Being Adaptable: 6 Lessons I Learned as an Exchange Student in Mexico
From August 1991 to August 1992 I learned some powerful life lessons. When I was a sophomore in high school I listened to a presentation at my high school in the small town of Gladstone, Oregon about being sponsored by the local Rotary Club to become an exchange student to a foreign country. I had begun to study Spanish and traveling abroad seemed like an amazing adventure. I went home so, so excited to tell my family about it! I ended up applying, being interviewed and I was chosen! Wow!
For the following year we prepared for our year abroad by joining with students from all over our Rotary district from Oregon and Washington. We had regular meetings and trips to get to know each other, learn how to prepare mentally for our trip and how to handle being away from our families and friends for a whole year. We were given 3 choices of countries, and then we were matched with a country and a Rotary host family that we would be staying with the following year. We wrote to our host family and send photos so that we could get to know each other. That was in the very early days of email and there was no social media, so letters were still the best way to communicate.
When I found out I would be traveling to central Mexico, I was thrilled! I was matched with a family there whose youngest son would be going to Oregon for the year. I ended up spending 5 months with that first host family and 5–6 months with a second host family.
Lesson #1: Being Flexible
Through this experience it opened me up to being very adaptable and for that I am so grateful. I have always been such a planner and loved to organize- I believe that’s why I am a professional organizer now. However, even from the start, the universe decided it was time for me to learn to adapt and go with the flow. First off, my flight from Los Angeles to Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico (my destination) was delayed until the next day. So, as a teenager, I had to manage to find a place to stay, order food and stay safely in the hotel until early the next morning so that I could get to my flight to Mexico. That was certainly not in my plans. I am so grateful that my parents talked me through ordering a pizza to have delivered, how to handle that and called me frequently to check in on me. I had never traveled on a plane before that and I had never stayed in a hotel on my own either. Adaptability lesson #1 was complete!
Lesson #2: Be Patient
After that, when I landed in Leon, Guanajuato my luggage was lost. It would be around 2 weeks or so before it was recovered. Luckily, I had packed a few clothes and toiletries for that possibility for carry on onto the plane. However, for some reason the clothes that I had on my carryon were mostly my formal clothes and my Rotary jacket. So, my host mom found another mom who had a teenage girl who was roughly my same size and I could borrow some clothes for her for a short while. I learned that although I had planned ahead, you never know what life will throw at you and I was grateful for some clothes to wear while I waited for the airline to recover my luggage.
Lesson #3: Learn as You Go
Very soon after arriving, I started school at the private Catholic school in the city of Leon. It was called Instituto Lux. My host mom arranged for me to get a uniform which consisted of a plaid skirt, any white blouse I wanted to wear and a kind of apron/jumper over it and some long green socks. Previous to this I had always gone to public school, so I had never worm a school uniform before. Because I had only seen people wearing school uniforms on TV, I assumed I needed to pull my socks up all the way to the knees as I had seen being done. However, when I arrived at my classroom, I immediately saw that all of the girls were wearing their socks scrunched down. Everyone was so kind and accepting though, so although I felt embarrassed, nobody made fun of me. I learned how to best wear my uniform after that.
Lesson #4: Go with the Flow
My other lesson was about how time works differently in Mexico. It’s one of my most favorite things that I learned because I find that whenever I am in Mexico I feel instantly relaxed. Things are slower there. They celebrate everything. You visit people on weekdays. School and some other things are on time, but parties are not on time. This is why I am particularly enjoying this time we are being given now during this global shift. It has caused us to slow down in places where we were moving at a frenetic pace. I love that I have a routine in place but I am not hurrying so much anymore. I remember I was always invited to a lot of birthday parties. One thing I loved was that if your birthday was on a Monday, people would still get together at your home or a friend’s home and celebrate. We’d each chip in some money for snacks, drinks and a cake and we’d enjoy celebrating with each other. It was a beautiful, last minute thing. After school people would say “Hey, it’s Juanjo’s birthday- chip in some money and we’ll buy chips and drinks. We’ll meet at Citlalli’s house at 8pm.” That would be it, easy, simple and fun! It would find myself going to almost every event that I was invited to and I loved it. Often, as I was used to arriving exactly on time, I would end up helping the host’s grandma set up the chairs and tables for the party.
Lesson #5: No Fear
This lesson was learned on a 24 hour bus ride taken from Leon, Guanajuato to Merida, Yucatan. The Rotary club wanted us to have an exchange trip to visit clubs and host families in the Yucatan area. So, they set up a trip for us. All of the exchange students from our district piled on a bus headed for the Yucatan. We only stopped for the occasional snack, meal or bathroom break. We did have to sleep on the bus. It was very warm during that time of the year. If you sat near the window you got very cold from the air conditioning and if you sat on the other side you got too hot. I remember I was a bit scared when we were stopped by some police in Chiapas. I think they were just checking all of the vehicles coming through. They came on the bus and saw that there were a lot of foreign students. They asked for our passports, but none of us had thought to bring them since we had already entered the country. They were all kept back with our host families. I was a bit scared when they asked to talk to the Belgian student on the bus. Luckily, it was a quick conversation and we all went on our way. It was a tense few minutes, but it taught me that it is best not to fear, to keep as calm as you can. Things will be okay.
Lesson #6: Celebrate Big!
Another lesson that I learned was to go all out and celebrate big with friends and family whenever you can! I love that and that is where I came to really love dressing up, going to parties and enjoying everything. I remember I was invited to graduation parties, baptisms and more where it seemed as grand as a wedding would be here in the U.S. Tables and chairs would be rented, there would be tablecloths, flowers, a dance floor and people would dress up, get their hair done and go all out! I remember I had to ask my parents to send me more formal dresses that I could wear to such events. They really came in handy! This is why I love to celebrate everything that I can now. Every year I invite my friends to my home for a friendship tea and I invite them for a birthday tea for my birthday too. This year I will most likely postpone these events, but we will do our best to celebrate at a distance. The other day I made some scones and set up a fancy little tea party for myself so that I could “have tea” with my dear friend over a zoom call. It does matter how we spend our days. Let’s find ways to celebrate!
What have you learned from travel abroad? Those lessons can really come in handy right now, especially since we won’t be traveling for a while. We can savor those beautiful memories for travel and the lessons that we learned along the way.
With lots of love,
Trista