Our new and exciting journey started off at 4:15 on Tuesday morning with a drive to Denver International Airport. Our flight to Cabo San Lucas left at 11:22 am. 45 minutes from landing in Baja, we were asked to complete our paper declarations for customs. Once we got these customs forms, it felt like our trip had really started and the adrenaline was incredible.
I remember looking out the window and comparing the Baja landscape to the landscape we had so recently departed: flat and snowy compared to the beautiful rolling hills and mountains of Baja. After going through customs we emerged in front of a walkway leading to the airport exit. As soon as we exited the airport we were greeted with 80 degree weather and mariachi music playing all around us. That was the moment where it finally hit me that we were in Mexico.
A wave of gratitude and excitement suddenly hit me. How incredible is it that we were going to be studying in Mexico for three weeks?! The idea that we would get to improve our Spanish and bond with our peers was so cool. It is a testament to our school that we get to take Spanish classes, help with service projects, and enjoy hands-on learning in a different country while all my public school friends are stuck in a classroom for six hours getting lectured by their teachers non-stop. I feel really grateful.
Something that kept coming to me were questions about the differences between Spain and Mexico. During my freshman year I had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain for a couple of weeks. As we prepared for our trip to Baja, I became very curious about how the feel of each country would differ as well as the influence each place would have in my life. There are so many differences between the two countries that it would be easier to list the similarities. That conclusion seems obvious once I consider it from the perspective of being here, but before we landed I had no idea what Mexico would be like. I had a vision of Mexico as a rough place, and I could picture our group kind of wandering the desert staying in little huts like I’d seen in the old western shows I used to watch as a kid. In reality, Mexico is a beautiful place full of people who are so passionate and so loving towards animals, plants, and people. They are proud of who they are and don’t try to make things more difficult than they need to be.
Once we arrived at our villas in Todos Santos, our guides, Miguel, Bernardo, and Axel, gave us our room assignments. The rooms that the boys were assigned to had one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen, and we got there at the perfect time of day. I now have a new favorite memory every – all the boys standing on our patio watching the sunset over the beach on our first night in Mexico.
What a way to start our trip – so full of beauty and so full of excitement. I’m excited to see what the rest of the trip has in store for me and for my Link family, and I’m so grateful that I’ve been given this incredible opportunity.
