On Friday the 7th of March, at about 6 o' clock a van full of Waldorf children pulled up to the Waldorf School of Orange County. The van stopped, and they all piled out, running to their parents and shouting greetings in Spanish. The reason for the Spanish is that the students had just returned from a week in Mexico, and it seems that they had temporarily forgotten English.
Every year the Waldorf School of Orange County hosts 13 or so Mexican students from CETYS University in Mexicali, Mexico. 10th grade families host these kids for 5 days (which is far too short if you ask me) and at the end they return to Mexico whence they came. 4 months later, in March, the host kids of the families head over to Mexico for 5 days and stay with their long lost hermanos. They spend 5 days there, essentially becoming a Mexican for their time there. Spanish is spoken and many tamales eaten, many friends made and too many names forgotten. They are introduced to so many different people, how can they possibly remember all the names?
Of course the children were happy to be home--were happy to see their parents, but a little part of them was having a very hard time with the fact that they were no longer with their happy-go-lucky new friends.
You see, the children in Mexico, at least the ones they met, are very different from California kids. They seemed to be happy the whole time. There was never a shortage of conversation topics, and everyone was so welcoming. They made the Waldorf kids feel special. They asked them all about their lives, how it was different. They joked around with them, called them "orange." (as they are from Orange County this is a very fitting name.)
And even though it was only 5 days, by pulling them into their family, their culture, and treating them as their best friends, for those 5 short days the kids of Waldorf School of Orange County felt special.
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