Hey there guys!
I am officially done with school here in Merida! Whoot whoot! My last class was on Friday and I have enjoyed relaxing and getting things done around here. It's hard to believe that I am on the final stretch of my semester here. I praying for endurance to "finish the race well" and looking forward to being home soon.
Monday began my last week of school. We had our last lecture for International Relations which made me a little sad because that was my favorite class and I really enjoyed our professor. The sadness didn't last too long though because after class, Dez and I headed to Progresso where we enjoyed spending the day together. I haven't spent a ton of one-on-one time with her and it was really fun to get to know her a little better. It was cruise day at Progresso which meant a lot of Americans. It was weird hearing so much English and I got a little annoyed when vendors would call out to me in English as I walked down the street...it was kind of a surreal feeling to not really want fit into your own culture (or at least be perceived as a tourist). We eventually headed home where I ran, ate supper and then watched Elf to try to get into the Christmas mood. It's so odd to hear Christmas music and see decorations when it's 100 degrees outside! It just doesn't feel the same.
Tuesday, we had our final exam in Spanish class and it was nice to get that done and out of the way. I was able to Skype with my parents that night and that was good. I can't wait to get home and be able to have conversations face to face!
Wednesday, we had a take home test in international relations so I worked on that and then we had our last underwater archeology where we turned in our final paper. After classes, Dez, Sarah and I headed to a coffee shop in El Centro to work more on our tests.
Thursday, our communications class was canceled so I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on my test and sent that in. I then was able to go for a run and headed out to Spanish class. After Spanish class, I had my last tutoring session and we proofread a final paper. It was sad to say goodbye to my tutor; she really helped me a lot and I feel like I am able to write better thanks to her help.
Friday morning was my last class: History of US-Mexico relations. I had a final presentation and that went well. I headed home after class for a little bit and then met up with Shannon. She volunteers at an orphanage on Mondays and Fridays and I asked if I could go along with her to see what it was like. When we got there, we were greeted by two little girls; one who obviously needed glasses because her eyes were crossed-she was adorable. They immediately grabbed our hands and pulled us in. We spent the first part of our time there working with them on homework. It was hard to see them struggling with simple addition and subtraction problems but I enjoyed working with them and was happy when several of them seemed to really understand by the time we were done. Those are the times I wish my Spanish was better so I could explain things in an easier way but they seem to get the concepts I was trying to get across. Afterwards, we played with the kids for a while. One of the little girls pretended to faint and I joked that she was dead and had a pretend "funeral" for her, "burying" her with things that were lying around and putting "flowers" (tissue paper in her hands). The kids thought it was hilarious and all wanted to be dead..they spent the rest of the time "dying" and having funerals. One of the girls grabbed my hand and told me she was going to call me Hannah Montana ( i guess that's easier than Brenna) because I look exactly like her. I got a kick out of that. They also all though Shannon and I were sisters because we both have blond hair and the same color eyes..it was fun trying to explain to them that we were just friends, not sisters. They didn't seem to quite understand how we could look so similar and not be related! It was really fun to spend an afternoon there and play with them but it also made me really sad thinking that they didn't have parents. While it was obvious the orphanage tried to provide the kids with everything they needed, it was pretty sparse and everything was old and had obviously been used before. It made me realize how lucky I am to have a family and a gorgeous home!
Saturday, I woke up bright and early and headed to el centro to go on a trip to Campeche, a city about 3 hours away from Merida. Some of the girls from our program are in a history of art class and the class was taking a trip at the end of the semester and the cost was only $30 pesos (about $3) so we were invited to come along. Shannon and I were the only ones who showed up as everyone else had gone out the night before to celebrate being done with classes and didn't want to wake up early. Our first stop was some ruins. It was fun climbing around on them and not having a guided tour so we could do what we wanted. After the ruins, we went to a Spanish fort built around the 1600s that had cannons that were used to shoot pirates..it doesn’t get much cooler than that! There was a great view to the ocean and a sweet draw string bridge. We then hopped back on the bus and headed to Campeche where we spent several hours looking around the city. Shannon and I explored a path along the beach and got into a really great conversation about faith based on works or belief. Eventually, we loaded back on the buses and headed back to Merida.
Sunday, I enjoyed a day around home where I swam in our pool and worked on organizing all of my pictures from the trip. After a run ( I am sure going to miss being able to run in such beautiful weather), I went to go see the movie "entangled" in Spanish. It was hilarious and probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Oh also there was another cockroach in my shower so I killed it with my tennis shoes. Man, I hate those things! They are so gross but I would rather know that they are dead than crawling around my room!
Today (Monday) I woke up and met Shannon and Sarah at the beach. A little bit after we got there it started getting really cloudy and cold and rainy so we went in a little store to wait it out. Eventually the rain stopped so we went for a walk on the beach but it was still cloudy so we decided to head back. Shannon and I went shopping at Gran Plaza where I helped hunt for a dress for her and then we headed home. I don't really have any exciting plans for the rest of the night; I’m just planning on hanging around home.
Hope everyone is having a great week! Nos vemos pronto (see you soon)!
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