Reflection on week #5

On Monday, I think I spoke much too when I was asked what I thought about the process of reintegrating students into the Mexican school system. I didn't give myself time to think. I still don't know much about the effects of bullying, but I realized that I actually could relate to these students on some level, and that I minimized their experience.

That lecture made me think a lot about the schools I've gone to, the places I've lived, the life I've had. The schools I attended from kindergarten to twelfth grade were not luxurious, and I really don't think they differ much from the average school in Baja California, at least in terms of tangible resources. And San Diego and Tijuana aren't such different cities; the influence of each others' cultures is visible on every street corner. But there's still a border between them, and it communicates a lot.

When I decided to take this course, many of my friends in Boston told me this would be the easy part of my summer, five weeks with a familiar place before I went into the unknown world of the Middle East. Only a wall separated the two places; they must be virtually identical. I grew up speaking Spanish, my family eats Mexican food on holidays, my own brother is half-Mexican; I'd be in well-known territory. AND I'd be at a Jesuit university, so it'd be just like studying at Boston College.

I have thoroughly enjoyed these past five weeks, but they have not exactly been easy. I can't explain the number of times I felt overwhelmed, confused, isolated or just stupid. And I'm an almost-adult, who came here by choice, for a short, pre-determined period of time. I cannot imagine what it would be like being thrust into this world from my own, or vice versa, as a child or worse, as a self-conscious teenager. The worlds have similarities, but they are certainly not the same, and I think it would be quite a feat not to feel like a foreigner in one of the two.

As I get ready to head home, this will be something I know I'll struggle to communicate, and something that has fascinated me: what the U.S. and Mexico share, besides just a border, and what they don't. My time here has allowed me to better understand my own home but more than anything, it has showed me how much I truly do not understand. I'm almost finished with my five weeks in Mexico, but I still have a lot to learn. I am certainly, however, leaving here with a little more understanding of and respect for the journey that all migrants take.

Kelsey