If you can buy tortillas, you can do anything. Right?



With Isabel, adorable (and
bilingual!) daughter of the
MCC Mexico reps, Marion
and Ricardo.

Yesterday marked the completion of my first week in Mexico. In some ways it feels like I´ve just arrived, and in some ways, it feels like I´ve been here forever.  

When I arrived last Thursday evening at about 9 pm CST, Ricardo, one of the MCC Mexico reps whisked me off to the MCC office/guest house that was to be my home for the next three days. Though I was nervous to sleep alone in this city of 20+ million people, it was also refreshing to have a space to myself after a week of constant people time in Akron.  

Day one in Mexico began with Ricardo taking me to the patio of the guest house/office (for better lighting) and trying to hack off my hoop earring with a pair of pliers. Needless to say, he was not successful. To preface this story, Ricardo was taking me to get immigration photos and apparently there is a strict rule against wearing any type of jewelry. Why couldn´t I just take the earring out myself? Well, I got this piercing during spring break of my first year in college and have never removed it since. The earring was completely stuck despite our best efforts to loosen it. We gave up and traveled by metro (any trip, regardless of distance, costs a mere 3 pesos, or approximately $0.24) to meet the immigration lawyer, and luckily, no one said anything about my now scarred earring. Crisis averted. 

A municipal buildling in the zócalo
(Mexico City´s central plaza) decked
out for independence day (Sept 16). 

I spent the remainder of my three days in Mexico City becoming acquainted with the four MCC workers living there, learning about the inner-workings of MCC Mexico and visiting some of Mexico City´s popular tourist attractions. Though during these three days I saw many impressive buildings, met many interesting people and ate lots of wonderful food, the highlight of my time was a simple act that took mere minutes: buying a bag of tortillas at a corner store. This was the first task I completed solo in Mexico and afterward, I felt like I could handle anything. There have been moments since that first tortilla purchase in which I have felt significantly less competent, but feeling incompetent is part of the journey.  And at least I know I will never go hungry.  After all, there´s always a tortilleria right around the corner.

how I got a bruise on my knee



With my oreintation roommate Karen, an IVEPer from Colombia, who is spending the year working at EMU as a language assistant


I was surprisingly calm on the 3.5 hour car ride to Akron with Dad last Thursday (was that really a whole week ago?). Apparently, however, when we actually arrived in Akron at about 4:30 p.m., I had cashed in my allotted calmness for the day and my nerves shot through the roof.  I was suddenly surrounded by 90 new young adults representing 23 countries and I felt utterly overwhelmed and alone.  It's moments when I'm thrown entirely out of my comfort zone that I can no longer fool myself into believing that I'm an extrovert and the first few days of orientation were a roller coaster of emotions and adjustments.

Despite the challenges, this week has been an important experience for me.  I've had a chance to become more familiar with the mission and service philosophy of MCC, and more than ever I'm convinced that this organization, with their commitment to development, relief, peace building and mutual transformation, is doing invaluable work with local partners all around the world.  I'm excited to add a piece of the puzzle to this organization's story through my own relationship-building and service.  I've had a chance to be inspired and challenged by young adults who have similar visions of what it means to live out personal beliefs, but don't take themselves too seriously.  I've been able to intentionally prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the journey that lies ahead.

And now, just as I'm getting comfortable and starting to form relationships, I'm off. I leave Akron tomorrow at 7:53 am (why not 7:50 or 8 is a mystery to me).  There are 15 SALTers going to Latin America and 14 are on the same flight from Philly to Miami.  Of course, I'm the only one flying through Huston :)  I'll be in Mexico City (pending smooth connections and no delays) by 8 pm CST tomorrow.  I will likely be the first SALTer to reach my destination because my placement is closer to the U.S. than anyone else's.  I certainly don't envy the people traveling to Africa, the Middle East or Asia as many of them have 24+ hours and massive jet lag to confront.

Like last Thursday, I feel calm.  But I probably won't for long, if last week's transition is any indication.

And lest I forget the knee bruise...on our first day of orientation we were playing life-sized Dutch Blitz and as I sprinted around the field wearing a bed sheet toga and toting a piece of poster board, another guy (who was, for the the record, twice my size) and I collided.  I didn't see it coming and it left me sprawled on the ground with a bruise on my knee.  But I'm kind of proud of my bruise.  And I like bruises in general because they show you're living.     

The Challenge: pack a year of my life into a 50 lb bag

Packing is the most tangible way to prepare for any trip and fitting my worldly possessions into one 50 lb bag (thank you stingy airlines) was a daunting task.  But, as always, I made a plan. Step one: pile everything I would ideally love to take with me to Mexico on my bedroom floor. Easy enough:

Step 2: attempt to jam everything on the floor into an olive green suitcase borrowed from Mom and Dad.  Well, several hours filled with rolling, squishing, discarding, coddling zippers and numerous weigh-ins (I hope our scale is aligned correctly), I present:

 

Though difficult, packing was one of the easier tasks I had to accomplish in the final weeks before heading to orientation.  Sure, I would have liked to pack that hairdryer and pair of rain boots.  After all, I might be taking cold showers and when I get to San Cristóbal, rainy season will be in full swing.  However, parting with these two possessions was infinitely easier than the--what feels like--millions of goodbyes I've said.  Even though I've cried more in the past week and a half than I have all summer, these moments have been bittersweet.  It's incredibly painful to know that I won't see many of you for a very long time, but these moments have also been a profound reminder of how deep my roots are, how blessed I am to love so many people and to have that love returned.  Thank you for the hugs, cards, blessings, tears, time and conversations.  Knowing that I'm leaving so many important relationships is difficult, but I'm also less scared because I'm taking that love with me.

And now, I'm ready to go. I hope my suitcase doesn't get lost because after all, being loved only gets you so far if you're naked in a new country.