Well apparently the time has finally come! How has 3 weeks passed so damn quickly? Despite it sadly being our last week in Mexico City, it was such an epic week that flashed by way too quickly!
Free Day
We were lucky that again on Monday we were granted a free day! It was perfectly timed because man did we need a breather (especially after our hectic weekend – click here to check out what we got up to). I decided to go on a solo mission to Soumaya, an incredible art gallery owned by Carlos Slim (one of the richest people in the world). I would absolutely recommend this gallery. Not only are the artworks in their world class – think Dalí, Renoir, Degas and Riviera, but the building itself is exquisite!
For the rest of the day we spent our time chilling and working on our presentations due at the end of the week.
We also went to a cute little cafe a block away from the hotel. It’s called A43 and has THE BEST mushroom burger I’ve ever had! Plus if you’re a fan of hot chocolates, this is your place!
Cultural Visits
This week we didn’t have as many organised cultural visits, which meant we had more free time to pick and choose exactly what we wanted to do.
On Tuesday afternoon, a group of us went to the Museum of Anthropology and were taken back thousands of years to the age of the Aztecs. It’s an enormous collection of recovered artefacts and is absolutely incredible!
Wednesday was a really special day for me because…… I turned 23!!! WOO! Because of the time difference, I felt like my birthday actually lasted 2 days so there was a lot of celebrating to be done. In the afternoon a group of us went to Castillo Chapultepec. This beautiful old castle on a hill that overlooks this enormous city. So needless to say, I felt like a total princess!
That evening we went downtown to a cute Italian restaurant where we ate pizza and pasta and drank tequila. It was such a special way to spend my birthday and I’m so grateful that I was able to spend it with such incredible people.
Professional Site Visits
This week we went to two houses/shelters that support refugees in the local community. The first was Cafe Min – a shelter mainly aimed at women and families. We were given a tour of the facility (which used to be an old school). There were several families with children there. Because of the language barrier, we just played with the children and had a pretty intense game of football (note – if you’re looking for donations to take to the refugees, a soccer ball is an instant hit). It was here that I met a young 14 year old girl, Maria. Her Mum had taken her and her two younger brothers (aged 9 and 4) across the border to escape the gang violence in their town in the North of Mexico. They were captured by US Border Force and put into detention. Their mother was deported back to Mexico. The children were put into foster care in the United States. The children were reunited with their mother a year later. Despite this, these children were so happy, enthusiastic and energetic about life. It was incredibly inspiring to meet such a beautiful young lady who was showing off her English skills by reading me Dr. Seuss.
On Wednesday we were scheduled to go to a detention centre, yet recent riots and violence in the centre resulted in our visit being cancelled. It was disappointing that we didn’t get the chance to visit the centre, yet it’s a very strong reminder of why we’re here studying. To seek asylum is a human right, yet across the world – particularly in Australia, we are punishing these vulnerable people for doing so. I hope to see a future without detention centres.
Class
This week we had our final presentations! My group presented on ‘Media, Othering and Human Rights.’ It’s definitely a topic that I’m very passionate about and it was great presenting to a group who all study different degrees and approached similar topics differently. I felt I really learnt a lot.
Graduation!
Some people were flying out on Friday so naturally we decided to celebrate our graduation with everyone on Thursday night. We did some cute little awards, had a big family dinner and just enjoyed each others company. It was so lovely! My Mexican friend Victor and his friend Ricardo plus a few others from the group ended up going out to La Condesa to party! It was such a great night!
After we finished our presentations on Friday afternoon – we were done! We had a great celebratory lunch with our coordinators and enjoyed our time together! We were presented with our certificates of completion and that was it! That night it was another girls birthday so we all went out for our last supper together!
And with that week that’s a wrap of this incredible program! We’ve got a final essay due in 3 weeks about our topic of choice, but with all of the inspiration and motivation from this program, I’m on an absolute roll with it.
I’m not quite sure how I’m going to go back into study in Australia. This study abroad experience gave me a real insight into this harsh world. It allowed me to experience and witness the real life repercussions of policy, action (or inaction) and things that we learn in textbooks. It was challenging, confronting, overwhelming, emotional, but most of all incredibly enriching. I’ve learnt more than I ever thought I would and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to study one of my main passions in Mexico City.
A Worldly Addiction 
