Conference at UACJ

In February, I had the opportunity to attend and present at el Dia Internacional Lengua Materna, XII Edición at la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ) in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Here's how that happened: a friend from grad school teaches in their English program and coordinates this annual event for their local teachers and undergrad students in their English teacher training program. This year, she wanted to expand the conference, and she invited me as well as several of our other classmates and one of our professors to speak. Not only that, but the university there paid all of our expenses and made arrangements for our flights, hotels, meals, and everything! 

It was such an honor to be a part of the event, and it was definitely a treat to have a mini-reunion with some of my classmates from UA! I hadn't seen most of them since graduation. We were all treated like VIPs the whole time--airport pickups/drop off, daily rides to the conference, charging meals at the hotel to our rooms, dinner and a show out one night, a gift bag (mug, pen, book), and a short tour of the city. It was a blast, and it was also neat to meet my friend's colleagues and students, who were so hospitable and friendly. 

Overall, it was a lovely experience, and it sounds like we might get a return invite next year, which I would be thrilled to accept! Here are a few pics:

My keynote was the second presentation on the first day.
Title: Exploring Multimodal Genres in ESOL Writing Classes

At the end of the first day. The friend who invited us is to my left.

Dinner and a show in the evening after the first conference day.

It was a very festive atmosphere! The show included songs
and dancing from various states in Mexico as well as
horse riding, lasso tricks, mariachi music, and more!

some campus buildings

Our University of Arizona faculty/alumni group shot. 

And a pic with many of the other speakers from the event.

A mural of a famous singer
on a downtown building.

On our downtown tour.

We decided to try a snack...
fried grasshoppers with chile and lime.

Not bad! Very crunchy.

The cathedral downtown.

The original church, next door to the cathedral.
It looked a lot like the older churches
we just saw in Santa Fe at Christmas.

We stopped at this diner-style restaurant for coffee.

In front of a big new statue.

Group selfie after our last breakfast together.

Some entrepreneurs as we waited in line to drive across
the border to catch our flights out of El Paso.