Lessons Learned

Things that I have learned in Mexico...

• Never flush the toilet paper!
• Quesadillas, ham sandwiches, and hot dogs are all acceptable (and completely normal) foods for breakfast.
• They really do eat tacos in Mexico! But they are a little different from the ones you buy at Taco Bell.
• Most Mexicans only drink filtered water, not the tap water.
• When you greet a friend, you kiss each other on the cheek. It is sometimes awkward trying to decide how to greet an American friend!
• Most of the students at my university speak at least three languages moderately well.
• I prefer corn tortillas and “salsa verde.”
• The weather may be freezing in the morning, hot in the afternoon and cold again at night- changing about 30 degrees in only a few hours!
• The Spanish that you learned in class does not always apply here. My vocabulary is growing to include all sorts of “mexicanisms.”
• It is better to do laundry in the afternoon, because it is too cold to hang it outside at night.
• I have so much to learn, and it is okay to look silly and make mistakes. As my friend Catherine said so well, “Failure doesn't scare me anymore, its reality, although I know this kind of failure isn't a bad thing, merely trial and error!”