
Living Accommodations
"Everything was top notch! I felt so affirmed, so comfortable, with the beautiful campus, the homelike classrooms, the personalized program, the positive, encouraging and supportive staff. This made it so easy for me to engage my mind and spirit in the very intensive effort the program requires." - From a former CIRIMEX student
Participants
select the living accommodations that best serve their personal needs and
preferences. Options include boarding with a Mexican family, apartments,
seminary boarding and inexpensive to five-star inns.
For lodging at commercial establishments participants are asked to include the price of the first day's lodging with the application if CIRIMEX is to make the reservation. The terms for recovery of unused hotel registration fees are determined by each establishment and usually require timely prior cancellation. Each participant must deal directly with the management of commercial establishments regarding all other aspects of his/her account.
Since prices are often changed, please inquire from our business office for current rates. CIRIMEX makes arrangement for home boarding. For living arrangements at a seminary or religious house, each student is asked to make the necessary arrangements personally or through his seminary or diocese.
Typically
the CIRIMEX Experience begins when a student arrives at the Miguel Hidalgo
International Airport which serves and is served by a number of Mexican, U.S.
and other national airlines. Someone form CIRIMEX, usually Sr. Caridad, meets
and welcomes and transports the new arrival to his/her lodging.
The living accommodations
provided for the students are a significant aspect of the CIRIMEX language and
culture program, so great care is taken in screening homes. We make every
effort to match each student with the appropriate provider in a clean,
comfortable, welcoming, supportive home within walking distance of the CIRIMEX
campus. Homes where no other English speaker resides are selected so the
student will have multiple opportunities to practice the Spanish language. The
homes generally offer a private room, sometimes a private bath or even a suite.
All meals are taken at the residence and a gracious welcome to all family
activities and events in which the student cares to participate is extended
such as special meals, casual conversation, family parties, christenings,
holidays, family outings, weekend vacations, etc.
In terms of language
learning, the home-away-from home provides constant practice in the language of
everyday life and personal interaction. In terms of the cultural program, the
home provides the student with a front row seat for observing, up close and
personal, the social patterns of Mexican life i.e., interactions of spouses,
children and elders, godparents, extended family members, etc. The student has
the opportunity to both observe and participate in basic patterns of interaction
and social practices with wide-ranging discussions of topics of current
interest in Mexican life.
The home-away-from home helps
to move the learning program from the strictly academic focus of grammar and
rhetoric to language-for-use-in-real-life arenas. The student has the
opportunity to practice the Spanish he/she has learned in a variety of everyday
settings.