“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and
many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome,
charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one
little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It
As I reflect back upon the wonderful trip to
San Miguel de Allende, a high point would definitely be learning and
experiencing Mexican culture. Prior to
this trip, I had no knowledge of how much an integral role culture played into
the daily lives of people. Even though
we were only able to experience a few cultures in depth (maybe three out of
62), it was remarkable how the people cherished, loved, and cared for
their unique cultural background.
Traveling to Mexico for me was more than just eating new foods or
improving on a foreign language. It
allowed me to enjoy myself in a place where oftentimes stereotypes portray a
different image than how it actually is.
All in all, the main lesson that I have taken from this trip is to never
judge a book by its cover until you actually take time out and “read” it
yourself.
-Keith Simms
While staying in San Miguel de Allende, I was
exposed to a variety of new cultural aspects that enriched my travel experience
in Mexico. I also learned many new facts
and stories about Mexican history including the brutal Spanish colonial regime
and the 62 indigenous tribes/cultures found throughout Mexico. The friendly and extremely social people I
encountered throughout my trip surprised me, and while visiting a Mexican
primary school or orphanage, it was hard to find a kid who was not eager to
talk to me about anything. I learned
that by talking to such kind strangers as these and spreading around the sense
of good will among others made me feel better as a person. I learned many new expressions as well: “madre” is used frequently as an insult, while “padre” is
used like the American word “cool.” This trip provided me with
a fun but serious insight into Mexican culture and life.
-Ethan Ehrenhaft
On the 2012 San Miguel trip, I learned a lot
about Mexican history and culture, like how Mexico gained its independence and
the heroes that made it possible. In the
Liceo or Spanish school, I learned a lot of new Spanish, like the past tense of
verbs and lots of new vocabulary. We
always did fun things after we had our daily class, like trips to the market or
a guacamole competition. Some new words
that I learned are “mestizo”, a person of mixed cultural descent, “padre” or
cool, and the past tenses. This trip
really showed me how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover because Mexico is
a great country with a vibrant culture and friendly people, even though TV and
newspapers portray it as violent and reckless country. The SMA trip was a great experience for
me.
-Jasper Boers
On my trip to San Miguel de Allende, I gained
much knowledge about the history of the city and Mexico in general. I learned about the three periods about
Mexican history, which are pre-Hispanic, colonial and independence. I also learned about the role San Miguel and
its people played in the independence war for Mexico. I was surprised that some Mexicans still
follow some traditions from tribes like, constructing masks and having ritual
dances, which adds to the extreme diversity of people and culture in
Mexico. I grew personally by learning
about and living in a totally different culture that ranges from indigenous
temples, to colonial-age churches, to modern offices. I learned to always seize the chance to talk
and interact with people that are different and most often there were less
differences between us that I had assumed.
Not only did I open my eyes to culture and myself, but I expanded my
knowledge of Spanish in a way that can only happen in a Hispanic country.
-Brian Ross
I learned a lot about Mexico, the people of
Mexico, my peers, and even myself during the STA San Miguel trip in 2012. I learned about Ignacio Allende (who San
Miguel is named after), Pancho Villa and
other heroes of the Mexican Revolution as well as the Mexican war of independence
from Spain. I learned about Mexican
culture and way of life, which is very interesting and unique. Everyone I met was extremely nice, whether
they were fortunate or not. The Mexican
community reminds me of a happy family similar to the STA community because
everyone respects and loves each other based on what is on the inside not the
outside. For example, the Casa Carmen
staff treated us like family and opened their arms to us. I learned to be very careful with my
possessions, too. Traveling without my
family helped me mature and grow more independent because I was in charge of my
room and my decisions. Lastly, on this
trip, I have learned that even though you might not have money, possessions or
other things, you still can be happy and nice – which is something that lasts forever.
-Brian Geffroy
On this trip, I learned a lot about Mexico,
its history and culture. I learned that
the indigenous people of Mexico created great civilizations and cities that are
still being discovered. Mexican culture
is very rich in history and is does not have the violence one might think. I learned the expression “bueno
como pan,” or good like bread, and “xuchitle,” meaning offerings.
-Parker Lombardo
