Monday, March 11, 2013

A Great Community

Hola!
This is Sarah Laper and I am a junior at the College of Wooster and this is my first time in Mexico.  So far it has been a great experience.
The first time I asked my mom if I could go to Tijuana, she said no way. Luckily, I finally convinced her to let me go, but she was still hesitant.  Today we met Eduardo who works with Esperanza and was helping us at the work site.  He said that the US news about Mexico makes him sad because he loves his country and US news makes it look so bad.  Also, the news makes it look like everybody is trying to get to the border and into the US but that is not true, some people want to stay in Mexico, he is one of them.  Eduardo's son can go to school in America but he doesn't want him to go because Eduardo can't go to America and also he has seen a lot in the news about people bringing guns into school in America.  Just like my parents did not want me to go to Mexico, Eduardo does not want his son to go to America.
I have only been here a couple of days but I've noticed that there is a great sense of community here that is different than what we have in the States.  Yesterday, we went to a birthday fiesta and everyone there acted like they were part of one big family.  They were all so nice to us, they loved when we all sang and danced together.  I felt very welcomed even though it was the first time I was meeting everyone.  Today at the work site, a bunch of family members and neighbors came and helped us work.  We were digging a drainage ditch for a retaining wall and both family members and our volunteers dug and passed buckets of dirt side by side. The daughter, Lucia, wanted to help and I thought the buckets would be too heavy for her but she insisted on wanting to be part of our bucket brigade.  When someone shoveled dirt onto my pants, I didn't even notice, but she reached down and brushed them off for me.  Even though I didn't speak the same language as Lucia or the other family members, a smile goes a long way and I had a lot of fun working today.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Sarah! I'm glad you are having a good experience! I feel at ease back here in Maryland. It sounds a lot like ASP. I saw you on a video. Would you do me a favor and say, "Hi!" next time you're on? Have a good one and try to make another entry. Love, Dad (and Tigger, he's lying next to me)!

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