Michelle Obama Draws Parallels to Chicago in Mexico

First Lady Michelle Obama is in Mexico this week to launch an international agenda that's about inspiring young people around the world to become civically engaged.

She told a group of Mexican journalists that she felt right at home in the south-of-the-border country, according to the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet.

"Growing up in Chicago on the South Side, I lived next to one of the largest Mexican-American communities in the city," she said during her visit.

The first lady was referring to Pilsen and Little Village, two communities densely populated with Mexican-Americans. The first lady did say that neither of the neighborhoods is quite like the impoverished metropolis that is Mexico City.

"It is very different from being here in Mexico City because this is where ... the full culture of Mexico is on display. ... The architecture in this city is bold, it's modern, it's colorful in ways that can't be expressed in just a neighborhood; you know, one of, you know, 72 community areas in Chicago," she said, according to Sweet.

Even though she largely avoided the topic of the a continued drug violence going on in that city, she did offer at least on comparison on that topic.

"Drug violence exists on the South Side of Chicago, in L.A., you name any urban and rural environment," she said.

The first lady is wrapping up her first solo trip outside the states as the president’s Thursday.

At breakfast Thursday, she planned to talk to the young leaders about their experiences and encourage them to continue being active in their communities.

In a speech Wednesday, Mrs. Obama said responsibility for meeting the world's defining challenges soon will fall to the younger generation.

She is due in San Diego later Thursday to visit a community farm and promote her campaign against childhood obesity.