The experience definitely left a special place in my heart for Bulgaria and made me feel like I had a real family there, even though we are not related by blood.
I visited Mexico for the first time in 2015 for my cousin’s wedding, but got a better chance to really enjoy it after completing my Master’s in Spanish there with Southern Oregon University. I loved exploring the streets and cafés of Guanajuato in the summers, hearing legends about its history. After my first year teaching in the United States, I had the great privilege of becoming very good friends with my mentor teacher, Susie Aguilera. She and I traveled to different parts of Mexico together discovering more beautiful places and people I would have never gotten to encounter otherwise. In 2024, I was lucky enough to be accepted into the Peace Corps as a Spanish Literacy Promoter. I now have the opportunity to get first to third graders in the Dominican Republic reading as I experience their beautiful culture and meet more interesting people.
Of course, I was very nervous about some of my travels, especially my travels to Mexico and Dominican Republic. After some of my trips to Spain and France, I became nervous about some of the ways I might have to adapt my lifestyle while living in a third world country. For Mexico, I knew I would have to give up long showers since water was scarce. I also knew that bumpy roads made me sick, so I had to discover small tricks to handle the long distance traveling; like drinking carbonated water with lemon, eating popsicles and Lay’s chips (or Sabritas as they call them in Mexico). I learned to always brush my teeth with bottled water because water from the faucet would make me sick.
