"No matter what your age, try to step out of your comfort zone and carve out new experiences and memories.  The trip was a great time of learning and growing."

-Rose-Ann-

" I was glad for the information we gathered in class before leaving for Oaxaca.  Before we left we learned about the art, the history, the religion and the politics of Mexico.  When we got to Mexico,  I realized the importance of learning the background information in class.  Every subject we discussed in class appeared at least in a tour or lecture we encountered in Mexico.  I was really glad  since the information was familiar and then elaborated on.  The lectures were much more interesting since I knew about the topics before hand."

-Heather-

"When you eat the chapulines (grasshoppers), your heart will be in Oaxaca  forever."

-Heather-

"One of the services offered at Casa de Maria was a sauna and massage. Jorge had tried to explain what this involved.  I got the impression from him that this was not just an ordinary massage and steam bath, but it was also therapy to cleanse the sickness of the aura or subtle body.  When I entered the small building there were two Mexican Indians there, and one of them had a whole unbroken egg in her hand which she proceeded to rub in tiny circles over me from head to foot.  She then brushed me with bougainvillea blossoms and leaves that had been dipped in herbal water.  After a glorious massage by the Indians, they waved incense over and around me as I was led into the steam room which was completely dark and was full of steam and mescal incense.  When I came out of the steam room hot herbal tea was served. Jorge interpreted the experience for all of us who had participated in the therapy.   He said that after the egg had been passed over my body, it was broken into a glass of water, and the shape of the yolk and the reaction of the white represented if sickness of the aura was caused by an internal or external force, and whether the force had been released from the aura or still remained.  Needless to say, we were all very relaxed following our therapy.  The therapeutic value to the aura is left to the individual, but I'm positive that my aura is much healthier!"

-Linda-

The Wine Enhanced

 Call me Pablo, por favor,
for I have been to a southern land
searching for language and a
resume entry, only to return
a brand new man,
who walks more slowly,
 stresses less,
 and truly knows
 what it means to be a Socialist.

 One can't be a true Socialist
knowing only these United States, so great,
because more folks have
enough to get by,
food to eat and a place to stay.
We might not think we do,
 but we're thinking wrong,
 I have shaken the hands
which don't. Our little
is really much,
to disagree is fault.

I have met the children, in spite of situation,
laughing,
selling a trinket for next to nothing
to help scrape together a meager, evening meal.
Pesos, they call for,
with the Capitalist
of their number calling for a dollar.
In the shadow of  a cathedral of grandeur,
an oppressor's ticket into Heaven.

I have had to turn down the brim of my cap,
not against the sun,
but to keep private the tears.

I have seen the beggars, many blind,
from too much Mescal consumed to
escape,
or too little care from this
supposed
Democratic state
which seems more like Hitler's place.
I have seen the upturned cowboy hat in which
what is about two cents
makes a difference.

I have seen what a measly piece of paper,
the dollar which buys eight cigarettes, or
a Mountain Dew, or
a half gallon of gas,
means to schoolgirls selling flowers,
who are eager to tell you their names,
and where they go to school,
and what they like to study,
if you only bother to ask.
Their feet giddily scamper across
the square. The flowers are tossed aside.
Dinner is paid for.
I don't need twenty-four cigarettes that badly.
Were they American children,
they might keep the secret
that I am, to themselves.
But they aren't,
they are Mexican children.
They share the knowledge of my
pockets and my location with all of their friends,
who stop by, with their trinkets, for my coins.
I don't mind.
My wine isn't interrupted, it is enhanced.

I know that I could have all of the pesos
in Oaxaca, and when I passed out the last,
I'd be looking for more.
So if you see me on the street,
call me Pablo, por favor.

-Paul-

"Going to Mexico as a student instead of a tourist made a vast difference in the way I viewed the people, the politics, and the history of Oaxaca. It was truly an emotional and educational experience for me."

-Linda-

Oaxaca, Mexico is most definitely the greatest place in the world - even for Gringos!

-Maria-

Traveling to a country where you don’t speak the language can be at times a lonely and bewildering experience. The unsuspecting traveler discovers that a common language is essential to communication, and without it one feels quite lonely and frightened, like a child who has lost his mother. I felt that way plenty of times but also felt triumphant when I had my limited successes. The "conversation" may have seemed mundane but when spoken in Spanish to a native speaker, it was exhilarating just to transmit a simple idea and then understand the response to it. I told a Oaxacan taxi driver that he was an excellent driver (this idea inspired by a heart-thumping near miss with another vehicle) and in the process discovered a scrap of personal information about him. He said, ‘I’ve been driving a cab for 44 years.’ (At least I think that’s what he said.)

-Lisa-