Alcala Yearbook 2001

~_...~uadalajara Program

On June 23, 2000 more than 200 USD students boarded a plane that would land in Guadalajara where they would spend the next six weeks living with a host family and attending ITESO, a private Jesuit university. Within hours of being in Mexico, students had their first feelings of culture shock by having their luggage lost and rummaged through by Mexican officials or by sitting in the back of a taxi cab for at least a couple of hours as their new best friend drove them all over Guadalajara in search of their new home. Immersed in Mexican culture, politics and language, students soon began to understand what it was 'to be Mexican. ' Students witnessed 'history in the making ' first hand when Fox , the PAN party candidate, was elected as President. Memorable weekends spent in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Guanojuato, and Manzanillo united students together as they bonded over similar cultural experiences. Although some were at first frightened and nervous about what to expect, the six weeks that were spent in Mexico proved to be, for many, the best six weeks of their life.

Above: Embrnc ing Mexic;i n cu ltu re o ft e n in– c lu ded m ix in g in il l p o pul ;i r club s ;i nd res t;iura t;i nts. Th ese fut u re Amer irn n a mbil,,a– dors en joy deli cio u, m,irgarita~. Above Right: USD s tud ents Jaspe r, Bill, La ura He,1to n, & Briiln Stril hm ~how the ir , u po rt fo r the ho mete;im, the C hi vas, by a tte ndi ng a " fut bo l" ga me in C ui1 d a l,1j;i r;i. At Left: Sophomore, Aman da Po rte r, Broo ke Macken,ie, Kate Brue n, I le id i Ruberb , & L;i u ra I le;i to n e njoy them,elve,;i tC uad,1la jara's po pu – la r d ,rn ce cl ub "L1 Ma rch,1".

56 C uad;i laja r~