Monday, January 19, 2009

Im going to school!



So I was recently told that I need to remind everyone I’m not just here “swanning around” Mexico. I’M GOING TO CLASS EVERY DAY! So I’ll just explain a little bit about that….
(this is the view from my school)

Every morning I go to school at 8 and have class until 1:10. I have a break every hour for 10 minutes, and at 11 we have a break for half an hour. So if anyone wants to skype then just let me know (that would be 12 eastern time). Classes are going really well, there are only 5 of us in my class and it’s more talking then anything else. Which is great because I’m not here to learn how to write in Spanish, I need to know how to communicate. There are other groups of students at the school from the US also, and even a group of adults learning Spanish who are from Canada. There is a panaderia (bakery) right next to the school and so during breaks everyone runs down and buys bread. The woman there knows me pretty well now J

In the afternoons there are optional lectures that we can attend at 4pm. Last week I attended a very interesting talk about the economy in Mexico and how the US is involved in trade here…which lead to a discussion about the immigration problems. I feel very privileged to have both perspectives. Many people here believe that the illegal immigration will never stop until Mexico’s economy improves and people don’t need to leave for jobs (it doesn’t matter how high the fence is). A major recent problem was that farmers could not compete with the US to for trading their produce…and so many have abandoned their fields and there are no jobs for them. For many reasons similar to this one it seems very important that the Mexican government finds some economic consultants (and listens to them). Many people were excited here last week because Obama met with the president of Mexico and said they would revise the NAFTA agreement to help the farmers….but then when the President returned to Mexico he said he would not revise it and it wasn’t necessary. So nothing can really progress for the better here until the government accepts that there are real problems. Today there is a lecture about human rights, hopfully it will be as interesting as the last.


Last Friday we had a party at the school, everyone’s host family was invited and everyone brought food to eat. It was huge. It rained a little but there was no way that was going to stop the party. Everyone ate and danced for hours….my favorite song was “achy breaky heart” in Spanish. Everything is going well, and fun!

1 comment:

  1. What grade are you in?
    Are the classes in mexico more advanced or harder than in U.S?

    ReplyDelete