Expectations:

I hold many expectations for my trip to Mérida, México and I know that it is all up to how I handle my experience there to achieve them. The reason for my decision to travel abroad is to experience a different culture and to expand my understanding and appreciation. I would like to be able to speak the Spanish language as much as I am able to listen and write, ultimately becoming fluent. This trip is also a great way to meet new people and form new friendships. 

Stereotypes:

There are many stereotypes that many people have about Mexico and Mexicans.  My family and I travel to Mexico every year for spring break and I have observed the men being impulsive and primarily sexually minded. The women were hostile and provocative in their dressing.  I think of dancing, eating, drinking, and an overall happy but chaotic life. Mexico is a beautiful place, but wherever I go in the country I always have come across a dirty environment and much poverty compared to the United States. Throughout my life I have been able to be surrounded by Mexican people at school and with being in the horse show world, Mexican men are hired as grooms. This includes tacking up horses, lunging if they are wild, walking them to the ring, letting the horses outside, feed them, and clean their stalls. Some of the grooms are also involved in a landscaping business. I have a stereotype of them being hardworking, yet when the jobs are not completed around the stable they get the label of being lazy. I try not to hold many of these stereotypes, but in my past exposure it is all that I have been able to observe. I hope that my study abroad experience will be able to change these past thoughts.