Volunteer Stories  |  Meghan

It was so strange. My first time out of Australia and I was traveling on my own to a place I knew absolutely nothing about. I had only emailed and had not spoken to anybody from Travel to Teach on the phone and was truly convinced that I would be kidnapped as I stepped of the bus and sold into the Mexican labor force. But one must hope for the best and pretend to be brave.

At the bus stop, I watched a tense looking woman pacing back and forth, checking her watch and looking into the faces of everyone that walked past. I thought, that must be her; she must be looking for me. She seemed so angry and I thought, ‘What have I done??? This is going to be so horrible, I should just go. As I am staring at this woman, considering going over and introducing myself I start feeling really sick. As I pull my bags onto my back the brightest, happiest smiling face jumps in front of me and gives me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. ‘Meghan!!! I’m Adriana!!’

Everything was going to be just fine.

I was in Xalapa for six weeks, but it should have been longer. The city itself is big enough that there is always somewhere to explore and still small enough that after a week, the nicest old man knew how I had my coffee. Tortillas are hand made in the street and the Clubs stay open all night. The markets are on every week and the cafes and galleries are lovely.

The children are so beautiful. I had never taught before, never volunteered. But is knew it was something i wanted to do. I taught at four schools, two orphanages and two elementary schools. But for me the most rewarding place was assisting at a special needs school in their art classes. I didn't speak much Spanish, but neither did the kids so you kind of just improvise. I was surprised at the ability that the kids had, to teach me more than I though I could offer them.

It is a place I will definitely return to.