Life on the Mexi-side

Warning warning!!! I know in travel blogs, some of the best parts are when we get to see the pictures right? All those foods and colours that are so different than what you see back home. Oftentimes thats what draws me to a blog atleast. But I’m going to say this now: the pictures are on their way but today the post is going to be TEXT HEAVY. I’m sorry. 

To make things easier for you, I will give you a wonderful picture of what I see every time I walk into the library at my school. The first time I saw it, I was with my orientation group and nobody understood why I couldn’t stop laughing. This is what being on tumblr has done to me. Here it is:

So now that you’ve been warned can we, for a minute, pretend that I am still back home preparing to leave for this trip to Mexico? Like, pretend I’m not here in Mexico already. Imagine me in a trendy Vancouver coffee shop, thinking about my upcoming trip for one year to a foreign town. Got that? Okay,

So, I have some questions that I’ve been thinking about in said coffee shop that I am going to try to keep in mind during the year abroad.

First, why am I here? (hehe, I mean, why am I going to Mexico)

1) Well, technically I wanted to do Indigenous studies abroad but wasn’t super duper attracted to Australia or New Zealand. No offense I swear! It just seemed kinda similar to Canada in a lot of ways….mostly the whole english-speaking part. Anyways, things like the Zapatista movement were indicators that there are some badass Indigenous peeps in Mexico sooooo here I am.  No courses offered for this kind of stuff at the University here in Queretaro, but I’m pursuing that learning on my own.

2)I’m going to Mexico because I’ve never been anywhere in Latin America. It’s a part of the world I know little about.  That was why when I was choosing places to go on exchange, it was here or Turkey (both for the same reasons). I want to learn more about the people who make up like a large portion of the world population, and Mexico seems like a great jumping off point.

3) I want to see a more diverse Mexico than what we know from the media; I know there must be more to this than virgin beaches, sombreros and corrupt government/police. Other than these things though, Mexico was a pretty blank slate for me.

4) And finally…a new language!!!! A new language means being able to communicate with more people. Always a plus for me. A big plus. This fits in with my life goals of knowing how to fluently SPEAK 4 languages. Which is apparantly like no big deal in Europe.

Okay next. This is a special experience right? It’s pretty unique! So how am I going to make the best of it? How do I want to challenge myself and make the best of my time here?

First of all: SAKI, GO OUT! BE SOCIAL. Because let’s be honest here, I give off weird first impressions. I am no good at meeting people, so I tend to want to stay home in the safety of my home and afterwards wonder why I don’t go out to much. Hm.

I’m going to make mistakes. Not like #YOLO lets get pitch black drunk with tequila  on the streets of Mexico and then take a random cab home alone, like no. But like, sometimes I am paralyzed by all these options, and the need to make the BEST decision cuz shit Saki, you’re only going to be living in Mexico like this once. So just do it. Just try it. Just go! Don’t sit around mulling over whether this trip with school to Oaxaca is worth it…just try it. It might be shitty but you tried right? Just go go go. This is like anti-saki right here. I am like a sit, deliberate, go with the optimal choice kind of person.

Second: Dude. DUDE!!!!! Don’t overthink this stuff okay? Yes, it’s important to push yourself to grow, and learn as a person but seriously…you know what you need most. Try to find the balance between what feels good to you, and leaning into that discomfort. This goes for more than social situations, this means spending time just sitting and attempting to talk with your host family, and more and more and more. Balance I guess. Does this paragraph even make sense? whatevaaaaaaa

Essentially Saki, find that balance between pushing yourself, trying lots of things, being brave and also being okay with whatever happens and whatever you choose to do.

Coming up next on the bloggity blog: my weekend trip to Huasteca (where we stayed in some semi-hippie hostel teepee thing; lots of pics included!), and an introduction to my host family, and yes…what we’ve all been waiting for…A FOOD POST BIATCH! Saki out.

A quick re-cap of some of my thoughts and experiences from my first day of orientation at school:

Today was an orientation specifically for international students. To be honest, the first thought that crossed my mind….”SO MANY WHITE PEOPLE”. It’s true. There weren’t that many people of colour at all. Maybe if you’re a caucasian person you might think it is a strange thing to notice, but as a non white person, it’s definitely something that I’ve always immediately noticed. But that topic is for another blog post. Nonetheless, there are ALOT of international students from all over the word! Over 200!

We were received with a mini feast of fresh fruit juices, yogurt, cookies, fruit, and a lot more. During our mini-tour of campus, I noticed there are a lot of facilities that are open for student use. Cool! We can take all sorts of classes for free,  like spinning, and salsa, and guitar. My skill level is going to be like level 1000 by the time I finish here let me tell you.

Also during the mini tour, we were told that there are these mini multi-connected golf carts that can pick you up and take you to different places. It’s like those things you ride when you get a tour of Hollywood studios [I’ve never been on any of those Hollywood tours, but  whatever ok]. I wish UBC had something like that, as TEC is considered big, but you still need to walk quite a bit at UBC too! I am lazy, what can I say. Not only are there these mini open air busses, there are bikes that you can use as you wish. There are no locks on anything on these bikes and I thought that was strange because wouldn’t they be stolen in like a week? Well, this is the interesting part:

Are you ready? Wait for it…..

Anybody who wants to enter onto or leave the campus needs a keypass. The school in it’s entirety is gated off from the general public.  The school is a private school, so there are a few things like that that are just new to me. Another example: there are random anti-doping tests taken at school. Medical officers will drop by random classrooms at random times and you need to be tested to see if there are any illegal drugs in your system. If there are…there are definitely consequences. Different right?

Anyways, I am exhausted, and it’s a 35min walk to get to school so I’m off to bed. Hopefully soon I will tell you more about my host family, and the living situation at home, which by the way, has been going very well so far.

Thanks for reading!

Yours truly

Saki

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Thanks UBC blog. You’re right, this IS my first blog post.

Actually, I’m currently in the airport! Yes, waiting for my flight into Mexico City. It’s actually my second day, as I didn’t get on yesterday. Part of me really wants to just get to Mexico and get settled in, and the other part is sort of loving the fact I don’t need to face this giant fear that I haven’t properly dealt with. I’m so scared!!!!

Of course I have some pretty typical feelings about leaving; the excitement of adventure, meeting new people who you apparently become pretty good friends with, eating my way through a new country, and learning a new language, the list goes on. But the feelings that I seem to hang onto most are those of anxiety, fear, apprehension. That sounds a bit dramatic, but there have been moments of complete “what the heck am I doing?!” I’m going to be away from my mom for like a year. WHAT?! I a giant baby and I don’t know how to deal with this. You could say I’ve done this kind of thing before: fresh out of high school, I was away for nine months participating the the Katimavik program, and I like to travel for long periods of time (I was away for most of last summer). This though, feels different. I’m not staying in Canada as with Katimavik, and I am living here rather than taking a vacation.

But anyways,  as scared as I am, at the same time its one of my favourite feelings. It means I am going on an adventure, surrounded by a discomfort that I can only grow and learn from. It means I’m pushing myself out of my boundaries and keeping things interesting! OH YEAH!

**Edit: Although I was writing this post at the airport at the time, I am finishing it here, having safely arrived in Mexico. I was expected not to fly that day, with over 6 people oversold. But with some help from the flying Air Canada god, I somehow managed to snag a seat at the very back of the plane. And we flew over the Grand Canyon!!!