During my time in Huatulco, I got to experience a different culture than what I am used to and try lots of foods that I don’t eat regularly.

Every day I would get to wake up to the salty smell of the Pacific Ocean that was behind the hotel combined with the fresh fruit, hot cakes, tamales, refried beans, and the sunscreen that I applied religiously. After breakfast, I would get to see different areas around Huatulco like the marina, the Huatulco sign, a beautiful cliffside, and the schools that we were volunteering to help paint. I would spend every day dripping with sweat since it was between 90-100 (32.2-37.8C) degrees Fahrenheit in the blazing sun since there wasn’t much shade where we were painting. I loved every minute of it though from the smell of the dirt that we cleaned off the wall, the primer, the paint, the Jamaica juice, and the food that the parents would bring us to eat that they had made.

While we were there it was hard to communicate with the students there since I can understand Spanish for the most part when hearing it and reading it but speaking back to people in Spanish, I am bad at. Luckily, I had an amazing site group with me and the people in my group were more than happy to help translate what I wanted to say to the students, teachers, and anyone else that I needed to talk to.

My favorite part of the time that I was in Huatulco volunteering with the schools was the last day that we were there, for the last day of the program the schools threw us a big party with the students where we danced to traditional music from the area and played with the students as well as shed tears as we said goodbye when the day with them came to an end after lunch. We then had a formal dinner with the teachers where we got to eat lots of delicious food and danced with the teachers from the schools for hours after we had the thank you ceremony. When we were dancing there was a live band there and we were all laughing even though it was still really hot outside, meaning that we were all drenched in sweat.

Our program concluded with my favorite activity that was not school related which was when we went snorkeling on a beautiful reef.

I could go on for days about how amazing this experience was and I without a doubt would recommend it.

I also experienced how willing people are to share their culture if you are willing to learn, to go out of your comfort zone and try new things (like eating fried crickets), and that you should always apply multiple layers of sunscreen while on a boat in an area closer to the equator and not fall asleep in the direct sunlight.

In the end, I’m glad for this experience and that I left our mark (I painted a Spartan head).

Name: Chloe Stewart
Status: Freshman
Major: Astrophysics
Hometown: Flint, Michigan
Program: International Engagement in Huatulco