Rotary Youth Exchange
Opening Doors to the World

While most of my friends were looking for part-time jobs and getting ready for college, I spent the summer after my senior year preparing to travel to Cordoba, Veracruz, Mexico, where I would spend the next year as a Rotary Exchange student. I didn’t realize at the time that my year abroad would be a learning experience incorporating cultural immersion, vocational studies, and volunteerism that would help determine the course of my life.

From Generous Strangers to Family

When I arrived in Cordoba, a town of about 250,000, I trudged through Customs, and found my host family waiting for me outside. My host mother, Silvia, greeted me: “Hello, hijo” (hello, son).

The next few days of conversation were a blur of Spanish. It was a relief to talk to other Rotary members in English at the weekly club meetings for exchange students, but at home, learning Spanish was sink or swim. I had studied some Spanish in high school, but the real-life experience made me feel as if I had never heard a Spanish word before. 

On my third day in Mexico, I visited my new private high school. Since I was the only foreigner, all eyes were on me. Gradually, I met my first friends—initially just through eye contact, then with my steadily improving Spanish. Soon they were inviting me out, helping me practice my Spanish, and, of course, teaching me all the popular slang. I joined the school’s basketball team and a fitness club, got involved with student activities, and found myself quickly developing friendships. 

Things became easier with my host family at home, too. Their uncle lived with us for two weeks to help me get adjusted; I taught him different exercises because he wanted to get in shape, and he taught me some salsa dancing moves. I joined my family on visits to their friends’ homes, and my host mom would introduce me as her “new son, Ty.” I wrestled with my host brother, Daniel, helped him paint the house and run errands, and cruised around in his car. My host family transformed from a household of generous strangers who opened their home to me into a real family, of which I was a part. At night I often read with Silvia or had long talks with the housekeeper, Alicia. Because my host dad was busy working a lot, I would help out by repairing things in the house, cutting the grass with a machete, and painting the fence. During the holidays, the extended family invited us to stay with them for a week. We all made the seven-hour bus ride together from Cordoba to Poza Rica. When the whole family was together, there were thirty to forty people in one house. 

Learning New Trades

After winter break, I had to opportunity to learn skills in an area I’d recently become interested in: carpentry. My host mom’s friend, who liked to collect unique furniture, arranged an apprenticeship for me with Rafael Rodrigues, a master furniture carpenter in the city. For the next four months, I worked with Rafael and his father, learning everything from cutting large pieces of wood to construction to fine sanding and finishing. 

When the shop closed for two weeks, I decided to learn about the local sugarcane fields. I joined the cane cutters for three days to see what their work was like. Afterwards, nearly every weekend for two and a half months we gathered in their small village to eat lunch and walk around in the fields. During this time I gained a new appreciation for the behind-the-scenes labor that is necessary to put everyday products onto store shelves.  

Cane cutters’ work is very physically demanding. Their hands will develop hard calluses from cutting anywhere between 8 to 10 hours a day; working in sets of rows, their skill is measured by how many tons they can cut. New tractors have made it easier to load cane into trucks, but sometimes workers must carry the cane on their backs and climb a ladder to put it in the truck. I was allowed to ride on the tractor for a short time, and even went to the sugar plantation to see the whole process, learning about everything from the planting to the shipping of sugar cane. This was an enlightening experience because we often take products such as sugar for granted, consuming them without knowing where they come from or how much work is behind them.   

A few months later, I had the chance to work in yet another area. The Xalapa Rotary Club called to tell me that American doctors in Xalapa, Veracruz, needed translators for a week as they administered free medical care to local residents. Although I had not been previously interested in medicine, I welcomed this new opportunity. After nearly eight months of intensive studying, my Spanish had improved by leaps and bounds, and I was able to have long talks with the patients’ families. I translated for underprivileged children receiving treatment for crossed eyes, cleft palates, and other problems. It was great to play a part in helping to change these children’s lives. The smiles of children who could see straight for the first time in their lives are still clear in my mind. 

 I couldn’t believe an entire year had already passed when it was time to return to the U.S. My “tough guy” carpentry and cane-cutting comrades shed tears as we said goodbye with bear hugs. I insisted to my host family and schoolmates that I was not saying goodbye, but only “Hasta pronto” (until later). 

Since I returned from my Rotary Youth Exchange, I have communicated with my Mexican family every few weeks. I also spent six months in Costa Rica and am currently finishing my first semester at the Chengdu Minority University in China. I am now 20 years old, and my international experiences could fill a book. I am considering a career in international diplomacy, but no matter what my career, I plan to use the language skills and cultural understanding I have gained to strengthen bonds among the international community.  

Austyn  "Ty" Crites is a native of Nevada. His three most important role models have been his persistent father (a member of the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise), compassionate mother, and supportive older brother. Being well-rounded has always been Ty's principle aim, and next year he plans to study French and European culture in France. Ty was an  Outbound Student to Mexico  2001 - 02.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2004 issue of Imagine magazine and is reproduced here with permission. www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine