On any typical day I would normally listen to a variety of musical genres, including Spanish reggae and Latino dance music (the kind of music you would find at Cow Fish and even Taylor’s sometimes), neither of which are considered to be traditional Latino/Mexican music. However, during the week I began preparing myself for my journey to Ghana, I noticed I was doing a lot of things I would not normally do.

For many days in a row, I only listened to regional Mexican music and I even made a trip across town just to buy Mexican candy. I also went to church on Sunday with my family. Although I have been abroad before (I studied in Oviedo, Spain for five months), for the first time I felt that my Mexican identity was at risk, and that I would be completely disconnected from it for the next six weeks.

When I talked to my mom about this feeling, she reminded me of when I moved to the United States six years ago. At the beginning, I was homesick and even depressed, but after a week I met other students in high school with whom I had a lot in common. Most of my friends were either immigrants from Mexico like myself, or American citizens of Mexican descent. Joining student organizations like M.E.Ch.A (Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan), has played a crucial role in defining my identity and closeness to my roots.

Mexicans are one of the largest minority groups in the state of Oregon and although I have felt lack of representation of my community in places like the University of Oregon, I knew I would still be able to find someone that would understand what it’s like to be Mexican in Eugene or Oregon in general.

I knew right away that coming to Ghana was going to be a challenge for a variety of reasons and being homesick was one of them. Besides identifying as Mexican, I also consider myself an Oregonian, which makes me feel relieved because I will have people to talk to if I start to miss Oregon during my stay here. This will definitively make the transition easier. I may be the only Mexican in the Media in Ghana program, but I am probably not the only one in the city, therefore I will be positive from now on and hope that maybe somewhere in these six weeks I will meet a ‘paisano’ and begin to fully understand what its like to be Mexican in Ghana.