During the summer of 2006, Stanly Community College ventured out to offer its first study abroad immersion trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. Only having been abroad once to an English-speaking European country, I was excited to partake in a trip to a country in which the official language was different from our own (and I only spoke bits and pieces of the Spanish language). To this day, that trip to Oaxaca is my most memorable experience away from home and a place that I plan to revisit soon.
Growing up in a small southern town to parents and even grandparents who have never been out of the country, hardly even out of the town and state in which they live, I had been "blessed" with certain narrow-minded opinions of Mexico and their people. I recall my grandparents on numerous occasions questioning "why would you want to leave this country? It's dirty down there. It's unsafe..." And their negative mentalities carried on. However, the experience was such a mind-opening positive influence on my own life. It was a culture shock in a very positive way.
Things are different in Oaxaca. The food was hands down the freshest and tastiest food I've ever eaten--even the chapulines (grasshoppers lightly toasted with chili, lime and garlic)! The school that we attended for a couple hours a day connected me with my intercambio, Adrian--a young Mexican native who took a taxi 40 minutes each day from a neighboring town to meet with me for an hour to really compare cultures and learn all of the slang phrases and cool things to do that a textbook and teacher cannot teach. I still exchange emails with this guy who was gracious enough to welcome me into his country and show me all of the cool nooks and crannies that Oaxaca had to offer. Everything about it was so wonderful that I honestly did not want to return home.
Two years later a buddy of mine had the same chance through SCC to visit Oaxaca. What I told him that I continue to tell anyone who is open-minded enough to venture out of his comfort zone is what Oaxaca taught me: Please, please, please go! The trip really opened my eyes to a different lifestyle and a different people. There is something so exciting about other cultures. I learned so much of myself by taking that trip. I feel as if people--especially like some of my relatives who have never been away--become very comfortable in their own little worlds and that is a true misfortune. The world is gigantic! It has so much to offer! And these poor people will never know about it because they are too set in their ways and too afraid to challenge themselves and their mindsets to see what is outside of their comfort zones! I continued on with school to graduate with a degree in Spanish--a degree that enlightened me by broadening my own horizons, as well as teaching me a completely different language so that I am now fortunate enough to be able to communicate with Spanish-speaking people who reside in our own country and can offer me a perspective different from the narrow-minded one in which I was raised. GO TO OAXACA!!!
Testimonial 2
The culture of Oaxaca, Mexico is not something that could be truly understood or felt from a picture in a textbook or from hearing the travels of someone else. You must be immersed into the country itself.
I felt the warmth of the water flowing from the mountains at Hierve el Agua and spoke with the locals who told me of the waters healing power as they made the yearly pilgrimage to swim in the pools that formed and flowed over the mountain forming large calcium deposit waterfalls. I tasted the local foods in the organic market, grown in gardens that served as home landscapes. The locals thrive with tradition of cooking on hand-forged grills that were passed down from their ancestors. I ate in the open air restaurant, where my fish was toasted in a mud oven. I can remember the smell and anticipation of the next course to arrive.
I visited the local markets that served as the only income for artisans who hand weave linens and clothing; each piece a timely work of art. I watched men carve alebriejas, and their wives and children intricately paint each one to be an original work of art. I spoke with professors at the university, who ignored my English and only answered with Spanish, to teach me how beautiful their language really is.
A picture cannot deliver the immensity of Monte Alban. Each rock was carried to the mountain from miles away to build an arctitectual village that is unexplainable without being on the grounds and seeing the size the stone and the time it consumed of their life. By walking on the ancient grounds and climbing the rock stairs to the top of the pyramids, my mind pondered about their life, skills and traditions. I visited tombs and could feel the history of their burials.
The hospitality and love of the people who wanted to share their home with me, preparing each meal as if it was a masterpiece, telling their stories of their ancestors and being with the people can only be obtained by being immersed in the culture.
Stanly Community College is so fortunate to have a program lead by Patricia Horner that truly gave me the full experience by using her knowledge and history of the Oaxacan culture.
