May 8th 2016
When I first arrived to Mexico, I was excited and a little bit nervous. This was my first time out of the country and I was without my family, but I was lucky enough to be there will fellow social work majors. Once we finally got off the plane and out of the airport I knew a new adventure was about to begin.
Though we flew into Mexico City, we still had about an hour drive to Cuernavaca, Mexico where we would be spending our trip. Though I was exhausted, I couldn’t miss that time sleeping on the bus, I had to take in all the beauty of Mexico. I really loved the ride over because we got to go through Mexico City and go through the rural, farm areas until we go to Cuernavaca. I do think I can ever compare the beauty of this country to anywhere I have ever been, it was very different and I loved it.
Once arriving to Cuernavaca, we got to visit the language school we will be attending and met our house mothers. After, we went to their house, the place that was going to be our homes for the next 2 weeks. My house mother’s name is Bertha, but she prefers to be called Ana. Her home is very beautiful. I love the tiled floors, all the plants, and the lime tree I have to pass before I get to my room. I feel living with a house mom is going to give me the ultimate experience while I’m here. I can’t wait to eat all the authentic food! Our house mother also cooks for us! We just ate enchiladas and the U.S. cannot even come close them!
After settling in, I got to look over my schedule for the next two weeks! Not only do I have Spanish class five days a week for four hours, but we also have a lot of trips planned. Looking at the schedule so far, I am very excited to visit some different social service programs, and Teotihuacan to see the pyramids! As a social work major, I am excited to see how the social programs here favor and differ from those in the U.S. Also I have seen few pictures of the pyramids and seeing them in person has always been one of my dreams! I can’t wait to see what these two weeks has in store for me.
May 15th 2016
I have officially been in Mexico for one week and I can honestly say I am in love. We have done so much! We have attended Spanish classes for five days a week and also went on many trips. On Tuesday we went on a walking tour of Cuernavaca and got to explore. I loved visiting the Cathedral and seeing all the unique places. On Wednesday we got to visit our first social service program. It was a Children’s Center sponsored by Desarollo Institucional de la Familia (DIF). This place was an orphanage. I have never been to an orphanage before, but this was not what I expected. It was so much better. It not only had places for these children to live, but it also had a clinic, a school, and recreation areas for the children. The children here are for adoption and they had children ranging from all ages. I was very impressed by this program. Later that night we also got to go to another host mother’s home and learned to cook! We made fresh guacamole, pico de gallo, tacos con pollo y papas, and bananas con crema. It was so delicious! I can’t wait to make this when I go home!
On Friday, we got to visit another social service program and I think I have found my favorite one so far. It is an orphanage called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos Orphanage. This place was incredible. Though it is called an orphanage, it did not have children for adoption. It was a place for children who had no family to become part of the NPH family. The orphanage was located on an old sugar plantation. It was huge! It has dorms, clinics (medical, dental, and psychological), a school, farms, green houses, dining hall, recreation fields, two pools, and a church. It had everything a child needed and more. It was a home for these children and it was incredible. I am really considering coming back one day to volunteer.
Now today, I just got back from Teotihuacan and seeing the pyramids. Not only did we go with our social work group, but also a man named Charlie from the language school. Charlie is very smart and gave us a very interesting history lecture while we toured the pyramids. I really enjoyed learning about the history. It gave me more appreciation. The pyramids were incredible and no picture can do it justice. I also got to climb the pyramid of the sun and no words could describe the view.
Now I have one more week in Mexico and I never want it to end. I love my house mother and all my teachers here in Mexico. The people are sweet, the food is delicious, and the city is beautiful. Can I just move to Mexico now?