Orientation...

Hey there everyone! It's been a busy week with orientation and trying to get everything settled in here in Merida but I finally had a chance this afternoon to sit down and let you know what I've been up to. (For those of you wondering, I can now officially get into my house on my own...although my host family still teases me about not being able to open up the door :) )


On Tuesday, we had our full official day of orientation. We met Diana, our program director here in Merida and I immediately liked her. She did a really good job of explaining things to us and helping us feel prepared for living here in Merida for the next 4 months. It was a pretty long day-we started at 8 and got done at 6 but all in all, it went pretty well. After orientation, I got to go for my first run here in Merida...in the rain. I came home soaked (partly because of the rain and partly because it is so hot here) but happy.

Running here in Mexico is quite different that running in the States. The roads/sidewalks are not flat and it's pretty easy to twist an ankle so I’m being super careful. Luckily, there is a tiny park where I can run laps at but 45 minutes of running in circles gets a little boring so I've been searching for the best running route.

After running, I came home and took a shower and then ate supper and talked to my host family. We ended up watching telenovelas together which was super fun and then I went to bed because I was sooo tired.

The next morning it was up again at 6:30 and off to orientation. We went to the building where we will have all of our classes. It's about a half hour from my house so my host mom showed me how to get there using the bus system. The campus is located in the middle of the "forest" and is pretty sweet because there are all these animals around. Everything is really open because they don't have to worry about it getting really cold and there a lot of neat spots to study. The staff was very friendly and helpful so that put me more at ease about taking classes in a different country.

We went back home to eat a quick lunch and then came back for our first Spanish Class that afternoon. For class, we visited a local Hacienda Aristi and saw how rum was made. It's a really interesting process and the man giving us the tour did good job explaing things to us. After class, I came home and went out for a run and then ate supper with my family and went to bed.

Thursday morning, we learned all about different volunteer opportunities. The one I think I want to et involved with is called "Hoy en tu Comunidad." It is a program that goes to different rural cities every Saturday and offers help to people in poorer communities. It sounds like a really good way to get "hands on" experience in the culture and get to know the places around Merida as well as get to know other volunteers who go on the trips.

That afternoon, we had Spanish class once again and then I went for a run and to lift weights at a gym close to my house. The gyms here are defiantly not as modern as back in the States (at least the cheap ones aren't) and are an experience! I defiantly am looking forward to going more often with some of the other gals on the program.

When I got home, I took a shower and talked to my host mom for quite a while about past students they had had in their house. Some of her stories were hilarious and I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her better.

Friday was one of the best days here so far. We left at 8 to go to Telchac Puerto, a beach close to Progresso to just relax and celebrate being done with orientation. We had day passes at a hotel right on the beach and it was amazing!! The hotel was gorgeous and had a private beach so for a while in the morning we were the only ones on the beach! We went kayaking, played volleyball, swam in the ocean and in the pool, made sandcastles, and just had fun getting to know the other students on the program better.

After we got back, a group of us decided to meet up a little bit later to see the movie despicable me in Spanish. I have never seen it in English but I'm pretty sure it's way better in Spanish. All of us were dying laughing and I was surprised that I understood pretty much every word being said.

Today, we left early again to go to Uxmal which was an ancient Mayan city. It was so neat to visit but super hot! After Uxmal, we went to a hacienda which is a lot like a plantation and took a tour there. I enjoyed seeing the hacienda and learning more about how they worked but it was super, super hot! Plus, I am pretty sunburned from the beach yesterday so that didn't make it any better. By the time we got to the bus, we were all really thankful for air-conditioning and cold water.

This afternoon, I'm just working on some homework and probably going for a run and then a group of us are going to go to El Centro tonight to walk around. They close the streets on the weekends and bands play and there are traditional dancers, and lots of different activities going on.

Tomorrow we're going to Chichen Itza and a cenote to swim and then Monday we start classes! More later!