Adiós

Today I’ve been home for as long as I was in Mexico. It’s been plenty of time to contemplate my time there. I can’t say though that I have any sort of closure. When people ask me to tell them about it, it’s as if I’m being asked “How has your life been?” I was in Mexico long enough that it became regular life. Life, as you know, is complicated to put into words.

Pragmatically speaking, I am regularly surprised by the amount and fluency of Spanish that I am retaining. I feel like I can better understand the Mexican culture, especially since reflecting on my experiences there (some of which made no sense to me at the time).

Overall I’m very pleased that I made the choice to study in Oaxaca and that I finished the program. Although there are shallow regrets that I did not study in a more glamorous location such as southern Spain or Buenos Aires,

Regardless, I will forever cherish the memories of the people that I met and befriended in Oaxaca: my host mother Ruth, friends and intercambios Enrique, Mayte and Reina, and MariCarmen, our ever-patient Spanish teacher and mentor. I hope to visit again someday and of course open my home to these people if they ever make it North.

It seems a dream sometimes, as if I never was in Mexico. In fact though, I have weekly dreams where I am battling to come home from Mexico. I suppose some part of me will always be there.