 In a Few Words...reflections on the experience
What I learned from this experience was a greater sense of people’s
diversity in the world, and our universal love of artistic outlets.
Traveling is an excellent means to broaden the scope of artistic
appreciation.
- Rebecca Barnett
After traveling to both Miami and Mexico I have found that there are
some strong similarities. The similarities are found in humanity’s love
for art and beauty. Both locations valued visual and performing arts and
it was so wonderful to see people from around the world unite under
their common appreciation for art. It is amazing that traveling to new
places both opens your eyes to see how different and unique individual
cultures can be while simultaneously allowing you to see how humans are
somewhat similar everywhere. - Leah Floyd
In Miami I felt a Latino presence, but I did not feel that I had gone
anywhere far from home. The culture is distinctly American. The evening
activities were fun, including the bars, clubs, and interesting people.
There was however a distance to South Beach. People have that big city
mentality, and ugly, blatant displays of wealth and excess were a
constant theme. - Rebecca Barnett
 I have always felt that people should travel the world in order to be
educated about it. There is nothing better than first hand experience of
different cultures. Mexico was no different. It was a great experience
to get to know their culture especially from the point of view of a
Latin American who is not Mexican but is always put into the same
category with them.
- Eileen Betancourth
Overall Mexicans have a rich and full culture with great music and
food. They are ever changing and remain true to their differences. I
loved that I was able to immerse myself into their life style for a
while and understand how another group of people leads their life.
 It
was also great to prove to myself that Mexicans and Colombians may speak
the same language but they are very different. - Eileen Betancourth
Travel has always been a part of my life, and being born in the
United States to Colombian parents, Latin-America is another home to me.
The idea of going on a trip to Mexico, currently the country of
residence of my cousin, seemed like an incredible way to connect with my
extended family.
- Cat Plazas
As I prepared to be once again in a Spanish-speaking country, I
realized how much the United States has changed. In the Orlando airport,
there was no language heard more than Spanish, not even English.
This
was surprising even to me. - Cat Plazas
 I have to say that, most of all, I was completely surprised by the
way that people in Guanajuato presented themselves and simply live their
daily lives. It was something so much different than I am normally used
to experiencing in my everyday life. For example – people on a whole, as
I found, seemed to just generally be much nicer and more relaxed about
most things, even during the crowded festival atmosphere. It was
something so different from the hustle and bustle of my own daily life
that it actually took me a few days to get used to while I was there.
- Rob Esparza
I was actually rather surprised by Mexico. I had been to Guatemala and already knew that Latin
America is not as primitive as it is usually portrayed, but I was blown away by how nice Guanajuato was. The streets were clean, paved, and well
cared-for and everyone was
 dressed really nicely. Actually, by the
standards of Guanajuato, I was severely underdressed and
felt like I stuck out even more than I already did. - Elise Holt
I knew Mexico was overwhelmingly Catholic, but I did not think I
would see the image of the Virgin Mary as much as I did. She was
literally everywhere. What surprised me the most was seeing her all over
the walls of the Corralejo tequilera and in shops on the shelves above
ceramic genitalia. - Elise Holt
The very little misfortune that we experienced was the rain that
caused cancellation of the performance of Romeo and Juliet. The
rain was like a horror movie. We hovered close to the buildings and
watched the streets fill with rainwater that cascaded down from the
stairs from top of the mountain. I was really disappointed to not see
the Romeo and Juliet show, because I walked by the area earlier
in the day and saw the giant puppets. They were twice the size as me. I
was looking forward to seeing their interpretation. - Rebecca Barnett
The pyramids were an unexpected adventure. Because scientists were
still discovering new things about it, I left feeling I had witnessed
something extraordinary. I felt like I was in a different world because
anything like that in the States would be swarming with people, and we
had the site all to ourselves.
- Rebecca Barnett
 Going to the archaeological ruins, the Plazuelas, was something that
I had always dreamed of doing. I know that there are larger and more
wide-spread ruins in Mexico, but this was the first time that I had ever
gotten to see any type of ancient ruins, at all. Standing among them and
getting a feel for what it may have been like when the ruins were
actually a city was quite a breathtaking experience. To see the grounds
where ancient people once walked and carried out their daily lives was
absolutely fascinating for me. - Rob Esparza
Watching international plays during the trips to Mexico and Miami was
very entertaining and interesting, however, experiencing the culture
outside of the theatre was also very exciting. The trip to Miami was
shorter than the trip to Mexico but still held its fair share of
adventure. In our three-day trip
 we saw three plays, went to many good
ethnic restaurants, visited a museum, and experienced shopping in Miami.
Although there was a large Hispanic population in Miami, and I could
definitely see a difference in culture as compared to the rest of
Florida, it still was very American in the small things like the
architecture and the clothing people wore. The trip to Miami was good
preparation for the total culture change that Mexico would bring. -
Leah Floyd
Mexico was amazing. The fact that we stayed in a home really helped
all of us get familiar with the city and Mexican customs. In Miami our
group stayed in a hotel, and we had to rent a car because Miami is so
large and everything is not within walking distance. This differed from
Mexico because we stayed in a home located centrally in the town. The
central location and home stay familiarized us with the area and I
believe that we felt more of insiders than tourists. - Leah Floyd
I got feelings from the players that the Latino population is tired
of being second-class citizens in the world. They consider the United
States a place they have come to for opportunity. - Rebecca Barnett
 The theatre festival was fantastic. I loved that it was more than
just a Mexican thing. To see plays from all over the world you could
truly see, comprehend, and appreciate everyone’s artistic vision. I
loved all the plays I had the pleasure of viewing. Every country that we
saw did something very different. Guanajuato truly appreciates theatre,
as it is the center of attention during the festival and the several
theatres they have are well kept and made to seem very important. -
Eileen Betancourth
The new interpretation of classic plays demonstrates a direction that
modern theatre is taking. Not only is it important to write and perform
new plays, but also it is important to look to the past for inspiration
and choose to interpret classic plays and perform them with modern
twists.
 The tying of the past and the present creates timeless stories,
making it easier for the present audience to relate. - Leah Floyd
One thing I learned about foreign theatre is that lighting is less
about making the actor be seen and is more about creating a mood or
specific artistic meaning. In the United States, lighting designs almost
always have completely lighting the actors at all times in mind. In
lighting designs for the shows from other countries, the focus was on
the show as a whole, not just the actors. - Elise Holt
I will be permanently affected by the modern shows: Tempest,
Con Belisa and Fausto3. They tied everything I know about
modern art together. The three works incorporated all the performing
arts at some point: music, dance, and visual art. Interpretations of the
texts were all original and imaginative. The musical qualities included minimalism, complex rhythms, tonal ambiguity, and harmonic
dissonance. - Rebecca Barnett
 Guanajuato is incredibly populous; I could by no means call it merely
a town, and yet, it had the heart of one. I think the thing that still
makes me smile the most about Guanajuato is the memory of the view from on our
host family’s terrace. Seeing Guanajuato like that
was an experience for all the senses: the colors delighted my eyes,
the music from street performers which could be heard all the way from
the roof of this house on a mountain soothed not only my ears, but also
my soul, and the smell of so many flavors of food and of life which fed
even my very heart with its presence. - Cat
Plazas
Caricature by Pedro Durán,
Guanajuato, Mexico
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