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Final days of Orientation and meeting the Host Families

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After our days of traveling to visit different places around the peninsula, it’s time for classes to begin!




Our academic classes go beyond the classroom, we give our students the tools they need to interact with local people and understand the cultural context. We provide the resources for them to discover and develop their own personal interests within this new culture. 




At the same time that our classes started, we were able to marvel at one of the many archaeological ruins that still stands in Yucatan, this particular site has stelae (upright monuments containing information in the form of texts, images or a combination of the two) and the tomb of the zones most important leader, known as Ukit Kan Le´t Tok. We were also able to swim in the cenote, or natural well, in the community of Dzalbay. To reach the crystal blue water, we had to venture underground!






The food throughout our trip was amazing, and various families from the community known as “Black Jaguar” in the Mayan language shared food from their homes with us. 




We also worked on the final details of the construction of our new classroom in the community of Yaxunah, where the majority of our program will take place. Without a doubt, the smell of fresh clay and guano will hold a special place in our memories!



And finally, the doors of PICY’s rural location in Yaxunah opened to welcome smiling local families who came to pick up their host kids. Among laughter, some nerves and a lot of excitement, they listened attentively to the plan for the coming days and weeks. 



Our students had a hard time containing their excitement to meet their host families, too, and they even put together gift baskets for their families.



Before the students went off with their host families, we celebrated the birthdays of two people in our group to a chorus of “en un día feliz…”




The moment when host families meet their host kids is one of the most beautiful moments in the program. The mutual smiles say more than any words could ever convey. The arms reaching out and pulling in to a hug is all that is needed to say “bienvenidos a la familia”!







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