I was stuck in CDMX, waiting for my US H1B visa during the infamous weather balloon incident. It was a time when China-US relations soured, leading to many of us, including 20 or so Chinese students studying in the US, being stuck during our visa interviews. We formed a little community, gathering every night for dinner and walking around the US consulate in CDMX, almost as a ritual to manifest faster visa processing.
During this period, I fell in love with CDMX and felt I was experiencing true 'Quality of Life' there. Despite the depiction of Mexico by the US media, I found CDMX to be such a vibrant, lively, and cultured place.
Eventually, I got my visa, but when I was on the plane traveling back to the Bay Area, I felt an unexpected depression creeping up, as if I was returning to a life of quiet deadness. This experience left such an impact on me that I ended up going back to CDMX a lot after that.
