Guadalajara

We dream of travel; most people do, anyway.  Why?  Why is it that we want to take a step and voyage into a new world, culture, or dream?  Is it that we have a vision of another place being better?  Student’s that travel from other lands to live here in Colorado get to experience a new and different world.  Is it better?  Do they miss home?  Is this place what they thought it would be?

While I was in college I spent a semester in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Up until that point, I had not really spent much time out of United States, much less Colorado.  I spoke Spanish from text books, not real life. I definitely knew how to order a beer and say hello but I could not hold a clear conversation. Honestly, I struggled to acclimate to a new culture and daily life.  I missed some of the conveniences from the United States like drinking water out of the faucet or knowing that when using your tooth brush in the morning that the cockroaches did not feast on it while you slept.  However, there were new conveniences in Mexico that I began to appreciate, like dropping off laundry at the Lavanderia and picking it up in two days, cleaned and folded, for less than $3.00!!

My Senora traveled with us to a beach where locals frequented.  We got there by a very old school bus, baby blue and most likely missing struts and shocks. We stayed in a hotel that was not fancy and if there is an electrical code in Mexico, our lodging was definitely not up to code.  I imagined as I fell asleep in the twin bed I shared with my back to my dear friend, that my only hope was that we were not sharing the twin with the squirrel size cockroaches that we just jumped over on the uneven sidewalk outside.   It is not even fair to discuss the restrooms situation so I will not give detail to that aspect; however, as we sat on the beach and watched twenty kids playing and laughing hysterically as their parents watched and discussed life, you couldn’t help but admire the calmness, laughter and the moment of connection.    

Upon my return to the United States I had the unexpected struggle getting back into my old life.  The exposure to another world created a frustration in me when looking at, dare I say entitlements, from Americans’.   I wrestled with trying to understand why we do not have more gratitude for our blessings.  I did know now how grateful I was for the material gifts I experience as an American but was somewhat disillusioned by how whether the material rewards made us happy.  Every experience in my traveling was different, and therefore scary; yet when I reflect on my “globe-trotting” I feel so lucky to have been in another world for four months.  I learned the beauty of culture; another’s and my own, and gratitude for my experience and all of my blessings.  It is my intent to encourage students that I work with at the Community College of Denver if given the opportunity to travel, take it.