Thoughts after one week home

Well, it's been a week since I got home, enough time to put a little perspective on our trip. When we first landed in St. Louis (see photo taken in Lambert Airport) we were still smiling, but in all honesty, I was ready to be home and couldn't wait to sleep in my own bed. I think my small group of students were experiencing a lot of emotions ranging from not wanting to speak any more Spanish to wanting to head back to Oaxaca to study in college!

Overall, I think the trip was a success: we visited some amazing sights, stayed in three very different towns/cities in Mexico, experienced some interesting culture and returned home safe and sound to tell about it. Even more importantly, I think the four of us who flew out of St. Louis that early morning two weeks ago are not the same people who stepped off the plane back in St. Louis two weeks later. We were different. We had changed. Obviously, we were exhausted from the travel; we had purchased some souveniers to enjoy and share; we had practiced our Spanish. Even more importantly, we first met some other American students and teachers and found them to be like us and different in many ways. We found that our shared experiences in Mexico with those students gave us a unique bond that we still cherish and continue to build. We met some beautiful families that welcomed us into their homes and shared with us their blessings and struggles as best they could. We discovered that Mexico, our neighbor, despite it's challenges and strugles, has a wealth of cultural treasures, spiritual beauty and colorful vibrancy that we may not have fully appreciated before. Most importantly, we tapped into something within ourselves-a spirit of adventure, a thirst for discovery, a desire to learn more. We also each had our own challenges which gave us opportunities to not only grow within ourselves that ability to deal with adversity, but also a willingness to reach out for help and to reach out a helping hand to others in need. This wasn't a vacation. This wasn't easy living. This was an educational experience. This was Mexico. And I'm glad I shared it with you.

Checkout time

Checkout is at 1 p.m. It's noon and I'm still trying to get things wrapped up. See you all soon!
Will finish this later.

A relaxing Sunday in Oaxaca

Oaxaca is such a high energy place that I was surpised to see how calm things could be on a Sunday. I took advantage of the day and visited the beautiful museum at the Santo Domingo church (left). It offered spectacular views of the surrounding city and mountains from the large openings at the ends of some of the monastary's hallways.

I also saw Rory and his host family at Santo Domingo. They had been doing lots of sight-seeing Saturday and Sunday!

Later that afternoon, I passed Sam and her host sister Liz and host dad Jose. They were going out to eat. They also told me that Liz's last day of school was Tuesday and that Monday there would be a play at school that Sam and Liz planned to go see.

Saturday: a march and a stroll

Saturday morning, I got up early and went for a run to "El Llano". There I found a beautiful park with fountains, trees and other runners! It was so nice that I decided to come back later that day when I could sit and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere away from all the touristic energy in the Zocalo and Alameda. There, I saw two middle (secondaria) school bands. One played a little while and then had their band photo taken. The other put on a concert.
This park is also where the "Marcha Calenda" started. The "Marcha Calenda" is Oaxaca's sexual diversity march. As a matter of fact, this is their first one! There have been lots of parades and marches while I've been here. I've probably seen about five and heard a least that many more from my hotel. One was a school celebration. One was a protest. This one was different. It was very special for me. When the "Marcha Calenda" played Celia Cruz's "La Vida es una Carnival" 9see video below), my eyes got a little misty. I love that song, and now it has even more meaning for me.
I was so proud to witness Oaxaca's first Pridefest!

That evening, I had dinner with Cliff and Jodi. Jodi will be the guide for the next ISE tour, which begins this coming week. Jodi is a teacher in Minnesota and I met her at the ISE workshop earlier this year. She has been very helpful! By the way, we ate at the restaurant Casa de la Abuela, and I had chicken mole. It was delicious! After dinner, we strolled around town. Cliff introduced us to the kids and families that he's met through his work at the center. We also stood for a while and enjoyed a folk dance presentation in front of the Santo Domingo church at sunset. (below) The music, dancing and view were simply wonderful! It was one of those simple moments that just make a vacation special.

Friday is Market Day!

Here in Oaxaca, market day is Friday and Saturday. The big market here, Abastos, is especially busy on those days, so I decided to check it out. In deed, it was big AND crowded. After ten minutes of walking around there, I was already exhausted. (Pretty much like after spending ten minutes at a mall in the U.S.!) One of my favorite pictures from today was of some fresh chicken. They reminded me of students in a classroom with their hands raised.

I also did some souvenier shopping and ran into Sam and her host mother, but I forgot to snap a photo.

Oaxaca - On my own

Couldn't fall asleep last night. Not sure why. Went down to the lobby at 4 a.m. to say goodbye to the rest of the group as they began their 6-hour trip up to the Mexico City airport on the bus. The group from Minnesota wasn't planning to return home until 3 a.m. the following day - a 23-hour trip. Ugh!
Before they left, they donated some of their old clothes and lots of pesos (over 5,000, which is close to $500!) to the organiztion Cliff helped found and that we visited earlier: Oaxaca Street Chilren Grassroots (Centro de Esperanza Infantil). Isn't that AWESOME?!?! The students came up with the idea on their own. Instead of exchanging their remaining Mexican pesos back into US dollars, they just donated them to the organization. I'm still touched by their generosity!

Today I visited two places just down the block from the hotel. The first was a library (in the photo here) with a cool quote outside: 'Soy los libros que he leido." (I am the books I've read.) Cliff told me that it was a quote from a local dignitary who had died within the last year.


Next, I headed down to the Museo Rufino Tamayo and was disappointed to discover that it was a building the Tamayo's had donated to the city as a museum to house their collection of pre-columbian artifacts, some nice stuff, but I was hoping to see some of Tamayo's own art.

Meet the Parents

Today we traveled back to Oaxaca, and since it didn't rain on us, we got to see a lot more, including some donkeys, chickens and a better view of some farmers working their fields with oxen.

Back in Oaxaca, we did a little sightseeing, including a visit to the Santo Domingo Church, and then my students met their host families and headed off to what may be the best part of their trip so far. They were very nervous and excited! (So was I.) So, we headed back to the hotel so they could meet their host families.

Samantha's family arrived first. We were scheduled to meet our host families at 6 p.m. in the hotel. Her family arrived 20 minutes ahead of time. I think this is a good sign that they are looking forward to the experience as well! Earlier, Sam had mailed a gift to her host family before leaving the U.S. Unfortunately, that host family's mom had to leave town unexpectedly and a new family filled in at the last minute. Consequently, Sam stopped by a flower shop in the market here and picked up the bouquet on the table . It included a lilly and four roses for 40 pesos which is less than $4 US. Can you believe it?!?!

Rory's family was the next to arrive. I hope he's feeling energetic! The boys in his host family were running, jumping and talking very quickly. Nevertheless, I think he'll have fun. His Mexican mom held her baby girl the entire time they were here. They were both cute as a button and mom seemed very friendly. Dad had a hard time finding a parking spot and had to circle several times, so I simply shook his hand, said "Hola" and snapped this photo, but he seemed like an OK guy. With two energetic boys, a baby girl and a foreign exchange student, dad was probably feeling a little overwhelmed!
:-)

While I was talking to Rory's family, Maggie's family arrived without me noticing. Fortunately; Cliff, our guide, and Mary Carmen, the family stay coordinator; met them and helped with introductions. The two little girls were cute and they even brought Maggie a boquet of gerber daisies! They also had a hard time finding a parking spot, so her husband was circling the block in the car while they came in.

I'm excited and a little anxious. I'd LOVE to find out how things are going. But, I know this first day or two will be the hardest and my involvement will only break down the process of struggling through the language barrier and becoming comfortable in their new environment. The best I can do is be available if they need me. Even though I want to know what they're up to, I hope I don't find out until the end of their family stay because that means it went well!