For those of you who don't know (probably very few), one of my favorite foods here in Mexico is tacos al pastor...They are seriously the best things ever and are super cheap and on Saturday night, I ate my first ones here in Merida. Let's just say it was a pretty epic moment. Let me back up and start from the beginning though.
After getting back from Uxmal and the hacienda, we all decided to go back to our houses and rest for a while before meeting up to go to el centro. Around 8ish, we all met up to take the bus into the city. The only problem was, we weren't quite sure how to get there. Originally, we all thought that Gabriel, a friend that Ben made, was going to meet up with us to show us how to get there but it ended up that he was already in el centro so we had to get there on our own. An hour later or so (after crossing the street about a billion times and asking evey bus that passed by if it was going to el centro) we got on a bus and headed out. We met up with Gabriel after we got to el centro and headed to a little restaurant to talk. It was fun to get to know him a little better and talk with the other gals that were there. Afterwards, we decided we were hungry and wanted to eat tacos al pastor so we headed to a restaurant close to our houses. It was delicious and there was even a live band and a play area..I am defiantly planning on going back when I am not wearing a skirt or a dress and play there!
Around 1 in the morning, we decided it was time to head back and all walked home to our houses. Sunday morning, I woke up early again and got ready and had my quiet time for the day. My mom then drove me to meet up with the rest of the group to head out to Chitzen Itza. It was about 2 hours away so we pretty much slept the whole way there because we were all exhausted from the busy week and the late night.
Chitzen Itza was interesting although I preferred Uxmal more because you could actually climb on the pyramids and stuff but Chitzen Itza was HUGE!! We were there for about 3 hours and didn't even get though 1/4 of it!
Afterwars, we drove about 20 minutes to a cenote. For those of you who have no idea what a cenote is, you should Google it. Pretty much it's an underground water source/cave with a huge hole in the top. They are super deep and you can't touch the bottom. The one we went to was gorgeous and had a huge ledge you could jump off of (it was about 20-25 feet above the water). At first, it was pretty scary but jumping off was awesome! It was defiantly one of the coolest places I have even been swimming. We swam for an hour or so and then headed back to Merida.
That night, I got ready for my classes and had my own "church service" and listened to one of John Piper's sermons online. He was talking about how as Christians our suffering actually glorifies God and pointed out the fact that we have become way too comfortable in our faith and think that we shouldn't suffer. The message really hit me hard and made me think. So often, I think I have it so bad but the truth is that others all around the world are in way worse conditions than me and yet are rejoicing in their suffering...not because it's fun to go through but because others are coming to Christ because of it. It may be hard here in Merida but it's through suffering and hard times that #1 God molds us into the people he wants us to be and #2, he uses these times to bring others to himself. Defiantly a good reminder while I am here!
This morning was my first day of classes so my mom showed me how to take the bus to my school. It's super easy but I got a kick out of how worried she was about me :) I had a relaciones internacionales (international relations) and a history of Mexico class. They both went well although I don't think I will take the history class as it won't count towards my major. I think they are going to be challenging because everything is in Spanish but I feel like so far, it's manageable. Speaking up in my classes intimidates me a little but I think it's just something I am going to have to get over.
I got done with classes at noon and my mom and dad came to pick me up and take me home. I worked on homework and brought my laundry to the lavandaria (the laundry mat) to be washed and then came home to eat lunch.
For lunch we ate frijoles con Puerco, traditional dish here in the Yucatan. It's beans, pieces of pork and rice and then you add limes, radishes, salsa, chilies, and avocado...it was really good!! After lunch, I worked on homework, took a nap, and ran.
I'm getting used to running here although it will be a miracle if I make it 4 months without twisting something or getting run over by a car! I've found that the best times to run are at night or early in the morning because otherwise it's super hot. The only bad thing about that is that it's usually dark and makes it hard to see things but in general, the streets are pretty well lit and I can run on the sidewalks if I'm careful.
Other than that, nothing much is new around here. For some reason, I've been feeling a little homesick but I'm hoping that as I get busy with school and volunteering, that it will get better. Merida is a great city and i love that I am learning my way around more. I can't wait till I can get pretty much anywhere without having to ask everyone how to get to a certain place! Well, I’d better head to bed so that I’m rested for classes tomorrow! Buenas noches!
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