Wow, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Hope you all have had your fill of turkey and mashed potatoes and the like :) For me, it was an amazing day because we all had dinner at my teacher´s house and we ate normal food! It is kind of a bummer that we have school, but oh well. We´re actually really close to being done! I have an exam today (which should be really hard), and then one everyday next week: Monday linguísticas, Tuesday literatura, Wednesday historia. But then on Thursday we´re off for our trip around Mexico! We´re going to go all the way to the DF or Districto Federal, so it´s a loooong way in a bus, and no access to the internet, but I´m sure our group will sing and do fun stuff together the Whole way :)
This week has been really fun. Last Sunday I went to more ruins and even a cave that the Mayans used. It was really fun to explore. The ruins of Uxmal are huge and we had a tour that was really interesting. Also we went to Mayapan where we got to climb up all the buildings which was coooool (and probably a little dangerous because it´s really steep). But I loved it.
One thing that´s hard for me to imagine is that I have to leave my new family here in only a few short days. It makes me feel all torn up inside. I´m halfway happy and excited to be done and come home, but the other part wants to continue because it does not feel like the end of November!! Craziness :)
But after this exam, I´ll be done with one class and I´ll be soooooo happy I´ll probably jump for joy when I come out of the classroom :) Unfortunately a little nervous now, but we´ll see how it goes :)
And once again, Happy Thanksgiving, because there is sooooo much to be thankful for :) I love all my family and friends and yesterday was a wonderful day to remember how much God has given me. It makes me smile :)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wow, only a couple weeks left!
So this week has been a breeze! It´s gone sooo fast! On Saturday, as a group, we went to some ruins called Ek´Balam. They were very cool because there was a portion that was still really intact, and we got to climb up the piramid to see it up close. It´s hard to imagine people lived there before! But it was a very cool experience. Afterward our group went to a cenote and we swam and jumped from high places which was a blast too.
During the week, I kept busy with my family and homework. We didn´t have school Monday because they celebrate the revolution of 1910, so that was great to have a break. It was especially nice, because for the first time in a long while, we didn´t go anywhere! So it was great to have a break! And Jabes is working on getting wireless in the house, and so we worked on that for a while, and occasionally it works :) It´s always an iffy thing, but eventually it´ll work :)
It´s crazy to think I only have one full week left of classes! Then exams the first couple days of December, and I´m taking off for a trip touring México December 3! It seems soo soon, and I´m not sure what to think about all I have to do, but I´m sure it will work out.
One concern from this week was that my dad had surgury, and that was something that was a little bit of a surprise and makes you think. Thankfully, I´ve really seen God work through that and when I told my family, they prayed with me right away, and it´s funny because whenever my cousin Rommel comes into the house, it´s always, how´s your dad? So I feel like I have real support, which is so cool to see. Also when I told my group, they prayed with me right away, and it made me feel really peacefull about the whole thing, and thankfully daddy´s doing much better now, and he´s even home recovering!
And happy early Thanksgiving to everyone! Have a fun break from work and school!
During the week, I kept busy with my family and homework. We didn´t have school Monday because they celebrate the revolution of 1910, so that was great to have a break. It was especially nice, because for the first time in a long while, we didn´t go anywhere! So it was great to have a break! And Jabes is working on getting wireless in the house, and so we worked on that for a while, and occasionally it works :) It´s always an iffy thing, but eventually it´ll work :)
It´s crazy to think I only have one full week left of classes! Then exams the first couple days of December, and I´m taking off for a trip touring México December 3! It seems soo soon, and I´m not sure what to think about all I have to do, but I´m sure it will work out.
One concern from this week was that my dad had surgury, and that was something that was a little bit of a surprise and makes you think. Thankfully, I´ve really seen God work through that and when I told my family, they prayed with me right away, and it´s funny because whenever my cousin Rommel comes into the house, it´s always, how´s your dad? So I feel like I have real support, which is so cool to see. Also when I told my group, they prayed with me right away, and it made me feel really peacefull about the whole thing, and thankfully daddy´s doing much better now, and he´s even home recovering!
And happy early Thanksgiving to everyone! Have a fun break from work and school!
Friday, November 13, 2009
La Regenta
La Regenta is the title of the book I've been reading nonstop all week! It is 1115 pages, and in Spanish!! It was probably one of the most difficult/time consuming things I've done here, and I'm pretty proud I finished :) But other than that, this week's been crazy.
I went to a beech called Celestun last Saturday, which is well know for the flamingos that go there to eat shrimp. There is also a petrified forest, something called an ojo de agua, or eye of water, which is where the water is fresh and not salty, but it's in the middle of salt water, like a little spring. The water was red which was interesting from the roots of the trees near the water, and really cold, but we swam anyway just to say we did :)
Then this week's been really fun because just about every night Rommel (my cousin) has come over to our house, and when he and Jabes are together, the laughter never stops :)
Also on Wednesday I finally went to where don Venus was born, a pueblo called Santa Elena, and I met his mom (she cooked for us- beans and eggs and handmade tortillas-mmmmm) and his siblings which was fun- 1 sister, 2 brothers. It took a long time, but it was a blast, and there is also a museum in the cathloic church in Santa Elena where mummies were discovered from the Mayas, which was interesante! Very cool, and on the way home, we were driving and Marbella said she thought she saw something cross the road and hit the truck going the opposite direction than us. So, we stopped to look at what the truck hit, and sure enough, it was a little jaguar! It was a little bigger than a cat, but with spots and very big feet. And very cute- it looked stunned from the collision, but it was still breathing, so I think it'll be ok. Don Venus wanted to bring it with us, but we didn't, thank goodness :) But it was very cute, and I can't believe they still exist here!!!
But I'm definitely ready for the weekend, and hopefully some sleep :)
I went to a beech called Celestun last Saturday, which is well know for the flamingos that go there to eat shrimp. There is also a petrified forest, something called an ojo de agua, or eye of water, which is where the water is fresh and not salty, but it's in the middle of salt water, like a little spring. The water was red which was interesting from the roots of the trees near the water, and really cold, but we swam anyway just to say we did :)
Then this week's been really fun because just about every night Rommel (my cousin) has come over to our house, and when he and Jabes are together, the laughter never stops :)
Also on Wednesday I finally went to where don Venus was born, a pueblo called Santa Elena, and I met his mom (she cooked for us- beans and eggs and handmade tortillas-mmmmm) and his siblings which was fun- 1 sister, 2 brothers. It took a long time, but it was a blast, and there is also a museum in the cathloic church in Santa Elena where mummies were discovered from the Mayas, which was interesante! Very cool, and on the way home, we were driving and Marbella said she thought she saw something cross the road and hit the truck going the opposite direction than us. So, we stopped to look at what the truck hit, and sure enough, it was a little jaguar! It was a little bigger than a cat, but with spots and very big feet. And very cute- it looked stunned from the collision, but it was still breathing, so I think it'll be ok. Don Venus wanted to bring it with us, but we didn't, thank goodness :) But it was very cute, and I can't believe they still exist here!!!
But I'm definitely ready for the weekend, and hopefully some sleep :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Dia de los Muertos
On Saturday last week I went downtown with a couple other girls to see how they celebrate Hanal Pixan, which is the Mayan equivalant to Day of the Dead or Halloween. They make these houses out of sticks basically and make an altar to the deceased. In the centro, there are about 60 different little houses from different pueblos or little towns around Merida. It was really interesting to not only see how the people dress and act, but to see how they set up the alters with a picture of the person in the center of a table with a cross behind it, sometimes with a traditional dress (hipil) on it. There is also a lot of food on the table, and many of the families were still cooking when we got there because they hand out the food to the people later in the day on Saturday. But there were bonfires in the middle of the sidewalks and animals in pens made the night before. I saw turkey, pig, and chicken in the midst of all the people. Many families were making tortillas by hand and that was also interesting to see. And there was inscence galor! The smell was strong with all the candles and flowers and people! Definitely an experience :)
But my family, because we`re Christians is against celebrating anything. We went to church like normal, and on Sunday we went to a pueblo to play volleyball, which was a load of fun! We also ate Pibes, which is the traditional Mayan food for the time of year, and it`s only ok to eat if it hasn`t been on an altar (for my family at least). It´s mashed corn with turdey and stuff in between and it`s in the shape of a pizza, HUGE! And it was very yummy. Lots of people went to the cemetaries that day too and painted the gravesites and tombs. The cemetaries are really different here. There is a certain spot to be burried and the tombs are mostly above ground. It´s like walking through a little city. There are places to put candles and even cabnet like places. Very interesting also is that due to lack of space in the cemetaries, people can rent tombs! I thought that was quite strange, but you pay about 300 dollars for three years for your body to lay there, and then afterward, they remove your bones, burn them, and give them back to your family! What a different tradition!
Then, on the day off, on Moday, we went to a place called the tres cenotes, or three waterholes. They are caverns in the ground that have water in them. They are very fresh which is nice for the hot weather. They were georgeous! And to get from one to the other, imagine train tracks, but about an arms length wide with little carts that could be put on or taken off pulled by horses. Quite an adventure as well!
And then this week has been a breeze, it went really really fast! It´s hard for me to believe we have less than a month left of school (because we have a trip at the end). Right now it´s really rainy too because I think a small huricane is coming toward the peninsula. I´ve heard it should hit Sunday, but it´s not strong at all. So we shall see! Hope everyone has a fantastic fin de semana!!!
But my family, because we`re Christians is against celebrating anything. We went to church like normal, and on Sunday we went to a pueblo to play volleyball, which was a load of fun! We also ate Pibes, which is the traditional Mayan food for the time of year, and it`s only ok to eat if it hasn`t been on an altar (for my family at least). It´s mashed corn with turdey and stuff in between and it`s in the shape of a pizza, HUGE! And it was very yummy. Lots of people went to the cemetaries that day too and painted the gravesites and tombs. The cemetaries are really different here. There is a certain spot to be burried and the tombs are mostly above ground. It´s like walking through a little city. There are places to put candles and even cabnet like places. Very interesting also is that due to lack of space in the cemetaries, people can rent tombs! I thought that was quite strange, but you pay about 300 dollars for three years for your body to lay there, and then afterward, they remove your bones, burn them, and give them back to your family! What a different tradition!
Then, on the day off, on Moday, we went to a place called the tres cenotes, or three waterholes. They are caverns in the ground that have water in them. They are very fresh which is nice for the hot weather. They were georgeous! And to get from one to the other, imagine train tracks, but about an arms length wide with little carts that could be put on or taken off pulled by horses. Quite an adventure as well!
And then this week has been a breeze, it went really really fast! It´s hard for me to believe we have less than a month left of school (because we have a trip at the end). Right now it´s really rainy too because I think a small huricane is coming toward the peninsula. I´ve heard it should hit Sunday, but it´s not strong at all. So we shall see! Hope everyone has a fantastic fin de semana!!!
Friday, October 30, 2009
An Adventure
So last weekend went really well, for the most part. We got on the bus to go to a little town or pueblo called Becal and we were just cruising along thinking that the final stop would be where we needed to get off. But in fact, Becal is smack dab in the center between Merida (where I live) and another capital city of Campeche, the state next to Yucatan. Soo, the bus made a lot of stops in little pueblos and people got on and off, and in one particular stop, some guy was jumping and waving his arms. I thought it was just because we were gringas and I tried not to look at him, but then he jumped up and tapped the glass, and he mouthed, BECAL, and all of the sudden, I was really confused :) We had made it and didn´t even know it. We were about to continue on to Campeche, but thank goodness Abraham saw us and we got off in Becal :)
The first thing he told us to do was to take a taxi to his house. And when he says taxi, what he really means is rickity old cart pushed by a bike. It was interesting, and I felt like it was going to break during the whole ride. But we got to Abrahams house, and spent a relaxing weekend there. The family was really big and we met lots of new people and spent a lot of time in the church there and hanging out with the youth group (because there`s really not much to do in Becal).
Also a funny story is we met an old man named Alfredo, the cousin of Abraham. He walked into the house and talked with Krista (the girl I went with), and sounded really confused. It went something like, `where`s my aunt?? Where`s my aunt? Do you know where my aunt is? Oh, hello, good morning, good afternoon, good . . . what`s your name??` It was really funny because then he left and when he came back, he said `hello, My name Alfredo, Alfred in english. I have five children, guy, girl, guy, girl, guy, and they`re all christians. I have a wife, and I still can`t believe she married me, and I have a house accross the street with lots of stuff. Mandarines, tangerines, saramullo, espinaca. . .
Then I asked what was espinaca, and we of course had to go see it, thanks to Alfredo. And when we went over there, it was spinich :) Too funny because he explained with a lot of noises like `it grows really really fast, voop, voop, big, big, grande` All in all he was a character, and he loved learning english. So when he showed us his uvas or grapes, he could not get that work, and he`s hard of hearing to boot, so it was funny what he came up with. Something like oiqwejfawkjefñ-nothing really at all that sounded like grape.
So a good story, but then on the way home from Becal, we were studying in the bus for our two exams on Monday and we both fell asleep for something like 20 minutes. Unfortunately, during this time, someone stole my bag that was above my head on one of the shelves because when we got up to get off, my bag wasn`t there!!! The good part about this story is that I didn`t have anything valuable in the bag, just my hammock, a sheet, and a towell. The bad part is that it did have my journal in it, and that`s what made me the most sad. I don`t really enjoy writing a journal, but I figured it was a good idea and during the weekend, I had just arrived at the halfway point, and I was really proud of how much work I put into that thing, but now, some person has a journal in Engish for their very own :) So now I get to start a new one :) But other than that, I now have a new hammock, which is actually better than the first, and my family went and bought me a new sheet, which was super nice, and now, I`m all set :)
It´s been a really crazy week, and today Jair gets back!!! Her team wond second place in Mexico in her division of volleyball!!!! (That`s reallly good!!) And I`m excited to have her back :)
Plus, it`s the weekend, and no class Monday because it`s El dia de los muertos!!! So long weekend too :)
The first thing he told us to do was to take a taxi to his house. And when he says taxi, what he really means is rickity old cart pushed by a bike. It was interesting, and I felt like it was going to break during the whole ride. But we got to Abrahams house, and spent a relaxing weekend there. The family was really big and we met lots of new people and spent a lot of time in the church there and hanging out with the youth group (because there`s really not much to do in Becal).
Also a funny story is we met an old man named Alfredo, the cousin of Abraham. He walked into the house and talked with Krista (the girl I went with), and sounded really confused. It went something like, `where`s my aunt?? Where`s my aunt? Do you know where my aunt is? Oh, hello, good morning, good afternoon, good . . . what`s your name??` It was really funny because then he left and when he came back, he said `hello, My name Alfredo, Alfred in english. I have five children, guy, girl, guy, girl, guy, and they`re all christians. I have a wife, and I still can`t believe she married me, and I have a house accross the street with lots of stuff. Mandarines, tangerines, saramullo, espinaca. . .
Then I asked what was espinaca, and we of course had to go see it, thanks to Alfredo. And when we went over there, it was spinich :) Too funny because he explained with a lot of noises like `it grows really really fast, voop, voop, big, big, grande` All in all he was a character, and he loved learning english. So when he showed us his uvas or grapes, he could not get that work, and he`s hard of hearing to boot, so it was funny what he came up with. Something like oiqwejfawkjefñ-nothing really at all that sounded like grape.
So a good story, but then on the way home from Becal, we were studying in the bus for our two exams on Monday and we both fell asleep for something like 20 minutes. Unfortunately, during this time, someone stole my bag that was above my head on one of the shelves because when we got up to get off, my bag wasn`t there!!! The good part about this story is that I didn`t have anything valuable in the bag, just my hammock, a sheet, and a towell. The bad part is that it did have my journal in it, and that`s what made me the most sad. I don`t really enjoy writing a journal, but I figured it was a good idea and during the weekend, I had just arrived at the halfway point, and I was really proud of how much work I put into that thing, but now, some person has a journal in Engish for their very own :) So now I get to start a new one :) But other than that, I now have a new hammock, which is actually better than the first, and my family went and bought me a new sheet, which was super nice, and now, I`m all set :)
It´s been a really crazy week, and today Jair gets back!!! Her team wond second place in Mexico in her division of volleyball!!!! (That`s reallly good!!) And I`m excited to have her back :)
Plus, it`s the weekend, and no class Monday because it`s El dia de los muertos!!! So long weekend too :)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Surprise :)
So I'm actually heading out this weekend right after class to a pueblo, so I figured I'd write today. I'm kind of excited to go live with another family, but nervous too. I'm going with another member of the group to who knows where, but just for the weekend-two nights. Should be an adventure!
This week has been crazy- two tests, a paper, and another two tests on Monday. On top of that, I've had fun with the family and Jair actually left me today to go on a trip with volleyball. She's going to be off in a tournament for 8 days!!! It's a long time to not see her!! But I guess I'll manage :) Now I'm off to class- happy Thursday!
This week has been crazy- two tests, a paper, and another two tests on Monday. On top of that, I've had fun with the family and Jair actually left me today to go on a trip with volleyball. She's going to be off in a tournament for 8 days!!! It's a long time to not see her!! But I guess I'll manage :) Now I'm off to class- happy Thursday!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Random :)
Funny story from last weekend :) I went to the races to watch Joel again with all my cousins and siblings (Edward, Genesis, Cesar, Jabes, Rommel, and Jair). It was a blast to just hang out and take in everything. Unfortunately Joel didn`t win because the second gear on his car wouldn´t work. So, on his way home, he was going too fast, and the police turned on their signal to pull him over. But, the system in Mexico is very corupt. All the police want is for the owner of the car to pay them a little extra than what the ticket would cost and it wont go on file. But Joel didn´t have any money with him, soooo, he decided to run from the police instead. (Apparently he has done this many times before) But Edward dropped Jair and I off at the house, and Joel was behind us, and we saw him pull up to the door where they put the car for the nights, and they opened it. Then a police car wizzed by and they didn´t have time to put the car in the lot. So, they closed the door and ran from the police (they being Joel and his friend José) Then they jumped the walls of the houses to the road where Jabes was waiting in the truck to take them to Aunt Martha´s house. Craziness! It was an adventure, that´s all I can say!
Then on Saturday we did some painting at the Pastor´s house, which was really fun to get out and do some work :) I think we´re heading back tomorrow to finish up.
As for the week, lots of talking with my family. I received a card from my family in Midland with a CD of pictures which were really fun to show to my family here. They laughed a lot of me as a baby :)
And the other day I learned that Grandpa Decker, a person very influencial in my life passed away. It was really hard for me to hear because he had heart surgury about a month ago and I thought he was passed the worst, but I´m thankful for the support I´ve received from my group and my family through a sad time. But it´s happy at the same time because I know he is at peace with his Father in heaven. So if you think about it, pray for his family, because it´s always difficult to lose someone you love.
And have a wonderful weekend!
Then on Saturday we did some painting at the Pastor´s house, which was really fun to get out and do some work :) I think we´re heading back tomorrow to finish up.
As for the week, lots of talking with my family. I received a card from my family in Midland with a CD of pictures which were really fun to show to my family here. They laughed a lot of me as a baby :)
And the other day I learned that Grandpa Decker, a person very influencial in my life passed away. It was really hard for me to hear because he had heart surgury about a month ago and I thought he was passed the worst, but I´m thankful for the support I´ve received from my group and my family through a sad time. But it´s happy at the same time because I know he is at peace with his Father in heaven. So if you think about it, pray for his family, because it´s always difficult to lose someone you love.
And have a wonderful weekend!
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