Vamos a Oaxaca!

Hola todos, y feliz miercoles! I am currently writing this from the rooftop of a home we are sleeping in tonight in the small pueblo of San Juan Mextepec, around five hours north of Oaxaca (written yesterday, posting now since we are back in the city!). It is a beautiful night: the crickets are chirping as my group sleeps inside, some Spanish music is blaring from a fiesta in the park a few blocks away, and I am trying my best to type something substantial on the tiny iPhone keyboard.

My view for the night in the village of San Juan Mextepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, as I'm working on the blog.

The past week has been really busy and productive. I finished up my 8th week of Spanish class - which I cannot believe, by the way - and then made the 20-hour bus ride to the beautiful city of Oaxaca, Mexico, with my group for a weeklong immersion.

Spanish has been continuing to go well, and I am amazed by how much I am able to pick up in conversations now. I would say that the majority of days are 'good' Spanish days, with a fair share of rough days here and there. After this week in Mexico, we have our 'free week' of the program, when I will be traveling to Belize with some people from my group. I can't wait! After that, we have one more week of class, and then I will begin volunteering full-time. I am going to miss the classes, but I am thrilled to have the chance to start applying the Spanish I have learned in the real world.

A view of Oaxaca, Mexico, from the roof of our coordinator's apartment.

Mexico has been absolutely stunning so far. We have explored the city with morning runs, visited the markets, hiked ancient ruins, and met with some unbelievable people. As I mentioned, we are currently in a small town a few hours north of Oaxaca spending a couple days with a traditional healer. His stories and techniques are amazingly intriguing -- for example, today he told us about how babies are prone to receiving the 'evil eye,' and how one way to cure this is to take the child to a woman in town who uses herbs on the child's eyes and then licks them clean. An interesting change of perspective from Western medicine!

The Mayan ruins of Monte Alban, Mexico! 

The most impactful experience for me this week has by far been a conversation we got to have with three young men in transit to the US. On Monday, we sat face-to-face with three immigrants -- ages 13-26, all family -- and talked with them about their journey north to find their family and try to earn a decent living.

There are a lot of opinions out there on immigration, and each one is grounded in unique experiences. The biggest thing that hit me this week is how HUMAN the issue is. Immigration isn't about statistics, it is about stories. And, the more I hear these stories and look into the eyes of the people who tell them, the easier it is for me to put myself in their shoes. Each immigrant's story is unique. This week has been all about those stories for me, which has been both challenging and encouraging. When it comes down to it, we are all migrants in some respect: changing jobs, exchanging information, or physically moving to another place. I think that the more we understand that - and the more we seek out stories that make issues like immigration 'human' - the more we can contribute to making a difference in the issues around us.

With that, I think I had better get some sleep! I hope you are doing well, and te extrano. Hasta pronto!

-Nico

Piñata at the school for Niki's (a girl in our group) birthday!