¿What Happens in Mexico Stays in Mexico?
 

April 29th, 2007

Senior Spring Break. Quickly conjure up your own personal memories, dreams of what was or still could be for those youngsters reading this article. Think of all the stereotypes that have been associated with the yearly pilgrimage. I have some news: the stereotypes fit in this case, and that’s a good and bad thing.

I went with a group of friends to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on the shores of the Pacific. My own reasoning for Puerto Vallarta was three-fold: I’ve been there before and like it, it wasn’t as cliché and Americanized as Cancun and I know exactly where the track is.

No joke, the third item was on par with the first two considerations. Combined with traveling with some fellow tracksters, Spring Break was kind to my running- but that’s neither here nor there.

I was a bit surprised at what we found when we got to Puerto Vallarta. First, Puerto Vallarata has changed a lot over the past two years; it is now a mini-Cancun. It’s not as big, there aren’t as many bars, but there are plenty of McDonalds, Burger Kings and even an Outback Steakhouse.

But as Puerto Vallarta has grown in popularity, and therefore began to cater to American tourists, there have been a number of benefits. There are more people that speak English for one, and, important for Spring Breakers, there are more wild and crazy clubs to go to than just a few years back.

And that brings up the very interesting topic of what exactly goes on during Spring Break. I’ll spare the details and give the "actionable intelligence” as they say. I don’t think it’s necessarily more dangerous to go on Spring Break in Mexico than in the United States- you just need to be smart. Certainly there is the drinking age factor- it’s a lax 18 in Mexico- but you can get in a lot of trouble without alcohol playing a role.

On the other hand, I have to say it was nice having my parents around. Most of the guys in our group had parents just down the hall, and they were anything but nosy. In fact, I’m glad they were there because when I ran out of money there was somebody there to pick up the slack!

Finally, I have to admit that Spring Break, no matter where it takes place, does breed a Las Vegas “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” attitude. By that I mean, it seems that some treat the week long vacation as not just a vacation from the responsibilities of school, but also from the responsibilities of being the same good person they are 358 days of the year in Novi.

All in all however, Spring Break is an extremely pleasurable experience that teaches kids a thing or two about what life will be like in college. While the temptation is there no matter the locale, I think most Novi kids understand that Spring Break doesn’t equal a vacation from morals.