UVM Oaxaca 2013: 2013-01-20

Even during the water shortage, one youngin' went for a swim.

As the sleep was wiped from our eyes, headaches faded and our final day of the school-free life crawled forward, we slowly began to understand our roles in our new homes: breakfast at 9:30 on the weekends, and comida (our big meal of the day) at 3. Slowly but surely our understanding of the layout of the city was etched into our brains.

First week of Spanish classes at Solexico.

Monday, we arrived at Solexico, our new Spanish school, and were immediately humbled by our grasp, or lack there of, on the foreign language. Classes at this school are taught the way a foreign language should be taught: classes are no bigger than eight students, some as small as four. The teacher addresses the formal curriculum as well as misconceptions of the language in our formal grade-driven schooling.

Oliver's class on Tuesday evening weaved through the enriching and egalitarian aspects of Neolibralism as an economic ideology (sarcasm). This was confirmed by historical investigation of the modernization of the Mexico of today.

Our Spanish classes continued with positivity and a general sense of eagerness to learn. On Wednesday we met in the afternoon as a group to discuss stages of culture shock: Cultural euphoria, confrontation, adjustment and adaption, respectively. Essentially, arriving in another country, you spend your first days basking in the sun, euphoric. Soon however, grave reality strikes and you must confront your horrible sunburn. Adjusting to this reality you start to wear sunscreen, cover your neck with a bandana. And eventually you emerge has an adapted bronze traveler. Disclaimer: the process is not always a smooth transition from one point to the next. Relapses can occur.

We observed the diversity of Oaxaca's transit system.

Thursday, our environmentalist desires were satisfied by a visit to the Centro demostrativo de permacultura in San Andres Huaypam. This small complex exists as a model for people to consider both in its sustainability as well as its impact on the restoration of the watershed in which it is a part of.

Friday finally upon us, we finished our first Spanish essay, each student completing one corresponding with their level. As the last of the emails were sent to our Maestros, the night life began. We danced, we laughed, we took taxis home (mom), we ate delicious late night street food.

The rest of the weekend consisted of excursions this way and that. Several students took a collectivo (loose translation: carpool) to a conference on mining, others hopped on a tour zipping around to cultural and geographic hotspots in the surrounding area. All in all, Mexico is fully in our faces and bellies, already reports of dreaming in Spanish are coming in, friends are being made, and the beginning is barely behind us.

Peace out,

Caleb and Sean

We explored Oaxaca's various indoor markets in which you can find: garments, Mezcal, ninja stars and birds.