By Rachel Wickland
The days leading up to our departure in Ziquítaro were probably some of the most difficult times I have encountered in my days of teaching. I experienced quite the emotional roller coaster in the time between the Secundaria’s final test and final project presentations. All of my students did exceedingly well on our final test. Many of my students were failing my class, and the week before I had advised many of them in private conferences that they had to achieve a C or higher on their test. Much to my amazement not a single person in either of my classes got below a C. I could not have been more proud.
However, my pride got knocked down pretty quickly as we reached the day of our final presentations. In one class, half of my students did not even complete the project. We had been working collectively on these projects for almost the entire semester, doing regular progress checks, and taking time out of class to work on them. Seeing as the project accounts for 10% of the student’s final grade, I had expected much more from both groups. To further my disappointment, one of my best students copied a project that had been previously made by the school secretary. This sort of blatant disregard for any sort of classroom rules, not only by a student but the administration as well, was a great blow for me.
On the other hand, there was great joy for me in our bittersweet last days in Ziquítaro. (I say bittersweet because I was sad to be ending the semester, but very happy to return home to see my family, and look forward to the new semester.) In Ziquítaro, the last weeks of December are filled with posadas celebrating the Christmas season. I felt very privileged to participate in this wonderful tradition and to do my part in decorating, eating, and celebrating. Speaking of celebrating, one of the biggest things to hit Ziquítaro in ages took place while Katherine and I were ending our classes. For lack of a better description, we witnessed the wedding of a century. This was not your average wedding. The entire town was in attendance. In fact, at the reception we had to give up our seats after we were done eating so that the next group of guests could sit down for a meal. The real treat for Katherine and I was the dance that was held that night as the climax of the celebration. Complete with giant bandstand, live music, concessions, and a huge crowd, anyone could have easily mistaken the “dance,” as everyone called it, for a regular county fair! It did Katherine and I a world of good to relax and walk around the plaza, enjoying the vibrancy of the place we live.
My heart was ever so deeply touched the day Katherine and I departed. Unfortunately, I became extremely ill the day before we left. According to Pina, the woman we live with, it was due to too many condiments at the wedding. (I’m still skeptical.) This was the first real time I had fallen ill in Ziquítaro, and I will never forget the love and care that was put in to reviving me. Pina, who I now consider as close as my own family, tirelessly labored in nursing me back to health. At first glance, this would seem like an easy feat. However, Pina also cares for her ailing mother, bedridden husband, and two daughters. Katherine and I think she may be secretly super-human. Without a second thought, Pina was brining tubs of hot water up the stairs, bathing me in hot alcohol to take away my fever, making sure I was wrapped in warm blankets, cooking soup for me, brining me warm tea, nothing less than doing everything my own mother would have done for me. I was touched, and the next day, I felt good as new. When it came time to say goodbye to Pina, she helped me drag my suitcase along the dirt road, and said a quick goodbye. Now for Pina, a woman famed in Ziquítaro for being able to talk your ear off, this was completely uncharacteristic. But when she turned away to head back to our house, I’m sure that there were tears in her eyes, even though we would only be gone for a few short weeks. Every time I think of people like Pina, or think of my kids shouting out with joy when I told them that we were returning, or playing basketball at the Secundaria at lunch, my heart warms, and I know where I belong.
Katherine and I have both been back in the US now for almost two weeks, and I am very excited to head back to Ziquítaro with a fresh outlook in this New Year. I feel a renewed spirit of determination and enthusiasm for the work we are doing in our community. Because honestly, I feel as though we are a part of the community in Ziquítaro. When I tell my family about our students I find myself calling them, “my kids.” What we do is about affecting people’s lives in a positive way, in a way that not only enhances an individual life, but also will continue to transform the face of an entire community. Here’s to hope in 2009, may it be a year of passion, confidence, and determination for all.
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