adiós... por ahorita

Well, if I had stayed the whole semester, I would have been back for more than a month by now. Instead, I’ve been back in the States for longer than I was in Mexico. I guess it’s time to wrap up the experience.

Some students come back raving about Mexico. They LOVE the country and everything about it. I never reached that point. Maybe if I’d stayed the entire four months, I would have fostered that love, but I just didn’t.

I did like it, though. And Mexico does hold a special place in my heart. And I was sad to leave. I cried all the way from the parking lot of la Farmacia Guadalajara to the airport, and then again from take off to O’Hare.

I learned a lot, too. Here are some things I learned:

It takes about two weeks to turn on your ears to hear foreign languages spoken in a different accent.

In a second language, checking out at the store can be a very stressful and embarrassing situation.

There’s more to understanding a conversation than just understanding words.

Some colloquialisms of Morelia: porfis for “please”, por nada for “thank-you” (instead the de nada you learn in text books), ándale pues is like “Go ahead, then” or “Don’t let me keep you,” con per for “excuse me”

Saying something, even if it’s not quite right, will get you farther than saying nothing.

Mexicans are so nice. The culture just really understands how to connect with people and values those connections.

Going to Mexico was definitely a worth-while experience. Sometimes, I’m still sad that I didn’t get to stay longer, and I wish that my time there were not associated with the bitter disappointment of having to come home early. I’ll never know what the second part of the experience would have been, but I do know that the first part was worth doing, and I hope that someday I can go somewhere else and have more experiences.

So, stay tuned. This fish has only just started swimming around the world. :)