Orientation Week

Orientation is complete! For the past week, all 93 of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA), Binational Business, and Research Students and Scholars stayed in the Sevilla Palace on the Reforma in Mexico City for orientation. The hotel was beautiful. There was even a penthouse with a pool, hot tub, and workout center. On Tuesday, we heard from officials at COMEXUS (our sponsors) and past Fulbright recipients about Mexico and the responsibilities of being a Fulbright Student/Scholar. On a trip to the United States Embassy, we learned about the different programs that the government offers the Mexican people and how we can get involved. They have a bunch of after school and educational programs that I want to be a part of once I start teaching!

On Wednesday night, we all went to the Ballet Folklórico. I expected tutus and Pointe shoes but it was more traditional dances of Mexico. There were many big skirts, sombreros, and talented dancing! We also went to the Angel de la Independencia de la Reforma for a group picture after our trip to the embassy. I’ll have to go back to explore Mexico City more, though.

The food so far has been delicious. The day we arrived, a group of us went to an Argentinean restaurant next to the hotel for dinner, which was a first for me. There are so many different kinds of restaurants around where we are staying, even a Panda Express! My stomach doesn’t like the spicy food as much as my mouth does though. It’ll take a little getting used to. Most meals were included at the hotel during orientation and the food was so good. It’s going to be hard cooking for myself after having such nice meals made for me.

Thursday and Friday were ETA days for the most part. We attended workshops about the Mexican education system, basic lesson planning, teaching with limited resources, and speaking activities to do with our students. On Friday, we attempted to get our work visas at the immigration office but it was a no go. We will have to get them in our respective states. However, we were able to set up bank accounts. (I now have a bank account in another country, no big deal.) Also, we finally got to meet our mentors! Mine had been so responsive and helpful via email that it was wonderful to meet her in person. All the Fulbright recipients and mentors had lunch together then went their separate ways. Off to Toluca I went!