Wow! It has been quite an eventful week here in Merida. I'll try not to bore you all with an extremely long post but so much happened this week to tell you all about!
Monday, was a normal day with classes and homework. I was really excited when I was able to laugh at a joke the professor made in class because I actually understood it not just because everyone else was laughing..a lot of times, we, as Americans, don't get the jokes made in class because they are references to Mexican politics or some other aspect of the culture that we just don't quite get but it felt good to actually know why the joke was so funny. That night, I went out for a nice long run and saw one of the most gorgeous sunsets here. I'm not really sure why, but pretty much every sunset here is beautiful although Monday night was exceptionally gorgeous...it makes for some great runs and I can't help but praise God for His works of art.
Tuesday was another day of classes. After Spanish class that night, Gaby, Emma and I went to the salsa dancing class we normally go to and then I headed to the gym to bike and lift weights. The gym here is pretty different than gyms back home...all the equipment is super old and there is no air conditioning. I usually opt to go for a run as #1 it's free and #2 I like running more than biking #3 it's fun to explore new places but for some reason, my legs had been feeling kinda tight the past few days so I decided to bike to see if it would make them feel better. I'll appreciate the gym and modern equipment we have even more when I get back to the states!
Wednesday, my host mom and I went out for breakfast with another host mom and her daughter. Both of the host moms are a hoot and we had fun talking with them. Our underwater archeology class was canceled so we had the afternoon off. After our International Relations class, several of us met up and went to a mall about a 40 minute walk from my house and ate Chinese food for lunch which was incredible, shopped a little, and then went to a movie. It was nice to spend a day doing something other than homework. That night, I got to skype with some friends in Minnesota which was great and made my night and it was so good to get caught up on what was going on in their lives!
Thursday was another day of classes. After Spanish class that afternoon, I had met with my tutor and we studied for a test I have coming up. I just about died though because I had been in class for a straight 4 hours and then spent 2 hours going over my notes with her. It was good to review but my I thought my brain was going to explode! 6 hours of straight class in Spanish is pretty tough!! Hopefully, I will do well on the test! :)
Friday, I had my Mexico-US relations class in the morning and then came home and did some reading by our pool. My homework here consists of a lot of reading and studying my notes which is nice as I can bring them pretty much anywhere. I love being able to work on homework by our pool where I can enjoying being in the sun, hop in the pool when it gets hot, and do homework at the same time..life doesn't get much better than that!
Saturday, we had to be at Hoy en tu Comunidad an hour earlier than usual so that meant waking up at 4 in the morning and heading to the bus stop. The village we went to is 3 hours away from Merida so we needed to leave earlier in order to get there on time. It was an amazing day. The village is ranked as the 3rd poorest in Mexico and 90% of the population speaks Mayan. Most of the children can speak both Spanish and Mayan because school is in Spanish so they helped us translate quite a bit. I picked up on a few basic phrases like what is your name, my name is..., how are you feeling, where does it hurt, but it was quite the adventure trying to communicate with people there. I tried a new fruit there called Ciruelas. They are a small yellow fruit and taste a lot like mangos and were soo good! I spent the day working with the kids. We started the day talking about nutrition and hygiene and gave them free toothbrushes and toothpaste and had them practice brushing their teeth with us and then we played games for the rest of the day. I taught them how to play SPUD which I just called BASTA (stop) because I wan't quite sure what other name to call it. We also had a relay race, played tag, and jumped rope They seemed to get a quick out of it and I enjoyed playing with them just as much as they did. It was fun to spend the day getting to love on a ton of children. They were all precious and it was really hard to be there knowing they needed so much more that we could give them in only one day. The toughest part of the day was after we had packed up. A few of us decided to go for a walk around the village while we were waiting for the doctors to finish up the last consultations of the day. On our walk, we got a chance to see more of the village. Most of the houses were just huts with thatched roofs and didn't have electricity. The only library in the entire municipality had only one wall of books. While it wasn't the poorest place I have ever been to in my life, it's one of the poorest I have seen so far here in Mexico. The part that broke my heart was that we were only able to be there for half a day and I know that there is so much more to be done than just give medical exams and play with kids! It was a really good reminder of how blessed I am and how much I have in comparison with so many others around the world. I wish I had the words to describe more of my experience there but I’m still sorting through everything and trying to figure it all out. Hoy en tu comunidad has been such a great way to get to know more about the culture here and to be able to see what the villages are like and how the majority of people in the country live.
That night when we got home, Shannon and I decided to go for a run. We were just going along, enjoying our run, and discussing whether hell exists (she wasn't quite sure that it did) when all of a sudden we hear this horrible noise followed by whining. We quickly realized that the car behind us had hit a stray dog! It was the saddest thing to hear. Several blocks later, I went to hurdle a cement block that was lying in the street (here in Mexico there are always things everywhere so I didn't even stop to think that it might actually be blocking something) and landed on a slab of wet cement. Talk about leaving my mark here in Mexico! The entire right side of my body was covered in cement. The hilarious part was that we were still pretty far out from my house so I had to finish our run in cement. It must have been quite the sight! I actually felt worse for messing up the freshly paved sidewalk than for myself. When I got home I had to try to wash everything off including my shoes which still have bits of cement attached to them because I couldn't get it off. It was a pretty exciting run.
When I told my host family what happed later at supper, they couldn't stop laughting. First I can't figure out how to unlock their door and then I come home covered in cement...they are going to have some good stories to tell their other host students! :)
We had pizza for supper which made the night a little bit better and then my host mom and I stayed up talking about pretty much everything under the sun. One of the stories she told me was how the word gringo came to be used. According to the story, during the Mexican revolution, there was a famous castle in Mexico City known as Chapultepec Castle. During the revolution, it was a training academy for the Mexican army and was full of young cadets. One night, for some reason (I’m not sure why) all the officers were gone and only the cadets were inside the castle. Well wouldn't you know it, the American troops decided to attack Chapultepec that night. The poor cadets did all they could to fend of the soldiers but they didn't have enough training to really fight them off; the only thing they could do was shout "green go" (as the color of the uniforms of the American troops were green). Their shouts didn't do very much good though and most of them were killed trying to defend the castle. In Mexico City, there is a famous park called Chapultepec Park where there is a memorial to them and the name gringo has been used ever since to refer to Americans. I love hearing Silvia tell stories and I really enjoy our late night conversations. It's fun to have someone here to talk to and learn from!
Sunday morning, Shannon and I met up early to go to Celestun. It is a wildlife reserve/beach about 2.5 hours away from Merida. I really enjoyed it because there are virtually no tourists and the beach is pretty deserted. We took a boat tour and saw a flamingo sanctuary, a petrified forest, swam in a fresh water spring, and just enjoyed cruising around in a boat for 3 hours. After the tour, we came back and layed out on the beach, ate our picnic lunches that we had packed, and did homework. The water was beautiful and it was fun to spend a day exploring a new city. We got home around 8. I showed and ate supper and then headed to bed as I was exhausted from the long weekend.
Today, I had class in the morning and then came home and have been working on homework. I plan to take today easy and just stick around home to get some studying done. Tomorrow we don't have school so some of us are planning on heading to the beach to chill for the day.
I think that's about it from here. Hope that gave you all an idea of what my week was like. I wish I had more time to write more, but I should get working on some homework. I miss you all!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Another week here in Merida
Hello there guys!
Well another Sunday has arrived and I figured it was time to update my blog for the week. I just finished having my own church service and decided to procrastinate a little bit more before sitting down and tackling some more homework.
Monday was class, a random conversation with a man waiting for the bus about immigration, homework, a long run, more homework, part of the Packer game and sleep.
Tuesday, I had Communications class in the morning. We had to read an article by a French Philosopher and talk about the way that cartoons often times deliver subliminal messages about culture. It was an interesting discussion and I was surprised to realize how many American cartoons are popular here in Mexico...most of them go by different names though so I had to do a little work to figure out what was what. That afternoon, I had Spanish class. When I got to the office (where our classes our held), I was told that there was a package for me. My friend Amanda had sent me a package filled with all sorts of random stuff and it completely made my day! Getting mail is the best!! I then went to the salsa dancing class that I usually go to on Tuesdays. It was fun although I still have so much to learn! Sometimes I feel so lost and like a terrible dancer compared to my classmates but it's still a blast and a great workout. :) I then came back home, went for a run, worked on homework and went to bed.
Wednesday was another normal day of classes. Wednesdays are my long days as I have things going on from 12-9. At our program meeting that night, we all learned how to make guacamole, pico de gallo, and another traditional dish here called chec..It is made with hicama, oranges, chili, limes, and salt and is really good. I can't wait to make it when I get back to the states!
Thursday, I had communication class again in the morning then had a break to come home and eat lunch before heading out to Spanish class. After Spanish class, I had my first appointment with my tutor for this semester. Our program provides free tutors for us and I thought I might as well take advantage of all the help/practice with my Spanish I can get. My tutor is super nice and helped me make sure I was understanding what was going on in my classes and how to study for tests, etc. It will be nice to have someone who can check and see that I am really understanding what I am learning and help me make sure I so things correctly!
Friday, I had international relations in the morning and then several of us headed to Progresso (the beach) for the rest of the day....going to the beach after classes on Friday is becoming a tradition. We just sat on the beach and ate our lunches, layed out in the sun, worked on homework and swam a little in the water. I even made a sand castle when I got bored of doing homework. Some of the other people on the beach were curious about what I was doing and came over to watch..it was kind of funny because all I was doing was building a sand castle but they thought it was really cool. Around sunset, we all decided to head back to el centro. Back in Merida, Sarah and I decided that we wanted to stick around el centro and do some shopping so the two of us just went around looking at cheap clothing stores and discovering sweet places to do some shopping. We found this little hole in the wall pizza place and stopped there to eat pizza for supper. The pizza was amazing and super cheap! Afterwards, we decided to head home as I had to get up early for Hoy en tu Comuniad the next morning.
Saturday, I woke up at 5 to head to Hoy en tu Comunidad. The ride there took us about an hour and I slept pretty much the whole way there. I worked again with the medical school and was stationed at the table to take blood pressures. It was fun to get to know the other students I was working with and to practice taking blood pressures. I can pretty much do it in my sleep now :) Plus, it is always super fun to be able to speak Spanish the entire day and to see a different way of life in the "pueblos" (or smaller villages). Around the time we were finishing up, some students from the Anthropology school came up and asked us if we wanted to see some Mayan "ruinas" (ruins). Not wanting to miss an amazing opportunity, we told them yes and head down the street to where the ruins were. For those of you who don't know very much about Archeology, unexcavated ruins are pretty much just a pile of dirt and rocks. The ones in this city were completely covered in all sorts of plants and thorny bushes but everyone wanted to go to the top so we asked a local man whose job it was to take care of the ruins to guide us to the top. He walked in front of us with a huge knife to cut a path through all the foliage. It was pretty intense especially in flip-flops but we all made it up to the top. The view was defiantly worth it! You could see the tiny pueblo below and all the fields. After taking some pictures, we started our descent which was even tougher than climbing up. We all got pricked about a million times by thorn bushes but eventually we made it down. It was neat to be able to see ruins from thousands of years ago and to think about how life was back then.
Going out to see the ruins gave us a chance to walk through "town" and see where the people of the village lived. Seeing their homes made me realize how different life must be for them. Most of the houses were just one room huts with gates around them. While the poverty there wasn't as extreme as some places I have seen in my life, it was obvious that these people lead a way different life than me. It made me really thankful once again, for all the things that I have become accustomed to having-running water, indoor bathrooms, fans, tvs, computers, etc. We returned back to the main square where we were served tacos by some of the ladies from the village (every place we go, we are fed lunch by the people of the community we serve..it's their way of saying thank you for helping them) and then we hopped on the buses and headed home. When we got back to Merida, I headed to el centro to pick up some flowers for my host sister (it was her birthday) and went back to my house. For the rest of the night, I talked with my family, did homework and went to bed.
This morning, I had the chance to sleep in which felt great. Once I woke up, I worked on some homework, had my church service and took a shower. After lunch today, I am planning on heading to el centro to hang out for a little while and then I'll probably come home and do some more homework and go to bed.
Well, I think that gets you all caught up on my life here in Merida. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. I still have a strong sense that this is where God wants me this semester. He is teaching me so much and molding me in ways I never imagined! I just pray that I would be a willing servant that He could use to show His glory. Love you all!
Well another Sunday has arrived and I figured it was time to update my blog for the week. I just finished having my own church service and decided to procrastinate a little bit more before sitting down and tackling some more homework.
Monday was class, a random conversation with a man waiting for the bus about immigration, homework, a long run, more homework, part of the Packer game and sleep.
Tuesday, I had Communications class in the morning. We had to read an article by a French Philosopher and talk about the way that cartoons often times deliver subliminal messages about culture. It was an interesting discussion and I was surprised to realize how many American cartoons are popular here in Mexico...most of them go by different names though so I had to do a little work to figure out what was what. That afternoon, I had Spanish class. When I got to the office (where our classes our held), I was told that there was a package for me. My friend Amanda had sent me a package filled with all sorts of random stuff and it completely made my day! Getting mail is the best!! I then went to the salsa dancing class that I usually go to on Tuesdays. It was fun although I still have so much to learn! Sometimes I feel so lost and like a terrible dancer compared to my classmates but it's still a blast and a great workout. :) I then came back home, went for a run, worked on homework and went to bed.
Wednesday was another normal day of classes. Wednesdays are my long days as I have things going on from 12-9. At our program meeting that night, we all learned how to make guacamole, pico de gallo, and another traditional dish here called chec..It is made with hicama, oranges, chili, limes, and salt and is really good. I can't wait to make it when I get back to the states!
Thursday, I had communication class again in the morning then had a break to come home and eat lunch before heading out to Spanish class. After Spanish class, I had my first appointment with my tutor for this semester. Our program provides free tutors for us and I thought I might as well take advantage of all the help/practice with my Spanish I can get. My tutor is super nice and helped me make sure I was understanding what was going on in my classes and how to study for tests, etc. It will be nice to have someone who can check and see that I am really understanding what I am learning and help me make sure I so things correctly!
Friday, I had international relations in the morning and then several of us headed to Progresso (the beach) for the rest of the day....going to the beach after classes on Friday is becoming a tradition. We just sat on the beach and ate our lunches, layed out in the sun, worked on homework and swam a little in the water. I even made a sand castle when I got bored of doing homework. Some of the other people on the beach were curious about what I was doing and came over to watch..it was kind of funny because all I was doing was building a sand castle but they thought it was really cool. Around sunset, we all decided to head back to el centro. Back in Merida, Sarah and I decided that we wanted to stick around el centro and do some shopping so the two of us just went around looking at cheap clothing stores and discovering sweet places to do some shopping. We found this little hole in the wall pizza place and stopped there to eat pizza for supper. The pizza was amazing and super cheap! Afterwards, we decided to head home as I had to get up early for Hoy en tu Comuniad the next morning.
Saturday, I woke up at 5 to head to Hoy en tu Comunidad. The ride there took us about an hour and I slept pretty much the whole way there. I worked again with the medical school and was stationed at the table to take blood pressures. It was fun to get to know the other students I was working with and to practice taking blood pressures. I can pretty much do it in my sleep now :) Plus, it is always super fun to be able to speak Spanish the entire day and to see a different way of life in the "pueblos" (or smaller villages). Around the time we were finishing up, some students from the Anthropology school came up and asked us if we wanted to see some Mayan "ruinas" (ruins). Not wanting to miss an amazing opportunity, we told them yes and head down the street to where the ruins were. For those of you who don't know very much about Archeology, unexcavated ruins are pretty much just a pile of dirt and rocks. The ones in this city were completely covered in all sorts of plants and thorny bushes but everyone wanted to go to the top so we asked a local man whose job it was to take care of the ruins to guide us to the top. He walked in front of us with a huge knife to cut a path through all the foliage. It was pretty intense especially in flip-flops but we all made it up to the top. The view was defiantly worth it! You could see the tiny pueblo below and all the fields. After taking some pictures, we started our descent which was even tougher than climbing up. We all got pricked about a million times by thorn bushes but eventually we made it down. It was neat to be able to see ruins from thousands of years ago and to think about how life was back then.
Going out to see the ruins gave us a chance to walk through "town" and see where the people of the village lived. Seeing their homes made me realize how different life must be for them. Most of the houses were just one room huts with gates around them. While the poverty there wasn't as extreme as some places I have seen in my life, it was obvious that these people lead a way different life than me. It made me really thankful once again, for all the things that I have become accustomed to having-running water, indoor bathrooms, fans, tvs, computers, etc. We returned back to the main square where we were served tacos by some of the ladies from the village (every place we go, we are fed lunch by the people of the community we serve..it's their way of saying thank you for helping them) and then we hopped on the buses and headed home. When we got back to Merida, I headed to el centro to pick up some flowers for my host sister (it was her birthday) and went back to my house. For the rest of the night, I talked with my family, did homework and went to bed.
This morning, I had the chance to sleep in which felt great. Once I woke up, I worked on some homework, had my church service and took a shower. After lunch today, I am planning on heading to el centro to hang out for a little while and then I'll probably come home and do some more homework and go to bed.
Well, I think that gets you all caught up on my life here in Merida. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. I still have a strong sense that this is where God wants me this semester. He is teaching me so much and molding me in ways I never imagined! I just pray that I would be a willing servant that He could use to show His glory. Love you all!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Camiones y hamacas
Hello Faithful Blog Followers!
I had some extra time this evening and thought I would sit down and write about 2 interesting experiences I had in the past few days-and by interesting experiences I mean adventures..well sort of (you'll see).
Monday morning I woke up and headed to the bus stop to wait for the bus as I normally do.
It was a beautiful morning as usual-the sun was shining, birds were singing, iguanas were running across the road, you get the picture. I saw the normal people I usually see on the way to school: The neighbor who is always walking her dog, kids waiting outside the Facultad for the bus, and the body guards. I don't remember if I mentioned this in another post or not but the presidente municipal (kind of like a mayor) lives really close to my house so her body guards are always outside guarding the house. While I don't know them on a first name basis, I like to think that we're friends ( we exchange the customary "buenos dias", "buenos tardes", or "buenas noches" depending on the time of the day) as I pass them at least 4 times a day..usually more. It always makes me feel a little safer knowing that they are around. Anyway, sorry for the tangent.
I arrived at the bus stop as normal and waited for the bus. Some other students from the ISFA-Butler program arrived to wait as well and we waited..and waited...and waited. The buses here (or camiones) are usually pretty regular and we were starting to get worried that one might not come and we would miss our class that morning.
Finally, one came chugging down the road (I should probably mention here that buses in Mexico are about a 100 years old and are all falling apart..you never are quite sure if you are going to make it to the place you are trying to go or not) and we flagged it down and got ready to get on. Only problem was, this bus was packed and by packed I mean that I literally was hanging out the door when the bus took off...Talk about a morning wake-up call! Eventually people squished together and I was able to step inside. At the next stop, I thought we would just keep going and not stop to pick up passengers but nope we somehow squished together even more and fit more people on. I have been on quite a few "crowded" buses in my life but nothing compared to this!
The part that almost made me laugh out loud was that even with people spilling out practically every corner of the bus, the bus driver still drove as crazy as ever. For anyone who has ever been to Mexico, you know that there are basically no rules when it comes to driving and everyone pretty much just does what he or she thinks. So there we are cruising down the highway on our way to class on a bus that is crowded with people hoping that we make it to school in one piece. It was quite the adventure and defiantly a new way to start the morning!
The other thing that happened to me this week wasn't quite as exciting but it's still pretty sweet. My host parents gave me my own hammock (hamaca) to sleep in! Here in Merida because it is so hot, people usually prefer to sleep (or at least take their siestas) in hammocks. I was pretty excited to get my own so I can try it out! My host mom showed me how to set it up and the most comfortable way to sleep in it. I have to admit it it's pretty comfy and a lot cooler than my bed but I think it's going to take some getting used to before I can spend the entire night in my hammock. I'm trying to get used to it though because in a few weeks we are going to visit a remote village where we will have to sleep in hammocks and I want to be an expert by then! :) Most people use hammocks here like we use sleeping bags in the US and just set them up pretty much wherever when they need a place to sleep.
Well, that's about it for my adventures here this week. I'll write more in a few days and let you know about the rest of the week. Hope you all have a great day!
I had some extra time this evening and thought I would sit down and write about 2 interesting experiences I had in the past few days-and by interesting experiences I mean adventures..well sort of (you'll see).
Monday morning I woke up and headed to the bus stop to wait for the bus as I normally do.
It was a beautiful morning as usual-the sun was shining, birds were singing, iguanas were running across the road, you get the picture. I saw the normal people I usually see on the way to school: The neighbor who is always walking her dog, kids waiting outside the Facultad for the bus, and the body guards. I don't remember if I mentioned this in another post or not but the presidente municipal (kind of like a mayor) lives really close to my house so her body guards are always outside guarding the house. While I don't know them on a first name basis, I like to think that we're friends ( we exchange the customary "buenos dias", "buenos tardes", or "buenas noches" depending on the time of the day) as I pass them at least 4 times a day..usually more. It always makes me feel a little safer knowing that they are around. Anyway, sorry for the tangent.
I arrived at the bus stop as normal and waited for the bus. Some other students from the ISFA-Butler program arrived to wait as well and we waited..and waited...and waited. The buses here (or camiones) are usually pretty regular and we were starting to get worried that one might not come and we would miss our class that morning.
Finally, one came chugging down the road (I should probably mention here that buses in Mexico are about a 100 years old and are all falling apart..you never are quite sure if you are going to make it to the place you are trying to go or not) and we flagged it down and got ready to get on. Only problem was, this bus was packed and by packed I mean that I literally was hanging out the door when the bus took off...Talk about a morning wake-up call! Eventually people squished together and I was able to step inside. At the next stop, I thought we would just keep going and not stop to pick up passengers but nope we somehow squished together even more and fit more people on. I have been on quite a few "crowded" buses in my life but nothing compared to this!
The part that almost made me laugh out loud was that even with people spilling out practically every corner of the bus, the bus driver still drove as crazy as ever. For anyone who has ever been to Mexico, you know that there are basically no rules when it comes to driving and everyone pretty much just does what he or she thinks. So there we are cruising down the highway on our way to class on a bus that is crowded with people hoping that we make it to school in one piece. It was quite the adventure and defiantly a new way to start the morning!
The other thing that happened to me this week wasn't quite as exciting but it's still pretty sweet. My host parents gave me my own hammock (hamaca) to sleep in! Here in Merida because it is so hot, people usually prefer to sleep (or at least take their siestas) in hammocks. I was pretty excited to get my own so I can try it out! My host mom showed me how to set it up and the most comfortable way to sleep in it. I have to admit it it's pretty comfy and a lot cooler than my bed but I think it's going to take some getting used to before I can spend the entire night in my hammock. I'm trying to get used to it though because in a few weeks we are going to visit a remote village where we will have to sleep in hammocks and I want to be an expert by then! :) Most people use hammocks here like we use sleeping bags in the US and just set them up pretty much wherever when they need a place to sleep.
Well, that's about it for my adventures here this week. I'll write more in a few days and let you know about the rest of the week. Hope you all have a great day!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Las Adventuras de la Semana (Adventures of the Week)
Whew! I cannot believe how fast this past week went by! It feels like just yesterday that it was Sunday and we were coming home from Playa del Carmen!! After the break, it was a little tough to go back to school and do homework again but hey that's what I'm here for :). I really can't complain though because all of my classes are interesting and I have so many amazing opportunities here to practice my Spanish and get to know the culture that I would never have in the States.
Tuesday was a pretty normal day. I just had my communications class in the morning and my Spanish class that afternoon. Every week, my host mom makes one traditional "yucatacean" dish for me to try. This week we ate a soup that literally had everything in it-beans, pork, hotdogs, potatoes, zucchini, squash, carrots, onions, some things I didn't recognize, and even bananas! It was pretty good although I wasn't a big fan of the cooked bananas. After our Spanish class, Emma and I headed to a salsa dancing class we've been going to after our Spanish classes on Tuesday and Thursdays. It's super fun because it's kind of a dance/exercise class and the teacher is super energetic. I like it because you don't dance with partners and instead learn how to dance the steps on your own. Compared to everyone else in the class well, let's just say that I have a lot to learn but I'm having a blast with it and I'm hoping that by the end of the semester, I'll at least know how to get by! We're hoping to get a group together in the next few weeks and put our practicing to the test by going to place where you can salsa dance...We’ll see how it goes when we actually have partners!
Wednesday morning, my host mom informed me that we were going to the casino to eat breakfast. Now, I don't know about you but a casino is not the first place I usually think of when I want to eat breakfast but being the good host daughter I am, I just went along. It turns out that there is a casino close to where we live that serves free breakfast every morning. We met up with the rest of the family (my 2 host brothers and their wives) and ate breakfast and sat around drinking coffee and talking. The atmosphere was really fun and my mom told me that they go there a lot just to eat and hang out because the food there is really good and cheap! Defiantly not what I was expecting but it was a lot of fun and a good way to start the day. Classes went well and we watched an interesting video in underwater archeology about how shipwrecks are located..I know it probably sounds lame but it was actually really interesting. That night, we had our program meeting where we had our first salsa dancing/cha-cha-cha dancing lesson. Our teacher just about had us all in tears laughing when he told us how to dance "sexy." He very calmly explained that if we had no idea what we were doing (he probably was watching me), all we simply had to do was touch our thumb to our middle finger, assuming the "sexy" hand position, and move our arms a lot..lol I'll try that one the next time we go out salsa dancing!
Thursday, I decided to get up early and bring my laundry to the lavandaria to be washed. I had learned about one that was a lot cheaper but was farther away from my house but I decided to go check it out anyways. So, there I was walking down the street, not really sure where I was going, carrying a trash bag full of my laundry. I got some pretty curious glances from people on the street but I found it eventually with the help of a man who was sitting on the street and dropped off my laundry. Classes went well and I picked up my laundry after they were over. I then went for a run in the rain which was fun until I got to the streets where the water was up to my knees and couldn't run anymore and had to turn around...just another thing to add to my list of interesting things I've done since being here in Mexico. Hurricane Mateo is supposed to hit close to Merida so we are expected to get a lot of rain over the next few days. My family enjoyed telling me all about hurricanes that night at supper. It was fun listening to their memories of times they had to wait out hurricanes as a family although I will be more than happy if I make it the whole semester without experiencing one!
Friday, I had class till 11 and then went to Plaza Fiestas to do some homework and headed home. I spent the afternoon doing homework and relaxing. That night, a group of us met up to go the casino to eat supper. We just ate and talked and then came home early because we had Hoy en tu Comunidad the next day.
Saturday morning, I woke up to my phone ringing with Sarah on the other end wondering where I was (we were supposed to meet up and walk to the bus station together). Turns out that my alarm never went off so I literally rolled out of bed, got dresses, grabbed an apple, and headed out the door. It was a pretty rushed start but we made it there with time to spare! Hoy en tu comunidad was a lot of fun. I started off working with the kids but then it looked as of we could be more helpful working to take blood pressures so that's where I worked the rest of the day. It's getting easier the more I practice and I really like learning from watching the other doctors work. We had a lot of time to just sit around as for some reason, not a ton of people from the town showed up. I don't know if it was because it was supposed to rain that afternoon or if there just weren't that many people or what, but we ended up with a lot of time to just sit around and talk. Emma and I struck up a conversation about what we believe and it was really interesting talking to her. We also got to talk and meet more of the students there. Some of our friends invited us to go with them to visit some ancient ruins and a cenote for a weekend(One of them has an aunt who lives close to a place with ancient ruins who we can stay with) so we are looking for a weekend where we can all do that together. I am still amazed at how generous and welcoming people here are. I love how my friends here constantly give us hugs and always are inviting us to do something. We have a lot of fun joking around together and they enjoy helping us practice our Spanish. After getting home on Saturday, I just worked on homework-I have a presentation for my Spanish class so I tried to get that done and then I went to bed.
Today, I woke up and decided to go on an adventure to find a church. I had looked online and found a church that I was interested in...The only problem was, it's pretty far away from my house. I got directions from the ISFA office on Thursday and set out this morning to find it. It was quite the adventure and test of my Spanish but after 2 hours, I made it! The church service was neat and it was such a blessing to worship with other believers in Spanish. I talked to the pastor after the service and he told me that there aren't a ton of churches like the ones I am looking for where I live. It sounds like this one was the closest and with it being 2 hours away, I'm thinking I probably won't be able to make it every Sunday. I was a little bummed but I'm thankful that I have internet here that I can use to stay plugged in and I'm still planning on looking around. I got back to my house around 2 and talked with my family and teased Carlitos (the grandson) and ate lunch. The rest of the day, I just plan on doing more homework and getting caught up in all of my classes.
Hope everyone who is reading this is doing well. I miss you guys and appreciate all your prayers and support!
Tuesday was a pretty normal day. I just had my communications class in the morning and my Spanish class that afternoon. Every week, my host mom makes one traditional "yucatacean" dish for me to try. This week we ate a soup that literally had everything in it-beans, pork, hotdogs, potatoes, zucchini, squash, carrots, onions, some things I didn't recognize, and even bananas! It was pretty good although I wasn't a big fan of the cooked bananas. After our Spanish class, Emma and I headed to a salsa dancing class we've been going to after our Spanish classes on Tuesday and Thursdays. It's super fun because it's kind of a dance/exercise class and the teacher is super energetic. I like it because you don't dance with partners and instead learn how to dance the steps on your own. Compared to everyone else in the class well, let's just say that I have a lot to learn but I'm having a blast with it and I'm hoping that by the end of the semester, I'll at least know how to get by! We're hoping to get a group together in the next few weeks and put our practicing to the test by going to place where you can salsa dance...We’ll see how it goes when we actually have partners!
Wednesday morning, my host mom informed me that we were going to the casino to eat breakfast. Now, I don't know about you but a casino is not the first place I usually think of when I want to eat breakfast but being the good host daughter I am, I just went along. It turns out that there is a casino close to where we live that serves free breakfast every morning. We met up with the rest of the family (my 2 host brothers and their wives) and ate breakfast and sat around drinking coffee and talking. The atmosphere was really fun and my mom told me that they go there a lot just to eat and hang out because the food there is really good and cheap! Defiantly not what I was expecting but it was a lot of fun and a good way to start the day. Classes went well and we watched an interesting video in underwater archeology about how shipwrecks are located..I know it probably sounds lame but it was actually really interesting. That night, we had our program meeting where we had our first salsa dancing/cha-cha-cha dancing lesson. Our teacher just about had us all in tears laughing when he told us how to dance "sexy." He very calmly explained that if we had no idea what we were doing (he probably was watching me), all we simply had to do was touch our thumb to our middle finger, assuming the "sexy" hand position, and move our arms a lot..lol I'll try that one the next time we go out salsa dancing!
Thursday, I decided to get up early and bring my laundry to the lavandaria to be washed. I had learned about one that was a lot cheaper but was farther away from my house but I decided to go check it out anyways. So, there I was walking down the street, not really sure where I was going, carrying a trash bag full of my laundry. I got some pretty curious glances from people on the street but I found it eventually with the help of a man who was sitting on the street and dropped off my laundry. Classes went well and I picked up my laundry after they were over. I then went for a run in the rain which was fun until I got to the streets where the water was up to my knees and couldn't run anymore and had to turn around...just another thing to add to my list of interesting things I've done since being here in Mexico. Hurricane Mateo is supposed to hit close to Merida so we are expected to get a lot of rain over the next few days. My family enjoyed telling me all about hurricanes that night at supper. It was fun listening to their memories of times they had to wait out hurricanes as a family although I will be more than happy if I make it the whole semester without experiencing one!
Friday, I had class till 11 and then went to Plaza Fiestas to do some homework and headed home. I spent the afternoon doing homework and relaxing. That night, a group of us met up to go the casino to eat supper. We just ate and talked and then came home early because we had Hoy en tu Comunidad the next day.
Saturday morning, I woke up to my phone ringing with Sarah on the other end wondering where I was (we were supposed to meet up and walk to the bus station together). Turns out that my alarm never went off so I literally rolled out of bed, got dresses, grabbed an apple, and headed out the door. It was a pretty rushed start but we made it there with time to spare! Hoy en tu comunidad was a lot of fun. I started off working with the kids but then it looked as of we could be more helpful working to take blood pressures so that's where I worked the rest of the day. It's getting easier the more I practice and I really like learning from watching the other doctors work. We had a lot of time to just sit around as for some reason, not a ton of people from the town showed up. I don't know if it was because it was supposed to rain that afternoon or if there just weren't that many people or what, but we ended up with a lot of time to just sit around and talk. Emma and I struck up a conversation about what we believe and it was really interesting talking to her. We also got to talk and meet more of the students there. Some of our friends invited us to go with them to visit some ancient ruins and a cenote for a weekend(One of them has an aunt who lives close to a place with ancient ruins who we can stay with) so we are looking for a weekend where we can all do that together. I am still amazed at how generous and welcoming people here are. I love how my friends here constantly give us hugs and always are inviting us to do something. We have a lot of fun joking around together and they enjoy helping us practice our Spanish. After getting home on Saturday, I just worked on homework-I have a presentation for my Spanish class so I tried to get that done and then I went to bed.
Today, I woke up and decided to go on an adventure to find a church. I had looked online and found a church that I was interested in...The only problem was, it's pretty far away from my house. I got directions from the ISFA office on Thursday and set out this morning to find it. It was quite the adventure and test of my Spanish but after 2 hours, I made it! The church service was neat and it was such a blessing to worship with other believers in Spanish. I talked to the pastor after the service and he told me that there aren't a ton of churches like the ones I am looking for where I live. It sounds like this one was the closest and with it being 2 hours away, I'm thinking I probably won't be able to make it every Sunday. I was a little bummed but I'm thankful that I have internet here that I can use to stay plugged in and I'm still planning on looking around. I got back to my house around 2 and talked with my family and teased Carlitos (the grandson) and ate lunch. The rest of the day, I just plan on doing more homework and getting caught up in all of my classes.
Hope everyone who is reading this is doing well. I miss you guys and appreciate all your prayers and support!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Celebrating the Bicentenario and Playa del Carmen
Wow! What a week! This past week, we celebrated 200 years since the start of the Mexican Revolution against Spain. The best part? We didn't have school for three days! All of Mexico had been getting ready to celebrate this Wednesday and there were decorations, signs, and countdowns going on in almost every part of the country. When I was in Cuernavaca last fall, there was a clock already counting down the days and hours until the "Bicentenario," or two hundred year celebration and I heard a ton of people talking about how exciting it was. Naturally, I was excited and curious to see what it would be like and was looking forward to being a part of the celebration.
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 =).
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!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Hoy en tu communidad
Hola a todos (Hi everyone)!
This week has been quite the roller costar of emotions and ups and downs of life, but I can tell you that God has been (and continues to be) faithful though it all...Psalm 20:6-8 really spoke to me as I wrestled with everything and I have felt such a sense of peace that this is exactly where God wants me this semester.
I know that He has only just started to reveal all He wants to me learn while I am here but I think one of the biggest things I am learning right now is that HE is ENOUGH! I feel like that phrase is tossed around a lot in Christian circles but here in Mexico, I have been challenged to really put that in to practice. Away from the comfort of my home church, family, and friends who are walking with God, I think I am learning to walk with God and be content with Him and only Him. Even when the storms of life hit hard, He is showing me that He is faithful and is here with when it's tough and lonely.
Last Sunday, I was really challenged by the sermon John Piper preached about not wasting our lives. I want every day that I am here in Mexico not to be wasted but to be lived to the fullest so that I can bring the most glory to God. I would hate to look back on my time here and realized that I wasted it all away wishing I could be back at home or worrying about the next thing instead of enjoying the day God gave me to live.
All that being said, I'll get off my soapbox and let you know what I have been up to this week. My live here has settled into a pretty smooth routine. I usually wake up around 8:00 (earlier on Mondays and Fridays because I have to be at classes by 8), eat breakfast, have my quiet time, and head off to school.
Monday,
It was super hot but I think I’m getting used to the heat. Actually I don't know if you ever "get used" to it but I'm learning how to cope with it. AKA drink lots of water, shower often, and don't wear jeans or anything black. My water drinking skills have increased dramatically and might even match those of Jeffrey Varughese! Classes went well. I only had one class from 8-10 so I came home afterwards and worked on homework and then ate lunch later that afternoon with my family. Close to our house there is a little mall with air conditioning so after a siesta, I packed up some of my homework and headed there to work on some reading I had to do for a while. It was a nice break from the heat and fun to study in a different place than my room. I then came back home, went for a run and saw iguana road kill..Defiantly a first in my life, then ate supper, worked on more homework and headed to bed.
Tuesday, I was able to sleep in a little and headed to classes around 9. Class went well and I returned home to work on some homework for a little bit before lunch. After lunch, I headed to my Spanish class for the afternoon and went out for a run. That night, there was this super sweet lightening storm which was fun to watch as I was running. I then came home and took a shower and ate supper with my family and watch the telenovela "Rubi". My family here is obsessed with the show and we watch it almost every night together after supper. It's a great way to practice my Spanish and I feel really happy when I can follow along with what's going on. Sometimes it's really hard because they talk so fast!
Wednesday was a pretty tough day but God really helped me through it and was faithful.
Thursday, I had a really great talk with my host mom and was even able to share with her and my host dad what I believe and they told me more about what they believe and why. The entire conversation was such an answer to prayer and I left for school that morning almost in tears for the way that God had over abundantly provided an answer to my prayers. Classes were well...Class and were a little tough to concentrate in but I made it through them and headed home. After Spanish class that night, my family took me out to eat traditional yucatacean food at a tiny little restaurant. It was sooo good and I really enjoyed spending more time with them. Everyday, I feel more and more like part of their family and I love the way they want to show me everything here and love to make me try new food and meet all of their friends. My Spanish vocab for telling people it's nice to meet them or to tell someone that the food is good has defiantly increased!
Friday, I had class at 8 and got done at 11. A bunch of us met up in el centro at 12 to head to progresso( a beach nearby) for the rest of the day. We got there around 1:30 and just chilled on the beach for the rest of the day. The water was super warm and it was so nice to be able to work on homework on the beach! We stayed and watched the sunset which was beautiful and then we took the last bus heading back to Merida that night at 8. I came home and took a shower and then ate supper with my host mom and we ended up talking until 12. She told me all about her life growing up and about raising her family and asked me all sorts of questions about my life. I absolutely love her so much and know that I will miss her so much when I leave.
Saturday, I work at the beautiful hour of 5 am to head out to "Hoy en tu Comunidad." It's a local organization that goes out to really poor towns around Merida and offers free health care, dental clinics, nutrition classes, child care, and games. It was one of the best days I have had here so far. One the way there, we (there were 5 of us from the ISFA-Butler program that went)all squished into the car of one of the student directors named Raul. We had a great talk the entire way with him and another gal who help to organize everything. It was so neat to hear their heart and passion behind helping others. I was really surprised to learn that ALL the work is voluntary and that they give up countless hours every week to organize everything. Once we got there and started working though, I began to understand why they would want to do it.
Here in Mexico, the rules regarding health care are a LOT more lax so as students, we were able to literally "dive in" and help out. I learned how to take pulses, prick fingers to test for levels of sugar in and even sat in on several examinations of patents.(You would be really proud of me mom) Raul did a really good job of explaining to us what was going on and teaching us what to look for. There was a woman who had an ear infection, a little baby who had had an allergic reaction to a shampoo, and an older woman suffering from stress who just needed someone to talk to. I also got the chance to spend part of the morning playing with some of the kids while their parents where getting check out or having dental work done.
One little girl came over to me and didn't leave my side for the rest of the time. She was so cute and I had a fun time asking her about her family and her favorite things to do. We spent most of the morning playing and exploring a local hacienda. It was all pretty run down and full of long grass and branch (I was sure we were going to find a snake)but the kids had fun showing us around.
I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about working with the medical part of it but I surprisingly really, really enjoyed it. I think part of it was so much fun because it was super hands on and I could learn one thing and then go and practice it on someone else. I feel like having a basic knowledge of medicine would be helpful in the future if missions is really where God is calling me.
Around 3, we all started to pack up or stuff and walked to a place close by where some of the local ladies from the village fed us lunch. It was delicious and it was a great time to get to know some more people. I loved being able to speak in Spanish the entire day and it was fun to finally meet some other students who want to do things with us. I'm excited to get to know some of them better and see them in "Hoy en tu communiad." I feel like I am defiantly going to learn a ton..not just in medicine but also in my Spanish (and Mayan as most of the villages speak mainly Mayan), and in my knowledge of different towns around Merida. I even got to ride in a "bicitaxi" which are these carts that are connected to bicycles that are the main method of transportation in the rural towns here.
Tomorrow, I am planning on taking a day to rest, do homework, and spend some time with Jesus as it's His day tomorrow. This next week we'll be celebrating Independence here in Mexico so we're planning a trip to go to Playa del Carmen and to go zip lining which I'm looking forward to. It will be nice to have a few days off school and do some exploring. Thank for all of your love and support. Sorry this post got so long but I hope that caught ya'll up on what I've been up to. Hasta pronto! (Till later)
This week has been quite the roller costar of emotions and ups and downs of life, but I can tell you that God has been (and continues to be) faithful though it all...Psalm 20:6-8 really spoke to me as I wrestled with everything and I have felt such a sense of peace that this is exactly where God wants me this semester.
I know that He has only just started to reveal all He wants to me learn while I am here but I think one of the biggest things I am learning right now is that HE is ENOUGH! I feel like that phrase is tossed around a lot in Christian circles but here in Mexico, I have been challenged to really put that in to practice. Away from the comfort of my home church, family, and friends who are walking with God, I think I am learning to walk with God and be content with Him and only Him. Even when the storms of life hit hard, He is showing me that He is faithful and is here with when it's tough and lonely.
Last Sunday, I was really challenged by the sermon John Piper preached about not wasting our lives. I want every day that I am here in Mexico not to be wasted but to be lived to the fullest so that I can bring the most glory to God. I would hate to look back on my time here and realized that I wasted it all away wishing I could be back at home or worrying about the next thing instead of enjoying the day God gave me to live.
All that being said, I'll get off my soapbox and let you know what I have been up to this week. My live here has settled into a pretty smooth routine. I usually wake up around 8:00 (earlier on Mondays and Fridays because I have to be at classes by 8), eat breakfast, have my quiet time, and head off to school.
Monday,
It was super hot but I think I’m getting used to the heat. Actually I don't know if you ever "get used" to it but I'm learning how to cope with it. AKA drink lots of water, shower often, and don't wear jeans or anything black. My water drinking skills have increased dramatically and might even match those of Jeffrey Varughese! Classes went well. I only had one class from 8-10 so I came home afterwards and worked on homework and then ate lunch later that afternoon with my family. Close to our house there is a little mall with air conditioning so after a siesta, I packed up some of my homework and headed there to work on some reading I had to do for a while. It was a nice break from the heat and fun to study in a different place than my room. I then came back home, went for a run and saw iguana road kill..Defiantly a first in my life, then ate supper, worked on more homework and headed to bed.
Tuesday, I was able to sleep in a little and headed to classes around 9. Class went well and I returned home to work on some homework for a little bit before lunch. After lunch, I headed to my Spanish class for the afternoon and went out for a run. That night, there was this super sweet lightening storm which was fun to watch as I was running. I then came home and took a shower and ate supper with my family and watch the telenovela "Rubi". My family here is obsessed with the show and we watch it almost every night together after supper. It's a great way to practice my Spanish and I feel really happy when I can follow along with what's going on. Sometimes it's really hard because they talk so fast!
Wednesday was a pretty tough day but God really helped me through it and was faithful.
Thursday, I had a really great talk with my host mom and was even able to share with her and my host dad what I believe and they told me more about what they believe and why. The entire conversation was such an answer to prayer and I left for school that morning almost in tears for the way that God had over abundantly provided an answer to my prayers. Classes were well...Class and were a little tough to concentrate in but I made it through them and headed home. After Spanish class that night, my family took me out to eat traditional yucatacean food at a tiny little restaurant. It was sooo good and I really enjoyed spending more time with them. Everyday, I feel more and more like part of their family and I love the way they want to show me everything here and love to make me try new food and meet all of their friends. My Spanish vocab for telling people it's nice to meet them or to tell someone that the food is good has defiantly increased!
Friday, I had class at 8 and got done at 11. A bunch of us met up in el centro at 12 to head to progresso( a beach nearby) for the rest of the day. We got there around 1:30 and just chilled on the beach for the rest of the day. The water was super warm and it was so nice to be able to work on homework on the beach! We stayed and watched the sunset which was beautiful and then we took the last bus heading back to Merida that night at 8. I came home and took a shower and then ate supper with my host mom and we ended up talking until 12. She told me all about her life growing up and about raising her family and asked me all sorts of questions about my life. I absolutely love her so much and know that I will miss her so much when I leave.
Saturday, I work at the beautiful hour of 5 am to head out to "Hoy en tu Comunidad." It's a local organization that goes out to really poor towns around Merida and offers free health care, dental clinics, nutrition classes, child care, and games. It was one of the best days I have had here so far. One the way there, we (there were 5 of us from the ISFA-Butler program that went)all squished into the car of one of the student directors named Raul. We had a great talk the entire way with him and another gal who help to organize everything. It was so neat to hear their heart and passion behind helping others. I was really surprised to learn that ALL the work is voluntary and that they give up countless hours every week to organize everything. Once we got there and started working though, I began to understand why they would want to do it.
Here in Mexico, the rules regarding health care are a LOT more lax so as students, we were able to literally "dive in" and help out. I learned how to take pulses, prick fingers to test for levels of sugar in and even sat in on several examinations of patents.(You would be really proud of me mom) Raul did a really good job of explaining to us what was going on and teaching us what to look for. There was a woman who had an ear infection, a little baby who had had an allergic reaction to a shampoo, and an older woman suffering from stress who just needed someone to talk to. I also got the chance to spend part of the morning playing with some of the kids while their parents where getting check out or having dental work done.
One little girl came over to me and didn't leave my side for the rest of the time. She was so cute and I had a fun time asking her about her family and her favorite things to do. We spent most of the morning playing and exploring a local hacienda. It was all pretty run down and full of long grass and branch (I was sure we were going to find a snake)but the kids had fun showing us around.
I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about working with the medical part of it but I surprisingly really, really enjoyed it. I think part of it was so much fun because it was super hands on and I could learn one thing and then go and practice it on someone else. I feel like having a basic knowledge of medicine would be helpful in the future if missions is really where God is calling me.
Around 3, we all started to pack up or stuff and walked to a place close by where some of the local ladies from the village fed us lunch. It was delicious and it was a great time to get to know some more people. I loved being able to speak in Spanish the entire day and it was fun to finally meet some other students who want to do things with us. I'm excited to get to know some of them better and see them in "Hoy en tu communiad." I feel like I am defiantly going to learn a ton..not just in medicine but also in my Spanish (and Mayan as most of the villages speak mainly Mayan), and in my knowledge of different towns around Merida. I even got to ride in a "bicitaxi" which are these carts that are connected to bicycles that are the main method of transportation in the rural towns here.
Tomorrow, I am planning on taking a day to rest, do homework, and spend some time with Jesus as it's His day tomorrow. This next week we'll be celebrating Independence here in Mexico so we're planning a trip to go to Playa del Carmen and to go zip lining which I'm looking forward to. It will be nice to have a few days off school and do some exploring. Thank for all of your love and support. Sorry this post got so long but I hope that caught ya'll up on what I've been up to. Hasta pronto! (Till later)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Run a 10K while I'm here in Merida, why not?
Hey guys!
Hope you are all doing well. This week has flown by. I can hardly believe it's Sunday and I'll be heading back to classes tomorrow morning! The rest of my week went well...
Tuesday, I had classes later on in the morning so I was able to sleep in for my first time here in Merida. It felt so great to be able to sleep till 8 and not get up when it's still dark outside! I had an anthropology and tourism class and a theory of Latin America communication class. They both went well and I really liked the professors. I also had my Spanish class that afternoon.
After classes, I headed home and worked on some homework and went for a run. Then a group of us met up to head to el cento. First, we all went to an ice cream shop that sold all sorts of weid flavors of ice cream (the weirdest one is called elote and it tastes like corn). As strange as some of the flavors were, they were actually really good. After ice cream, some of the gals headed to a bar and then rest of us just walked around and looked at some of the stores. At night, everyone sets out big mats of stuff and it's fun going around and seeing all the different things people are selling. Eventually we had our fill of walking around for the night so we headed home.
Wednesday, I didn't have class until 12 which meant I didn't have to leave my house until 11:15. It was great! I woke up and had my quiet time and then worked on homework for a little bit before heading out.
I just had my international relations class and then headed home to eat a lunch of fresh fish, rice, beans, and avocado. I love all the fresh fish and seafood here..I’m not usually a big fan of seafood but so far I have really like everything.
After lunch, I was able to skype with some friends which was great. It's nice to be able to stay in touch with friends back home and hear what's going on in their lives. I miss them all a lot and I always enjoy hearing what's going on back home.
I then worked on a little more homework and walked to Plaza Fiestas, a little shopping center about 20 minutes from my house to pick up a few things I needed. The memory chip in my camera wasn't working but I was able to bring it to the Radio Shack and they helped me figure it out.
We then had a meeting with everyone on the program to talk about how things are going and answer any questions we had. It was pretty short so I headed home and ate supper and then Silvia, my host sister, and her boyfriend invited me to go see a movie with them and another one of their friends(Wednesday nights movies are 1/2 price so you can go see a move for like $2). I enjoyed going out with them and getting to know them a little better and their friend had a super cool car that you could watch music videos in so Silvia and I had a fun time singing along to the song "Cuando Me Enamaro" and others by Enrique Iglesias. We returned home pretty late so I just went to bed.
Thursday, I had classes and then headed home to go for a run and work on a little bit of homework before heading to bed. I don't think the day was too exciting because I don't really remember what else I did that day.
Friday, I had another early class but we were done by 11 which was great. I came home, and swam and did some homework by the pool that my family has. I then ate lunch with both of my parents. After lunch, I met up with Kelsey and Sarah and we walked to Plaza Fiestas to just walk around and window shop. We found this little "paneria" (bread store) that sold some amazing breads! After a while, we headed home and I went for a run and took a shower and then we all met up to go into el centro together. We walked around for a while and saw a clown show that was pretty funny. It's neat because everyone is out and people just form circles around to watch. We also ran across the most talented spray paint artist I have ever seen. He would start out with a blank piece of paper and layer it with different colors and use stencils to create these amazing works of art. At different times, he would set fire to the paining to set the paint. It really made me want to try it sometime! We all then headed to a restaurant called "Mayan Pub". It is a really neat place-the ceiling is all open so you can see the starts and the floor is dirt and there are trees growing inside and tables all set around them. A live band was playing and I enjoyed listening to them. We headed home around 2 in the morning to get some much needed rest.
Saturday morning, we all met up in the centro to go to a party for an organization we are going to volunteer with called Hoy en tu communidad. The man heading up the organization was supposed to meet us there but never showed up so after 45 minutes of waiting, we decided just to make the best of it and go shopping in el centro. Saturdays are really fun days to go to el centro because everyone is out and about and all the stores are open. We enjoyed walking around and shopping until around 4 and then we all headed home. That night, I was able to skype with my parents and go for a run and then I headed to bed.
This morning, my friend Shannon and I decided to wake up at 5 to run a 10K race here in Merida. After seeing how much I liked to run, my host family mentioned the race to me earlier this week. It was being sponsored by a local gym here and the money was going towards cancer research. I told Shannon about it because she runs for her school and we decided that it would be something fun to do so we went on Saturday and got all registered. This morning we met up and jogged to the place where the race started. It was a pretty neat experience to be able to participate in a race here..especially with everything being in Spanish. There weren't a lot of gals running the race so I ended up running by a lot of guys which was something a little different and defiantly made me try to run faster to keep up. In the States, I feel like there are always a lot of gals that run in the races. It was kinda funny being the only "gringas" in the group but Shannon and I had a great time. When we were done, a man came up to us and told us about a bunch of races that are coming up. The next one is on the 15th of September (which is independence day here in México) and is a free race in el centro so we are planning on running that one if we can.
After returning home and taking a shower, we all met up to go to Progresso which is a beach about 30 minutes away. We just hung out on the beach, ate more fish, and walked around. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the day. Tonight, I am planning to once again have my own church service and get some homework done. Well, my mom just came and told me that we are going to eat soon so I'd better get going! Talk to ya later!
Hope you are all doing well. This week has flown by. I can hardly believe it's Sunday and I'll be heading back to classes tomorrow morning! The rest of my week went well...
Tuesday, I had classes later on in the morning so I was able to sleep in for my first time here in Merida. It felt so great to be able to sleep till 8 and not get up when it's still dark outside! I had an anthropology and tourism class and a theory of Latin America communication class. They both went well and I really liked the professors. I also had my Spanish class that afternoon.
After classes, I headed home and worked on some homework and went for a run. Then a group of us met up to head to el cento. First, we all went to an ice cream shop that sold all sorts of weid flavors of ice cream (the weirdest one is called elote and it tastes like corn). As strange as some of the flavors were, they were actually really good. After ice cream, some of the gals headed to a bar and then rest of us just walked around and looked at some of the stores. At night, everyone sets out big mats of stuff and it's fun going around and seeing all the different things people are selling. Eventually we had our fill of walking around for the night so we headed home.
Wednesday, I didn't have class until 12 which meant I didn't have to leave my house until 11:15. It was great! I woke up and had my quiet time and then worked on homework for a little bit before heading out.
I just had my international relations class and then headed home to eat a lunch of fresh fish, rice, beans, and avocado. I love all the fresh fish and seafood here..I’m not usually a big fan of seafood but so far I have really like everything.
After lunch, I was able to skype with some friends which was great. It's nice to be able to stay in touch with friends back home and hear what's going on in their lives. I miss them all a lot and I always enjoy hearing what's going on back home.
I then worked on a little more homework and walked to Plaza Fiestas, a little shopping center about 20 minutes from my house to pick up a few things I needed. The memory chip in my camera wasn't working but I was able to bring it to the Radio Shack and they helped me figure it out.
We then had a meeting with everyone on the program to talk about how things are going and answer any questions we had. It was pretty short so I headed home and ate supper and then Silvia, my host sister, and her boyfriend invited me to go see a movie with them and another one of their friends(Wednesday nights movies are 1/2 price so you can go see a move for like $2). I enjoyed going out with them and getting to know them a little better and their friend had a super cool car that you could watch music videos in so Silvia and I had a fun time singing along to the song "Cuando Me Enamaro" and others by Enrique Iglesias. We returned home pretty late so I just went to bed.
Thursday, I had classes and then headed home to go for a run and work on a little bit of homework before heading to bed. I don't think the day was too exciting because I don't really remember what else I did that day.
Friday, I had another early class but we were done by 11 which was great. I came home, and swam and did some homework by the pool that my family has. I then ate lunch with both of my parents. After lunch, I met up with Kelsey and Sarah and we walked to Plaza Fiestas to just walk around and window shop. We found this little "paneria" (bread store) that sold some amazing breads! After a while, we headed home and I went for a run and took a shower and then we all met up to go into el centro together. We walked around for a while and saw a clown show that was pretty funny. It's neat because everyone is out and people just form circles around to watch. We also ran across the most talented spray paint artist I have ever seen. He would start out with a blank piece of paper and layer it with different colors and use stencils to create these amazing works of art. At different times, he would set fire to the paining to set the paint. It really made me want to try it sometime! We all then headed to a restaurant called "Mayan Pub". It is a really neat place-the ceiling is all open so you can see the starts and the floor is dirt and there are trees growing inside and tables all set around them. A live band was playing and I enjoyed listening to them. We headed home around 2 in the morning to get some much needed rest.
Saturday morning, we all met up in the centro to go to a party for an organization we are going to volunteer with called Hoy en tu communidad. The man heading up the organization was supposed to meet us there but never showed up so after 45 minutes of waiting, we decided just to make the best of it and go shopping in el centro. Saturdays are really fun days to go to el centro because everyone is out and about and all the stores are open. We enjoyed walking around and shopping until around 4 and then we all headed home. That night, I was able to skype with my parents and go for a run and then I headed to bed.
This morning, my friend Shannon and I decided to wake up at 5 to run a 10K race here in Merida. After seeing how much I liked to run, my host family mentioned the race to me earlier this week. It was being sponsored by a local gym here and the money was going towards cancer research. I told Shannon about it because she runs for her school and we decided that it would be something fun to do so we went on Saturday and got all registered. This morning we met up and jogged to the place where the race started. It was a pretty neat experience to be able to participate in a race here..especially with everything being in Spanish. There weren't a lot of gals running the race so I ended up running by a lot of guys which was something a little different and defiantly made me try to run faster to keep up. In the States, I feel like there are always a lot of gals that run in the races. It was kinda funny being the only "gringas" in the group but Shannon and I had a great time. When we were done, a man came up to us and told us about a bunch of races that are coming up. The next one is on the 15th of September (which is independence day here in México) and is a free race in el centro so we are planning on running that one if we can.
After returning home and taking a shower, we all met up to go to Progresso which is a beach about 30 minutes away. We just hung out on the beach, ate more fish, and walked around. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the day. Tonight, I am planning to once again have my own church service and get some homework done. Well, my mom just came and told me that we are going to eat soon so I'd better get going! Talk to ya later!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)