By Michele Tjin
Los Gatos Weekly-Times
Article Launched: 08/28/2007 12:27:15 AM PDT

San Jose, CA — An adventurous spirit, some decent Spanish and an open mind took Ali Uro-May all the way to Michoacan, Mexico. She did not go to relax on the beach but to paint trash cans. After six weeks abroad, she's returned to Los Gatos, and now she's speaking in superlatives.

"It was the most rewarding and the most amazing summer I ever had," she said.

Ali was one of nine teens from Saratoga and Los Gatos who returned this month after a summer in Latin America working on community service projects with the Amigos de las Americas program. All the high school students who devote their summer to Amigos are partnered with another Amigos participant, and together they work with local community leaders to teach classes to children or do construction projects.

Ali, a senior at Los Gatos High School, and her counterpart got into the habit of waking up early in the morning and going for an hour walk before breakfast. She spent the rest of her mornings planning how to teach about dental hygiene, nutrition and drugs. Like other Amigos teens, she had little access to such amenities as e-mail and phone service.

"I was not at all homesick, but sometimes I missed my cell phone and talking on the phone," Ali said. "I liked the pace of life."

While the local teens were in Latin America to immerse themselves in the communities, the natives were just as interested in the newcomers. Children were eager to horse around with the visitors, and adults were extremely curious about American culture.

"Everybody there is definitely genuine," said Saratoga High School senior Myles Hornberger. "They will carry on a conversation about whatever you want to talk about. They will invite you into their house."

Myles and his partner from Chicago spent the summer in Costa Rica teaching children about environmental issues and the importance of brushing their teeth. They also spent four weeks building a new water tank that would supply the community with more water during summers.

For many of the teens, this was their first experience living on their own for almost two months, let alone in a foreign country. Being alone without family means having to grow up fast.

"I knew it would change me a little bit," said Michael Stone, a Los Gatos senior. "It made me more mature, and I made important life decisions. I'm a lot more independent. I can function without my parents, which is kind of sad."

What they took back home to Los Gatos and Saratoga is the sense that global issues are more complicated than many make them out to be, several of them said. Michael, who traveled to the Dominican Republic, had his eyes opened to the racism that exists between the Dominicans and the Haitians, who come over for jobs.

Other real-life issues came to the forefront. The American teens had many conversations with their communities about legal and illegal immigration. Eric Odell, a senior from Los Gatos, said his trip to Guanajuato, Mexico, changed his views on the world. The members of the community where he lived were dependent for survival on relatives working north of the border and sending money home, he said.

"I realize that there is a lot more going on with the situation with immigration than people realize," Eric said. "It's far more difficult to solve than people think."

Traveling to Latin America was a culture shock, as was returning to California. First, Eric had to adapt to flies everywhere in Mexico. He also got used to staying up late, getting up early and taking a nap in the middle of the day, but he has had to wean himself of that habit once he got back to Los Gatos. While in Mexico, he also learned not to flush toilet paper down the toilet, as is the custom there, and he found he was doing the same at home.

"I've been telling everybody that the trip I took was interesting," he said.

For the local youths, the trip this summer was an experience of a lifetime. They became more adult and learned to be grateful for what they have. The importance of being close to family is now ingrained in Dustin Chen's brain. Even though the locals living in Honduras, where he traveled, were poor, they were rich with family and friends.

"Even if things look bleak, you can draw something good out of any situation," said the Saratoga senior.

In Honduras, he built a stone floor for a school to replace an old one. He also learned how to milk cows and ride horses. He signed up for the Amigos trip to understand life from a different point of view, and the Hondurans gave him that perspective, he said.

Other local high school students who participated were Robbie Nakata of Los Gatos and Hana Pruzansky of Saratoga. Los Gatos residents Jane Riley and Julia Still, both Presentation High School students, also took part in the program.

The students have been reflecting on their summer. Some of their friends have been inquiring how Latin America has treated them, and they are happily obliging. Several have already committed to be a part of the program again next year, to recruit others or to save money and visit again.

Ali said that at one point, before leaving Mexico, she wasn't sure about the value of her trip and thought perhaps that she was wasting her summer. Her thoughts now lie on the other end of the spectrum.

"Now I'm more aware of life outside of California and outside of the U.S.," she said. "I just feel lucky to have what I have."