With Love, Laughter, and a Bit of Tears

Even before the goodbyes that will have to be said to all the friends and family that we (CGE students and staff) have created with each other over the last four months, there are many other goodbyes that I’ve had to say. We have made so many memories made since our arrival in Cuernavaca, and so much has happened that made all of us so much stronger than when we had first arrived. On this journey we have made friends, created family, and shared lifelong memories full of laughter and tears.

I arrived to Cuernavaca with no Spanish at all; it was tough navigating my way around without help from other students and staff (who I am really grateful for). But the most memorable one is at Eishel, where I intern and where I have made friends with all the residents there.

Eishel is a senior home for the Jewish community located in Cuernavaca, Mexico. A good thirty minute walk from CGE, or a ten to fifteen minute drive. In Eishel, there are always daily exercises and activities that the residents can participate in and have fun. Some of them choose to sit around outside or somewhere in the Social Room and watch TV or talk the day away about random things.

Cake to celebrate the residents with birthdays in April.

When I first arrived at Eishel, I was really nervous, because my Spanish was only basic. I have a hard time forming sentences and answering or asking questions. But with only my basic Spanish in hand, and facing head on into Eishel, I found myself easily surrounded by many wonderful elderly people who welcomed me with open arms and laughter. I was able to expand on my Spanish a bit as they teach me different words every time I’m there.

“Just listen, and ask question if you don’t understand.” That was the first piece of advice one of the residents gave me, and from then on, I tried really hard to listen. Though I may not speak Spanish well, I catch on to words from listening and from reading, which one of the English teachers at Eishel has helped me to do.

Not only did I find this friendliness inside Eishel, I found it everywhere around me. As long as you make the effort to try, and even though people may laugh and chuckle a bit at you, they will openly correct you and teach you the right way of saying or asking a question.

Celebrating Isreali Independence Day

I have learned a lot more at Eishel than just improving my Spanish.  For example, I learned so much about the Jewish community. I heard many stories from them about friends and family near and far. I learned about their culture and ceremonies they celebrate, and the reason behind why they celebrated. For example, once a year in April, Jewish people come together to light candles in remembrance of the six million Jews who died in the Concentration Camps during the Holocaust; or how Jews consider Israel their homeland and celebrate Israel’s Independence Day as theirs. I thought that this was very interesting, because being Hmong, we do not have a homeland, therefore we don’t have an Independence Day to celebrate, unless it’s the country that we live in.

Candles burning in rememberance of 6 million people who died during the Holocaust.

With so much memories made at Eishel, it will be very hard to leave, to say goodbye without sharing some tears and laughter. Although it was only three months there, it was a really short journey full of friendship filled with lots of laughter, lifelong memories, and happiness that has really impacted my life.

-- Ornida Moua

Stairs, Waterparks, and Spanish with my Mexican Homestay Family

After being in Mexico for three months, CGE students are finally in their one month urban home stays. Students are split up into two neighborhoods: one group of students are within walking distance of Augsburg College CGE’s campus in San Anton and the other group of students are in a neighborhood called Lopez Mateos that is about 15 minutes away. Although we are at our homestays all classes are still held at Casa Cemal and Casa Verde on the week days. Classes are scheduled in the morning so we can have the rest of the day to spend with our host families.

We have been living with our host families for two weeks now and we have another two weeks to go. It’s incredible how many relationships I have built here with my peers and also Mexicans I have met through excursions and guest speakers. But most important is the relationship I’m currently building with my host family. I’m one of the lucky ones that live by the ravine in Lopez Mateos. I will definitely remember walking up the steep hill and pyramids stairs every morning to get to the main street. Although I have to travel further than other students to get to classes and to use the internet (because my house doesn’t have internet), it is worth it.

Lopez Mateos neighborhood stairs

In my host family, I have host parents, a host sister who has a two-year-old daughter, and a host brother who’s married. The first week of living with my host family was adjusting to one another’s schedules and trying to get comfortable living with one another. But by week two, I’m more comfortable with my family and they’re comfortable with me. Even the house dog was getting used to me, she doesn’t bark at me anymore like she used to the first week. We communicate better now and although my Spanish isn’t that great, they’re helping me learn new Spanish words.  I still struggle to pronounce them and even though there are times when I just want to give up, they make sure I know that they won’t give up on me. Sometimes we have some good laughs!

During our first weekend together they invited me to their family hangout. They took me to the water park in Temixco, just south of Cuernavaca. It was a great way to spend family time with my host family and a great way to get to know them a little bit better. I’ve come to realization that every Sunday is my host family’s family time and they tend to do things together as a family. It’s amazing how much I have picked up living with my host family for just two weeks and I’m pretty sure they have learned a lot of things about me too.

Temixco water park

I know I will miss dinner time with my host sister and mother; having Sundays as family day and hearing my host niece greet me every time I walk in the door. I will also miss walking up and down the painful steps and steep hill down the ravine of Lopez Mateos. But I won’t ever forget the relationships I’ve built with many wonderful people in Mexico and especially my host family. I will miss the laughter at the dinner table because of my pronunciation of words and the cross cultural stories we tell one another. Every night at the dinner table is story time and I will miss that. But most of all I will miss how I felt like I was at home with my host family. They welcomed me with open arms and protected me.  They taught me more about the Mexican culture and taught me how to cook Mexican food.  They’ve helped me learn more Spanish words. I can't thank them enough for every experience I've had with them.

-- Jaia Chang

Visit to the Congress of Morelos

Hannah MacDougall

St. Olaf College

While our group experienced ups and downs we continued to be exposed to numerous speakers and classes that contributed to our expanding knowledge of Mexico.

One especially interesting trip took place on Tuesday when our Social Policy class went to theCongreso de Morelos (Morelos Congress). We first toured the building which is located near the Zocalo (main plaza) in central Cuernavaca. The building itself was formally a theater but it is now adorned with murals and statues of historical figures such as Emiliano Zapata and José María Morelos (for whom the state of Morelos was named). During the tour we received a brief history of these Mexican revolutionaries which was a nice refresher from our history classes at CGE.

Our Am. Welfare Policy Class in front of two Mexican flags at the Morelos Congress

After the tour we settled in the senate chamber where we heard from numerous speakers on topics such as education and labor.

The first woman we heard from was a member of the PRI party (Institutional Revolutionary Party) and sits on the education committee. She spoke to us about her desire to create a totally free system of education in Mexico as well as her hope of adequately representing her municipality. While our group thought her devotion to fair representation was noble, there was some speculation that her view of the indigenous population was not conducive to sufficient representation.

We also had the chance to talk about labor practices in Mexico. It was enlightening to hear from the President of the Commission on Work. It seemed that the main point he wished for us to remember was the importance that must be placed on the work of the individual. While our class was impressed by many of the labor laws in place in Mexico (such as the length of maternity leave), many of us expressed concern on the degree to which such practices are enforced.

Overall our trip to the Congreso de Morelos opened our eyes yet again to policy and practice in Mexico. We appreciated the chance to hear first hand accounts of how policy is shaped and enforced specifically in our state of Morelos.

Is skepticism of policy enforcement a universal phenomenon?

Social Work Semester in Mexico Begins Again!

By Christina Olson

CGE-Mexico Intern

It has been 8 months since the last year´s Social Work students left Cuernavaca, México. They went home and/or back to their colleges and universities, enriched by all the travels and people they met here. Now that they have gone and continued their work elsewhere (yet many keeping in touch with each other), it is time for this new group of 11 Social Work students to embark on their studies in Mexico, together with their fellow "Migration and Globablization" semester students.

The Ex-Hacienda Santa Cruz Where We had an Orientation "Retreat" Overnight!

The first week is full of orienting the students to Cuernavaca, and also to another culture and context. We all went to the Xochicalco pyramids and to a beautiful historic ex-hacienda (former sugar cane plantation) and spent two days getting to know each other better and doing activities and interactive sessions. One session was called the "Fish Bowl." In this session four people sat in the middle of a circle of about 10 others. The four in the middle had to discuss the article for this particular session.

Social Work and Migration/Globalization Students Doing the "Fish Bowl"

"The "Fish Bowl" was the perfect activity to use to discuss the controversial article "To Hell With Good Intentions" in which Ivan Illich told a group of volunteers from the U.S.A. NOT to come to Mexico to impose themselves on Mexicans since they couldn't help but be cultural imperialists for the middle-class U.S. way of life. As you can imagine, the article generated a lot of good reflection. Have you read the article? If so, what do you think of what Illich says? (If you haven't, you can look it up on line.) What do you think the appropriate role of foreigners is when it comes to trying to "help" others? In what ways do people need to be careful about not imposing our own cultural values or reinscribing stereotypes?

While at the Ex-Hacienda, we also talked about Peggy McIntosh's famous article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," as well as articles on the privileges awarded us as U.S. citizens and heterosexual privilege. Have you reflected upon your own privileges much? Perhaps the most inspiring article was "The Complexity of Identity: 'Who Am I'?"" by Beverly Tatum, in which she concludes:

"To the extent that one can draw on one's own experience of subordination - as a young person, as a person with a disability, as someone who grew up poor, as a woman - it may be easier to make meaning of another targeted group's experience. For those readers who are targeted by racism and are angered by the obliviousness of Whites, it may be useful to attend to your experience of dominance where you may find it - as a heterosexual, as an able-bodied person, as a Christian, as a man - and consider what systems of privilege you may be overlooking. The task of resisting our own oppression does not relieve us of the responsibility of acknowledging our complicity in the oppression of others. Our ongoing examination of who we are in our full humanity, embracing all of our identities, creates the possibility of building alliances that may ultimately free us all."

Do you agree with Tatum? Why or why not? What do you find helpful or unhelpful in what she says and in the article by McIntosh? We look forward to hearing from you as we embark on our new semester in Mexico!