This week Allison and Taya DeLong are in La Manzanilla, Jalisco for a week on the beautiful Pacific coast of Mexico. I met Allison a few years ago when I was teaching yoga in Mexico and was thrilled when she expressed interest in Spread Art's residency opportunity (free accommodations in exchange for a small amount of volunteer work).
Below are Allison's thoughts about returning to La Manzanilla and the opportuities that visiting Mexico provides for her daughter Taya. I look forward to posting their reflections on their trip after they return to their home in Washington State.
My family was in La Manzanilla, Mexico in 2009 and took classes with La Catalina Language School. One reason I chose that school was because it offered volunteering opportunities. I spent some afternoons visiting with a teenage boy who was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a car wreck. For work, his mom had taken on cooking 2 meals a day for a large number of workers and I was able to help her in the kitchen some also.
We hold fond memories of the town and its friendly locals. My daughter is now 12 and has been studying Spanish lately at home. When the opportunity arose to stay in a house in La Manzanilla in exchange for some volunteer work, it felt so right. I had been hoping to bring my daughter to a Spanish speaking country but it was also important to me that it included contribution in some way to a local community. I am so grateful to be able to share this cultural and contributive experience with my daughter.
