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Brooke Ballard: Student Report from 2016 Alternative Winter Break in Mexico

Making a Difference: Mexico

Brook Ballard at Uxmal
Brook Ballard at Uxmal

In the days leading up to the trip, I found that I was quite nervous. I had never traveled abroad before. I had never checked a bag, been through customs, or been so far away from my family for so long. However, none of these things were the reason for the tumultuous swarm of butterflies in my stomach. Upon further reflection, I soon realized what I was afraid of: that there would be no going back. It has always been my dream to travel abroad and my fear was that, if I finally went, I would never again be satisfied dwelling within the borders where I have spent my entire life. It took less than a day for these fears to come true and I have never been happier.

So many wonderful things happened every day, but I’ll start with the reason for the trip. We volunteered with a Mayan village called Yaxunah, where we primarily worked on beautification and construction so that the villagers can take pride in their heritage and homes. This work included building stone walls without mortar, clearing overgrown plants, and preparing an area for the construction of animal corrals.  Without a doubt, I felt very accomplished at the end of the last work day. We contributed all of our brain and brawn to a cause greater than ourselves and the people of Yaxunah will benefit from the work we did for years to come.

TCE at Yaxana

On our first day, our wonderful tour guide told us that the Yucatán Peninsula was known as Maya Land and much of our trip was spent getting to understand and appreciate the Mayan culture. First, we visited the Museo del Mundo Maya where we had our first taste of the ancient Mayan heritage. A video explained the Mayan world is full of complements: light and dark, day and night, life and death. It is this balance that fuels life. Then we went to the ancient city of Uxmal where our tour guide explained the importance of the rain god Chaac and how religion greatly influenced the architecture and agricultural practices of the area. We also visited Chichén Itzá, the largest of the Mayan villages, where the ancient civilization had erected grandiose temples that were a genuine testament to how advanced the Mayan architecture was. As an engineer, it was amazing to ponder the thousands of years of history that had survived and been revived in these structures. The tools and insight necessary to construct these edifices while also lining up their sides or structures with the solstices of the sun were something I found amazing.  I am an accomplished junior in engineering and I wouldn’t even know how to begin an endeavor such as this. Truly, it was humbling to get to touch and visit the astonishing work of these predecessors.

Uxmal

As much as I love my major, I also adore languages and am minoring in Spanish. There have been days where I doubted if all of the work to obtain the minor was worth it. It took less than one day in Mexico for me to be absolutely sure that every moment of effort “vale la pena” meaning, is worth the pain.  Because I had less of a language barrier, I was able to experience another side of Mexico that many of my classmates never got to see. There were several examples of my being the translator for a waiter or store clerk; needless to say, I felt like I played an important role in the trip. My favorite moment was when we were at the Mayan temple of Kabah and the guide spoke Spanish almost the entire time. Because of my studies, I had little difficulty understanding what was said. It was truly amazing to hear every word, see every expression, and feel the enthusiasm from the native speaker without having to rely on a third party to relay this as best as she could.

Undoubtedly, this was the perfect first trip abroad for me. I cannot thank the Tickle College of Engineering and our phenomenal international tour director for doing everything possible to give all of us the perfect week. My life has changed forever, in the best way possible and I am already looking forward to my next trip.