Click here to listen to Mexico's "national anthem": 🎵

 

¡Arriba, Arriba! ¡Ándale, Ándale!

(Speedy Gonzales, *1955)

 

These might have been the first words that introduced me to Mexican culture – or at least a cartoonish stereotype of sombreros, El Mariachi, tequila, la cucaracha and cacti. My second encounter with Mexico might have been Jorge Campos’ flamboyant jerseys during the 1994 World Cup and, four years later, this iconic piece of polyester.

As an eleven-time (and therefore record-)COCACAF Gold Cup winner, the Mexican national team basically had a subscription for the FIFA World Cup and yielded great players like Hugo Sánchez, Rafael Márquez, Luis Hernández, Javier Hernández “Chicharito” and many more.

In 2019 I finally had my third encounter with Mexican culture, when I was able to experience this beautiful country first-hand. And while some of the stereotypes turned out to be true, I wasn’t able to find a mouse with a sombrero and ADHD, however, there was una cucaracha in one of our AirBnBs….