This summer, 12 students and two faculty members are traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico to immerse themselves in the culture and language of Oaxaca, Mexico and develop their conversational fluency and understanding of daily life in Mexico by living with Oaxacan families and attending class at the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez. Please enjoy this blog post from Grey ’27 as he talked about the groups day filled with immersive Spanish classes, unforgettable homemade meals, vibrant street art in Xochimilco, and delicious local treats.
¡Hola familias!
This morning, Josh and I started off the day with chorizo baked into eggs and created tacos with fresh salsa thanks to our wonderful homestay mom, Josefina. After this we got on the bus and headed off to the second day of classes. Because the classes are 3 hours long (with a 20-minute break in the middle where most of the group went and got fresh mango from the street) we are able to learn whole tenses in one day. Without knowing anything about the future tense before the trip, I am now able to use it with little problem. I think that is a testament to the power of small classes, as my class is only 5 people while the other is 6. The teacher is super enthusiastic as well, which creates a fun and engaging learning environment.
After class finished the group took the bus back to our homestays for another meal. At first, I was a little worried when I saw that fish was for lunch because normally, I never get nor try fish. But this fish was phenomenal, sorry Florida, but somehow better than the fish that I had eaten when I would see the ocean. Another highlight of Josefina’s meals have been the pay de elote. It is a corn based pie which somewhat resembles cheesecake in its texture, but doesn’t come close to any American flavors.
After lunch we headed to the beautiful neighborhood of Xochimilco. It was covered in street art which can only be described in the numerous pictures that I took which will be featured at the bottom of this blog. During this excursion, we stopped by some awesome artisan shops that were filled to the brim with homemade pieces of art in the form of sculptures, blankets, clothing, belts, bracelets, ect. After the walking tour was over, Aidenne, Josh, and I revisited the market from yesterday and got some of the best vanilla ice cream of our lives (the food never fails to amaze). I have loved the trip so far, and I cannot wait for what is to come next!
