Palm trees, long beaches, rolling waves, spicy Mexican food, margaritas, and relaxing in the hot sun is what people generally think of when they hear Mazatlan, Mexico. However, a person who has actually stepped off the airplane and felt the hot humid Mexican air blast them in the face would tell you differently. Mazatlan, Mexico is a place with beautiful beaches, however off of the beaches, it's a city of poverty filled with people trying to survive.
             When our airplane was landing, I couldn't believe my eyes. I wondered, "Where's the beach?" I even wondered, "Where's the airport?" When we had safely landed, we were instructed in both Spanish and English to exit the plane. Instead of walking into a hallway, like most airports, we walked straight down the airplane steps onto the hot cement. Immediately, I could feel the difference in the air I breathed, the temperature I felt, and the surrounding environment. The Mexican air was hot, thick, and moist. When I looked around, all I could see was dirt, dry weeds, a couple of palm trees, the cement from the landing area, and the airport, which was a small, older looking building. It seemed as though we dragged our heavy luggage along the hot cement for what seemed like a mile until we finally reached the doors entering the airport. When I walked inside I felt no temperature change. It was still very hot and humid because they had no air conditioning. The atmosphere smelled like mildew. As I looked around, I noticed that the chair I would be sitting in for the next hour was made of silver bars with a thin piece of leather laid across the top. I later realized that they were very uncomfortable. In just a couple of minutes, I found out just how poor their country was compared to ours. It didn't seem like the rich tourist city that everyone had made it out to be.
             The first day I was there, I went down to the beach to relax after the long...