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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Kristin is a Junior at Nerinx Hall High School and a member of St. Simon Parish. She participated in the March 2008 Uxpanapa, Mexico Immersion Trip with Nerinx Hall, St. John Vianney, and St. Mary’s students.
 As I write this, it has been 6 weeks and 6 days since I left Mexico. I have been doing that a lot since I have returned -- for the entire month of April I was constantly thinking about what I had been doing one, two, or three weeks prior. Memories of the trip controlled my thoughts for weeks. As each day passes, I seem to have a new discovery of how this trip affected me. I now understand the phrase "less is more". I have an awareness for how much I waste. I don't let the water run from the sink anymore, and food is no longer just tossed away. I am thrilled that my family has started to recycle everything, not just paper anymore. I look into the presidential candidates and immediately find myself analyzing their views on immigration.
Still, I miss it. It is like I need to know how to fill the empty part of me that I seemed to have left in La Chinantla. I used to think I missed the place. Then, I thought it was the people. Sure, I miss both terribly. However, I miss the sense of unity my week in Mexico gave me. We were united, Mexicans and Americans. There was no wall between us. We tried to understand our differences and celebrated our similarities. We worked together, ate together, laughed together, and grew together. In Mexico, I met a people full of faith, generosity, and love.
Still, my trip ended, and I returned to a country where there is so much tension over our relationship with Mexican people. We are going to have to be the ones to open the eyes of the world. I know the hope that I found in Mexico will stay with me, and I plan on sharing what I gained from my experience with as many as I can. There is hope for this world of discrimination and prejudice. Especially if I have any control over it! :)
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