Not one of those horny students took the time to stop and appreciate a foreign culture, instead they became part of MTV's well-oiled consumer machinery. They bought Pepsi and listened to 'N Sync, instead of visiting the Aztec ruins of Tenochtitlan. They probably failed to learn anything about Mexico, other than the fact that a tequila hangover sucks. They did not bother to stop and realize their money was going to prop up a government whose grasp on power has been established and maintained through the abuse of democratic practices, and whose desire for free-market capitalism has overshadowed the social concerns of the Mexican citizens.

From what I saw and heard, those who go to Cancun or other such Mexican hot spots stay in American resorts and party at American bars, barely stopping to realize that they are in a country whose history spans thousands of years and is one of the greatest civilizations known to man. If you think "La Bamba" is the Mexican national anthem, or actually believe Mexicans have any idea what "gorditas" are, you have not learned a thing from being in Mexico. If all you drank was tequila and came away with one of those enormous hats, you have missed the Mexican experience. If Speedy Gonzalez is the only Mexican folk hero you seem to be able to name, you have missed the Mexican experience. If a movie about Colombia filmed in Mexico is fine because "all those places look the same," you have definitely missed the Mexican experience.

It's not the fault of the students who participate; on the contrary, it's the fault of MTV and other such entities that rely on nothing more than weak stereotypes and generalizations to attract you to a "foreign" country and spend your money recklessly. These capitalist organizations have been established so as to give you a quick high but leave you with little in the way of life experiences and true cultural education. Culture is the antithesis of the consumer nature; education is free, thus inherently in opposition to the character of capitalism. The capitalist entities seek to create a popular culture in which the spendthrift nature is encouraged and hope to make you believe their faulty representation of the foreign culture is actually the accepted norm.

The worst part of it all is that your money is helping the Mexican government maintain its authoritarian rule and further the massive social chasms between the different classes of Mexican society. Mexico is a land of enchantment, but it is also a land in which the ruling party has been in power for 70 years, ignoring the plight of the people in favor of free market bliss.

In the southern state of Chiapas, the government has been waging a six-year, low-level war to crush an indigenous rebellion trying to gain back the land that was originally theirs. The military recently murdered, systematically, 45 innocent people who supported the rebels. The Zapatista movement has tried to shed light on Mexico's dark-side, showing how the implementation of NAFTA created a Mexico in which the peasants have been robbed of their constitutionally guaranteed land (the famous Article 27) so as to ensure multinational business could flourish without the annoyance of social responsibilities. Your money, and the money of all those before you and those to come, is allowing the Mexican rulers to maintain their illegitimate grasp on power.

While you were getting down with MTV, you both missed a cultural experience and the realization that your money is fueling a machinery oiled with the sweat and blood of the peasants. Your spring break getaway was not a trip to Mexico, it was a one-week spending extravaganza in what has become an American colony in Mexico. You did not leave the United States, you stayed within its ideological and cultural boundaries. You missed the true Mexico, a two-faced nation of historical and cultural wonders ruled by a prehistoric and overarching government. If you think Taco Bell and that little dog represent Mexico, I feel for you. If all you came away with is a hangover, I feel for you. I feel for you because you just missed the experience of a lifetime. I feel for you because you just helped the government oppress someone else.