I am very sorry, I have been a horrible updater for the past three months, but soon I will not have to update any more. On Sunday we reached our 100th day in Mexico and we felt amazing! We realized that we have accomplished more than we could ever have thought before we came. We have successfully lived with families and communicated solely in Spanish with our families. And I would say that is quite an accomplishment. One of the frustrating things has been not being able to fully express myself, but still I have been able to hold conversations about religion, the government, machismo, homosexuality and much more in Spanish, and I never thought I would be able to do that 4 months ago.
We have also written pages and pages in Spanish, read more poems than I ever thought possible, interpreted the messages of the poem, endured a class at 7:00am and maybe understood half of it ( and that is a success if you were to sit in on this class!) No one has come close to failing anything, although we were not sure for a while there.
We have traveled on our own through Mexico, first to Celestun without our professor and this past weekend to la playa del carmen. We have conquered the bus system, and I have successfully managed not to get sick on the bus. We have gotten lost in the city and found our way back. We have lived with little brothers and sisters for 4 months which has seemed almost impossible at times, but come to realize that we do love them, maybe not the annoying habits or they days when they tell us they hate us and then continue to scream while we do our homework, but the smiles, hugs and joys over come those days.
We have had soo many good experiences and it is good to look back on them, because sometimes I lose sight of all of that when i get papers and exams piled upon me in the last 10 days of my life in Mexico. But what my Mexican mom told me today overcame all of the stress.
Last night we had a party at my house for my little sisters birthday and it was a lot of fun. There was a pinata and dancing (yes I danced in front of my whole family) My aunt, cousin and I put on a show to a little kids song and I made a complete fool of myself. I talked with my aunts, uncles and cousins and had a great time. And today my mom said.. Jill visto como todos te quieren? Which means, did you see how everyone loves you? And that made me think, wow, I have come to Mexico and have found a family. They are not my biological family and I do not think I could live here the rest of my life, but I know if I ever came back to Mexico I would have somewhere to stay and a family to have fun with.
I know this has been a sappy post, but sometimes ya just gotta bear with me! I am incredibly ready to come back to the United States but am trying to enjoy my time left here as much as possible. It might be hard with how much homework i have to do the next week, but in a week from now I will be a Senior in College..oh boy. I still miss everyone and for sure have my days when I want to give up and just come home, but I know God has placed this opportunity into my life for a reason, and I am going take every chance I have left to live my life in Mexico as b est as possible, and right now, that means starting my homework!
Love and miss you all, but I shall see you in 10 days!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sudzal
This past Friday-Saturday we were given the opportunity to visit a pueblo. A pueblo can be just about anything from what i have heard, but it is a small town in Mexico to generalize it. Chelsey, Sarah and I traveled to the small town of Sudzal. We traveled with a seminarista (seminarian) and stayed with a family, just to see what life is like in a different part of Mexico. Generally pueblos are poorer than cities and it was very interesting to see life there.
The family we stayed with had a huge house, but with little furniture. We slept in our hammocks in one huge room that only had a bed in it, but it fit our hammocks quite nicely. The family owned a Panaderia, and we woke up really early Saturday Morning to see how the pan was made. It was very interesting because everything was made by hand. Now we have eaten our fair share of pan dulce but have never seen how it is made, and the way they make so many different varieties with such subtle differences is amazing. The oven they had was a huge oven made from one big stone. The dad told us that it was not made of cement because cement cannot handle the heat, so it was made out of pure stone. Kind of like the ruins we have seen. It was really interesting.
Also in Sudzal we hung out with some of the Youth. There was not much to do there becuase it is really small so we played a lot of basketball and on the playground. It was interesting to talk with the youth because life is different there. There is only one high school and not many opportunities to go to College, only those who have a bit more money can go to college. I cannot imagine how life would be if I could not go to college!
The one other thing that was very interesting to me was that the dad of the family we stayed with worked for the wrangler company. One of the companies who has moved their factories to Mexico for cheap labor. He told us the owner only spoke in English and they had to have translators to communicate with him. He was also very aware of why the company had moved to mexico, because of the cheap labor, he told us straight up it was for the cheap hand. But it was also work he needed, so it is a very strange situation. I do not know anything more about it, but after meeting someone who worked in one of the factories, the issue is all the more real.
That is all I got for now, only four weeks till I return to the United States, and it is hard to believe how fast the time has flown ( although sometimes it feels like it is moving very slowly!) But we are taking advantage of every opportunity left to us!
The family we stayed with had a huge house, but with little furniture. We slept in our hammocks in one huge room that only had a bed in it, but it fit our hammocks quite nicely. The family owned a Panaderia, and we woke up really early Saturday Morning to see how the pan was made. It was very interesting because everything was made by hand. Now we have eaten our fair share of pan dulce but have never seen how it is made, and the way they make so many different varieties with such subtle differences is amazing. The oven they had was a huge oven made from one big stone. The dad told us that it was not made of cement because cement cannot handle the heat, so it was made out of pure stone. Kind of like the ruins we have seen. It was really interesting.
Also in Sudzal we hung out with some of the Youth. There was not much to do there becuase it is really small so we played a lot of basketball and on the playground. It was interesting to talk with the youth because life is different there. There is only one high school and not many opportunities to go to College, only those who have a bit more money can go to college. I cannot imagine how life would be if I could not go to college!
The one other thing that was very interesting to me was that the dad of the family we stayed with worked for the wrangler company. One of the companies who has moved their factories to Mexico for cheap labor. He told us the owner only spoke in English and they had to have translators to communicate with him. He was also very aware of why the company had moved to mexico, because of the cheap labor, he told us straight up it was for the cheap hand. But it was also work he needed, so it is a very strange situation. I do not know anything more about it, but after meeting someone who worked in one of the factories, the issue is all the more real.
That is all I got for now, only four weeks till I return to the United States, and it is hard to believe how fast the time has flown ( although sometimes it feels like it is moving very slowly!) But we are taking advantage of every opportunity left to us!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
5 Weeks Left
So here we are, still in Mexico. It is hard to believe that we have just finished 11 weeks of studying in Mexico and living in Spanish, and let me tell you it has not been easy. I would like to say that I have loved Mexico with all that I am and never missed home, but alas, it has not been so. I had a hard week these past 2 weeks dealing with homesickness and who knows why. Probably because we had just gotten back from vacation and had to jump right back into classes. But to overcome this homesickness I decided to write down something good that I discovered about Mexico for every day. I started off with making a list of everything good I could think of Mexico, and I do not have the list with me, but I am going to try to say a few.
1. Panaderias- bakeries with very cheap pan dulce ( muffins, donuts, and all other sorts of treats)
2. School House- the school I am helping out at every Tuesday and Thursday, I have gotten to know some of the students and its lots of fun
3. My family- I get along with them so well, and although they are not my mom and dad, I know have parents in 2 countries
4. Panuchos- a yucatan delicacy!
5. Mercados- markets where I have spent tooo much money
6. Music- humorous to say the least at times
7. Telenovelas- my current favorite is Tengo todo excepto a ti ( I have everything except you!) Oh my goodness everything is about to blow up, affairs are being found out, illegitimate children, oye!
8. Wireless in Burger King- we don't go to coffee shops for the internet, we go to Burger King
9. Plazas- every city has its own plaza and there are always people there, or something going on
10. Universal and Axn- my two favorite television channels so I can watch lost and CSI
11. Drake and Josh- a show on Nick that my brothers love ( i have never seen it in English, but its great in Spanish)
12. Ricardo Dogre- a student at schoolhouse, who makes me laugh every time I see him.
13. Carito- my cousin who I am getting know
14. Swimming with Sea Turtles- seriously where else are you going to do that in the middle of the ocean?
15. Hammocks- I finally figured out how to successfully sleep in a hammock, because it was too hot to sleep in my bed!
16. La Hoya- a great little cafe with waffles covered in Nutella! (only 3 dollars!)
17. Our group in Mexico-we have all gotten along great without many problems!
Well I know there was a lot more to that list, I think I made it to over 50 things but my mind is drawing a blank right now! Things continue to go well here in Mexico. I am very very very sick of classes and homework, but I think i would be the same way in the United States! Something exciting that just happened, well actually it happened today, My family opened a restaurant in our house. Well it is actually outside the house but it's called Benji's Burgers, We will see how it goes. Its a very small restaurant, but I think I will be eating Burgers for the next five weeks!
Although I am still homesick, I think i have put things back into perspective. I still have my bad days, but in reality I think I can survive five more weeks. Our weekends are full till we come home. I just have to keep homework in perspective and not get too stressed out, for that is when I tend to get very homesick!
I continue to thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
1. Panaderias- bakeries with very cheap pan dulce ( muffins, donuts, and all other sorts of treats)
2. School House- the school I am helping out at every Tuesday and Thursday, I have gotten to know some of the students and its lots of fun
3. My family- I get along with them so well, and although they are not my mom and dad, I know have parents in 2 countries
4. Panuchos- a yucatan delicacy!
5. Mercados- markets where I have spent tooo much money
6. Music- humorous to say the least at times
7. Telenovelas- my current favorite is Tengo todo excepto a ti ( I have everything except you!) Oh my goodness everything is about to blow up, affairs are being found out, illegitimate children, oye!
8. Wireless in Burger King- we don't go to coffee shops for the internet, we go to Burger King
9. Plazas- every city has its own plaza and there are always people there, or something going on
10. Universal and Axn- my two favorite television channels so I can watch lost and CSI
11. Drake and Josh- a show on Nick that my brothers love ( i have never seen it in English, but its great in Spanish)
12. Ricardo Dogre- a student at schoolhouse, who makes me laugh every time I see him.
13. Carito- my cousin who I am getting know
14. Swimming with Sea Turtles- seriously where else are you going to do that in the middle of the ocean?
15. Hammocks- I finally figured out how to successfully sleep in a hammock, because it was too hot to sleep in my bed!
16. La Hoya- a great little cafe with waffles covered in Nutella! (only 3 dollars!)
17. Our group in Mexico-we have all gotten along great without many problems!
Well I know there was a lot more to that list, I think I made it to over 50 things but my mind is drawing a blank right now! Things continue to go well here in Mexico. I am very very very sick of classes and homework, but I think i would be the same way in the United States! Something exciting that just happened, well actually it happened today, My family opened a restaurant in our house. Well it is actually outside the house but it's called Benji's Burgers, We will see how it goes. Its a very small restaurant, but I think I will be eating Burgers for the next five weeks!
Although I am still homesick, I think i have put things back into perspective. I still have my bad days, but in reality I think I can survive five more weeks. Our weekends are full till we come home. I just have to keep homework in perspective and not get too stressed out, for that is when I tend to get very homesick!
I continue to thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Two Weeks in a little bus
Well when I left off I believe we were in Oaxaca. In Oaxaca we once again visited more ruins and a market which was near the ruins. You would not believe how many markets there are in Mexico and how tempting all of them are! We also saw a weaving demonstration. It was pretty interesting, everything they used was natural and without electricity. It started from straight wool and ended up in a beautiful rug. Sometimes its hard for me to believe that things are still made this way, with all the technology in the world, but I would say they are more beautiful when made by hand.
As we left Oaxaca we stopped at a famous place where vases, sculptures, and many more things are made from clay. Once again this is done without electricity and by hand, and everything was done without paint, which is amazing because it is a brilliant black in many of the works and it is hard to believe there was no paint involved. I'll show what I mean when I get back. Then we moved onto Puerto Angel which was our one day at the beach. This was wonderful, we took a little boat out into the ocean, saw dolphins, swam with a sea turtle, jumped off a big rock into the ocean and snorkled. It was a nice rest from educational things!
THere is so much more to tell, we saw a lot more ruins, took a boat through a beautiful canyon, stopped at more markets, rode horses twice, swam in a pool, got sunburned, ate good dinners, observed what life is like at a mission, saw very strange mixtures of religions and more. All in all it was a good trip!
Now we are back to classes and counting down the days until we get back to the United States, as of today it is 44. I probably shouldn't be counting, but I miss home a lot right now!
Love and miss you all
As we left Oaxaca we stopped at a famous place where vases, sculptures, and many more things are made from clay. Once again this is done without electricity and by hand, and everything was done without paint, which is amazing because it is a brilliant black in many of the works and it is hard to believe there was no paint involved. I'll show what I mean when I get back. Then we moved onto Puerto Angel which was our one day at the beach. This was wonderful, we took a little boat out into the ocean, saw dolphins, swam with a sea turtle, jumped off a big rock into the ocean and snorkled. It was a nice rest from educational things!
THere is so much more to tell, we saw a lot more ruins, took a boat through a beautiful canyon, stopped at more markets, rode horses twice, swam in a pool, got sunburned, ate good dinners, observed what life is like at a mission, saw very strange mixtures of religions and more. All in all it was a good trip!
Now we are back to classes and counting down the days until we get back to the United States, as of today it is 44. I probably shouldn't be counting, but I miss home a lot right now!
Love and miss you all
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Semana Santa thus far
Hello everyone
Here is a quick update of what we have been doing so far on our vacation. I feel like the majority of it has been spent in a little bus with everyone in our group sleeping, reading, getting carsick and watching movies. OK the carsickness has not really affected me, but others have been a bit sick.
Anyways we set off the first day at 6am from Merida and arrived in Villa Hermosa a mere seven hours later. We spent some time in a park and zoo and then went back to the seminary in which we were staying for dinner and relaxation, we just spent the night talking and laughing which was a nice break.
The next day we had a small worship service at the Seminary and set out for Vera Cruz, more time spent in the bus, but all was well. We arrived in Vera Cruz and proceeded to ride the TuriBus, which was interesting, a little frustrating because we could not hear any of the information and we were all extremely tired, however, it was fun to see Vera Cruz at night. There was a show going on in one of the plazas so we watched some dancing for a while, one of the dances consisted of girls dancing with firesticks, a bit scary!
The next day we once again set off for Mexico City, on our way we stopped at a beautiful little place int he mountains to take pictures and also had a great time watching Dirty Dancing, poor grant is getting stuck with all of our girly movies! We arrived in Mexico city, but we stayed ina church in Coyocan, an amazing little part of Mexico city taht reminds me a ton of east town, it is really calm with lots of book stores, a mercado, coffee shops, really good ice cream and much more. It was amazing, I probably could stay there a week and just relax. Anyways, in Mexico city we first went to the Basilica, which is pretty much the center of Catholism in Latin America, it was beautiful and very ornate, tehre were tons of people there because it is Semana Santa (Holy week). We then headed to some Aztec ruins and climbed a ginormous pyramid! I thought i was going to die once I reached the top! But it was awesome. The next day we headed to center of Mexico City, and saw the Cathedral, which is the second largest Cathedral in all of Latin America, we also climbed up into the bell towers, first time I have ever been on the top of a Cathedral before! (we also have some great pictures of grant as Quasi Modo). We also saw ruins of Tenochtilan and went to a Mexican Ballet, the ballet was amazing! Much mroe happened in Mexico city, we made some friends at the church who were our guides for the three days there, Mauricio and Uri!
Now we have just arrived in Ouaxaco (wa-ha-ka) and are getting settled into our hostel, my first experience in a hostel, we are going to eat soon and have the night to relax. Tomorrow we are off to ride horses and who knows what else. So far teh trip has been wonderful and relaxing, and we are not even half way through!
However we have reached teh halfway point of the semester this week, well it is on friday, and we are pretty excited we have survived so far! ONce again thanks for all the prayers and since I won´t be able to update till after easter
He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed
Happy Easter!
Here is a quick update of what we have been doing so far on our vacation. I feel like the majority of it has been spent in a little bus with everyone in our group sleeping, reading, getting carsick and watching movies. OK the carsickness has not really affected me, but others have been a bit sick.
Anyways we set off the first day at 6am from Merida and arrived in Villa Hermosa a mere seven hours later. We spent some time in a park and zoo and then went back to the seminary in which we were staying for dinner and relaxation, we just spent the night talking and laughing which was a nice break.
The next day we had a small worship service at the Seminary and set out for Vera Cruz, more time spent in the bus, but all was well. We arrived in Vera Cruz and proceeded to ride the TuriBus, which was interesting, a little frustrating because we could not hear any of the information and we were all extremely tired, however, it was fun to see Vera Cruz at night. There was a show going on in one of the plazas so we watched some dancing for a while, one of the dances consisted of girls dancing with firesticks, a bit scary!
The next day we once again set off for Mexico City, on our way we stopped at a beautiful little place int he mountains to take pictures and also had a great time watching Dirty Dancing, poor grant is getting stuck with all of our girly movies! We arrived in Mexico city, but we stayed ina church in Coyocan, an amazing little part of Mexico city taht reminds me a ton of east town, it is really calm with lots of book stores, a mercado, coffee shops, really good ice cream and much more. It was amazing, I probably could stay there a week and just relax. Anyways, in Mexico city we first went to the Basilica, which is pretty much the center of Catholism in Latin America, it was beautiful and very ornate, tehre were tons of people there because it is Semana Santa (Holy week). We then headed to some Aztec ruins and climbed a ginormous pyramid! I thought i was going to die once I reached the top! But it was awesome. The next day we headed to center of Mexico City, and saw the Cathedral, which is the second largest Cathedral in all of Latin America, we also climbed up into the bell towers, first time I have ever been on the top of a Cathedral before! (we also have some great pictures of grant as Quasi Modo). We also saw ruins of Tenochtilan and went to a Mexican Ballet, the ballet was amazing! Much mroe happened in Mexico city, we made some friends at the church who were our guides for the three days there, Mauricio and Uri!
Now we have just arrived in Ouaxaco (wa-ha-ka) and are getting settled into our hostel, my first experience in a hostel, we are going to eat soon and have the night to relax. Tomorrow we are off to ride horses and who knows what else. So far teh trip has been wonderful and relaxing, and we are not even half way through!
However we have reached teh halfway point of the semester this week, well it is on friday, and we are pretty excited we have survived so far! ONce again thanks for all the prayers and since I won´t be able to update till after easter
He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed
Happy Easter!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Spring Break 08, finally!
Well Saturday morning, nice and early we are off to travel around the lovely country of Mexico. I personally am very thankful for this break as this week was rather frustrating for me with the amount of homework, my capacity to do it, but I made it through and now we have a full 2 weeks to relax. Here is a list of the places we are going, now I am not completely sure where all of these places are, but it should be fantastic. We are going to be seeing everything from the Mountains to the beach, so our suitcases are going to have a strange mix of clothing in them!
So here is the plan for vacation.
Villa Hermosa
VeraCruz
Mexico DF (Mexico City)-3 days
Oaxaca- 2 days--including riding horses in the mountains!
Puerto Angel- the beach!
Tehuantepec- apparently there is a cool mercado here!
San Cristobal-- we are going to take a boat through a very beautiful canyon--2 days in San Cristobal
Ocosingo
Palenque-2 days
Merida
We are going to be doing a variety of things, taking tour busses, seeing more ruins, cathedrals, snorkling, riding horses, see traditional folk dance, hopefully a lot of sleeping, mercados, boat rides, did I mention sleeping?
We have successfully made it half way through classes and almost halfway through the whole semester, with many challenges, frustrations, joys and successes, but we have survived and we will continue to survive and thank God for his guidance, protection and blessings that have followed us throughout our whole trip so far, and will not end!
I would like to say, thank you all for your prayers and encouragement, it really helps having that in a semester away from friends and families in a different country. I hope everything is going well in the United States, but am really enjoying myself here, especially the warmth!
So here is the plan for vacation.
Villa Hermosa
VeraCruz
Mexico DF (Mexico City)-3 days
Oaxaca- 2 days--including riding horses in the mountains!
Puerto Angel- the beach!
Tehuantepec- apparently there is a cool mercado here!
San Cristobal-- we are going to take a boat through a very beautiful canyon--2 days in San Cristobal
Ocosingo
Palenque-2 days
Merida
We are going to be doing a variety of things, taking tour busses, seeing more ruins, cathedrals, snorkling, riding horses, see traditional folk dance, hopefully a lot of sleeping, mercados, boat rides, did I mention sleeping?
We have successfully made it half way through classes and almost halfway through the whole semester, with many challenges, frustrations, joys and successes, but we have survived and we will continue to survive and thank God for his guidance, protection and blessings that have followed us throughout our whole trip so far, and will not end!
I would like to say, thank you all for your prayers and encouragement, it really helps having that in a semester away from friends and families in a different country. I hope everything is going well in the United States, but am really enjoying myself here, especially the warmth!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lets Try Again, some photos
This was the view at night from our hotel in Celestun, when we took a weekend at the beach. Incredibly beautiful!
Celestun also gave us the opportunity to see flamingos! Apparently the place is known for flamingos we could not miss out on seeing them! So we paid for a boat ride to see them. There were literally hundreds of them. If we got too close they would fly away, but these flamingos are very calm. The first time I have seen flamingos in the wild!
Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world. This was their main temple. We wanted to climb it but it is not allowed anymore because apparently it is rather dangerous!
The cenote we swam in after Chichen Itza, we felt like we were in a movie of some sort it was so beautiful!
One more sunset picture, Sara and I in Celestun at night.Things continue to go well here in Mexico, one more week of class and we are off to travel around Mexico for Spring Break!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
