Am I crazy?

This summer for those of you who don't know I'll be studying abroad for 4 weeks in Guadalajara Mexico. I'll learn medical Spanish and volunteer in a health clinic practicing interacting with Spanish-speaking patients. I am absolutely ecstatic. Every single person I talk too (save 2 women I know from Guadalajara) says that I am crazy to go to Mexico while they're in the middle of a raging drug war. Maybe I have a false sense of security but I’m really just not worried when I think about going to Jalisco (the state I’ll be in) and how it borders Michoacán where three of the largest drug cartels are battling it out for control. I’m not worried when I read crime statistics or updated stories saying the drug war has spilled over into Jalisco in the northwest end. I’ve been reading news stories online published by a Mexican newspaper about all sorts of happenings in Jalisco and it doesn’t bother me to know that there have been 4 murders by four separate individuals within 2 days or that five women were murdered on the beach of Puerto Vallarta (where our study abroad program is taking us for a weekend trip…). Am I crazy? Maybe I’m not worried because I really feel like God wants me to take this trip and learn and grow and have amazing experiences that will help me in my future career. I want to eventually spend a significant amount of time in a third world or developing country administering healthcare and that’s pretty much what I’ll be doing come late July. All the doors have been opened, not closed so I feel secure in my decision to go. My entire trip is paid for (plus $200 in spending money!) thanks to the wonderful women of Cather Circle and I still get to work and intern at CCH for 10 weeks this summer. Then I read the following on the US Embassy website today (keep in mind I’ll be studying at the Universidad de Autonoma de Guadalajara)



Guadalajara: On the evening of April 16th around 10:30PM, an armed robbery occurred on board a first class bus line, Primera Plus, leaving Guadalajara en route to Puerto Vallarta. The assailants reportedly entered the bus as regular passengers at the Zapopan terminal and, thereafter, robbed everyone on the bus. On the evening of April 17th, a man was executed upon exiting a 7-11/Pemex station complex. The shooting occurred on a busy corner, Pablo Neruda and Patria, which is directly across the street from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, where many Americans study.



So am I crazy?



P.S. Amanda, don’t tell Dad because then he’ll never let me go.