I Was Told to Be Afraid (Is Mexico City safe?)

I don’t know why, or where it came from. But I’ve heard it from people both inside the country and outside it. And I can’t blame them: I believed it too. Why? Who knows.

But safety has always been a recurring topic, with clients, with my family, with people I know.

I remember my first trip to the city. I saved up a little, bought my ticket, wrapped up a few pending things, and by the time my suitcase was packed, my mom walked in. She looked a little nervous, but she didn’t hesitate to say it:

“You have to be extremely careful, Isaac.”

“Why, Mom?”

And then I heard it, well, what I’d already heard before:

“You have to be very careful, mijo. Mexico City isn’t like here, it’s dangerous. You’ll have to talk like the locals do, keep an eye on everything around you. Don’t talk to strangers. And if someone asks you for something, tell them no and walk away fast.”

I don’t remember what else my mom said, but I felt lectured, and a little nervous. This was in 2019, before COVID hit my country. To my surprise, when I mentioned to a neighbor that I was traveling and asked her to look after my mom, she said the same thing. Then a cousin. Then an uncle. Everyone said pretty much the same thing.

And that’s how my uncertainty grew.

But honestly, if you’re Mexican and you live in certain areas, you know a little about the bad things. Things that happen, that you can’t control.

So, my first time in the city. Or rather, the next day, when we were walking through a market known as Mixiuhca.

I don’t know what happened to me. I thought I was doing fine. Calm. But Melanie kept asking me every five minutes:

“Are you okay?”

I didn’t notice it right away.

After an hour we sat down to eat street food (garnachas), some tlacoyos. Mine were fava bean and requesón. I liked them a lot; they were something new for me. That’s when I felt my stomach tighten.

Honestly, I’d been tensing my chest and arms for a while, looking around in every direction like something was about to jump out from around the corner and I needed to be ready to throw a karate chop or something. I didn’t relax until the food arrived, and inside, I felt kind of ridiculous.

What was I doing?

I got completely caught up watching a young guy who walked up and started ordering tlacoyos, or gorditas, I don’t remember which, but the way he ordered stuck with me. He said “please” about six or seven times:

“Please, with the spicy salsa. Please, with this. Please, and that too. Please, could you take it over there? Please, please, please…”

I asked Melanie why he did that. If he wanted something, he could just ask for it, but she told me that’s just how it’s done in the city.

And there I was, expecting thieves, murderers, the chupacabra, I don’t know what.

We took public transportation back, and I stayed on high alert the whole ride too.

And nothing happened.

We went out the whole time I was in the city. Two weeks of going back and forth to different places, with different things going on and different levels of income. But nothing happened. We even went downtown, the place my mom had warned me was the worst of all.

And again, nothing happened.

Obviously there are pickpockets and a few scams, and if you look on YouTube you can find videos on how to avoid them (honestly, watch a few, I recommend it). But it wasn’t the place I’d been promised. It was more relaxed. At one point, in one of the city’s boroughs, something happened, and from what I could tell, within a minute a police officer was already handling it. I don’t know what it was. But it was strange seeing people just carry on like nothing had happened.

During those years, Melanie told me she’d always walked around the city on her own, gone downtown to run errands, even to places that are, well, a little sketchy or shady, or walked her dog Daisy late at night in the Portales neighborhood.

I remember a family member once asked me how I managed here. She had a trip coming up with some coworkers, I don’t remember if it was for work or for fun, but she was anxious about it. I told her I’d never seen, experienced, or gone through anything bad here.

Our first clients asked us the exact same thing. And so did the last one, right before I sat down to write this.

This week it was Melanie’s turn to write something more practical, “Everything You Need to Know Before Renting in CDMX” (look out for it!), but I took the liberty of coming through to gossip a little and tell you about this instead, about my experience and everyone else’s.

You know what? On September 11th I hit four years living in the Valley of Mexico. I’ve felt like an outsider sometimes (but that’s a different story). What I can say for sure is that, in all these years since 2019, I haven’t seen anything bad happen, and I haven’t had a single bad experience either. I just realized that this bad reputation, and some of these misguided ideas, are undeserved.

And for everyone who asks, so is Mexico City completely safe, then?

Answer: not that either.

No city in the world is. Every city has its bright sides and its dark ones. But for the most part, CDMX is safe. Even for foreigners, there are plenty of stories on YouTube about foreigners in moments of need and how people helped them. Don’t take my word for it, go look them up.

While I was writing this, I watched a video of a foreigner who went to climb a hill, somewhere I clearly wouldn’t go alone, and definitely not at that hour. In the video, a bunch of people tried to help him and told him not to go. He went anyway, and he made it back to tell the story.

In one piece.

Of course, there are also bad stories, airport taxi drivers who scam or try to scam foreigners. There’s always going to be some of that. But I firmly believe that in this country, “the good ones outnumber the bad.”

“YOU’VE GOT THIS”

5 Tips for Your First Time in Mexico City

So, if I could go back home and give some advice to nervous, pre-COVID Isaac, here’s what I’d tell him:

1. Take a good look at where you’ll be staying.

It only takes a few minutes to check Google Maps: the building fronts, the streets, the restaurants, the parks nearby, the closest metro station, all of it.

You can also look up YouTube videos about the area, the neighborhood, or even things that happen there. Coyoacán during Día de Muertos, for example.

Knowing a little about the place before you arrive goes a long way toward taking away that feeling of being completely lost.

2. If you’re the adventurous type, two words: Google Maps.

You don’t need to memorize the entire public transportation system before you get here. The app can help you figure out what to take, where to get off, and how to connect between different routes.

3. If you’re not that adventurous, use a rideshare app.

Uber, DiDi, and so on.

You don’t need to memorize the whole city. At the end of the day, you’re here to enjoy it and get a little lost (in a controlled way, of course) in everything it has to offer.

You don’t have to turn every outing into an adventure.

4. Take it easy, Chacón.
(That’s what my family calls me.)

The city sits at a pretty high altitude, so keep things short. Don’t try to see everything in one day or one trip.

Take your time.

If you need to check your phone because you’re overwhelmed or feel lost, step into a café or an OXXO. Sit down, check your phone calmly, and figure out what to do next.

It’s fine. Nothing bad is happening.

5. Have someone’s number in the city.

If something goes wrong, or you just feel overwhelmed, it helps enormously to know someone in the city. Someone you trust who can guide you remotely or, if you really need it, help you in person.

Not because something bad is going to happen.

But because knowing you can call someone makes an unfamiliar city feel a lot less unfamiliar.

This city is kind. Every day I see people helping each other out.

My mom was right about one thing: I did need to be careful.

Where she was wrong, and where I was too, was thinking I needed to be afraid.

Those aren’t the same thing.

P.S.: If you’re already in the city, remember street tacos beat restaurant tacos every time. Just give your stomach a few days to adjust. And maybe pack some Tums or Pepto-Bismol. Future you will thank you.

P.S. 2: Welcome to Mexico City. Now go get to know it.