Expectations: I expect to have a ton of fun in Mexico while greatly improving my Spanish communication skills. I want to meet a ton of fun, exciting people and do things that I have never done before. I'm excited to live with a Mexican family and I hope to learn a lot from them. I am also expecting to travel and visit historical places I have never been before. I expect to have to work hard in order to complete all of my homework and stay on task in my classes.
Stereotypes: Some of the stereotypes I have of Mexico are that it is not very clean and that all of the families do not have a lot of money. Unfortunately, a stereotype that many Americans have is that Mexican men behave inappropriately toward women. Another stereotype I have heard is that Mexicans are lazy and never show up to anything on time. I also feel as though most Mexicans do not like American college students.
One of my expectations was to improve my Spanish communication skills, and I feel as if I have completely gained confidence and abilities to converse with Spanish speakers and I am more capable of relaying what I want to say, even if I can’t put all of the correct words together. I also did a lot of things I had never done before, for example jumped off a ledge into a cenote. I loved talking with my Mexican mama and I learned a lot of interesting things about both the Yucatecan and Mayan cultures from listening to her. I visited tons of ruins and tourists sites around the Yucatan and loved every visit. My classes were hard, but manageable and I took a lot of knowledge away from this trip.
Many of the stereotypes I believed before coming on the trip were actually perpetuated. I thought that Mexico was not very clean, which I have come to find out this is true in some cases. There are really nice parts of the country, but it also has its fair share of dirty parts. Another stereotype I had before this trip was that Mexican men behave derogatorily toward women. I unfortunately found this to be true. It amazes me how the men stare at American girls with no shame and yell and whistle when we are simply walking down the street. A few of my stereotypes were proven wrong though. I thought that most Mexican families were poor, when in fact many of them have nicer houses than I have in Ohio. I also thought that most Mexicans hated American college students, and I discovered exactly the opposite. Most of the people in Merida as well as the places we visited were very welcoming and kind to us and willing to help us find what we were looking for or just ask us questions about where we were from and why we were there.