| College
Life In A Backwater
After all this,
what does college life look like in a Latin American backwater like Colima?
In terms of enjoying yourselves and nightlife, that sort of thing boils
down to four or five discos in Colima. Even during my more naive and innocent
days as a student discos never deserved to be called my cup of tea. But
that’s a matter of taste. For good measure, we may chuck in a few good
restaurants, nice cafes and cinemas. But as far as nightlife goes, that’s
it more or less for students and everbody else in Colima. Finally, we may
include the Mexican obsession table dancing. I can’t recall how often students
have asked me already to go with them to table dancing. My response is
always the same:”I only go to table dancing if you’re sister dances on
the table”.
During the
1960s, 1970s and 1980s (when yours truly scraped through law school), universities
in Western Europe and North America tended to be rather lively places,
in particular in terms of political activities. In that respect, things
seem to have changed a little. College students in my current Latin American
stomping ground form to exception to the rule. To my liking, they tend
to be awfully tame. I regard it as one of my responsibilities to fill them
with a little political incorrectness and views that deviate from the mainstream.
I’ve always like the notion of being an “enfant terrible”.
On the other
hand, we mustn’t forget that my current stomping ground is located in Latin
America. First, the tropical climate there slows activities down a little.
Second, I’m tempted to quote Benjamin Disraeli who noted in “Sybil” that
the British are “two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no
sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts and feelings,
as if there were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different
planets: the rich and the poor”.
That phrase
doesn’t only summarise the social fabric in the land of UK during Disraeli’s
time. It also describes very well Mexican and Latin American society –
which is characterised by deep class divisions. When parents’ pockets are
deep enough their offspring studies at ITESM (with or without a scholarship).
In case parents’ pockets are a little less deep their offspring studies
at the public University of Colima. No matter how deep parents’ pockets
are the result tends to be pretty bloody much the same – the accent is
on studying, not on improving the world. Every now and then I manage to
recall that sort of thing. It helps me keep things a little in perspective.
Final Thoughts
Summarising
all this, university contributed a great deal to my variety of thinking
big. In case you get the opportunity give it a go. If possible, do include
a semester or a year at an outfit overseas. In case you’re inclined to
do so, do that sort of thing off the beaten track. Following crowds tends
to be as uninspiring as working for the post office. What you study may
be a matter of secondary importance. The chances are presumably slim that
you’re gonna end up working in that field until retirement. And slim is
rumoured to have caught a bus out of town.
The following
is a list of articles written by Jurgen for the magazine:
To contact
Jurgen Click Here
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