The past couple of weeks in Mexico have gone pretty well! My classes have been very engaging. They are a mix of seminars and roundtables. The roundtables are very interactive and require us to challenge each other’s thoughts in order to come up with the best solutions. It has been very interesting learning about the health systems and policies within Mexico. I’ve learned that the United States and Mexico share many of the same health care issues, but they also have very specific health care issues that pertain to their countries. I have also improved my Spanish so much! In the beginning of the program, I struggled so much with understanding my most host parents when they spoke to me in Spanish that they basically had to translate everything they were saying to me. Now, I am able to understand about 80% of what they’re saying and respond back to the best of my abilities! It is so cool seeing myself become more and more comfortable in the language and being able to communicate in it when I started off not knowing much Spanish at all! I also enjoy the dinner aspect. My host family and I eat dinner around 8:30 everyday, and it’s a time for us to all talk and decompress from our days. My host mom started implementing a game that me and my roommate play everyday after dinner. We have to choose a verb and write out its complete conjugation in the past, present, and future tenses. This exercise has definitely been one of the things that has allowed me to improve my Spanish so much.
One of my favorite aspects has been the field trips that we take on Fridays with my history professor. We have been to a couple of clinics, many museums and cathedrals, and even different cities. These trips have helped me tie together all of the history that I have been learning, and it has been quite nice exploring the city with all of my classmates. My favorite place that I have been was Tolantongo. This was a trip organized by one of the students. It is a hot springs that is 4 hours away from Mexico City. It was the most beautiful place I have been to in my life! I am excited to see what else Mexico has in stored for me!
