Monday, I woke up and went to go take a shower but there was no water! Silvia later came down and fixed it but by that time, I didn't have time to shower before I had to go to school. In the States, I usually don't think twice about not taking a shower before heading off to classes but here because it's so hot and you sweat so much, it feels pretty gross if you don't shower. Not showering for just one morning made me really thankful for all the times that the water does work!! Classes Monday went well and I came back and worked on homework, ate some lunch, talked to Carlos and Silvia a little and then headed to Plaza Fiestas to walk around and hang out in the AC for a while. I then came back home and went for a run and ate supper and then went to bed.
Tuesday was my last day of classes before the break. I woke up, got ready and had my quiet time and then headed out to my communications class. On bus ride home, I met a guy who was from Minneapolis but went to school in Green Bay and was studying here in Merida...it's a small world! I ate a quick lunch when I got home and then headed out to Spanish class where we worked on improving our pronunciation and then I went out for a run and ate supper and went to bed.
Wednesday, was Independence Day here in Mexico. In the morning, I met up with some friends and we went to the mall for the morning just to hang out. Our original plan was to go see a movie but we realized that there weren't any movies playing until later in the evening so some of the girls decided to get their hair cut and we watched. After a while, we headed home to eat lunch with our host families and rest before heading out that night. Around 8, we all met up at our favorite meeting spot...los arcos...and headed to the celebration. There were lights and noise makers everywhere! Part of the street had a bunch of street vendors so we grabbed some tacos for supper before heading into where "el grito" would be. Around 11, we followed the massive groups of people into the main square where the governor would give her speech and ring the bell. There were people everywhere!!! All of a sudden, all of the lights shut off and only the lights illuminating the stage were on. The governor gave her traditional speech and rang the bell and then the crowd shouted viva Mexico 3 times. It was pretty neat to see and to be a part of although we got some curious glances from several people. They were probably wondering what we were doing there. Afterwards there was a really sweet firework show. By the time all the festivities ended, it was pretty late so we decided to head home. It was such a neat thing to be a part of and in a lot of ways was similar to the way we celebrate Independence Day in the states.
Thursday, I slept in and then worked on some homework. I was then able to have some Skype dates with friends which was awesome! That afternoon, I met up with some friends and we went to a movie and then returned home for supper (tacos al pasor ) and I packed up to head out the next morning.
Friday morning, I woke up early and met up with three other gals from the program to head to Playa Del Carmen for the weekend. We found a good deal at an all-inclusive resort there and decided it would be a fun way to spend a few of our days off. We arrived in Playa around 1 and headed straight to our hotel which was gorgeous! There was green everywhere and a million things to do and see. We all headed straight to our rooms to drop off our bags and then went to the ocean/pool to swim and enjoy being outside. There was a rifle shooting contest going on and we figured that we might as well give it a shot (pun intended). It was the first time I have ever shot a rifle but it was pretty sweet. Shannon-one of the gals I went with, and I decided that we wanted to work out before dinner so we headed to the gym to lift weights and run. It was a pretty neat place to run and it was great to be able to run around on actual paths and not having to worry about twisting my ankle or being run over by a car! That night, we got dressed up and went to eat dinner at one of the restraints at the hotel. Everything was included so we could eat wherever we wanted to-there was a Japanese, Mexican, French, and Italian restaurant. After dinner Gabbby and Kelsey (the other two gals I went with) headed out to a club close to our hotel and Shannon and I went to a Latin dance show that was at the hotel. It was awesome to see so many different types of dances. My favorite was defiantly the tango-I love all Latin dances but for some reason the tango holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s just because I know I could never dance that gracefully. After the show, Shannon and I went walking on the beach and had a good talk. There was no one else out there so it made it feel like we were the only ones on the beach. Eventually, we returned back to our hotel room and went to bed.
The next morning, Saturday, I woke up early to have my devotions on the beach and then we ate breakfast and then we all headed out to downtown Playa. Gabbby, Kelesy, and I had decided that we wanted to go to a place called xplor and Shannon had plans to go to Cozumel for the day and go biking around the island. We all rode the bus to the same place and then headed our separate ways from there. Xplor is this huge adventure park built into an already existing cave system and it was super neat. We started our day out with ziplining over the forest/jungle. You could look down and see all these animals and stuff beneath you and it was pretty awesome. The entire course took 2 hours and some of the routes brought you through waterfalls which were refreshing as it was hot out! After the zip lines, we went on a river swim thorough these caves with staglites hanging down-we had fun looking at all the different ones. We then took these kayaks/canoes through another part of the cave. It was rather funny because no one knew how to paddle and kept running into the walls of the cave so we had to help them get turned around and explain how to paddle...all my rowing experience came in handy =).
We then dried off and went to a buffet that was included in the price of our ticket for lunch. The food was delicious and they even had broccoli and asparagus which was a treat. After lunch, we had about an hour until the place closed at 5 so we went on these 4-wheeler/ jeep things that we drove though the caves and on all these paths through the forest. They were really fun and a good way to wind down at the end of the day.
We then went back and met up with Shannon and headed back to the resort where I went for a run and worked out while the other gals caught up on some much needed sleep. Then we all got dressed up and went out for dinner and walked on the beach. Kelsey and I went for a late night swim and them we all headed to bed.
Sunday morning, I woke up before Sunrise and headed to the beach to have my own “church service.” Close to our hotel, there were these little lookout huts so I climbed up one of those and had a great view of the sunrise. There was no one else up or out on the beach so I was completely alone and it was really cool to spend a few hours alone with Jesus. I sang, prayed, read my Bible, and journaled. Afterwards, I went for a run on the beach which was awesome and then I met up with the gals and had breakfast. We spent the rest of the day swimming and laying out in the sun. Around 4:30 we headed out and back to the bus that would take us home to Merida. I got back to my house around 10:30 and unpacked and then went to bed.
This morning, I woke up and took a quick shower, had my quiet time, ate breakfast and headed out to school. I had a hard time staying awake in my international relations class but somehow I made it through the two hours and headed home where I worked on some homework and got caught up from being gone. After lunch, Sarah and I headed to el centro and just walked around and went exploring. We discovered the market here which is huge and a lot of fun. You can pretty much find everything under the sun there from nail clippers to kitchen knives to fresh flowers and raw meat. We shopped for a while and then we headed home and I went for a run and ate supper. Now I’m just planning on working on a little bit more homework and heading to bed. Hope you all had a great weekend and had a good start to your week!
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