Moving to a new country, leaving a great job, comfy flat, awesome housemates and all of my friends and family was never going to be the easiest of decisions. But if you never try these things, you’ll just never know. For me, I was more scared of having regrets than not making the move.
So here we are, nearly 4 months into our adventure so I figured it might be time for a little review and reflection on our time here.
Arriving in Oaxaca in the middle of the summer was always going to be a culture shock, along with the heat, we had a whole new culture to get to grips with. The first few weeks here we mostly spent our days exploring the city, settling into Mexican time and eating delicious new food!
Spanish school really helped us get into a good routine, 4 hours a day at school and at least 2 hours studying at home. It also helped us meet new people and make friends, which we desperately needed after a few weeks of being just us two! We didn’t just meet people passing through Oaxaca, we also met people staying long-term and through them you can branch out and meet more people too. The teachers at the school have also become brilliant friends who we like to meet for beers or to watch films with.
We also got involved in the local Intercambio community, where we meet with locals and speak conversational English and Spanish for 2 hours. This has been an invaluable experience, we’ve met some really interesting people who are fascinated by the English culture whilst learning more about the Mexican culture ourselves. Through Intercambio we have discovered the kindness of the Mexican people, we’ve been invited to family events, parties, and dance classes to name a few things and inundated with advice on the best places to find food in the city!
Along with studying Spanish, I also started teaching English with En Via in one of the local Zapotec villages. This also really helped me get settled here, it helped with my Spanish, and I also met a whole group of amazing people through the organisation. Teaching English was a huge challenge for me, it was something I’d never done before and when I started I had very little Spanish to fall back on! But week on week, it’s become easier and a really enjoyable experience.
My main aim when moving to Mexico was to become involved in Human Rights Organisations, and Oaxaca has its fair share of problems so it wasn’t too hard to find one I wanted to get involved in. I’ve just started volunteering with GES Mujer, a women’s rights organisation that helps educate the community about teenage pregnancy, help women suffering in abusive relationships, and promote equality amongst women, as well as many other things. I’ve been lucky enough to go to schools with them and help plan some huge events for the upcoming year. This organisation is full of wonderful, strong women who are desperate to change women’s lives here in Oaxaca and I’m so thrilled to be helping them.
Through a combination of friends of friends and randomly chatting to people in bars Simon and I managed to form a great group of friends here in the city, a mixture of expats and Mexicans. And just like us English, they love finding good cocktail bars and the occasional Sunday session!
For the past fortnight Simon has been working in California, and when he initially told me that he was going I freaked out a little (a lot). Despite travelling on my own in the past, I was worried I would be lonely and was a little unsettled as my parents had also just left after a two week holiday. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong! I spent my week juggling the two organisations I volunteer with, various meetings, and Spanish lessons. And my weekend was full of leisurely coffees with friends, exploring markets, Friday night cocktails and a Saturday night party…. exactly how I would spend a weekend in London (but at a fraction of a cost)!
In England it’s very easy to stay in or be a little lazy and turn down the odd invitation, but here it’s been really important to say yes to everything we get invited too, as every invite has been an opportunity to meet new people or try new things.
So at the moment I spend 4 days a week volunteering as well as cramming in some Spanish classes and language exchanges whilst Simon has been juggling working on a project, travelling to the USA and also learning Spanish. All in all, Mexican life has been a bit of a whirlwind over the past few months, but what an amazing adventure it’s been so far…!
GES Mujer – Women’s Rights Organisation
En Via – Micro Finance & Responsible Tourism Organisation
Tales from Oaxaca 