MattHanson1990 wrote:I visited Guadalajara last October, and the metropolitan area was spread out. Plus, traffic there can be horrendous at times. However, it has much better public transportation than in most US cities. Now, regarding the difficulty meeting people and socializing, I found it to be the most difficult in Zona Centro, whereas people were more open at the U de G campus and on Avenida Chapultepec. I can understand Tapatios being closed off due to the strong Catholic vibe. But...I also saw with my own eyes that Guadalajara is becoming more Americanized. In a lot of places, there were young people constantly glued to their smartphones. One hot girl, as she left her workplace, immediately put her earbuds in. Then I met people who were workaholics and didn't have a good work-life balance. Mexico's major cities are apparently importing the workaholic lifestyle from the US of Gay and perhaps from first world Asia. The fast paced lifestyle and smartphone addiction were other reasons why meeting people in Guadalajara was tough.
By the way, a lot of the upper-middle and upper class girls in GDL have connections in the US of Gay, specifically Los Angeles, and they DO have money to travel to the US.
Now I'm going to contrast Guadalajara with Guanajuato City. Guanajuato is A LOT slower paced. Building social circle was way easier compared to GDL (and I keep in touch with many of my friends in Guanajuato to this day). And the place is the most peaceful I've been to in Mexico.
As far as people being open vs. being closed off, I wonder if the latter is the mentality in Jalisco in general, even outside of Los Altos and GDL. Whenever I can return to Mexico again, I'm going back to Guanajuato, but I am also considering Michoacan.
Tapatios despite we belong to the second largest city in Mexico, Guadalajara always had a provincial mentality and a class conscious mentality. Not only we are closed of towards an American or other foreigners, but even to other Mexicans from other regions (especially from Mexico City and Southern Mexico). We also are quite nationalistic and like you said, GDL and Bajio region are the most Catholic regions in Mexico. We are also more introverted than people from DF, Veracruz and Tabasco. That is the reason why you had a hard time making friends in Guadalajara or getting the chicks. In Guadalajara, you need social circle in order to have a social life. Otherwise, it will be very tough. For me, it has been piece of cake as I have relatives and a few friends over there.
Stereotypes of us tapatio men that in other regions have is that we are vainful and in some other regions in Mexico they call us ignorantly gay(I admit I am vainful, but that is how I grew up and that is how you get the hot chicks in Mexico and anywhere) and we are one of the best looking guys in Mexico (Northern Mexican men and Bajio men are also popular among Mexican women). Tapatio women are stereotyped as very beautiful physically (that is the type of Mexican woman I like, and if I was single again, I would have married a tapatia), vainful like the men, fun to be with, take relationships seriously, and flirt in a classy manner. General stereotypes of tapatio people are that we like to eat a lot (also applies to me), very big fans of football(soccer), very regionalistic, racists, classists, warm, more frank in our way of talking.
Physically, on average, we have big dark eyes, dark brown hair, olive skin, slender physique, and angular features. White skin, light hair and eyes are not uncommon (around 30% of tapatios have these features).
Los Altos is somewhat different from Guadalajara in that people are even more closed off and introverted than in Guadalajara, not to mention more religious and much more provincial. Heck, they do not even let their daughters marrry foreign men, even if they are full Caucasian as the women are reserved for the local men. I actually had a girlfriend from Los Altos (she is from a town called Encarnacion de Diaz) and she is very beautiful (tall, slender, nice boobs, leggy, curly hair, big dark eyes, white skin. Participated in a few local beauty contests now that I recall. In fact, she looked like a taller and light skin version of my mother as my ex and my mother surprisingly look physically similar in facial features and hair texture) and is a reserved, conservative type of girl. My cousin is from a town in Los Altos called Lagos de Moreno, and he is pretty reserved type of person. One of my best friends is a town called Arandas, and he is more reserved and quiet in comparison to me, but we are both more introverted than say people from DF (we both live currently in DF), Veracruz or Tabasco state.
As for being glued to an ipod, I do not see nothing wrong about it and definitely has nothing to do being Americanized. Urban people we are more into our own world. When I walk from home to my office, unless I am with my wife or my friends or co-workers, I am glued to my Ipod too, and in no way I am a pro-USA person. This is a behaviour of all urban people, regardless of country. Urban people also tend to be workaholics. Heck, the South of US is far more laid back than let´s say, Pennsylvania and NYC.
It is unreasonable to compare Guanajuato City which is a small city with Guadalajara, Mexico´s second largest city. as the latter will have a more cosmopolitan taste and a faster pace of life. It is like comparing apples to oranges.