La Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores and an evening at the Ambassador's house

Hello again! Wednesday of orientation week was quite full. We began our day by visiting La Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (the Secretary of Foreign Relations) where we listened to presentations about the current political climate and the culture of the Mexican academic world. Fulbright and COMEXUS have really done a wonderful job of introducing us to the culture and educational system here and each presentation has built on what we learned in the one before. We are here during a very exciting time of democratic growth, educational reform, and strong public involvement in these changes. José Merino spoke to us about the evolution of democracy in Mexico and Maestra Celia Toro encouraged us to accept the abundance of help we will soon be offered at our universities.

We also introduced ourselves to the other 85 grantees, sharing our backgrounds and our projects here in Mexico. The Fulbright scholars are current professors doing research, the Fulbright researchers are master's and doctoral students working on dissertations, the Business Binationals are working for corporations and NGOs in Mexico City, the US American teachers are exchanging their classrooms with those of Mexican teachers for the year, and the ETAs (English Teaching Assistants, me) are working in universities throughout the country. It was fascinating to hear people's research projects, some dealing with immigration, another focusing on the development of statehood, a painter studying the traditions of La Lucha Libre, and one studying rural health workers. As people stood up to introduce themselves, one said she was a professor at the College of Wooster! I was thrilled to know a fellow Fighting Scot was among us. Dr. Ana King Sirot is a professor of biology at Wooster and will be conducting research in Veracruz on reproductive biology of flies to better the methods of biological control. The work people are conducting is really remarkable and I hope we have the opportunity to learn more about the outcomes of everyone's research when the time comes.

It was wonderful to spend time with all of the grantees, but everyone was collectively anticipating meeting Ambassador Tony Wayne at his home in Mexico City that evening. Ambassador Wayne wanted to make sure he met each grantee and graciously welcomed each and every one of us into his home. He had given a speech at one of the universities in Querétaro just last week and when it was my turn to introduce myself, he told me about its thriving economy, its dedication to increasing English instruction at all levels of education, and its growing aeronautics industry. All of the members of the embassy that we met were extremely gracious. I spoke briefly to one woman who later came to find me when faculty members of one of the universities in Querétaro arrived and introduced me to them. It was so thoughtful of her to remember my placement and to seek me out. The Queretanos were also very warm and welcoming, informing me of the beauty of my soon to be home and declaring it to be "lo mejor" (the best). I also had the opportunity to talk to a woman that works for the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service after a robust career in the private sector, mainly working in Silicon Valley.

Ellen, Wendy, Ambassador Wayne, myself, Angela

Ambassador Wayne gave a speech congratulating us on our Fulbright awards and speaking about President Obama's 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative. President Obama is dedicated to increasing the number of students studying in Latin America to 100,000, and the number of Latin American students studying in the US to 100,000.  The purpose is to "foster region-wide pros­perity through greater international exchange of students, who are our future leaders and innovators. Increasing understanding in the Western Hemisphere and building closer people-to-people ties will help the State Department work together with the people of the Western Hemisphere to address common chal­lenges including citizen security, economic opportunity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability."

This feels like a very meaningful time to be a Fulbright grantee in Mexico. The Fulbright program is committed to an exchange of cultures and an equal learning opportunity for both the host country and the grantee. This beautiful country is growing and changing quickly and I can only imagine the ways in which I will grow and change as well.