As a single woman who has lived away from home for almost a decade now, you get used to your time and space being your own. For most things, I depend on myself and my abilities. It’s not my favorite, but I have definitely found a comfort zone there.

This past week, our team spent time in different homes all across Querétaro with host families. Carolyn (a student from Colorado Mesa University) and I stayed in the Quiroz Flores home in a little neighborhood called El Pueblito. El Pueblito for me, screams classic Mexico. All the houses are bunched together, with little shops here and there sprinkled in between. Need a prescription filled? We can walk there in 2 minutes! Want to grab an entire delicious Mexican meal for the family? Well, there’s a lady across the street who will whip up some enchiladas, taquitos, and guajalotes while you go pick up your meds! It is very common to buy breads, produce, and meat the same day we eat them. To be honest, it is a wonderful way to live.

It’s so different than the Southwestern United States- where we take up so much space with our big homes and big yards. Even our grocery stores are big. I’ve been thinking this week that Mexicans are doing something right- because with all of these tienditas– little stores- it must increase the local economy. Everyone has a stake in the community- even if you’re just selling candy and refreshments in a tiny corner store.

Living with a family in a different culture comes with a lot of adjustments. Not all families are alike, so you have to figure out the way they do things, and the way they like things. My host family likes to sleep in. They prefer lunch as the most important meal. They love to sit around the table or TV and talk and listen to music. And they love to laugh. Sounds like a great match, no? My host father is a small lovable man in his 60s. He is a poet if there ever was one. On the first afternoon we arrived, he put on music, pushed aside the couch, and made his wife dance with him. My heart burst with joy. That man taught me a lot about being yourself wholeheartedly. They fed us, they washed our clothes, they made sure we had everything we needed. We ate delicious meals together and learned so much about one another. I even feel like it improved my Spanish listening and speaking.

The thing that was hard about living with another family in Mexican culture is just that I’m used to being on my own. I’m used to eating what I want, when I want, and doing whatever I want, whenever I want to. Living with a family offers up the invitation for you to make space for other people in your life. You get to consider what they might want and need. You get to serve them and love them and cooperate together. It’s hard to transition into being a part of a family unit. But familia is very important in Mexican culture. Most people don’t leave home until they’re married here. (Unless, of course you’re a 30 year old man… or so says my host mom hahaha.)

More than anything, that wonderful phrase I’ve always heard growing up was so true: “Mi casa es su casa.”
Our host father Enrique said it plenty of times, even though he often served us as honored guests. But we took him at his word and made food for ourselves, cleaned up after ourselves, and made ourselves comfortable. I’m walking away from a week with a host family, really feeling as though we need to be better at hospitality in American culture. It makes me grateful for my mother because she has always taught hospitality well. Of course, it comes from a place of valuing the dignity of the other person.

And ultimately, I felt very loved being a part of another family this past week.

Over the next 3 weeks, we will continue teaching our English classes at La Universidad Autónomo de Querétaro (AKA “La UAQ”…pronounced “WOK”). I’m partnered with Kaylin, a student from University of Northern Colorado who has previously been on our East Asian Global Project with my coworker Ivanna and her husband Daniel. It’s been fun getting to know her and the ladies in our beginner English group. Coming here, I didn’t realize how important of an offering teaching English would be. Although a lot of these students are earning amazing degrees in engineering and the medical field, unless they can speak English, their career opportunities are drastically reduced. Those of us who speak English are really privileged- it is such a dominant language all over the world. It has been so humbling to see how many Mexicans we run into who want to practice English with us.

Continue to pray for our group- that we would be bold with the Mexican students and each other. God is moving here. My prayer for our team is that we would be a people so full of the Lord that springs would burst forth in this place that is a sort of spiritual desert.

This is Kaylin, Elizabeth, and Alejandra after we went practiced our shopping vocabulary by going on a little shopping field trip off campus on Friday. We laughed a lot and learned a lot together. As you can see, Elizabeth is hilarious and a great lady to be around.

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