Our Fearless Leaders

I figured it was about time to introduce the courageous leaders that are guiding our trip and have handled everything so professionally thus far. I love to plan trips and travel but with that comes a lot of responsibility and decision making. I wasn’t sure how I would handle giving up control of everything for five weeks and putting my trust in someone else. I can now say that it has been so easy because everything is so perfectly planned and executed. So without further ado, I introduce you to our Fulbright Mexico 2011 leadership team.

Jaques is the trip lead and has been handling this trip for Comexus (Fulbright arm in Mexico) for the last six years.

He is an American born Frenchman who has lived in Mexico City since the 1970’s He embodies the perfect combination of laid back expertise. He is an author and historian by trade and is honestly a walking textbook. His language skills are impeccable as he has mastered French, Spanish, Portuguese and English. He has quite the sense of humor as shown by his July 4^th greeting of all of us with American flags and a CD of patriotic music blaring on the bus as we boarded. One of his specialties is cooking and he holds great knowledge about many of the regional cuisines. There is a running joke among our group that we are so dependent on him that we can’t even make decisions any more on what to eat. We all just tend to order whatever local delicacy he recommends to us. He is also a published author of works of historical fiction.

Alejandro is Jaques’s sidekick. He is a budding filmmaker and photographer extraordinaire. He is always readily available to answer our questions, offer a perspective on Mexico from a youthful point of view and of course capture each moment of our trip through film. I can hardly wait until we get our C.D full of all the artistic pictures that he will have taken over our five weeks together. He desires to pursue his masters in the U.S and we are all cheering him along and hoping that he gets the scholarship for which he has applied.

The final and probably most important person is our ever faithful bus driver Benito. He is AMAZING! I have already extolled his driving expertise in several posts but I really can’t say enough about his professionalism, attention to detail and phenomenal attitude. From day one when he met us at the airport in Cancun, he has always had a smile on his face. He takes immaculate care of the bus and is often seen cleaning both the inside and out of it at all hours of the day and night. We have found ourselves in some fairly precarious driving and parking situations and he has managed with grace and calm to extricate us from each one of them.

Several people have asked me about our traveling conditions since we are covering such huge distances. Here is a quick glance into the bus that has become my home for the last month! We each have two seats to ourselves so there is plenty of room to stretch out and relax. I brought a small pillow and bought a blanket while here so it is no shocker that I spend a good portion of bus time asleep:) My spot is at the very back of the bus so I have the pleasure of feeling every bump, jolt and pothole! The bus also comes equipped with electrical outlets so that we can plug in and charge up on the go. I sometimes feel like we are traveling journalists on some sort of campaign trail because we make stops, learn a lot and then load back up and try to process and make sense of it all.

In addition to personal comforts, we have an area on the bus for snacks, drinks and reference books. The traveling library comes in handy during those long rides when I’m trying to recall something for my curriculum project or brush up on someplace that we have yet to visit. Jaques also frequently screens Mexican movies or documentaries for us during the longer rides. If we aren’t reading, watching a movie or working on our projects & blogs, he will also select regional music for us to listen to from the different areas that we are visiting. I am being completely serious when I say that the only time that I am not learning something is when I am asleep at night!