Attempt to Describe the Indescribable – by Becca

The trip to Mexico has been indescribable. It’s difficult to talk about one part of the trip in order to sum up what I have learned from this experience. I have learned to be more giving and grateful of what I have when we took the hike up to Xopilapa, the sight we saw at El Tajin taught me about the culture and history in Mexico, the ones that had existed before our time, and the ones who still exist today. The river experiences have been incredible, especially the last one we ran. The daring “rock slides” made me feel proud of the group and myself. We have traveled from very rural, to large cities, and the change always was interesting to see. For me, finding peace with change and different places has always been something I have worked on everyday. The challenge is exactly why I like these trips. It makes me a stronger, wiser person, but we are learning outside of classrooms. As I live through a day I think about good leadership and personality qualities I want to portray to others. Today, on our way to Tampico, we stopped at Xilitla to see the garden of Edward James. It is a huge elaborate architecture display of wild ideas, shapes, and stairs. The man who had it built was very wealthy and seemed to be a little out there. The people who are different and bold enough to create a home such as this are the ones who create the amazing things in this world. As I was carefully winding down the spiral staircase, taking plenty of pictures, I was thinking about what it would be like to meet this man. Would he be selfish? Selfless? Funny? Open-minded? Cranky? I searched through the art in the buildings to try and find the answer, but I couldn’t find one. Both contradicting characters seemed to fin this style of scenery. Instead, I imagined myself building a home like this, and years later people would look at it, weave through it and wonder the same thing I wondered today. The difference, in my home and gardens I would somehow show the important qualities to good character, in hopes of making them think about the world outside their own, as well as themselves in how they act and help the world. I don’t think I would even have enough money to create large kooky, twisty, tricky buildings today, but the point is, before this trip, I wouldn’t of thought anything about character if I saw these buildings. This trip to Mexico has been indescribable, but I hoped I have described it enough so you can grasp why these kinds of experiences are the ones one should have in his/her lifetime.