PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW FREIRICH

Total immersion into the culture

The first time I traveled to Mexico, I went to Cuernavaca on an International Relations exchange program during college. The experience of living with a family, speaking no English, and taking classes in Spanish was very challenging, but after some time, my fluency increased dramatically and my sense of the culture and surroundings became much more familiar.

Total immersion allowed me to truly learn what it was like to experience the way of life as an insider and thus enabled me to become bilingual and bicultural.

During that time, I traveled with my fellow students and friends to many other parts of Mexico. I took this experience and knowledge and incorporated it into my work as an Executive Producer and Director.