Our first day of school, we realized that there are school uniforms. My daughter stood out in her bright clothes. It was Monday, the day the kids wore their white uniforms. I asked the school director where we could purchase a uniform for my daughter.  She pointed on the map that I had. I asked her the name of the store and she said that she didn't know the name but that the store is across the street from "donde venden pescado".  Remember this was all in Spanish.So, that afternoon, I took my three kids on the adventure for the day. We rode our bikes to one of the main streets and starting walking down the street asking people where to find the person that sells fish. It's hot. The street is busy. My kids are melting. Eventually, we arrive at a store where they sell little baby chicks. We ask where they sell fish and they ask me if I want fish as pets or to eat. At this point, I realized that we were on a wild goose chase. We gave up and decided to flee to a park with shade. On our tour of Carillo, we visited a nice plaza with an old church.  We wanted to go there, but we didn't know where that was either.This time, we started walking around and I asked a bunch of people where is "la iglesia muy alta".  I'm tired at this point and I am trying to ask where is the old church and instead I am asking where is the tall church. Unfortunately, the old church isn't that tall and it is referred to by the locals at the Central Church. Eventually, we found the central Plaza. Hot, tired and embarrassed, my son wanted nothing to do with me. I took my daughter to a shop near the plaza to buy ice cream. Ice cream fixes everything. My son refused to come.When we returned, we found my son sitting on a bench under a tree talking to a lovely female college student, who turned out to be a former Na'atik English student. She was welcoming him to Carillo and practicing her English. My son was no longer angry with me. Our new friend, encouraged my son to buy the local drink called "Esquite" (corn kernals with cream and chile). My son enjoyed the drink. Our new friend also gave me clear directions on where to buy uniforms. When our host family heard the story, they gave us some hand-me-down uniforms for my daughter to wear. All problems are solved. The adventure is complete.Jeannie and her family joined us for the Study Abroad Yucatán program in May and June of 2018. They dove right in to everything and quickly became a part of the community. Be sure to check out chapters one, three, and four of their blog series. And if you're interested in family travel at Na'atik also be sure to look at posts from some of our past travelers like the Fernandez-MacGregor family: chapter one, two, three, and four.

If you would like to read more about Mexican culture, history, cuisine and language, check out our blog page for our latest monthly articles. You can also sign up to our newsletter to receive these straight to your inbox along with the latest news about our non-profit school for local and Indigenous students in Felipe Carrillo Puerto. 

The best way to experience the Mexican lifestyle is in person, with a Na’atik Immersion experience. Not only do you live with a local Mexican-Maya family, sharing home-cooked meals and free time, but also receive expert instruction in your chosen language at our school. Best of all, every immersion experience helps fund our subsidized and free local education program, helping local students to access opportunities and make their own futures.