Island Boy goes to College

Like any mother (or honorary mother), I worried when Abdiel (Felipe), the young man we help sponsor, left his sheltered life on Isla Mujeres to enroll in a university last August. He was moving away from home and family to live with other young people in a relatively big city. Could he manage to find his way through city streets and college bureaucracy? How would he eat? Could he keep up his grades? Would he have enough money? Would he be homesick? Would city slickers take advantage of him? Would he party too much and study too little? I had the same worries when I sent my two kids from another island to Boston to start their college careers.

So, this year we decided to visit Felipe in Valladolid where he is a first-year student at CUV, studying Communications. He had written that he was doing well, that his grades were good; he looked like he was having the time of his life judging from Facebook. But we had to see for ourselves.

We traveled by bus to Valladolid, an old colonial city about halfway to Merida and not far from Chichen Itza. Checking in to the charming El Meson del Marques hotel, we spent most of Friday walking this fascinating city.
Saturday morning, we went to see Cenote Zaci. We had arranged to meet Felipe and Gaby (another Isla scholarship student) at noon. Right on time, they arrived on Felipe's moto - abrazos all around. We went back to the pool area to talk in the shade and then we sat down in the courtyard dining room for lunch. I suspect that both kids were a little overwhelmed with the choices, the ambiance and the expense, but they handled themselves with a measure of grace and sophistication. We learned that Felipe lives in a house with another boy and two girls, the house is owned by family of the brother and sister that are part of the group of roomies. The place is furnished and they cook for themselves (Felipe specializes in cooking eggs). For his course work, he has been working at a television studio and on some stage productions; he performs mime in the main plaza on weekends to earn some pocket money.




Gaby,a beautiful young lady sponsored by another Team from the Isla Mujeres Scholarship Group, is doing very well in her studies to become a preschool teacher. Her program at the university will take four years, while Felipe's will be completed in three. Both kids are getting a lot of on-the-job experience with their course work.

College in Mexico has at least one very significant difference from the United States: you must continue straight through - no "dropping out to find yourself" - if you drop out, or flunk out, you must go back to square one, start over, no carrying credits for when you return. So it is especially important for these kids to push forward. Donald had a "fatherly" talk with Felipe about not letting his new-found love with a girl still on Isla derail his ambitions. Sign language got the message across: no wedding ring, no big belly!

After a reassuring and heart-warming visit, we sent them off to homework. Both seem to be thriving. They have adapted well to their surroundings and are happy and working hard. What more could we ask for?

To see more Valladolid photos try going to http://islandnana.smugmug.com/Travel/Valladolid-2011-1/16318929_pLRBU