New Words, New Friends, New Faces

Yesterday, our Language & Culture participants got together with high school students from a school a few doors down, la Escuela Preparatoria Particular de Montejo y León, to hang out and engage in some language and cultural exchange activities.  While both groups were initially hesitant, each classroom was soon buzzing with jokes, laughter, and conversations in Spanish, English, and Spanglish (to the joy of our teachers and PLs, and to the chagrin of their ears). 

After an initial “getting to know” you activity where we switched partners and languages various times, we sat with the Yucatecan students to teach each other some vital knowledge in our ever changing world: slang and text message abbreviations (classroom appropriate, of course).  Newly acquired Mexican slang included: ¡Aguas! (be careful), Hacer loch (to comfort/give a hug – loch means “comfort/hug” in Mayan), Güey (Dude), Hacer un paro (do [someone] a favor) and ¿Neta? (Really?).  On our end, we taught our Yucatecan counterparts words such as: Bussin’, Lit, What’s up, and Slay. 

Once the activities ended, we had some time to eat snacks and just hang out.  School ended early, so while some of the CIEE students went home, others went to explore the city with new friends.  It was a great opportunity to get to know other young people our age and get to see Yucatecan culture through a different lens!