When home transcends borders
Mike Peto‘s Meche, it’s not just another story. Meche is a beautiful metaphor of 31 chapters in which Peto familiarizes us with the life of a girl who, like gray whales lives her life between two very different places.
Meche (Mercedes) is a Mexican girl who grows up between San Diego and Baja California, living in San Diego until her mother remarried and then moving to Mexico with her dad. At times she feels alienated and rejected from both cultures. There are also parts of her that feels at home in both cultures, and in this book she finds a place in the world defined not by nationality but by values that transcend nationality.
| ATTENTION! |
| It´s getting harder to share content via social media. I recommend you to subscribe to this blog to assure that you will keep having access to all the free materials, activities and ideas that I share. Thank you. |
Crossing the border on a regular basis is a reality for Meche as for the grey wales that live in the United States, and that migrate from Alaska in the summer to the warm waters of California and Mexico for breeding.
For both Meche and the cetaceans, contrast is a constant in their lives. A contrast that is natural for them but that is easily interrupted by those who are not part of that worldt.
In a very subtle but honest way, Peto allows the reader to know a little more thoroughly about animal rights defenders challenges as well as the great difficulties suffered by mexican people in the United States.
Reading Meche, reminded me of a city like El Paso, TX, where the mixture of cultures is latent, creating a vibrant and unique environment. From almost every corner in El Paso it’s possible to see a large Mexican flag that proudly flies in Ciudad Juárez. I have not been in Ciudad Juárez but I’m sure that from that city you can also see many American flags waving in Texas land. For both Meche and the gray whales borders are nothing more than artificial and absurd obstacles that should not exist.
Peto’s language is rich and descriptive, which allows the teacher to expose their students to the best type of CI: CI + 1 where we not only we make sure we use language that they can understand, but at the same time we challenge them with new words they don’t know yet.
Check out this video that shows the experience and excitement of visiting the whale sanctuary. The video is in Spanish and also subtitled in Spanish.
Buy Meche HERE and learn more about author and WL consultant Mike Peto HERE
I WILL BE PRESENTING TWO SESSIONS AT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ONLINE CONFERENCES FOR WORLD LANGUAGE TEACHERS: COMPREHENSIBLE ONLINE.
CLICK HERE TO FIND MORE ABOUT MY SESSIONS AND REGISTER BEFORE JANUARY 15TH TO GET A $25 DISCOUNT.
@Copyright 2019 Diego Ojeda, this material is intended for educational purposes and it’s free. It is prohibited to profit from it in any way or form. For questions contact Diego Ojeda @ diego@srojeda.com
I´D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHARE MY SUCESSFUL SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION APPROACH THROUGH ONE OF MY ONE DAY WORKSHOPS. FOR WORKSHOPS DESCRIPTIONS AND CONTACT INFO PLEASE CLICK HERE
DIEGO OJEDA 