The transition of studying in the United States to Mexico and becoming a student at Na’atik Institute, has given me the opportunity of interacting with people from Felipe Carrillo Puerto; who until this day maintain their Maya culture. Through Na’atik, I have had the opportunity to live with a Catholic Family at Doña Guadalupe’s House. I decided to call her “Mama Lupe.” Although, she is Catholic, Mama Lupe’s clothing is the typical Maya cloth wear and her language a true representation of her ethnicity. Feeling like I belonged to Mama Lupe’s family has made me change my mind set of strangers. Mama Lupe opened her home to me even though I was a complete stranger to her. But this did not change the fact that she still took me in as one of her children and fed me some of the most wonderful Mexican foods anyone could have eaten in their lives. I say her secret ingredient is love for people.Throughout the various excursions around Quintana Roo, Mexico, strong impressions and mixed feeling came to me. When I saw children walking barefoot and with little clothing, it was sort of confusing and I kept questioning myself why are they isolated and in a way forgotten from the rest of the community. Someone in the group answered my question, and said that it was because the government is not interested in a community that, in their eyes, is not worth helping. This answer confused me even more. Especially, when I was raised in a country that provides free education to everyone with no boundaries.After my experience in Tihosuco with the poor community, I volunteered to work with the students at Na’atik. I volunteered with my friend Michelle to helped Mr. Paul with his class. The great advantage of helping that day was being bilingual and helping translate to the older students’ things they did not understand. For example, Angel was a new student to the class and did not quite understand Mr. Paul. In order for Angel to understand what the activity was about I spoke to him in English and Spanish and made him write things in both languages. Lastly, I made the students work in pairs, meaning the more advance students had to pair up with the new students who were behind in class. I felt that being bilingual myself helped me have a stronger connection and understanding of what the class was about.This blog is part of a series from the John Jay students who visited Na’atik in January of 2018. They came for two weeks to learn about Maya history and modern Maya culture in Mexico. Be sure to look at the other blogs in the series where they share reflections on their time spent in and around Felipe Carrillo Puerto. You can also find some great pictures of their trip over at our Facebook page.

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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.