Final Reflections

January 28, 2009

Oh, what a trip it's been! The weeks just seemed to have whizzed on by, and yet I still feel like I've been here forever. Probably because every day was just so full and busy, I feel like I've absorbed a lot over this past month.

This trip to Mexico has been a fascinating learning experience to say the least. Just the other day, Taylor and I were talking about how here in Mexico, it seems like anything we do, no matter how mundane or ordinary, there's always a chance for an interesting story to arise. For example, once during lunch, we were waiting for our tortas, when suddenly, we look out the window and right out in the streets was these two giant camels passing through on a truck. We went out side and realized that this truck of camels was but one vehicle in a long caravan of circus animals: more camels, ponies, and even a tiger. It was amazing sight and completely unexpected. Fun little stories like these have popped up so often that I decided to start a list of them on my laptop. The circus caravan story is entry #21.

Taxi rides, drinks with ice, and what we've grown to call the Mexico "si…": this trip has been a great and often funny opportunity to learn about Mexican culture through experience. Haggling's been an exciting and ever present part of our Mexico experience. It seems like any time we hail a taxi, we've had to haggle the price down ten pesos or more and when buying souvenirs, it's become quite commonplace to see Lauren buying something for less than half of the projected original price. And although I could never pull the kind of haggling charm Lauren can, but I'd like to think I've improved a little through this trip.

One thing that I'm always pleased to find here in Mexico is how friendly everyone is. Time and again we'll be looking for a place to eat and we'll approach a stranger on the street and ask for a good restaurant to eat at--they always had a suggestion, and what's more, it was always a good one. We've also had very good experiences with waiters, who were always friendly and helpful--although sometimes they seemed to have trouble understanding our requests for drink without ice. Although our requests would be answered with a distinct "si…si" they would inevitably return with ice floating in our drink anyways. (YeSeul told us since our bodies aren't used to the water in Mexico, ice can sometimes get us sick so it's better to order drink without it, but luckily none of us have gotten terribly sick yet.)

The people we've met and gotten to known at Casa Telmex are as friendly as anyone I've ever met. They've been a great help with the program and we've become good friends with a lot of the facilitators--several have already offered to house us if any of us ever returned to Tuxtla. Casa Telmex itself has been an inspiration to me--it's a great program for the youth in Tuxtla, not only as an after school program but also to introduce them to computers and technology that they would normally not have the chance to use. Not to mention the cultural experience Casa Telmex provided this January with its "grino" and "chino" volunteers. Casa Telmex is really something I think any city could benefit from, including all those in the States.

Drawing out the potential of the youth--I see this as the common goal between the Leadership Training Institute and Casa Telmex. And man do these kids have potential--the students in our program have, on several occasions, completely blew me away. I remember being very nervous about leading the activity, "El bueno y el malo," a discussion about leadership and the difference between good and bad leaders, and while I was initially worried about how Kyle and I were going to lead a successful discussion in Spanish, during the discussion the students completely surprised me and eventually Kyle and I could propose a topic or a question and then the students would just take the discussion and run with it. Another activity the student really excelled at was "Human Knot," which we did again on the final day of the program. And while the facilitator group did succeed this time, the students were able to untangle two smaller groups and then formed one large and untangled that all in the time it took the facilitators to untangle themselves once. This was definitely a group of young people that learned quickly and could communicate with each other well--which was especially impressive since many of the students didn't join the program until part way through the program. Some great friendships have been form through the program. I still remember leading "Walk About, Talk About," and seeing Rocio and Angelica meeting each other for the first time and laughing together---since then, they've been practically inseparable.

There was a lot of things I wanted to do during IAP and going to Mexico meant I couldn't do all the things I wanted on campus, after this whole experience, I have to say it was definitely worth it. I want to thank all the people who made this trip possible. Thank you to all of our sponsors for believing in our cause and for helping raise the money for this trip. Thanks to all of the members of LTI past and present for making LTI what it is. Thanks to YeSeul, our fearless leader and founder for your vision and your faith in us. Thanks, Kyle, Lauren, and Taylor for a great month--you guys are awesome--I'd lend you guys a shiny piece of cambio any day. And finally, thank you to all the facilitators and students for working with us and for such a successful session. It's been great and I'll miss you all. Thank you everyone.

~Dave

Reflections

We do this activity in every LTI program. You’re asked to list some number of turning points in your life; decisions you made that changed the course of your life afterward. Choosing to go on this trip was without a doubt one of those decisions.

I didn’t know what to expect from Mexican culture. I learned a bit of Mayan history in my high school Spanish classes, but we certainly never made it into the present day. I quickly adjusted, however, to friendly kisses on the cheek to greet in the morning, to strangers prepared to help with excellent restaurant suggestions, and to the adventures that stemmed from no one needing to ask why anything was happening, just content that it would all settle out.

The staff of Casa Telmex was no exception. They were some of the nicest, most welcoming and encouraging people I’ve ever met. Each of them had a different personality, a different teaching style, but each of them shared a common passion for helping those around them and bettering themselves as well. Working there was the best experience I could have asked for and I would love to go back in the future.

LTI also took on a different hue at Casa Telmex. It was unlike the spring program, of course, because we had ages ranging from 13-41 and ability levels just as broadly distributed, because we didn’t see the participants every session, but also because of the different culture. In the US, the most common problem in a group is that no one wants the responsibility of the leader; everyone is reticent to share their ideas lest they be the “wrong” answers. Here, however, almost everyone wanted to share and lead vocally. It led to some fantastic discussions and is certainly indicative of the natural leadership inclinations of those participating in the program. But, it is also something that can impede effective teamwork. So, it was really interesting to see how the activities worked with different participants. They suddenly taught different lessons than they did at home, many of which I hadn’t seen or realized before myself. It also makes me realize how much different LTI must be to serve a diverse range of communities, certainly a challenge, but one I believe now more than ever is one worth taking on. I think this program fills an even more unique niche in other parts of the world.

While I certainly grew as a leader and a member of a team during the month, I think I grew more personally than in these other capacities. I had never left the country before and had a wide range of trepidations, many of implausible events like being stuck somewhere with no available bottled water or loosing a shoe on a combi. I also feared sticking out because of my appearance, not something I’ve ever experienced growing up as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Midwesterner. It was something I began to no longer notice by the end of the trip, but certainly not something I’ll take for granted in the US again.

I feared not being able to communicate effectively with those around me. This fear was realized many a time, whether it was in discussion with students (my worst fear) or just hanging out with the facilitators outside of work. I came up with many creative ways to express myself other than words, realizing the importance of body language, asking the right questions and preparing in advance what I wanted to say. Now that I’m back in a country full of English-speakers, I’ve been much more confident in talking with others, whether it is in front of an audience or scheduling the ever-difficult doctor’s appointment by phone.

I feared not knowing what was going to happen at each moment which I was certainly forced to face. I gave up trying to have mental control over situations and just let things happen as they were going to happen. The luggage isn’t going to arrive for how long? This combi is going where? Why exactly are we in this vehicle? Why is the bus stopping by the side of the road and luggage is being extracted from the under-seat storage? All questions that I would have sought the answers to in the US, but all questions that don’t seem to need answers in Mexico. I learned to just be calm and let those in charge of the things take care of them as they need to, hopefully a lesson I can carry through life with me as well.

Of course, my stomach also learned its fair share of lessons. Over the course of the 3 and a half weeks it learned to deal with ice, lettuce, grease, more spice than I knew existed and a wide variety of unknown, but delicious, foods. This was perhaps the hardest learned lesson on the trip, but it now certainly misses all those things it once was quite uneasy about.

And I was so blessed to share this experience with 3.25 (since YeSeul left about a week into the trip) other MIT students. It was really interesting to get to know these remarkable people better and share with them some of the most memorable experiences of my college career. So thank you to each of you for this amazing trip.