Interim Program in Mexico Enriching for Participants

by Ed Grimes, BA English/Writing Major
I am a wordsmith. I forge words and hammer them together to create sentences which express all I see and feel in the world. I have been trained to develop each sentence to its fullest capability, and never in my entire life have I been able to write a one-word sentence - even though I know and realize that words have power only because of the meaning we have found in life by which we interpret them. However, for the rest of my life only one word will be necessary to evoke within me a flood of memories, feelings, and images. That one single word needs no additional verb, adjective, or adverb - indeed they would only be superfluous. MEXICO.

In February of 1996, I signed up to take the Missouri Western Summer Program in Mexico. The program would include a preparatory course during the spring semester and then three weeks in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The preparatory course was to prepare us for the cultural differences, the history, and sights which we would encounter in Mexico. However, no amount of instruction in a classroom in Missouri could have prepared me for Mexico. I could not have been prepared for the effect my Mexican family would have on me. I could not have been prepared for the deeply profound way the Mexican people would affect me. Nothing in America could have prepared me for what Mexico would do to me. Absolutely nothing.

Students lived and studied in Cuernavaca:

So on May 19, twenty-two other Missouri Western students and I, along with instructors Dr. Robert Shell and Patricia Cathey, took off from Kansas City International Airport for an intensive three-week total-immersion into the Mexican culture and the Spanish language. We would be staying in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and we would be attending the Spanish Language Institute for six hours a day, five days a week. We would be taking excursions to Mexico City, to the pyramids at Teoihuacan, and, most importantly, we would be living with a Mexican family.

As with any educational course, students will only receive what they are willing to put in. The Spanish Language Institute in Cuernavaca had superb instructors and an excellent program designed to bring out the best in every student. My Spanish improved dramatically each week, and by the end of the second week I was able to begin speaking about thoughts and emotions - which was quite an improvement from just being able to ask where the bathroom was. I had three instructors, and they were all excellent; however, one really brought the language and culture of Mexico alive for me. His name was Goyo, and he taught Spanish grammar.

Goyo patiently led us through the various ways to conjugate verbs, and then he had us compose, either by writing or mentally, ways to illustrate what we had learned. However, he went beyond just grammatical instruction. Goyo was a proud Mexican Indian with very personal opinions about his country and people, and he freely spoke about them. He personally touched my soul, and he gave me a perspective about Mexico that no book or American ever could. The last week we were in school, Goyo took our class over to his brother's house where we watched the Mexican film Red Dawn. This movie was about the 1968 student rebellion in Mexico, and, in particular, it was about one Mexican family in Mexico City and what happened to them during the police crackdown on October 3, 1968. No one in the class walked away from that film without being deeply moved by the plight of the Mexican people and the deep pride they have for their country. Goyo, alone, forced me to look at Mexico not through the eyes of an American, but through the eyes of a human being, and by doing so, he opened my mind and entire being to Mexico.

Family becomes "family":

My first chance to experience Mexico was the family I would be staying with during my three weeks in Mexico. I was extremely fortunate to be allowed to stay with the beautiful family of Rosita Alvarez. Rosita was a little younger than I, and she worked as a chemist in a medical laboratory. Rosita has two sons, Manuel and Paco, and the son of her sister lives with her. Rosita made me feel at home the second I arrived. She was a wonderful cook, the house was immaculate, and there was never a time when she did not have a smile on her face and a kind word to say. One night we played Mexican poker, and after that it became a nightly ritual where Rosita and we students would sit down a game or two of poker. The only thing we bet were beans, but it was the time of being together, the conversation, and the friendship we shared that made the experience so wonderful.

The night before we left for Acapulco for our trip home, the sadness set in. We played our usual game of poker and then began to pack. However, rather than going to bed at 9:30 p.m., as she did every other night, Rosita came into our rooms and just sat and talked to us. It was a time of laughter and smiles, but it was still so very bittersweet. The next morning she drove us to the school, and she gave me a hug that tore me apart. I told her that the Mexican people may have won my soul, but she had stolen my heart. I did not leave friends in Mexico; I left family.

Mexico sights and sounds magical:

The sights and sounds of Mexico were magical. The rich and long history was spellbinding. The museums, gardens, pyramids, and palaces were unbelievable. The markets teaming with venders and buyers were mesmerizing. The bars and restaurants were fantastic, with their friendly waiters, beautiful settings, and succulent food. The tropical setting was beautiful. However, it was the Mexican people who brought Mexico into every fiber of my being.

Although Cuernavaca has a population of over 200,000 people, I saw very few beggars. I saw a lot of poor people, more than I ever want to see again, but very few beggars. It seemed as if everyone did whatever they could to make some money to support themselves - regardless of how little they made or how much work it took. Whether meeting them on the street, in bars or cafes, at school, or in a hotel room just hours away from leaving Mexico, the people talked to me about their country and themselves. They asked me what I felt about Mexico, because they wanted me to know why they were so proud of their country. They know their lives are hard; they know their political system is a failure, and they know of, and feel, the constant repression of the poor; yet despite all of this adversity they love Mexico.

The hope by which they live their lives never seems to have an end. It gives them the ability to face each day, and they meet each day with smiles on their faces and love for the people they will encounter. So deeply moved by these people was I, that it will be a long time before I can think of them without a tear coming into my eye, or a lump into my throat. Mexico is a sleeping giant, and one day this giant will awaken - of that I have no doubt. Its greatest resource is its people, and the time will come when they will have their day in the sun. Mexico s revolution is not a thing of the past; it is alive in the heart of every Mexican who dares to dream of a better day.

My final night in Mexico was spent in my hotel room in Acapulco. I sat at my table, drinking a beer and looking out over the balcony at the lights of the city as they twinkled like a million stars. It was a time of memories and sadness. I was thinking of all I had experienced in the past three weeks and of the wonderful people I had been lucky to meet - their smiling faces flooding my memory. A knock came at the door, and a maid wanted to turn down the beds. She came in and worked around me as I sat there with my thoughts. She spoke, and she asked me how long I had been in Mexico. I told her how long, and she wanted to know what I felt about Mexico. I told her of how much I loved her country, how so very kind the people had been to me, how their hope had inspired me, and how I would never forget the people of Mexico. She quietly finished her work, and as she was leaving the room she stopped. She looked deep into my soul and thanked me for what I had said, and then she said, "But please remember, that for Mexicans life is very hard." In silence I nodded my head in agreement, and as she closed the door, I took a big drink, a long drag off my cigarette, and gazed out the window. Then I cried. MEXICO.

Mexico Study Abroad participants included Angela Christy, Ed Grimes, Steven Edwards, George Nytes, Sherry Anderson, Eric Hidy, Amy Stara, Andrea Huber, Amity Lippold, Christina Ostervich, Ramona Ramirez, Allison Deatherage, Jami Thompson, Dan Ramming, Jim Warner, Ryan Madison, Jeff Smoot, Ed Knutter, Mary Ann Eisiminger, and Tasha McClendon.

Note: Dr. Robert Shell, MWSU Spanish professor, directs the Interim Program in Mexico; Patricia Cathey, adjunct MWSU Spanish instructor, is co-director. Students receive up to eight hours of Spanish credit for their participation in the program. Foreign language majors at Missouri Western must complete a study abroad component as a part of their academic programs.