I just opened an email from Isabel Gonzales in Xalapa and read the words I've wanted to read: Isabel and her husband César have decided to accept the exchange, to come to Albuquerque for a year while I go to Xalapa.
Isabel has had the same concerns about Albuquerque that I had about Mexicali. She wants to 
be immersed in English and not surrounded by Spanish speakers, so she has been concerned about the number of Latinos here. I've tried to reassure her that she will be immersed in English at work and in the stores and through the media here. I was interested to learn that Isabel likes "Grey's Anatomy" as I do, but in Xalapa, the characters speak in dubbed Spanish; here she will have to watch it in English.
Now that I know the exchange is going to happen, I need to get down to earth: the list of things to do to get ready to leave house, family, friends, job, and country for a year seems pretty daunting, but I have no doubt that--like making wedding plans--eventually everything gets done (or not) and the wedding day dawns.
Tomorrow evening I'll call Isabel so that we can begin to plan in earnest. Luckily, the Fulbright folks have sent a "Handbook for Partner Discussion" with page after page of topics that exchange partners should address with each other about the new work, home, and cultural situations they will find themselves in for a year.
Amazing! I'm so excited at the possibilities opening up to me...
Monday, May 07, 2007
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6 comments:
Congratulations, Nancy! I've been waiting to hear if you were going to get to go! This is very exciting.
Thanks, Ann Lyn. Me, too! You'll have to come down and visit me in Xalapa.
Nancy--congratulations! So happy to see it working out! So we'll be greeting a colleague from Mexico (and hopefully visiting you!)
Judy
Congrats! It's good to have a checklist to work with to keep from forgetting some important point.
Interesting thought ... If Isabel also kept a blog, it would be interesting to see how your experiences reflect each other.
Well Nancy,
I am literally tearing up with happiness for you right now! I am so glad - I know this will be a great experience for you... I'll definitely be in touch and we have to meet up this summer to chat! When will you leave?
Judy, yes! You'll have to visit me. And I'm confident everyone in ECA will help Isabel adjust to life and work here. She has lived in the U.S. before--got her master's degree in Ohio, I believe.
Carol Anne, you could race your boat down the Mississippi and across the Gulf of Mexico to Veracruz to visit me, couldn't you? :~) Getting to the Mississippi would probably be the hard part. Well, ONE of the hard parts.
I'll pass along your idea to Isabel. I for one would be fascinated to read her account of stepping into "my" life in the U.S. and at CNM.
Jennifer, thanks for sharing my happiness. Like you, I'm sure it will be a great experience.
As for when I will be leaving, I've been saying "mid August," but recent information from the Fulbright folks in México City lead me to believe that I'll be going directly to Xalapa from Washington, D.C. after my orientation from July 31-Aug. 3. When will you return from the Ukraine? We must talk.
You were my inspiration for applying to the Fulbright. For that I thank you. I didn't realize it would be so easy--but I suspect it was easy because I had the support of CNM adminstrators. Have they not been agreeable, I would have been stopped at Step 1.
Nancy
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