloon-globo 12. calcium-calcio 13. caffeine-cafeína 14. calculate-calcular 15. cautious-cauteloso 16. cavity-cavidad 17. Christ-Cristo 18. comprehensive-comprensivo 19. composure-serenidad 20. decadent-decadente 21. despair-desesperarse 22. decorator-decorador 23. economical-económico 24. disobey-desobedecer 25. distraction-distracción 26. explosion-explosión 27. fabric-tela 28. farm-granja 29. factory-fábrica 30. fundamental-fundamental 31. heiress-heredera 32. hike-caminata 33. immature-inmaduro 34. instense-intenso 35. infinity-infinidad 36. injection-inyeccíon 37. immigration-inmigración 38. immense-immenso 39. jacket-chaqueta 40. join-unir 41. king-rey 42. journey-viajar 43. jackal-chacal 44. magistrate-magistrado 45. manicurist-manicuro 46. nativity-natividad 47. oxygen-oxígeno 48. organism-organismo 49. seaweed-alga marina 50. serpent-serpiente