Mexico (April - May 2019)

The travel blog is back after a 4 year hiatus—I’m sure all 3 of my readers will be thrilled.

I was fortunate to participate in two study abroad programs from April - June 2019. I wrote journal entries months ago but never posted them. Enjoy.

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In the past, I have generally posted entries while traveling, but I didn’t bring my laptop with me to Mexico and gave up on pen/paper journaling after about 20 minutes, so I’ll try and hit the highlights but keep it brief.

I spent last week traveling to Mexico as part of Westminster College’s MAT 606 Travel Seminar class. This class is a required course for graduate students pursuing their Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree. Prior to travel, we hosted a few on-campus sessions during which we explored Mexican cosmovision, culture, history, economic policies, education reforms, etc. I co-instructed the course with Peggy Cain, another faculty member in the School of Education.

Trying to recreate the day-to-day itinerary is going to be tough, but I find that it’ll be useful for students and instructors who may participate in this trip in the future, so I’ll do my best.

Day 1 – SLC to Cuernavaca

I won’t bore you with the details of the flight, but upon arriving to Mexico City, we connected with Ismael, one of the staff members who represents the Augsburg University Center for Global Education and Experience (CGEE). We contract through the CGEE to plan and execute our in-country experience. After managing a lost bag issue, we departed Mexico City for Cuernavaca, in the state of Morelos.

Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos is located about 90 minutes south of Mexico City. It’s a fairly large metropolitan center. Popular weekend vacation destination for residents of Mexico City and also a popular destination for students studying Spanish as there are a number of programs that host experiences in Cuernavaca, including the one we were on.

For the first four days of the trip, we stayed at the Guadalupe Center, hosted by an order of Mexican Benedictine nuns. On the first night, we were introduced to our primary onsite coordinator, Lisanne Morgan, and received an orientation to the Guadalupe Center and overview of the study experience.

I've been putting off these entries for a month, but if I don't do it now, I'll never get around to it. Trying to recall this trip after a month has passed will inevitably leave some holes in my memory, but here goes nothing.

I will preface these entries by saying that I'm not going to go into any of the minor challenges we experienced on the trip. A few students had some tough spots physically or emotionally on the trip at various times. With the support of their peers and faculty, things worked out.

Day 2 – Artisan Market / Survey

On the second day, we divided into groups of 3-4 and were assigned a list of items to either purchase or price at the downtown market. Items ranged from food (bananas, mangos, etc.) to school supplies such as backpacks and geometry sets. The purpose of this experience was to help students recognize differences in buying power between the Mexican peso and the U.S. dollar. Mexican minimum wage is just over $100 pesos, equivalent to approximately $5 U.S. dollars.

Day 2

We split the group into primary/middle school teachers and secondary teachers; Peggy accompanied the p/m group and I went with the high school group. We visited the State University High School, Escuela Técnicos Laboratoristas, which is on a college campus but operates independently from the college. Once on the campus, our group further divided into two groups--one group went to observe a Spanish class (which would be equivalent to a US English class) and the other group (of which I was a part) observed a physics class. As we all know, my Spanish is spotty at best, and I don't understand Physics in English, so trying to interpret physics terms into English from Spanish was erm...rough? Nevertheless, the instructor was lively and had a wonderful rapport with his students, and I think we all enjoyed the observation and learned whatever we could. In addition to teaching physics, the instructor also gave us some context for how the Mexico education reforms have impacted teachers. Teachers are now all on 6-month contracts that can be voided at any time, they have to teach a really restricted/regimented curriculum, and they are tested (annually, I think), and failure to pass their competency exam results in contract termination. In short, it's a scary time to be a teacher in Mexico because job security isn't promised. This is even more distressing because as a result of the job risk, fewer graduates are pursuing teaching positions so classrooms are really, really crowded. It's not unusual for a single K-12 teacher to have 40 or more students in one class.

After the observation, we returned the Guadelupe Center for lunch and free time. In the evening, we had an opportunity to meet with members of los Artesanos Unidos cooperative, a group of artisans who sell their crafts directly to consumers rather than having to go through a middle person. The crafts were lovely--hand stitched clothing, leather goods, lots of stone and metalwork, etc. The students and faculty enjoyed speaking with the artisans and we all came away with a few new trinkets at very fair prices.

Day 3

On the morning of Day 3, we visited Colegio Williams, a private K-12 school that was very, very well-funded. The facilities were a pretty stark contrast from the schools we'd visited on the previous day. Colegio Williams emphasizes inclusion in its core values, so all students, regardless of differing learning abilities, are provided with a consistent curriculum and classroom experience (with adaptations and additional faculty support as necessary)--it was really cool to see how the students embraced the value of inclusion in terms of their relationships with their peers. We observed a first grade English class--it was a worthwhile experience and totally affirmed my desire to work with college students. Classroom/behavior management of hyperactive 6-year olds is not my forte. With that being said, watching them sing Baby Shark was kind of cute.

In the afternoon, we visited Xochicalco, a pre-hispanic ceremonial center for a tour of the pyramids. The site was fascinating, but what i found really interesting was how the Mexican government sort of hustled to get the site "visitor ready" prior to the Olympics that they hosted in the 1960s, so many of the remains were poorly preserved, ruins were assembled in the wrong place, etc. Since then, archaeologists and anthropologists have undertaken extreme efforts to repair the damage from the hasty job of the 60s, but there is still much work to be done.

Had dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant in the historic center of Cuernavaca (I think...memory is fuzzy here) and returned to the Guadalupe Center.

Days 4 - 5

We left the Guadalupe Center on our way to Amatlan, an indigenous community in the mountains between Cuernavaca and Mexico City. In Amatlan, the students and I participated in homestays with local families. I lucked out and got paired with Emma, a student who served a Spanish speaking mission, so between my shoddy Spanish and her fluency, we were able to speak exclusively Spanish for the two days that we were in our home stay. Our family was absolutely fantastic. Maribel and Alvaro are the heads of household and they have two sons, Alberto and Alvaro Jr. I can't say enough great things about this family and their hospitality (and Maribel's amazing cooking). Maribel cooked us sopes (?) and taught us how to make empanadas. We bonded over family experiences, pets, cooking, spending time outside. 

When we weren't with our families, we had a few structured activities with the large group. The most impactful experience for me was getting to participate in an indigenous ceremony at a sacred site at the base of the mountains. The ceremony was led by Nacho, one of the community leaders who had a vast knowledge of his people's history, practices, and spirituality. Being at the sacred site just felt different. It was a type of quiet and peace that I hadn't felt anywhere else on that trip. The ceremony incorporated various components of nature, life/death, corn, offerings, celebration--it was such a beautiful illustration of the symbiotic and respectful relationship that the Nuatl (sp) people have with their environment. 

Both evenings, we had an opportunity to listen to two members of the community who had emigrated to the US to work. One was undocumented and the other had a Visa. Both experienced really heinous treatment at the hands of their employers, racism, loneliness, fear, physical ailments, and many other significant challenges. It was humbling, eye-opening, and also put into perspective some of the minor challenges that I complain about on a daily or weekly basis. On the first full day of our trip, we learned about the buying power of the Mexican peso and the horrendously low minimum wage, so it makes perfect sense why people would want to move North in search of employment that can help them provide for their families. These folks aren't criminals or stealing American jobs--they're people. They're people who are trying to work hard to provide for their families, spending months or years apart from the people that they love, working under extreme and dangerous conditions. The experience reiterates that when we take time to get to know someone and hear their story, it can profundity change perspectives and assumptions related to US foreign policy and immigration. 

We also had our final school visit during this section of the trip. I once again went with the high school teachers and we were able to observe an English class and a chemistry class--both were super fun! The teachers got the US students actively involved in the activity. The English class was a bit of a friendly competition between two teams in the class--they were learning various vocabulary for household and office items (i.e. Book, map, pencil, etc.) and learning to ask "is there a ...?" "Can you bring me a ...?"). The chemistry class integrated chemistry concepts (soluble/insoluble materials) with tourism--we learned how to make respadas (sp), a popular crushed ice drink with simple syrups and flavors and that are popular among Mexicans and tourists a like.

On the whole, Amatlan was probably my favorite part of the trip--it took us out of many daily comforts (for example, many of us took bucket showers with water heated on a stove) and encouraged us to practice communicating using Spanish, non-verbals, and hand gestures. I think all of the students came away from their home stays feeling appropriately challenged and grateful.

Day 6

On our last day, we returned to Mexico City and got a tour of the historic city center from an absolutely fantastic guide (whose name has escaped me). We walked around the main Aztec temple, the national cathedral, several convents, and a really fascinating museum of remains of an Aztec school for boys. I'm sure we did other things but the entire trip (and that day, in particular) was such a blur. I was surprised how much i really enjoyed Mexico City--at least the historic part. I especially enjoyed walking around at night with a few of the students and faculty. It was much more pleasant and peaceful than I would have expected a city of XX million people to feel.

We also had some really awesome meals--I'm writing this entry after completing all of my entries from Colombia, and while there are many, many things that I love about Colombia, I have to say that Mexico wins the head-to-head food contest--the food had so much flavor and I was extremely sad when my salsa ran out that I brought back to the US. But Colombia definitely wins the coffee prize.

With that, I think I've wrapped up all of journaling from Mexico and Colombia. I don't think I did a great job of capturing all of the sights, sounds, tastes, and feelings from both trips--particularly compared to my entries from Jamaica and Costa Rica, but to be honest, I was so physically and mentally spent most of the time on these trips that I just didn't have the energy to journal with any sort of conviction. I hope some of the pictures provide context where my writing does not. 

Okay, until the next trip, ciao!