Alicia Alanís performs at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Show
(Photo by Carolina Cantú)

This is the first of several blogs written by Mariachi Nuevo Santander students describing their experiences representing the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Show in Ashland, Oregon earlier this month. We hope you enjoy reading about it!

I woke up at 2:45 Thursday morning, which means I slept like four hours. I didn’t mind because I was super excited. We took three planes to get to Ashland from Roma, and I actually really liked it. While on the plane, I saw Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helen, which was amazing. Once we arrived in Ashland, I stepped outside the airport and immediately fell in love with the weather. It’s nothing like our weather in Roma, Texas, where it’s extremely hot!

Back in Roma, we practiced a lot. A week before coming here, we practiced Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 10 am to 12 noon, and again from 1 pm to 4 pm. That was intense! I know all of the hard work we put into our music will pay off in the end, though.

Thanks to our director, Mr. Eloy Garza, and to Mr. Yamil Yunes, who is also with us and who started it all, we are here in the beautiful city of Ashland. Without them, we wouldn’t have come this far. In just one year of having Mr. Garza as our director, we have accomplished things that I honestly didn’t think were possible. For example, winning first place at the Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza competition in December was our first huge accomplishment, and it changed everything. Having the opportunity to be here in Ashland, and then Los Angeles, is also quite an accomplishment. I didn’t think the school would allow us to travel this far away from home. It shows that our leadership has faith in us.

Alicia Alanís, guitar player
Mariachi Nuevo Santander
Roma High School