2018-2019 Fulbright-García Robles Scholar

English Teaching Assistant in Chetumal, Mexico at the Universidad de Quintana Roo

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Centro De Enseñanza de Idiomas

¿Estás inscrito en alguno de los grupos de inglés del Centro De Enseñanza de Idiomas de la Universidad de Quintana Roo y deseas mejorar tus habilidades de comunicación? ¡Asiste a nuestros círculos de...

My boss, David, made a promotional video of me for CEI. As much as I dislike hearing my own voice recorded, here you go. My notoriety is on the rise! 

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Snippets of my first month-ish in México.

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Here I am, swimming in la cenote Samulá! We didn’t exactly plan on going here, but we got stranded in Valladolid (thanks to a faulty rental van a.k.a. “Deb”) and decided to aprovecharlo. Also, I believe my shorts and sandals add an element of grace to this video.

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Shout out to my girl, Kristen, who made this blog post about our adventure to Chichén Itzá last weekend. I couldn't have written it better.

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Update #2

     I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks, not because I’ve been too busy (I still have more free time than I’m used to), but because I’ve had a harder time adjusting than I expected. I don’t want this post to come across as if I’m complaining, because I am still honored and humbled to be here, but I think it’s important to recognize that this program isn’t a one-dimensional journey of exploration, “finding-myself,” and constant enjoyment. Recently, a friend I hadn’t spoken to in years reached out to me and asked, “How do you do it?” as in, “You seem so happy and positive all of the time, what’s your secret?” Well, the secret (that isn’t a secret at all) is that social media is a facade, and I usually choose to keep quiet online about challenges I’m facing. However, since I want this blog to be an honest reflection of my Fulbright experience, I feel compelled to write about what’s been going on with me lately, both good and bad.

      I have had my fair share of ups and downs in this past month, and I think the majority of this can be attributed to graduating college and uprooting, not to living in Mexico specifically. I am missing my community in Fayetteville, my family, and my dearest friends. Undoubtedly, I’ve met some wonderful people here, but I don’t think I’ve accepted yet that my new friends cannot fulfill the roles of my loved-ones from home. Plus, little things that wouldn’t normally bother me, like an acquaintance bailing on plans, affect me more now that my social circle is so limited. I am extremely grateful for Bea, the other new English Teaching Assistant at UQRoo, who is in the same boat. We have been spending a lot of time together and she is awesome, but we both recognize that it’s important to make close Mexican friends. Thankfully we met Alex, from Mexico City, who is going to be our third roommate by the end of this month.

     The housing situation has been another stressor that fortunately will be ironed-out soon. Since arriving in Chetumal I have been living in an Airbnb with a family that I really like. However, unlike the other times I’ve lived with host families, this one is quite hands-off. They live on the second floor of the house, and I’m on the first, so I rarely see them. Also, meals aren’t included in the fee, so I’ve only been invited to eat with them once. Other residents probably want their own space, but I feel like I’m in limbo. If I’m living with a family, I would love to feel like I’m part of the family and not an intrusion; otherwise, I would rather have the independence of living in my own place with people my age. Thankfully, Bea, Alex, and I found a house that’s only a ten-minute walk from the university that has a great backyard. I am excited for wine-and-movie nights, bonfires, and not wearing bras at home again.

     When it boils down to it, I just wish I felt more like I belonged here. I know it’s naive to move to a foreign country and expect to feel that sense of community after less than a month, but what can I say? Patience has never been my strong-suit. Also, I recognize that I am an outsider and will always be one. People on the street aren’t going to stop staring, and that’s okay. I know the best I can do is continue to put myself out there, be open and friendly to new people, and trust that things will fall into place.  

     On a positive note, the people at my yoga class are welcoming and upbeat and I’m so happy I get to see them three times a week. Also, I have finally started teaching! I lead English conversation circles from basic to intermediate levels, and I have students from ages 11-30.  The other Fulbrighters in my regional group have been a godsend for help with lesson planning, as well as for mental/emotional support. Last weekend I travelled to Mérida with Bea and hung out with six of the other Fulbrighters living in that area. We celebrated el día de la independencia de México together, went to a mezcalería, and relaxed in the pool at one of their houses. I am returning to Mérida this weekend to go with them to Chichén Itzá for the autumnal equinox. I can’t express how grateful I am for the Fulbright network here, especially our regional group mentor, Rory, whom I text when I need to vent about La Casa de las Flores (the latest series I’ve been watching). In addition, I met some environmental engineering students at UQRoo that I think I share a lot in common with. They invited me to attend their class yesterday on heat and mass transport phenomena, and it was refreshing to see familiar equations and do some calculations. While sitting in class, I realized that all the problems I’ve been confronting in Mexico have been social or pedagogical, with no clear, immediate solutions. I love math because you can (usually) plug in your numbers and arrive at an answer, and I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed that.

     I am probably going to post this and immediately feel guilty for saying anything negative about my situation, because I know how privileged I am to be here. I just had to get some things off my chest; if you’re reading this and going through something similar, feel free to reach out. If you’re not going through anything like this, still reach out. Like I said, I have too much free time (and I’d love to hear you). 

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New yoga instructor likes to take pictures of the class.

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My first week in Chetumal

I am the type of person who doesn’t know what to do with free time (unless it’s scheduled free-time that I’ve carved out from an otherwise insane agenda). I know many of my college friends suffer from the same affliction. It’s extremely hard to turn off, slow down, and be content with not having anything planned. For this reason, the first week in Chetumal has been somewhat challenging. I haven’t started teaching yet; my tutora graciously told me just to descansar esta semana. But do I even know how to descansar? Instead, I have spent a lot of time on social media (making this blog, for instance), house-hunting (successfully, I think), eating at taquerias, and doing yoga.

Side note on the yoga thing: nothing says globalization (or appropriation?) more than a gringa practicing a Hindu tradition in Spanish at a Mexican studio. I can’t help enjoying it, though.

I am definitely looking forward to establishing a routine, getting my housing situation settled, and starting to cook for myself again. All of the restaurants have been to die for, but I need to get a grip on my finances. Plus, I want to save up money to travel all around the gorgeous state of Quintana Roo (and the rest of the peninsula). The first stop is la laguna de Bacalar this weekend, and next weekend, Mérida.

I am also quite excited to start doing what I came here for: teaching. I will mostly be leading conversation circles from basic to intermediate levels of English and assisting in classes with other professors. Another reason I hope I can start teaching soon is that I brought several bags of Reese’s Pieces for my students to try, because peanut butter isn’t as commonly eaten here. However, I have already busted into one bag and it’s almost gone. The other bags are at high risk.

Overall, the best part of Chetumal so far has been the kind people. My Airbnb host family took me to a coconut festival last weekend in Calderitas, as well as to the nearby Oxtankah Maya ruins. This site is known as the “cuna del mestizaje,” because it was here that Gonzalo Guererro (Spanish-conquistador-turned-Maya-ally) and Zazil Ha (Maya princess) had their first child. Afterwards, we went to a birthday party for one of the host fam’s tíos and I ate too much habanero salsa with my espagueti. We all had a good laugh about it. Everyone at work is warm and welcoming as well, and they are letting me join any university class for free (I’m thinking of taking Mayan language and Caribbean dance).

I am slowly but surely building my little network and routine here, and I’m hopeful for what’s to come. That’s it for now. ¡Hasta pronto!

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A few points about my new friend, Kristen Murray.

1. We met a week ago. She is from Ohio.

2. She is teaching (and sweating a lot) in Mérida.

3. She is v photogenic.

4. We should not be allowed in public together.

5. She asked me to make this post.

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No one on the corner has swagger like Frida.

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My girl, Sor Juana, está por todos lados.

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The exchange program is the thing that reconciles me to all the difficulties of political life. It's the only activity that gives me some hope that the human race won't commit suicide, though I still wouldn't count on it.

William J. Fulbright, The New Yorker, May 10, 1958

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Cuando tus papás want you to be an upstanding police officer, but all you want to do is sing.

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A short list of things that make you feel small:

1) Visiting a city of 22 million people

2) Standing next to a Diego Rivera mural

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Got to check out the fine art of the Franz Meyer collection last week. 👌👌👌

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For those of you who were wondering how the Fulbright program is unique in Mexico, here’s a link. First of all, it’s called the Fulbright-García Robles Program, named for Arkansas’s own Senator William J. Fulbright and Mexico’s Alfonso  García Robles. Among many accolades, García Robles won the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco, which set up a nuclear-free zone in Latin America. 

In addition to bearing the names of these important leaders, the FGR program in Mexico is under the direction of La Comisión México-Estados Unidos para el Intercambio Educativo y Cultural (The Mexico-United States Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange), a.k.a. COMEXUS. This binational organization was created in 1990 in an agreement between our two governments, and since then they have facilitated the exchange of more than 4,000 Mexican and US citizens. 

I can say firsthand that COMEXUS has done utterly amazing work preparing for the recent arrival of our cohort of over 100 US scholars. They set up all of our placements throughout Mexico, flights, visa pre-authorizations, and bank accounts. During orientation, I was floored by how insanely well they treated us. They made hotel reservations, booked several private museum tours (including a UNESCO World Heritage Site), rented out a club for salsa lessons, and hand-picked each dish for breakfast and lunch so that we could taste a variety of Mexican cuisine. They even had Tums and Pepto Bismol on-deck for those whose stomachs weren’t agreeing with the Mexican cuisine. We had politicians and dignitaries from the US Embassy come speak to us, and the Mexican Federal Police’s mariachi band gave us a surprise concert. All in all, we could not be in better hands. ¡Muchísimas gracias por todo, COMEXUS! 

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Three University of Arkansas Seniors Named Fulbright Scholars

Honors students Katherine Branum, Stephanie Galen and Casey Gibson will teach English in Costa Rica, Bulgaria and Mexico next year.

Being part of the Fulbright program has been a dream of mine for quite a long time, as quoted in this article. I was so sure I wanted to do this that I put nearly all of my proverbial eggs in the Fulbright basket during my senior year of college (and thankfully it paid off)! 

This time last year I was frantically writing and rewriting my application essays, and now I am typing this post from an Airbnb in Chetumal, Mexico. Despite completing a week of orientation, signing several contracts, activating my Mexican bank account, and starting work at the university, all of this still feels unreal. 

For those going through the application process now, hang in there. I know how tedious it is, but in a year you too could be sitting in bed in a foreign country thinking “wow, I guess I really did it.”