Guadalajara

Guad for some
"La Perla" - Tapatia not the lingerie store
GDL if you're flying
Guanatos(!!!!) if you're up at 3AM singing songs in arms after a particularly debaucherous time

But most of the time my home town is Guadalajara.

Thinking about it, over the last 7 years the city has grown in so many interesting ways the least of which is size/demographics. I imagine the relationship between me and GDL is similar to that of first time parents watching their kid grow. One second the kid is doing tummy time reacting to the world around him at seemingly random intervals and the next he is a real person with a full range of emotions that can also climb bookshelves, throw tantrums and yet still be delighted by belly buttons.

La Perla has grown.

Horizons are slowly expanding and the most tangible way of noticing this is an increased number of restaurants, bars and alternative entertainment sites. The evolution has been constant but has sped up over the last decade as the traditional home grown family nucleus and values have allowed themselves to flourish outside of the traditional home cooked family meal. A positive economic undercurrent and growing middle class desperate to climb also helps.

We still have our issues.

But the number of expanding subway lines (Tren Ligero), high-end fashion malls and the increasing number of Oxxo's tell me we may be, despite all appearances, potholes and autonomous regions, be on the right track.

I'll touch on Oxxo in another note but it has become apparent that the little convenience store-gas-station-staple-cashier-for-everything-ticket-seller-for-anyone-taco-stand-faux-starbucks-liquor-store-public-restroom is one of the leading indicators of mex(gentr)ifrication. With its orange and yellow banner a higher standard in Mexico is yet to be found despite the increasing number of American and European chains appearing.

And in the midst of this I find myself somewhere in the middle of two spectrums.

On the one hand lies the population best described by Gary Alazraki in his documentary satire "Nosotros los nobles." The kind that may be best described in a graduation video of people I never knew and whose school I have no affiliation to (but am close enough to know this is neither the norm nor a single isolated incident but merely what this segment believes to be normal. The video serves merely to highlight the level to which la creme de la creme of Guad's society has risen too. Or thinks it has. At the center is an intense knowledge of "cool and alternative" "American" bands including but not limited to some classic classics like Iron Maiden, The Beatles, U2, Coldplay as well as keen eye for the latest logo-driven brands.

And a part of me belongs there.

The other end of the spectrum is rooted in places like the small, ugly town where I grew up. The streets are partially cobbled and partially covered in sloped asphalt when the stones were torn up either by trucks to be driving throughout our streets or water currents too strong to be otherwise controlled. The type of town that's found everywhere in Mexico - reliant on filial relationships to do business first and foremost and where entire families live under one roof - grandparents, parents, kids and grandkids - in a confusing sea of responsibilities and parental-like advice. At the center is still mass, the town square, the town popsicle store and a tortilleria.

And somewhere in the middle lies a town like Cheran. Operating on a semi-autonomous level for 3 years it has all but seceded from the Democratic Federal Republic of Mexico. I drove through the town last week. Armed forces with the Purepecha flag on their arms guard every entry point and a friendly squad asks you where you're going from, where you are going while casually handling a weapon of too big a caliber and perusing the inside of your car. Thankfully we had just washed and vacuumed the car so it was spotless lest we be embarrassed.

But the town is drug lord free three years running.

And the town is emblematic of what I see more and more off every time I come back. There is a rise of companies, home grown and transnational that seek to solve 1st world problems through engineering. There are pioneers in the online retailing space that were unheard of 5 years ago serving everything from baby paraphernalia to drinks to an increasing number of Uber-like service (mostly driven by an increasing number of breathalyzers in operation within large urban areas). There are people seeking to build an alternative off-shore call center operation closer to home but still at 2nd world wages. Additionally you have shining examples examples of clear-tray aligners being manufactured, successfully and efficiently for the majority of the US market in one of the most dangerous cities in the world - Juarez.

There is a yearning - a bit of gumption - to fix the country. And entrepeneurs - of all types - are increasingly moving past closeted ideas into full blown ideas.

As I find my place in this spectrum I can only say - it's good to be (in one of  my) homes.

Viva Guanatos!