Moving on - I realized a few minutes ago that I forgot to mention a very important story that happened on Monday (the day that we went to the beach). And it all started with food. So, about an hour before we headed home, I decided I was hungry (MM had packed us two sandwiches - a PB sandwich and a bologna sandwich. I'd eaten the PB sandwich, but ended up not eating the bologna because...well, it hadn't any ice pack to keep it cool and I just don't trust meat that's been out in 100 degree weather for several hours). So, Christina and I walked down to a little convenience store (there was a street parallel to the beach) and I bought a small loaf of bread to chow down on. It was on the way back that my sandals gave up the ghost. At least, my right sandal did. So, there I was, with a broken sandal, knowing I'd have to walk home a pretty lengthy distance after the bus. Nevertheless, I shrugged it off with slight frustration (after trying to fix it) telling myself that I could just walk barefoot.
Thirty minutes later, we (Christina, Conner, Claire, Ellora, and I) headed towards the bus. Well, I tried walking barefoot, and that kind of worked, except parts of the cement were super hot. So then I switched to wearing my broken sandals, and that didn't work either. So, switching between the two (wearing sandals, walking barefoot) I told the people in my group to look for a zapateria (shoe store) or some store selling sandals. Well, after five or so minutes of walking, I spotted one. Instantly I stopped (Christina stopped with me, the other three kept walking, oblivious. They figured it out and walked back to where we were two or three minutes later). I asked, "Cuanta cuesta?" pointing at the sandals (how much?) and was told that they were over 200 pesos. My heart sank, I only had about 40 pesos and I needed 19 of it for the bus. I told the man that perhaps I could borrow some from my friends when they returned. As I was looking anxiously towards where I'd last seen my friends, a man asked me, "Do you need help?" (he was speaking English). I explained to him my situation, and he said, "Here, let me see if I can fix it." So he left with my broken shoe (the other three friends came back, and one offered to help me pay for the shoes, but I explained that my shoe was already being fixed). About 10 minutes later, and with the use of a cigarette lighter, the man fixed my shoe (at least well enough that I could walk home in them). I offered to pay him money for his services, but he just put his hands up and shook his head. I thanked him and then we walked towards the buses again. Then, when we reached our bus stop (once again in Merida), I ended up taking off my sandals because they hurt so much. BUT the blessing was, it had begun to rain so the ground was no longer hot and I was able to walk without a problem (Conner told me on the walk home, as we splashed through puddles, "I wonder what parasites Rebecca is going to get." Lol). It was such a blessing, the whole experience, and I'm so grateful that the man was so willing to help me out. Here's a picture of the shoes:
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| The fixed shoe via the lighter |
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| The culprits (though, in their defense, they are six or more years old) |
Moving on.
Today was exciting. I got up for class at about 5:30 AM (after having interesting dreams about pesos, lol). About 6:30ish we caught the bus (we missed the 6:15 bus because today is laundry day! So we got caught up in making sure Elisa had all our dirty laundry. Let me just tell you, I'm reaaaallly going to miss having some cook and do my laundry for me when I got back to college). Then we went to class.
I wish I could tell you that I understood 100% of my first class...but I think I only got 30% of it. But what I understood was interesting. It was a lecture on the history of the Mayans. It was very...historical. Yeah, that's all I have to say about that.
My second class went much better. Probably because it's an interactive class, and in those, I generally feel more at ease to say, "Uh...I'm not understanding what you're saying." But we learend all about estar and ser today. And started memorizing a poem. We also read our papers aloud (it was an assignment due that day. It was a paper about what we'd done this weekend). The professor was impressed with my sentence, "Mi parte favorita del día fue los peses en el cenote. Porque cuando estaba nadando en el cenote, los peses estaban mordisqueando mi piel" Translation: My favorite part of the day was the little fishes in the cenote. Because when I was swimming in the cenote, the fishes were nibbling my skin." #newword #mordisqueando :P
After school, Christina, Conner, and I returned home via Profe Price's car (shhhhhh, don't tell the other students. Profe was super amused at how we were ducking and trying to avoid eye contact as we passed our fellow students on their way to the bus). Following that, Christina, Conner, and I went to the bank. Then 7-11. Then Oxxco (a gas station thing with Spanish playing cards, which is what Christina was looking for). Then we returned home and I took a nap (for which I was grateful becaauuse my legs were hurting something fierce. Though they are feeling better now! Thanks to Conner and his pain killers - aka Tylenol).
About 2:40 PM Christina and I went to the movies at City Center (it cracks me up that the people here call it City Center but with an accent). We went all by ourselves and made it in one piece! And we even went a different way then we did last time. #success.
At the movie theater, I watched Inside and Out in English (with Spanish subs) and Christina (joined by Brandon) watched it in Spanish. It was actually a cute little movie. I highly recommend it :) Here's a pic of the movie theater (I took it as I was waiting in the lobby area. My movie finished before Christinas. Did I mention that the movie ticket is only $3??):
After that, we returned home. And learned something new on the bus ride home. So, riding home, we were very determined to not miss our stop and end up at the centro - no matter how crowded it got. So, when our stop rolled round (yes, the bus was very crowded. I was standing up, gripping the rail, and trying not to run into the people next to me as the bus jerked around. I have no idea how the rest of the people standing kept their balance so well!), I pressed the button to get off (which, ya know, usually works). The little light thing lit up (it said parada which means stop) but nothing happened. So I pressed it again. But still, the bus wasn't stopping. I looked over at Christina and said, "Maybe try the button in the back?" so she did. Still nothing. The bus came to a stop for traffic reasons, so the doors didn't open. By now, Christina and I were standing next to the back door, pressing the button and unsure of what to do (it'd been 5 minutes since our stop). The guys around us noticed "las senoritas" having troubles, so they kind of looked around, noticing that our button wasn't working. One of them said, "baja!" (which means to get off. I learned that today). Which I guess worked? Because the bus stopped and the doors finally opened (well, half opened, becasue I guess the doors suddenly decided to not work). The guys around us laughed at the silliness, but I was too busy praying that the bus wouldn't start moving as I tried to squeeze through the door. Luckily, we all made it out in one piece, just happy that we didn't have to make it back from the Centro (we were only 3 or 4 blocks from our house). So, yeah. Pretty exciting.
When we returned (Brandon to his house, Christina and I to our house) I showered (cold showers have never been so pleasant), then we had dinner (eggs with ham. YUM). And I put away my laundry/reorganized my luggage (cause it was a disaster).
And now, I am going to do my homework (yay). It shouldn't be too hard, I hope :) It's just a presentation about 'mi vida' or 'my life.'
That's all for today! Sorry that there are so few pictures! But I am sure that there will be plenty on Friday (we are going to Chicten Itza that day) when we visit THIS beautiful cenote:
'Til Tomorrow!
R J Carr
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