By Alisa W., guest blogger studying Spanish in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
I am coming up on my last week in Mexico, and I have very mixed emotions. It is nice to have a beautiful beach to go to every day after school, and I am learning so much of the language that it is disappointing to have to leave when it is going so well. As the saying goes, however, “there is no place like home”. I'm definitely excited to go home and see all of my friends and family.
Today, while people watching on the beach with a friend I met here from England, we were talking about how there were not many people from the United States here in Playa. This was surprising to both of us, as we both had expected to meet a slew of Americans. However, here in Playa, and at school as well, Americans seem to be the minority as far as tourists go. There are many, many more Europeans that come to visit. I have learned from my family, that only about 8 years ago, Playa del Carmen was nothing more than a fishing village with only a few paved streets. Now it does have a decent sized tourist area. However, in certain parts of the town you would never have any idea that tourists come here if you didn't already know. I think in many ways, Playa del Carmen is a well kept secret that has some beautiful beaches without the crowds you might see in more well known places such as Cancun.
The group of friends that I had made here in Playa are all gone except for the English girl and myself. Two of my good friends left just a day or so ago, and it's interesting how quickly strangers become close friends when you are by yourself in a foreign country. It is sad to see them go, and we all talked about hopefully all meeting up again in the future. However, the in all likelihood, we will probably never meet again, but we are all thankful for the time we have had together. Over the past few weeks we have all had many, many laughs at miscommunications and misunderstandings due to differences in culture, accents, etc. I encourage everyone that travels to a foreign country to make friends with people that aren't from the same country as you, and I promise you will learn a lot about yourself and other cultures. While having many laughs in the process.
Find out more about AmeriSpan's Spanish school in Playa del Carmen
See all Mexico Spanish schools
Read all of Alisa's blogs from Playa del Carmen
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