The moment that we have all waited for has arrived – the bags are packed, the project document has been updated and there is nothing more left to do than say goodbye to Finland for a while and get going! We are on our way to Mexico and the project that we have been planning for several months now is starting to become real. Since almost everyone in our Finnish team has a different travel route to Mexico, some of us are already on our way (Elsa is currently writing this post from Frankfurt airport, Germany) and others are still busy with last minute preparations at home. Our Mexican team members and partners should be prepared for some more or less exotic souvenirs from Finland!
The past week has been filled with editing, updating and rewriting our project document, workshop planning, packing, last-minute shopping and intense preparation for our long-awaited trip to Mexico and El 20. We also visited the Mexican Embassy in Finland and had a pleasant and fruitful chat with the Ambassador and Deputy Head of Mission. They were very interested in hearing about our project and we received useful information regarding for example the Tren Maya project and the administrational system in Mexico. We will surely be in touch with them again once we return to Finland.
Despite all the things that have happened during the last months, weeks and days, now it is time to turn our gaze into the forthcoming weeks and days and begin a whole new part in our project. The planning part is over, and we are now entering the most interesting, important, intense and inspiring stage in this process, which is of course the field work in Mexico. We have planned everything we can as well as possible, and now the adventure and the unknown await. We will most probably face many surprises, challenges and valuable lessons during the upcoming weeks, and thus at this point the greatest tool we can bring with us is an open mind. In addition to this we expect to learn tremendously and of course have an amazing time in Mexico.
We will all be arriving in Mexico City on the 5th of March in the evening. The days after our arrival will consist of getting to know our Mexican team members, visiting local schools and organizing workshops to be on the same page about our field work in El 20. We fly to Chetumal on the 10th and the 11th, and we will stay in El 20 from the 11th until 17th hosting workshops for the community, organizing cooking sessions, interviewing the local people and getting to know their way of life. We are so excited and awed to finally meet the people at the center of this project!
On the 17th of March we return to Mexico City and will prepare our final presentation. The trip comes to its end on Saturday the 21st when we organize a final event with the whole international team, after which we will be finding our ways back home to Finland again. It will all be over before we know it, so we will definitely try to make every day count and find the time to enjoy the amazing experience we are about to embark upon.
We are so excited!
By: Elsa
Action Lab Mexico 