Last Friday, students moved out of Casa CEMAL, the location of our classes, where we lived in dorm-style houses, to our urban home stays. Each student was paired with a family living in Cuernavaca. The families live in varying distances from the school, with some students traveling a five minute walk down the street, while others commute 20-40 minutes by taxi or bus.
Personally, my family lives about a 20-30 minute drive from school. Before heading off to my urban homestay, I was slightly nervous about how my experience with my family would be. I’ve found that although I speak intermediate Spanish, it is often hard for me to follow fast conversation, and I often feel overloaded by the mental struggle of trying to focus when someone is speaking. I was also nervous about entering someone else’s home and trying not to be a burden. I was worried my presence might disrupt their normal lives. However, I can say looking back that the experience has been completely different from my expectations.
My host mom and I
I entered into a family of four—with a mother, father, sister and brother. The kids are grown up now. My host sister is 20, and my host brother is 23. But throughout my stay I’ve been amazed by their generosity and warmth. My family invites me everywhere with them—birthday parties, doctors appointments, church. I even dance Zumba every day with my host mom and her Zumba class, held in our living room. Throughout my stay, my host family is always repeating to me, “This is your home. If you want something, take it. You don’t have to ask. You are welcome here.” They are constantly joking around and positive. They seem to have no problem with my presence here while their daughter is 8 months pregnant and due to give birth while I’m here. I even attended one of her doctor appointments with her.
What my experiences with my host family have taught me is the importance of family and hospitality. My family took me in as one of them and welcomed me like family. They want me to feel welcomed and supported. This was something important to them—hospitality—and something I will think more closely about in the future.