Everything I did to prepare for Mexico (and when I did it)

By Jessie Punn, Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico

As my third week at UDLAP draws to a close, I have found myself reflecting on all the decisions I made which have led me to be sitting in an extremely comfy armchair, in the gloriously air-conditioned UDLAP library, overlooking the most beautiful of campuses. Moving to Mexico and leaving behind literally everything familiar has certainly been an adjustment, but I am a person that loves a checklist and lives life according to my Google calendar, so here is a mostly comprehensive list of timeline of everything that I did to prepare for UDLAP (that I wish I would have had last year!)

Read more: Everything I did to prepare for Mexico (and when I did it)

Originally, I was determined that I wanted to spend this year working at a placement in the charity sector, preferably in Cuba (which is a choice I am now extremely glad I didn’t make), or anywhere else in Latin America. In early September I began researching opportunities and charities that I could work with, but after two months of constant emails in my very best Spanish about every internship with every NGO I could find in Cuba, Mexico and beyond, I had still heard nothing by November.

It was at that point, and after a lot of phone calls with my mum, I came to realise that trying to find a job nine months in advance that would pay me enough money to live on in a different continent was actually going to be very difficult, and that it would be a lot of pressure. I also knew deep down that I would prefer to have the community and freedom of being a student. Besides, I’m 21 – I have the rest of my life to work.

I started researching universities, making many pros and cons lists, and looking at courses. The thing that drew me specifically to UDLAP (apart from Mexican food) is that they offer a community service module, organised through the university, where you can volunteer with a myriad of different causes in the city – to me this felt like the perfect way to combine student life while still having a fulfilling experience and an opportunity to give back to the country that I will be calling home for the next year. 

On December 1st, I submitted my Declaration of Intent: a full year’s study at UDLAP, Almería, or Vigo.

I spent the next month and a half waiting anxiously, convincing myself that I would be happy with all three options (I mean I probably would have, but obviously Mexico is far more appealing).

On January 22nd, in the middle of three week-long exams, I had UDLAP allocated.

Over the next couple of month I started looking at housing, specifically with Cholula Capital, which had been recommended to me personally, and I had also seen here in previous blogs, I read all of the blogs on this page, I started filling out all of the forms and risk assessments, mostly I started talking non-stop about my impending year abroad – to the point where I had “I’m not going to Mexico” written on my shirt at a white lies social.

On March 12th I had my travel vaccinations: typhoid, polio, hep B (I believe, it was a lot of sleeps ago and I really don’t remember, but your doctor will tell you what you need). You don’t have to do this this early, I was just bored of not actually being able to do anything else to prepare for the year. 

Around this time as well I started to think about flights and budgets. The academic year here starts earlier than in the UK, so I would recommend getting here in early August so that you have plenty of time to settle in and get your bearings before classes start. 

On March 27th I received notification of my nomination to UDLAP.

On April 2nd I requested my academic transcript (available to buy from the uni online store for £20, arrives in the post within a few days, you also receive an online copy). I started looking seriously at housing and contacted César at Cholula Capital, and I completed my SFE for the year – you don’t have to do anything special to tell them you’re doing a year abroad, you just have to tick a different box.

On April 6th I had a call with César about housing. I also started making this list of the timeline I wish I would have had.

On April 8th I booked my flights – Heathrow to Boston, two nights there, then to Mexico on August 2nd

On April 30th I booked my Visa appointment. They come out at 9am on the last working day of the month for the next month i.e. April 30th the appointments for June are released. They also tend to go quite quickly at that time of year so you need to be on it.

May 15th was the deadline to apply to UDLAP which was not enjoyable in the middle of exam season.

On May 20th I signed my housing contract with Cholula Capital and paid my deposit.

On June 4th I got my acceptance letter, which was very lucky because my Visa appointment was on June 10th, which I had to go to London for. I would recommend that you read the Visa website very closely because I had not realised how much stuff I needed until about 3pm the day before, which was less than ideal (particularly as I had to start work at 4pm)

In early July there were two orientation days for UDLAP which are mandatory, and I would recommend you attend because there was some stuff that was actually pretty important to know – namely the fact that your attendance makes up part of your grade, which is a foreign concept to me and my SEATs account.

I spent the last week of July soaking up every moment with my friends and family (and my dog), and working on my pre-Mexico tan – which was very unnecessary because the UV here is insane. But those last weeks of swimming in the river and being extremely humbled by how difficult I found it to cycle uphill around my town were the perfect way to say goodbye to the UK for now.