The last, and possibly best, field trip of the semester

We have just arrived "home" in Merida following a 2-night stay in the Mayan village of Tinum, located about 2 hours from here. I admit I was not looking forward to the trip and had considered cancelling it several times. This group has been a tough group mainly because they have no tolerance for uncertainty in any way, shape or form. Staying in a Mayan village with local families is loaded with uncertainty. Study abroad is loaded with uncertainty. Life is loaded with uncertainty. Step up.

In preparation for all of our field trips, I provide detailed logistical information both as part of the course that all students are required to take, via email and via an information sheet posted on the main bulletin board. We have a reading or two followed by discussions plus plenty of time for questions. Preparation for this trip included a discussion of possible topics of conversations with their host families. I suggested small gifts that they could bring as a thank you. Students filled out a form about how much "comfort" they require in terms of bathrooms and overall living conditions that was then forwarded to the ex-Central College professors who live in the villages and who coordinate this trip. My one return student talked about his experiences during his previous semester here. We reviewed vocabulary that could be used to turn down food without sounding ungracious. I drew the line, however, at power point presentations and detailed information about the families each student will be living with mainly because I do not make the final placements.

In spite of all of the preparation, tension was high as we rolled into Tinum early Friday afternoon. As we arrived in our immediate neighborhood, I started pointing out the houses in which "our" families live. The silence was profound; there was a definite odor of flop sweat in the air. Unloading the van and assembling in our central meeting site took forever. Finally, there was no avoiding the inevitable and each student was accompanied to his or her home for two nights.

Without going into all of the details of the weekend because I am tired and need to get home to take a shower, the ride home today was full of chatter, stories, laughs, Mayan words that they had learned, good feelings and plans to print pictures to send back to their families.