Mexico

LEX Language Project members have the opportunity to go to Mexico on a LEX exchange program and live with a Mexican host family. LEX Mexico has language clubs all over the country - in Mexico City, Chihuahua, Cuernavaca, Acapulco, and Aguascalientes - and their many members enjoy welcoming visitors from other countries, including the United States!

LEX members in the U.S. are also invited to attend the annual Congreso (conference), which is held each summer in a different location. The dates for this conference usually falls in the beginning of August. The Congreso is an excellent opportunity for LEX members from the United States, Japan, and South Korea to meet their Mexican counterparts and each other, sharing languages and cultures through participation in LEX language activities.

A Hippo Adventure in Chihuahua Mexico

When I found out I needed to go on a business trip to Chihuahua, Mexico, I thought of it as any other trip until I happened to mention it to Steffi, my LEX Fellow (a facilitator of a LEX Language Club). "Chihuahua!" she said, "That's where our Mexican LEX office is. You should stay with a family." That is when my adventure began. It had been over twelve years since my last experience living with a host family, but I knew it was the best way to get to know a country and to learn the language. I filled out my application, began listening to all my Spanish LEX tapes and waited anxiously for the day of my departure to Mexico to arrive. Since my plane was due to arrive so late at night, I spent my first night in Mexico in a hotel. The next day, Javier, my "host father," picked me up. With a big smile and a hug, he loaded my luggage into the car and we were off. The moment I entered the house, his wife, Martha, handed me their baby and welcomed me with a kiss. I was then introduced to their two daughters, Fernanda and Estefania. Sometimes when you meet a family for the first time there is an initial feeling of "uncomfortableness," but from the beginning I felt completely at ease in the home of my new "family." We communicated using a combination of Spanish and English. I told them about our LEX Club in Boston and showed them pictures of my family. The highlight of my trip was going to a LEX Club meeting in Chihuahua. We went to the home where the club was going to be held. The club members greeted me warmly at the door. The smell of freshly made tortillas filled the air and we sat in the living room to wait for the other members to arrive. It was, of course, not like a classroom, but a situation in which I wanted to communicate with my new friends, and all of the conversations were in Spanish. I was amazed by how much I could understand, and although I couldn't say all that I wanted to, I could communicate with them and answer their questions. I think I learned more in those four hours of LEX Club than I did in four years of high school Spanish. The following day I spent with Martha and Javier. We talked about everything like friends who had known each other for years. As I said, I have stayed with other host families, but this time was somehow different. The common bond of LEX and the understanding that these people also wanted their world to be bigger than their home country created a common understanding that usually takes more time to form. I improved my Spanish (although I still have a long way to go!), I saw a new city, but most importantly, I feel through this trip that I gained new friends. Muchas gracias!

~Karen C.