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Jessica's Homestay in Mexico

Wow, all I have to say is wow.


On the day of departure I ate breakfast with one of my best friends and she asked me if I was excited to go and I replied “Ummm yes… yes I think so… no yes, I am excited… I think.” So as you can tell I was unsure if I was excited mainly due to the fact that before going to Mexico I had no idea what to expect. I knew everything ANDEO told me and I knew probably about as much about Mexico as anyone could without traveling there myself, but even with all that information when I got there and saw Mexico with my own eyes it was completely different.

I took a red eye to Mexico and I’m the type of person who can’t sleep on planes. So I got to Mexico 7am their time after not sleeping at all the night before, but for some reason I wasn’t tired at all. So after picking up the checked bags and going through customs my group finally made it to the exit and it was time for us to go join our host families. I saw mine right away. I walked towards them and from the very first moment I was greeted with hugs.


We started to leave the airport and I tried to talk, and maybe it was not sleeping all night or being in a new country with people I didn’t know or a combination, but no words came out of my mouth. I had forgotten my Spanish. Three years of hard work and studying got me nothing. But somehow I managed to say one thing “I know how to speak Spanish just give me a second.” We traveled around Mexico City a lot the first day and let's just say I did a lot of listening. 

After I got over the initial forgetting Spanish thing I started to really make connections with the host family. Every day we did something new and exciting and with each new day I got to know Mexico a little better. I saw things I had never seen before like ancient pyramids, I ate things I had never eaten before like arroz con leche (my new favorite), I learned about things in Mexico’s history that I had never learned before, I even taught them a little English, and best of all I made connections with people whose first language wasn’t the same as mine which I had never done before.

I think if my friend asked me today if I would want to go again I would say of course. This experience was one that took me out of my comfort zone and I learned so much about other cultures, other teens my age, other countries, and a lot of Spanish too. I am so happy that my parents and Spanish teacher encouraged me to do this because it was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done.


        -Jessica Ewton

For more information about our immersion programs in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, check out these pages!
Summer in Mexico
Group trip to Mexico
Programs in Spanish-speaking countries
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