The last time I did something for the first time was when I went to Mexico and for the first time ever I went to an International Book Festival. I think this is the latest thing I've done and this event occurred in the summer in June. When I went to my home country last summer, I have a feeling that I learned more about culture and about the way of life in a foreign country. I felt lucky that day because I had the chance to experience world cultures and numerous books from other countries. I clearly remember that there were numerous stands for different countries, but not for every nation in the world. There was a stand for Cuba, China, India, US, Mexico, and I'm thinking that the second biggest stand was the Cuba stand. Before this trip to Mexico I had never been to a book festival and I felt great when I experienced an International festival. I would say that it was the first time I ever went to a book festival and I would say that usually a festival of books is a bit bigger than a typical book fair or bookstore. The detail that I liked the most was that each stand had its unique qualities that represent their home country.
In Mexico things such as books, gas, food, and so much more are usually expensive. In a typical day at the market a person will usually need at least 500 pesos which is around $50 dollars or less. If you to put gas in your car it usually costs 14 pesos per liter. Since 14 pesos is like $1 and there is 4 liters in a gallon. That means that it costs $4 dollars per gallon in Mexico which is almost 3 dollars more than in the United States. I got off topic for a second because this was also a first-timer. I was seeing for the first time how prices in other countries differ from our home country. I also realized that books in Mexico are really expensive. In a store like Barnes and Noble a Divergent book will cost you about 10 to 15 dollars. In a typical bookstore in Mexico a Divergent book will cost you 350 pesos which is 30 to 35 dollars. That is a 20 dollar difference, but luckily in the book festival the books cost no more than 250 pesos. I'm actually glad that it was cheaper in the book festival because I was able to buy 2 books.
I would say that I experienced two first-timers in my trip, actually more since I got to know more about other people's cultures. In the India stand they had robotic massage hands which I found interesting and traditional male clothes that most people wear in India. They also had many mini-statues of the gods and goddesses in their culture. The Cuba stand was very interesting because they had books about Cuban history, dolls made from scratch, key chains from Havana, and so much more. The Chinese stand featured fortune cookies, history books featuring how to make numerous things, and I think swords, but I don't remember. The United States stand featured mini U.S. flags, famous young-adult books. The books that they had were The Fault in Our Stars, Harry Potter series, Divergent series, The Hunger Games series, Paper Towns, and other books by famous authors. I'm glad that I experienced this first-timer because now I know more about world cultures.
When I was writing this blog I was imagining a world in which cultures would combine and become one. In a world where wars, racism, and discrimination does not exist. In a world in which we can all get along regardless of our social statues, skin color, the language we speak, or the culture we come from. This festival was able to combine people together we the Mexican, Indian, American, Chinese, and Cuban culture.
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