My personal experience with Mexico, Belize, Hondorus, and Guatemala is limited. Having been to Mexico once when I was five hardly constitutes as a significant experience there. What I can recall from that trip is scarce, but I remember an overall feeling of being amidst a more primative and poor culture--seeing a donkey tied by its septum to a pole during a scorching hot day and countless people trying to sell services and trinkets to tourists on the beach.
Because of my experience in Mexico, I associate that region with poverty. Of course, media tends to enforce the image I already have, as we so often hear about people "fighting their way" to the US to escape what we inevitably imagine is a bad place to live.
Another thing I think of when I think of that particular region is class seperation. On one part, I have experienced and heard about the poverty in Mexico and in nearby countries, but working here in South Lake Tahoe, I have had the opportunity to meet many people (esp. from Mexico City it seems) who are quite wealthy. To me, this depicts a radical schism between classes--one very poor class starkly contrasting another very wealthy one.
Another thing I think of when I think of the Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Hondorus region, is a rich culture. Media and reports from people I know who have visited the area have shaped this belief, and seem to indicate a place that has sustained a large amount of religous and traditional practices (at least more so than we seem to see in the US).
