During fall semester
of 2000 at BYU, I participated in the Latin America Service
Learning Internship teaching English to
college
age students in Monterrey, Mexico. It was great being part of
the Latin culture again and working with the students even
though the administrators of the program were not on top of
things. We were able to travel a bit as well. To the left is a
picture of myself on top of the Aztec Temple of the Moon in
Teotiahuacan just outside of Mexico City. At the end of the
semester, we decided to go to Mexico City for a few days and
visit some of the sites there. A more extravagant trip to
Cancun was planned, but canceled due mainly to a 30 plus hour
bus ride each way and lack of funds.
To the right here is the group of BYU students that were in
Monterrey
for
the semester. I'm on the left. Next to me is Charlie who was on
a business internship with some paperboard and packaging
company. He had a company car, a Nissan Tsuru, with which he was
very generous. (That's how we got to South Padre Island, Texas
where the picture was taken.) Continuing to the right in the
picture is America, Kiffany, and Greg, who were the other
English teachers. The three of them were real English
teachers. I, on the other hand, tried to pretend.
During "El Día de los Muertos" in November,
we had a long weekend without any classes and decided to travel
to the Pacific side and visit Mazatlan. The bus ride was 16
hours and through some incredible, windy, mountain roads.
Luckily we obtained some Dramamine for the ride back to
Monterrey and slept through most of it. Mazatlan itself was
beautiful --
especially the old part of town. We stayed in the small "Hotel
del Sol" which is right across the main road from the beach.
The sunset picture was taken from our balcony. We also managed
to get some cheap tickets for a catamaran tour of the area,
which took us out to an island for lunch, snorkeling,
kayaking,
and volleyball, and then south around the lighthouse and the
famous white rocks. The guide told us that they are white
because of the abundance of sea birds that roost on them. They
are beautiful when viewed from a distance, but rather stinky up
close...
On the return trip to Monterrey, we met up
with Charlie in a mountain town called Zacatecas. Almost
immediately we fell in love with the city. The old colonial
Spanish architecture is still very much alive, the higher
elevation brought with it clean, crisp, refreshing air, and the
people were absolutely wonderful. Monterrey is a wonderful
city, but it is just that, a big, rather industrialized, city.
We spent Saturday going through the city and seeing
the
sights, including the old aqueduct. We took a tour of the old
silver mine which in its day produced huge amounts of ore. Now
the deepest levels are flooded and it is mainly a tourist
attraction. At night they even turn one of the big caverns into
a discoteca. We also rode up an aerial tram to the top of Cerro
de las Buffas. On top is a small Catholic church complete with
an abundance of small souvenir stands and a beautiful view of
the city.
college
age students in Monterrey, Mexico. It was great being part of
the Latin culture again and working with the students even
though the administrators of the program were not on top of
things. We were able to travel a bit as well. To the left is a
picture of myself on top of the Aztec Temple of the Moon in
Teotiahuacan just outside of Mexico City. At the end of the
semester, we decided to go to Mexico City for a few days and
visit some of the sites there. A more extravagant trip to
Cancun was planned, but canceled due mainly to a 30 plus hour
bus ride each way and lack of funds.
for
the semester. I'm on the left. Next to me is Charlie who was on
a business internship with some paperboard and packaging
company. He had a company car, a Nissan Tsuru, with which he was
very generous. (That's how we got to South Padre Island, Texas
where the picture was taken.) Continuing to the right in the
picture is America, Kiffany, and Greg, who were the other
English teachers. The three of them were real English
teachers. I, on the other hand, tried to pretend. 
especially the old part of town. We stayed in the small "Hotel
del Sol" which is right across the main road from the beach.
The sunset picture was taken from our balcony. We also managed
to get some cheap tickets for a catamaran tour of the area,
which took us out to an island for lunch, snorkeling,
kayaking,
and volleyball, and then south around the lighthouse and the
famous white rocks. The guide told us that they are white
because of the abundance of sea birds that roost on them. They
are beautiful when viewed from a distance, but rather stinky up
close...
the
sights, including the old aqueduct. We took a tour of the old
silver mine which in its day produced huge amounts of ore. Now
the deepest levels are flooded and it is mainly a tourist
attraction. At night they even turn one of the big caverns into
a discoteca. We also rode up an aerial tram to the top of Cerro
de las Buffas. On top is a small Catholic church complete with
an abundance of small souvenir stands and a beautiful view of
the city.