Desfile de fotos

In almost exactly five and a half days from this moment, I will be arriving safely at home in upstate New York. It seems like a small event, the same bus ride, the same flight, the same car, the same bed. It will, really, be a return to my normal little life. Or that's the idea, anyway. When I look back at my life, it will be this past year that stands out as something out-of-the-ordinary, but right now it is the return to the "normal" that seems so unusual. I will return to my mother tongue, to the country and the culture which was my home for the first 20 years of my life. I will welcome it with open arms, and surely it will do the same for me. But are we still compatible? I know that I am a very different person from the timid little creature that got on a plane last autumn, and the person I am now will most certainly not fit into exactly the same niche as the one left vacant by Sara Hope Sirois. The question, however, is whether or not Sara Esperanza Suárez will be able to find her own niche in a world that may no longer be hers. To tell the truth, I thought I was "a little nervous" about leaving "the familiar, comfortable northeastern United States for our neighbor to the south, Mexico" but that was nothing compared to how nervous I am about heading back up north. So admist all this whining and complaining and worrying lies the moral of the story: if I seem a little out of sorts upon my return, please be compassionate; I will probably feel rather like a stranger in my own home.

Whew! Okay, so this blog post was supposed to be an exaltation of all my favorite people here in Mexico, but apparently I had something I needed to get off my chest. Sooooo anyway... a photo tribute to all the Mexicans and almost-Mexicans who have made my time here so special:


Phoebe, myself, Cat, and Hugo in Acapulco. Cat and Phoebe are two of the sweetest, bravest, most talented women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I passed some wonderful times with them (even if they couldn't eat street food) but I don't think I ever made clear to them just how much I admire them and how grateful I am that I had the opportunity to spend last semester with them. Even though Hugo and I may no longer really be speaking (He de-friended me on facebook! Que mala onda!!) he will forever go down in the books as a very important person to me and my time in Mexico. With him I learned how to tune a guitar, I learned where to go for the best milkshakes in Puebla, and I learned that I have a passion for movies and for people who love to talk about movies.




Stephanie and Toby, my most-favoritest after-class-coffee-date friends! Women who will take the world by storm, one well-argued point after another. Both of strong convictions and unafraid to break the rules for a just cause. We damn well better see each other soon, ladies!




Gabriel and Jaime, being... well... themselves. I can only say that we have had some pretty interesting times together. Cholulandia would never have had the same charm without them, and I would never have embraced my drinking-swearing-spitting alterego. Seriously, though, aside from helping turn me into Bonnie Parker these guys have helped me perfect my Spanish (both profane and polite), have celebrated several important holidays with me, and will be sorely missed.




LA FRIJOLAAAAAAAAAA (Can we keep her? Please? Can we? Pleasepleaseplease?)




Andrea and Dofus at the base of Popocatépetl. No words can properly describe how important they are to me, so I won't even try.




The biology gang!! They are the smelliest, dirtiest, crudest, smartest, most forward-thinking group of people I've ever met. You can't beat bonding over a week-long spell in the desert!



Cristina, whose picture you will find under the dictionary entry for the phrase "salt of the earth."



Jonatan. Big boy, big heart. The truth is that I wish we'd spent more time together. Plus you know he's awesome because in this photo he's making lasagna. HOME-MADE LASAGNA.


Meet Erika, a new addition to the program this semester. Some people should have been Smithies but just never got the message. She is crazy, fun, irreverent, mischievous, and resourceful.




TRIO DE GRINGAAAAAAAAS. We have spent countless hours doing all those non-specific but essential things that girlfriends do. We may all be pretty different, but that's what makes for good friends, right? Jackie has taught me how to kick ass and take names, and Joelle has taught me how to sugar-coat an unpleasant truth. They both have taught me lots of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. But despite their best efforts, I still don't have a hold on the pinche subjuntivo.




Misa and Roy, the daring duo in their traditional Mexican party-sombreros. I love these two like my own brothers, and they think of me as their little sister (which, I assure you, is awesome at certain times and infuriating at others). They truly have been guiding forces for me, and their influence will not soon be forgot.




My host parents!! Alba is a sweet older lady who never thinks that anyone, ever, has had enough to eat. She believes that there is no such thing as too much jewelry, and that Renoir is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Gabriel (known as el Doctor) suffers from dementia and as such seems to bounce between two poles: the friendly jokester who loves to sing along with the old Mexican movies, make silly faces at the dinner table, and gently poke fun at everyone around him... and the angry child who wants everything his own way and needs to know exactly where everyone is. Anyway, they have welcomed me into their home, not just as an exchange student, but as a friend and family member.



This lovely specimen is my dear friend Noel, better known as Fachas. He is the younger brother of Dofus, and we had a class together all of last semester... and never spoke once. Until this semester, that is. And the minute we opened up to each other, we both realized that we share one of those crazy cosmic bonds where you know you met in some earlier life. My first official act was to knock out his four front teeth (his bridge, that is) and his was to laugh hysterically, bear-hug me, and go off on a rant about how it's easier to smoke a cigarette without those pesky incisors. We both recognize that our relationship this semester was a flash in the pan, but we get the sense that it was just one flash in a long series that we have shared. Maybe next time we'll meet in Africa or Antarctica...




And last but certainly not least we have Martha and Rebeca, my sisters. I do not say "host-sisters" because I consider them my true sisters, and that's all one really needs to say


P.S. I stole a bunch of these photos from my friends.