Hello!
My name is Rosemarie Merrigan and I have
the extraordinary opportunity to be the visiting social work instructor this
semester.
Our semester started off with a whirlwind
of activities that introduced all of us to life in Cuernavaca as well as
starting courses. There were many ‘Get to know Cuernavaca” and “Get to know
you” types of activities with students and staff. One activity had students going to the
market and buying items that people use every day. The initial impression was
that they were fairly inexpensive to purchase. The next day we learned the
actual cost of these items - how much people are paid and how many hours they need
to work to purchase these items. We were
astonished by this reality.
We spent time talking our “cultural
selves”, how much of how we make sense of the world is based in our culture and
all of the factors that influence this. We learned about national cultural
patterns and some of the contrasts between Mexican national cultural patterns
and USA national cultural patterns.
There were introductions to all the
courses. And of course we are eating
wonderful food.
At the end of the week we had an all day session at Ann’s
home (Director of CGE Mexico) ending with a barbecue and swimming. Then to top off the week, on Saturday we went to
Teotihuacan - an ancient holy city - where we saw the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and
the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. Many of the students hiked up both of the
pyramids.
Here is a link to read more about this
historical site: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/414
It was an amazing week.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and program details, Rosemarie -- really helps us "virtual learners"! I'm looking forward to staying tuned -- hola to all!
ReplyDeleteTony
Having been to Cuernavaca and participated in CGE a program we also had this experience of " Getting to know Cuernavaca". It still amazes me to think how much basic items like diapers cost. While in Mexico and while having this expience I had come to notice the large division between the classes, and "inequality" in Mexico. Many working and middle class Mexicans have to work at least six days a week to provide themselves with money to live on. I feel this experience made me realize that although things here are expensive there are programs and ways for everyone to afford thier basic needs. I also feel that these struggles that families go through with money only makes them closer together, and that's why I love Mexico. It's because money is sometimes so scarce for some people that family and community matter more and this is unlike the US were money I feel is everything.
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