Beyond Textbooks: The Guanajuato Program

Jaime Herrera, MCC

Last year, as part of a summer program in Mexico, PC and MCC faculty held summer session classes for five weeks in Guanajuato, Mexico. The participating faculty included Antonio Cardenas, Elias Esquer, Jose Torres, and Jaime H. Herrera from MCC and Pete Dimas and John Mercer from PC. This year the program is growing to include Jack Hannon and Steve Bass from MCC, Joey Baker from PC, Gail Shay from GWCC and Reyes Medrano from PVCC. In the following excerpts from his travel journal, Jaime H. Herrera describes some of the highlights of last year's program, focusing especially on the benefits--for students and faculty alike--of participating in an international education program.

Guanajuato, Mexico

Saturday, 8 July 1995 -- "We Arrive"

We arrive at the Guanajuato bus terminal at around 7:00 p.m. after a long, 2 day bus ride with an overnight stop in Torreon, Coahuila. Even though the ride is tiring, it is good. For me, the ride serves as a transition into Mexico, the country where I was raised. I took plenty of trips by bus back then too. And for the group of 33 students, I see the advantage of the long ride: they get to know each other and they slowly smoothe their way into a foreign country and see the landscape and the people ¥ so crucial to understanding any place.

In the bus terminal lobby, Celia Tremblay greets us and the students and introduces students to their host families. The host families are eager to meet their guests, who will literally become part of their own family over the next five weeks. Many of the students look a little like children, weaned from their parents into the embrace of complete strangers. We bid them all "Buenas noches."

The faculty -- Pete Dimas and John Mercer from Phoenix College; Antonio Cardenas, Elias Esquer, Jose Torres, and myself from Mesa Community College -- depart for Celia¥s house, which adjoins the Instituto, to rest and prepare for Monday, the first day of classes.

Sunday, 9 July 1995 -- "A Day of Rest"

Rest! Great food, great converstaion, and a siesta. I am ready for classes.

Monday, 10 July 1995 -- "First Day of Classes"

I go down to breakfast with my two new roommates Pete and John. We are joined by the rest of the faculty and 33 loud, energetic, and hungry students. I enjoy sitting down to breakfast with students; it's a great way for us to get to know each other. For the rest of the session, I look forward to "table hopping" and getting to know students.

After breakfast, all of us stroll next door to the classroom building. There is little that compares to teaching here; the students are a tight knit group -- being in a foreign country does that. I see them often and under different circumstance -- classes, breakfast, bus rides, coffee downtown, evening study sessions, or all weekend long on our two excursions -- and there is nothing like the reinforcement the students get here. They not only study Mexico but they experience, first hand, the art, literature, history, language, culture, and people of Mexico. There is simply nothing like this for students or for faculty.

Thursday, 20 July 1995 -- "We Depart for Michoacan"

The first two weeks have gone well and the students, other than the occasional stomach ailment or bout of homesickness, are adapting well. They eat well, they seem to be doing well in classes, and I know they feel much more comfortable in Mexico. Some of them even joke (?) about never going back to the U.S. For me, it is especially rewarding to see students get a firsthand impression of Mexico; all of them are developing a heightened and more sensitive awareness of Mexico (and of their own country as well). After classes we are off to Michoacan for a 4-day, 3-night trip.

Sunday, 23 July 1995 -- "Back to Guanajuato"

It's been a whirlwind tour of Michoacan: we spent the first night in Morelia, the capital; then we spent the next night in Patzcuaro; our last night we spent in Uruapan. And in between was full of sights and activity: shops and museums in Morelia, pyramids in Tzintzuntzan, horseback rides to volcanic ruins in Paricutin, Uruapan National Park, handmade crafts in Patzcuaro, and world class handmade guitars in Paracho. We head back to Guanajuato with a bus full of baskets, masks, tablecloths, guitars, pottery, jewelry, furniture, and exhausted students.

Thursday, 3 August 1995 -- "Mexico City"

After two more weeks of classes, we are off to the world's largest city for three nights. Once there, it quickly dawns on us that three nights is not nearly enough time. And while most students opt for the Hard Rock Cafe, faculty squeeze in different spots for dinner. We go to Sanborn's "House of Tiles," another night we got to Cafe Tacuba, and another night we have dinner in the Zona Rosa. There's also more shopping and plenty of sights: the pyramids at Teotihuacan, la Plaza de las Tres Culturas, Ballet Folklorico at Palacio Bellas Artes, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, and the Metro to name just a few. On the bus ride home an exhausted group starts to realize that four weeks have flown by and we only have one week left in Mexico.

Thursday, 10 August 1995 -- "The Farewell Party"

Amidst music, lots of good food, lots of hugging, and a few tears, students say their farewell to their families. The contrast is amazing: five weeks ago the students were just a little apprehensive about these "strangers," and now these same students are hanging on to these same people, not wanting to leave. I don't want to leave either, I admit. I've spent an exhausting but wonderful time in Mexico. The country, the program, the students, the faculty, including my "roomies" Peter and John, and the people and places of Mexico have been wonderful.

Saturday, 12 August 1995 -- "Back in Phoenix"

We retrace our route back. The bus ride is long and it seems more tiring, but I get to chat one last time with the students. We had warned students about culture shock upon their return to the U.S. Now, in Sky Harbor, many of them have that same look on their faces that they had five weeks ago; they all look a little dazed, a little confused. But they will be fine and, I strongly believe, they will be much richer for the past five weeks experience. All in all, it has been a wonderful five weeks. But next time, we fly!

The Labyrinth-Forum: Spring 1996

Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI)
Maricopa County Community College District

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