"To my dear American family and friends..."

An excerpt from the blog of a friend of mine who lives in Tijuana, regarding the drug-related gang violence that plagued northern Mexico:

I am alive and well.

Americans are not being targeted, no matter what Peg from church group told you at the water cooler.

I have never come across a body in the street. The only gunshots I've ever heard were celebratory, while watching fireworks on the roof at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day. People are not firing rounds at each other in the streets. Armageddon is not at hand.

I think it's worth reading because, though the situation is very different, I can empathize with his thoughts; choosing to live away from family and friends, moving to what a lot of people consider to be "less than" the US, living in another culture and people, being in the middle of an armed conflict. The glamorous life of an ex-pat.

He concludes with:

I don't ask you to understand my decision to call Mexico home, especially when many of you are no doubt dumbfounded by my choice when San Diego, "America's Finest City," is no more than two miles from where I fall asleep every night. I only ask that you, my family, friends and acquaintances, respect it, and to peer into my mirror of photos and words with open eyes, heart and mind.

I kindly ask the same.