Cuetzalan: Intro y Escuela Secundaria

For our final trip as a group this past weekend, we headed to a small town in the mountains called Cuetzalan. The fact that I'm super sentimental aside, I think it was probably my favorite trip of the entire program. We were far away from the craziness of any city we've been to; it was such a tranquil place, but of course we made an adventure out of it.

The first place we got to visit was a middle school, or Escuela Secundaria, in the nearby village, Yohualichan. This was certainly a highlight of the entire trip. Many of the people in and around Cuetzalan are indigenous and don't have much exposure to educational options or mainstream society. However, this school does so much for the children of this rural area, and the teachers are so dedicated to ensuring that all of the kids get a great education.

The program at Penn State has been visiting school since it's early years and our beginnings, as well. Each year, we've been able to give a money donation. We also managed to pull together money of our own to purchase food, amenities, and playthings for the kids. To see their smiles when we pulled in, hauling all the supplies, was absolutely priceless. They greeted us with flower necklaces, and we got to play school games with them, as well as a game of futbol or two! Many of them spoke primarily Nahuatl, the indigenous language of the region, but for others, their Spanish was good, too. They were all incredible at soccer. I'm afraid to say we met the same fate as our professional counterparts as far as US vs. Mexico goes (even the little girls kicked our butts during our chicas-versus-chicas game).

Unfortunately, it was REALLY hot, humid, and we were all a tad dehydrated, so we were a bit tuckered out by the time we got to eat a typical lunch (burgers and fries). All in all, interacting with the kids there was simply amazing. It felt great to know that we were able to directly help such an awesome cause, and we're hoping to continue giving to this school in the future.