OKinUK Blog

What I missed about the UK when I am overseas?  Obviously this question is answered very easily while travelling and being back home in Mexico City.  The differences are so obvious and the comparisons so inevitable!

To start with, I missed very much how green England is.  Although there is pollution, especially in London, it cannot be compared with the amount of smog in Mexico City, which so dusty.  Understandably, it is part of the vast North American land which is mostly arid , but add to it the pollution and it becomes a grey and yellow cocktail lacking of green spaces.   Even outside of Mexico City, as one travels towards North, all Mexican land is so brown and yellow looking at it from the plane...so dry.   I love the green landscape in England.  It's such a relief to see it as soon as the plane reaches the British coastline and the plane starts to descend.  As a Mexican, I found this very striking and beautiful.  All England is a puzzle of shades in green, mixed with various patches of water: Ponds, rivers,  lakes...lots of water and humidity on these islands.

Other aspect I missed is the fact that London has considerably less traffic and less road works that Mexico City, believe or not.    The traffic in Mexico is unbearable and one can even spend 40 minutes to travel only 1 mile in rush hour.  Imagine this in a 23 C degrees and it becomes a torture.   It's not surprising to be surrounded by up to 60 cars at any red light in a suburb.   And nobody seems to care about any driving rules.  I love it about England: 95% of people driving do respect and drive very well.  Most of drivers turn on their lights to turn left or right, allowing the pedestrian to know if a road can be crossed safely.  One doesn't feel in danger while on a car or being a pedestrian in London.

I missed my commuting after having spending some enduring hours in the traffic.  Suddenly, the packed trains at rush hour seem like a piece of cake or a children's game compared with those horrendous queues to arrive everywhere in Mexico City.  I missed the simplicity and security of taking a train and travel in a straight line somewhere, the relatively clean and modern carriages and even the passengers, calm and polite and almost never pushing, nor at least to the extend which is done in Mexico City.

I missed as well the incredible variety of people in London, full of style and beauty: People from all races, colours, backgrounds, mixing in the capital.  There is so much beautiful people in London that is a joy just to have a look at the crowds, watch how people behave, dress, smile, live. 

Another difference: Although very expensive, you can feel safe taking a black cab in London.  In Mexico City, you better not take a green car on the street.   You can be kidnapped or robbed.  It's a gamble and a constant danger.  In London, although the driver most of the times would be unfriendly, you can be sure that the taxi is secure.

Therefore, security in London has become an asset for me, coming from one of the most dangerous cities in the world.  Although the English capital is the most watched city on Earth and it has more CCTV cameras that any other place on Earth, for me, this is great.  I know that for other people this means and invasion to their privacy but not for me.  I feel secured knowing that I am being watched and somehow "cared"; that if something happens to me, it would be relatively easy to know my whereabouts.   Not in Mexico City, where you can vanish in day light and no one will know about you. 

I missed the British police.  You know that they are here to help and protect you.   If you approach a policeman in Mexico City, you know that 1) he most probably is going to do nothing or 2) that he may be related to the mafia and its criminals.  I always feel so insecure when landing in my own land, which a shame.

Finally, I miss the silence, although Mexico City is full of energy and life and wherever you there go there is always something to see, eat, hear, that it is a chaos and it had become a little bit to much for me.  So, I liked to come back to London and enjoy the silence and peaceful garden, the quiet streets in my suburb with no extra noise and to have a good night sleep with no noise at all.

Yes, after 3 weeks in Mexico City and apart from my family being there and the delicious Mexican food, I don't think I miss anything there but I certainly could miss almost everything about London.