segunda-feira, 30 de março de 2009

From México to México (Part 1)

That’s going to be a big post. The reason is that due to the responsibilities and trips that I had in this period, I couldn’t write on my blog. So this post is actually to tell a huge story between the day that I’ve left México to go to El Salvador until the day that I came back from ILC. My full route was:

México-San Salvador-Pacific Ocean (don’t remember the name of the beach)-México-Rome-Naples (Nápoles)-Rome-México-Guatemala City-Antígua-Tikal-Panajachel-Antígua-Volcano Pacaya-Antígua-Guatemala City-México.

That’s why this post will be in parts. I will actually right everything and then post by parts to be easier to read. I will also assume another premise for these posts: I will keep myself positive. I passed through some great and some other very sad ones in these days. So let’s keep the positive ones :) I know that it would be better for everyone.

So my first destination was El Salvador. I loved being there. We had tough moments because the MC is facing some challenges dealing with the expansion in the country and also we had some with the meetings. But anyway I really liked to be there. Some of the reasons were: The MC Team, Cindy’s house and family, Estela’s house and family (my host there), Terezita, Caliche and above all PUPUSAS!!! For those who doesn’t know what is a pupusa, in a failed Mexican trial to explain it, it’s a tortilla filled with something. The original pupusa from El Salvador is definitely much more than that. :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupusa I ate at least 5 times. And I still don’t know why did I ate anything else in the other meals.

In the end of my trip there, more precisely in our weekend, we went to the sea. I was just about to have some surprises in my life. For the first time: I saw the pacific ocean!! It was sooo cool! And a very funny thing happened. The people that were there together in the beach was preparing a surprise party for one of their friends: Mario. Unfortunately, Mario couldn’t go to the beach. Since they already had a cake and everything done for his party, they needed to change a bit the plans. Since my birthday was just one day after his, they did the party FOR ME! :D It was sooo nice! The funniest thing is that, between a Mario and a Marco there’s only 1 letter of difference :).

I spent a good time in the end in El Salvador. I was connected to people and with this same people cheering for my future plans. It was nice to be there because that people believed that I could be the person to be the next year leading their GN. I was energized, happy and motivated... ready to go ahead.

And in this mood, I came back to México. I came back just one day before my birthday. It was again a nice week here. In the other day I’ve received the best gift that I’ve ever got in my birthdays: a surprise party. It was funny because it was a very tough day for me. I received the news that one more of our regional partners were renewing the partnership. Besides that, some other things were bothering me on that day. I was really in a sad mood.

But when I got home, there were all these nice people waiting for me to get there with a huge smile in their faces, a great energy and one of the most delicious cakes that I’ve ate in my life. It was incredible. As it wasn’t as good enough they gave me a cup from Starbucks. They all know here that I am kind of affiliated to franchise :) It was really nice.

And it made me remind me about the time that I’ve got here. It was so different that I was expecting. When I came, Mexico had to handle some problems due the negotiations regarding my host. We needed to find an office where I could work and a place for me to stay. I couldn’t speak Spanish. I thought – wrongly – that it would be a tough time for all of us.

I was received here much better than I supposed to be in my own country. It made me really happy. I have some friends here that I trust much more than some people that I know from a long time ago. Besides that, they make me feel very at home. When I leave, they say – not from their mouths but from their hearts – that they were missing me. That’s something really priceless. I owe a lot of this experience to them and I am glad about it.

And I enjoyed my birthday and the next week here. I had to work in the crazy time of ILC support and IPM agenda preparation. It was a very hurried time for me, but a nice one. Before I was leaving to Italy, people in the MC office gave me a call. I honestly didn’t get a single word of what they said, but by the fact that they were all screaming like crazies in the phone, I think they were really supporting me to go to Italy and to come back elected Director of AIESEC International.