(A personal account by Jaclyn Rivera, as reported in the Daily Forty-Niner, a student publication of Long Beach State University, Long Beach, Calif.)
College students from campuses around the country were warned not to venture to Mexico during spring break. In a news package titled “Mayhem in Mexico,” CNN featured “An Anglo family that was robbed and threatened in Baja California by masked gunmen,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Thanks to this and similar media stories, my father was livid when I told him I wanted to spend my break in Mexico City. He even offered to send me anywhere else and pay for the entire trip.
Normally, I would have caved and accepted his offer, but this was to be no average trip.
With 17 other California State University-Long Beach students, led by Chicano-Latino Studies professor Armando Vázquez-Ramos, I ventured to our neighboring country to study language, culture and Mexico’s relationship with the United States.
We spent days reliving history through the streets of Mexico City, while absorbing more than 45 hours of intensive Spanish and Mexican cultural instruction. We shared ideas and opinions at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City and at CEntro TLAhuica de Lenguas e Intercambio Cultural (CETLALIC), a progressive Spanish-language institute in Cuernavaca.
We went on cultural and archeological excursions that included climbing 7,000-year-old pyramids at Teotihuacán, saw world famous murals by Diego Rivera at the National Palace, and visited the Museum of Anthropology and History. Of course, no trip to Mexico would be complete without catching a football game at Estadio Azteca. All of this was covered during the first five days of our 11-day trip.
Throughout the entire trip I hoped my father wouldn’t be able to say, “I told you so,” when I got back — if I got back. To both my father and mother’s pleasant surprise, the only danger I experienced in Mexico was what the food might do to my stomach every night.
On the night after we explored the natural underground caves at Cacahuamilpa, we gathered at CETLALIC to meet with the instructors who gave us our diplomas.
It was interesting that we received diplomas for our 11 days of extensive study considering I have been at Cal State Long Beach for two years and “finally” received my bachelor’s degree in May.
As I listened to the speeches while they distributed the diplomas, I realized I had learned more on this trip than I had in the last two months at home.
What Vásquez-Ramos is doing by taking students from California to Mexico is sensational. The idea behind his baby, the California-Mexico Project, is for both neighbors to know one another better. This transcontinental concept of sharing knowledge definitely has the promise of delivering ways to make life-improvements on each side of the border and beyond.
It is being developed so we can understand the workings of both countries in order help each other. This means we must escape the media-driven fear of visiting Mexico. Although there’s no denying there is crime and danger in Mexico, I can attest that imminent peril does not permeate the country. There is much beauty to explore and respect, and I think I can speak for all of us students by saying we were incredibly lucky to have been a part of that beauty.
We are safely back and unharmed — no kidnappings or robberies, no drug cartel violence and no car accidents. The only difficulty is readjusting to reality after everything wonderful we saw and experienced. I hope Vásquez-Ramos continues his journey educating students on the importance of California and Mexico relations — and brings a new group of students to Mexico every year with no fear. Hispanic Link.
(Jaclyn Rivera is a senior journalism and Chicano-Latino studies major at California State University-Long Beach, where she writes for the Daily Forty-Niner.) ©2009
