Before COVID, I used to volunteer at UNAM, the best university in MX, well- regarded in all of Latin America, with a branch in SMA, where they teach only Spanish (to the ex-pats here), English (to the Mexicans here), and of all things, German (to whomever). Back then, I participated in a weekly English Chat, immediately following an English class, which consisted of an hour of informal chatting between native-speakers (NS going forward) of English and Mexicans learning the language. It’s where I met my very dear friends Eduardo and Alejandra, whose daughter, Tanya, married a Finn, and they and their two small daughters live in Helsinki. I mean, what are the chances, with me having a son who married a Finn and they and their grown children live in Helsinki, also? I am happy to say that the children of us friends in SMA have gotten together in Helsinki more than once. But I digress.
Last week, on the street, I met Leo, one of the teachers at UNAM, with whom I got very friendly during my time volunteering. He was a Dreamer in the U.S., but some time ago returned to SMA, probably not of his own volition. He told me that there was going to be a busload of students from an English class at an engineering university about two hours away coming to UNAM for a day trip, primarily to have a chance to speak English with NS and then have a tour and a meal. They did not have any NS in their communities to call upon. Would I like to be part of that group of NS and did I know anyone else who would enjoy that experience? Well, yes, indeed, sign me up, and I did find another person, a new friend, who has taught ESL all over the world and who also jumped at the chance to be part of this.
So on Tuesday at 11:30, 70 students and 20 NS gathered on the outside patio at the school and made ourselves comfortable in provided chairs. We NS were to sit with a group of three to four students each and start talking to them. I was thrilled to see that a great many of the students were female. These, from very small towns in Mexico, at an engineering university, is extremely heartening. I started out with four, and after introductions, I asked each from which city they came. Half were from Irapuato, of which I had heard, and half were from Abasolo, of which I had not heard. Then I went around the group, asking each one to tell me one thing about their city. At that point, the first student, who was from Abasolo, pulled a brick wrapped in a plastic bag out of her carry bag, handed it to me as a gift, and replied: “We make bricks.” OK, then. I thanked her for the gift of the brick, and then she pulled out a framed photo of their university and gave that to me, also! Again, profound thanks. I asked her if it would be OK if I put the brick under my chair as there was no room in my bag for it, and that I would pick it up when we were finished. Then I asked the second student, who was from Irapuato, to tell me one thing about her city, and she said: “We grow strawberries.” And I said, “And you didn’t bring me any strawberries?” I think everyone laughed. We continued going around with that question, then did they have brothers and sisters, what kind of work do their parents do, simple things like that. And of course they had lots of questions for me, too. I had brought a white board and pen and wrote down some things for them that I thought they would benefit from seeing as well as hearing. For the most part, their English was still very basic.
After 15 minutes of this, a whistle was blown, and all of the NS were asked to stand and move on to the next group of students. We did this twice more after that, and I finished up with a really interesting, fun group of three young women who would all be graduating from the university this coming spring. I used the same questions for these students as I had for the others, and I noticed that one student spoke nearly perfect English and that the other two relied heavily on her to translate for them, so I asked her how she came to have such a good command of English. She then told me that she had lived in the U.S. until she was 11, at which time the family returned to Mexico. Her father was a teacher. She added that she has two much-older sisters who did not return with the rest of the family to Mexico when she and her parents did, but rather decided to stay and work in the U.S...are you ready for this... as pole dancers in Las Vegas. She said they both make $600 USD per night doing that job. OMG! Truly I did not know what to say. My mouth hung open.
One of these three drives a motorcycle and all are great friends who go out together. When asked what they like to do together, they said “Tequila shots.”
These students all appeared to be middle class. The students I have helped through my years here with money for scholarships and work with programs like Mujeres en Cambio and Jovenes Adelante, are extremely intelligent, capable young people, but also exceedingly poor. There is no way without these scholarships that they could ever even imagine going to university.
The students all had iPhones, of course, and used them throughout our chats, looking up words in English that they didn’t know.
All in all, it was an extremely high-energy hour and I loved every second of it. Another teacher at the school with whom I have been friendly from my English Chat experience, Rosie, pulled me aside and said that once in a while, she has opportunities in her classes for help from a NS like me, and was I open to her calling on me. Absolutely! ESL is where my heart lives! I have never done any work anywhere near as fulfilling!