A wedding in or pueblo of San Pablo Etla, Oaxaca.
Embarking on an experience living abroad is full of surprises, to put it mildly. I for one, LOVE surprises. My husband always gives me a hard time when life gets complicated living abroad, chiding me when things get rough with comments like ” yes, you are the one who wanted to experience “real” Mexico”…but, to experience the true texture of a place, one needs to be ready for the inconvenient, the embarrassing, and the unknown.
The thing is, we arrive with expectations and an uncontrollable personal “ruler” with which we gauge our lives against those of the people who surround us. …It is hard to avoid, and a little ridiculous to assume, that we can shed our histories to participate in a “new” culture without comparing life to what we know. Even after years in Mexico I catch myself making assumptions about people and life in our village. I assume there will always be running water. I assume people have a cell phones or email addresses. And as for the children, I assume they all can attend school.
The real privilege of living abroad is to experience daily life first hand, in its most raw form, be it good, bad, or ugly. There is no greater way to appreciate every moment of living than to spend time in a foreign culture where even a trip to the grocery store can be full of challenge and gratification! I invite you to seek new experiences in life, to build bridges between the familiar and the unknown, and to know a culture other than your own. 
Artist, traveler, and social entrepreneur, Adele Hammond divides her time between Hood River, Oregon and the home where her heart is, Oaxaca, Mexico. The raw texture and color of Mexico became a part of her life when a year abroad with her family in a small Zapotec pueblo outside the city of Oaxaca gradually evolved into an extraordinary five.
Adele blogs about the culture, the crafts, and the people of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico as well as her experiences in working with indigenous artisans there. Her travels take her down the back roads and into the workshops and homes of these people, where their diverse, ancient traditions and crafts are still being practiced today.
Her business, Latin Threads Trading, showcases and brings to a world market the work of these talented artisans while encouraging enterprise and empowering individuals to flourish independently and through their communities.
