Chichen Itzá - Excursion 2

Once again, I have LOTS of pictures.  This morning I woke up about 6:30 AM, but didn't roll out of bed til about 6:40 AM.  Consequently, I was running a little late this morning.  Nevertheless, Christina and I managed to get out the door on time (well, technically the van came by, but MM sent them to pick up the other two houses first before coming back for us).  I didn't get a good picture of the bus, but I got a picture of the seat!  (A very bad picture of a seat, lol)

During the 2ish hour bus ride, I read and listened to my PTX tunes as well as "Fight Song" and I had a moment that I felt I should share with y'all today.  These are the words I wrote down, the thoughts that I had on the bus today:

"On the bus ride here [Chichen Itza] I couldn't help but think of how far I've come these past seven months.  God is so good.  So very good.  And it is my testimony that He knows you.  He understands your struggles and your pain.  And even now, He is preparing a way for your healing.  Healing is not always comfortable, but it is beautiful to behold the hand of the Maker in its process.  There is hope and there is help.  There is a God who cares.  I know this with all my heart.  With all my soul, I wish I could cry out to the world and declare that Christ lives!  He is there.  He loves you.  And He will walk every single step of this life with you.  Three years ago, man, I don't know if I would have been able to speak with the confidence I do now.  But I can declare to you now that He lives.  And I know in who I have trusted and will trust in still.  Hope on.  And believe in good things to come."

Shortly after writing this down, we finally arrived at Chichen Itzá.  And I took a lot of pictures :)  I'll admit, I didn't have much focus on the tour guide (listening to long amounts of Spanish is really tiring, especially when there are so many distractions around you and its hot and humid).  But I did learn a few things!  I'll try to mention 'em in the picture captions.

The bathroom!  I thought it was super cool that they didn't have sinks.  They just had the counter made at an angle, so all the water went into that little crack as you washed your hands. 

One of the walkways :)  See all the little vendors (there were SO many of them.  All of them being like, "our wares are so cheap, buy them!")

These are the workers working to preserve the ruins (removing plants, etc)

This is a close up of the building (the building shown above and below).  The god shown here is the Mayan rain god named Chaa 'ak (or however you spell that).

Here's a picture of the church building.  (The doors were so tiny!  The tallest Mayan was about 5' 4" or something like that.  TINY).

This is the back of the church.

This is a close up of the engravings on the church.

This is the small pelota playing field.

This is an offering table.  This was in transition to the newer part of Chichen Itza.  The previous had been the center of the older part of Chichen Itza.

This is me in front of the really tall building.  I kind of blend in with all the other tourists, lol.

This is our Profe photo bombing out jumping picture.

And here's the end of him leaving the photobombing of our picture.

Here's us getting ready to jump.  (I'm gonna see if one of the other girls has a picture of us actually in the air).

Everybody Point!!!!  (Your welcome.  #sevenwonderoftheworld #familytradition)

The original base of the really big building seen in the pictures above.  (aka the stone 'sidewalk' beside it, before the park decided to make it grassy).

It was so cool how you could still see the paint.  This is part of the wall that went around Chichen Itza.

Steps next to the street (the original.  The streets we were walking on were also the original Mayan streets).

And this is the cenote (the big hole behind this little building) where they offered sacrifices.  (These Mayans were uh, kind of really into this whole sacrificial thing).

The BIG pelota court.  (Pelota, or however you spell that, is the Mayan game they used to play.  Very popular.  Currently academic people are arguing whether or not it was the winners or the losers that got sacrificed after a game...yeah...)

This is what was behind us (the picture above was what was in front of us at the court.  This is what was behind us.  There was also one of these at the very from of the court.  Apparently, because of the acoustics, whoever was sitting at the front end and the back end could hear each other just fine during a game.  #crazy).

 These next photos are the Mayan pelota players.  (So much cooler than having your uniform hung in a gymn.  I wonder if it was the players girlfriends who carved these things...?).  You have to look really hard to see the faces and different depictions.

This is a sacrifice scene.  Awesome right?  The picture before this picture is the scene after the sacrifice.  You can see the person is holding the hair of someone's head).

The hoops.

Side view of the court.

 After viewing all of these wonderful edifices, we got 20 minutes to go shopping (that's all we wanted.  We'd already been out in the sun for 3 hours by this point).  So Conner and I headed off to go buy souvenirs.  See?

These are all the souvenirs I bought today!  #somany All the vendors saw me and must have been thinking, "Heh, she'll buy anything!" because I got so many more "Buy this!  It's cheap!" while I was carrying around these bags.  Also, note the photo-bomber in the back, lol.

 After that we met at the exit (that's where I'm standing in the picture above).  While we were waiting for others, I bought a strawberry smoothie.  SO good.  I'd had a Gatorade and a bottle of water during the afternoon, but this was really, super refreshing.

After this, we drove to the cenote!  It was SO PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!   Here's a picture.  (As soon as the other kids post theirs, I shall post more.  There's a group photo I super want to share with you all).

Me trying to look cool ;)

This cenote was 150 feet deep.  I was hoping there'd be a shallow end, but, obviously not.  So, after going down to the cenote and realizing there was no shallow end (I should note, before going down to the cenote, we'd all gotten in our bathing suits and "showered" -- the showering was mandatory prior to entering the cenote). I climbed all the way back up, went to my locker (which I'd rented), grabbed some money, and rented a life jacket.

(To be honest, I was still unsure if I'd be comfortable enough to get in the water, even with a life jacket For those of you who do not know, I am TERRIFIED of deep water.  I almost drowned once and, ever since then, I have hated deep water.  I have been learning how to tread water, but I didn't really want to try my skills in a 150 foot deep cenote).

Then, I headed back down the three flights of wet stone stairs, back to the side of the cenote, and, with shaking hands, finished tightening up my life jacket.  It was then that the workers beckoned to me, letting me know I could get in the water (the workers were patrolling the ladders, letting people know when it was clear to get in), but I shook my head.  Because first, I wanted to find a fellow student who would go in with me.

About a minute later, I did.  (Well, actually, I ran into Profe and a fellow student).  Profe offered to jump in with me, and the other girl said we could go in the ladder and try the little "bench" that was close to the ladder (it was a little space in the wall that was big enough to sit in).  Well, I chose to do the ladder, because I was NOT jumping into a cenote.  Not when I didn't trust my life jacket to not slip over my head or something.

Anyway.  So I headed to the ladder and climbed down it (my whole body was trembling.  I was terrified).  With a reassuring glance at my fellow student, I got into the water (it was freezing!)  And...stayed near the ladder.  For probably about 5 or 6 minutes?  Well, probably more than that.  During that time, I focused on not hyperventilating (lol) and ran into some other fellow students and the Profe.  They offered to take me to the center of the cenote, but I shook my head.  Whitney, one of the fellow students, offered to stay by me though.

Long story short, I didn't do much (just hung out by the wall, and the ladder, the little fishes eating my dead skin).  Until...the group photo.  Knowing I'd regret it if I wasn't in the picture, I went with Whitney (such a kind soul!!) around the ladders to the front part of the cenote.  And away from the wall (my heart is pounding right now just thinking about it).  The person wasn't ready yet to take the photo, and some of the students had to still get into the cenote.  All of which was hurried by my, "Takeittakeittakeit!!!"  (At first it was more out of fear, then it was because I liked the sound of saying "takeit!" and it made me laugh.  Which, laughing is always a good way to release tension.  Especially when that tension is created by your body screaming at you to flee from the "danger").  Needless to say, the group photo finally got taken (big thanks to Raquel for also hurrying the process along), and we all departed hence.

At least, that's what I thought.  Until, as I headed up the ladder, I looked back and saw the beautiful waterfalls flowing into the cenote (more like tiny streams. You can probably see them in the picture above).  Waterfalls which I had wanted to go under, but had not because of fear.

The little voice in my head said, "When are you ever going to have this opportunity again?  You're going to regret it if you don't get back in that cenote and expereince the waterfalls!"  Whitney must have been on the same brain wave because she asked, "No regrets?" as we climbed off the ladder.

Without hesitation, I said, "Can we go into the waterfall thing really quick?"  She smiled and said, "Yeah!" So, without further ado, we climbed back down into the cenote.

Whitney said, "Okay, so we're gonna kick off the ladder, and then I will grab your hand and pull you to the waterfall.  That sound good?"  It sounded terrifying, but I nodded anyway, my heart racing.  So Whitney pushed off, then, after a first failed attempt (I think my hands were magnetically attracted to the ladder or something), I pushed off the ladder, reaching for Whitney's hand.  I grabbed it easily enough, and she pulled me right to the waterfall.

I couldn't help but smile as the water dribbled on my head.  I'd made it!  I tried looking up, but it's hard to do when water is dribbling in your face.  Blinking water out of my eyes, I then looked towards the center of the cenote.  Realizing how close it was, I said, "Can we go to the center?"  And we did!  With Whitney pulling me along.

It.  Was.  Beautiful.

Lying there on my back (okay, somewhat lying on my back), looking up at the cenote...man.  If you ever have a chance to go to this cenote, swim to the center and look up. It was the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen.  Whitney remarked something along the lines of, "Isn't God's creations just amazing??"  *Sigh*  Such a blissful moment of pure peace and awesomeness.  SO cool.  SO beautiful.  SO worth it.  If I could have stayed in that moment, I think I would have.

But, alas, it was time to go (I'll admit, my heart gave a lurch as I saw how far we were fro the ladders, but I managed to get there in one piece.  Half swimming, half being pulled).  As we gathered our things, getting ready to return to the bathrooms above to change, Whitney asked, "No regrets?"  I shook my head and smiled, and we took a picture :)  I'll admit, part of me wishes I could have swam to the other side of the cenote and explore the tree roots there.  But I think my sense of accomplishment overwhelms that feeling.  PLUS, it gives me a reason to go back again someday and explore some more.

I'm just super grateful to Whintey and to my Heavenly Father (I'd said a prayer for peace earlier, when I'd been hanging by the ladder) for helping me have the strength to face my fears and enjoy such a beautiful moment in the cenote.  Whitney pulling me along kind of reminded me of how Christ helps us in our lives.  Though fear and terror may besiege us, Christ is there to hold our hand and guide us, giving us the peace and assurance that we can do hard things, and showing us that the end result of accomplishing those hard things is always worth it.

After changing back into our clothes, we finally ate!  (This was about 4 PM).  It was at a buffet.  But unfortunately, none of us were really hungry.   Probably because we were all so exhausted.  All the same, I think I actually ate quite well.  Here's some pictures from the restaurant:

Potato salad, pork, fish, noodles, veggis, rice, roll, flan

After lunch, we finally headed for home (here's a picture of the entrance as we were leaving).

 When Christina and I got home (I should mention that I read a whole book on the bus ride home.  It was...okay), we didn't do much as we were exhausted.  I looked over my souvenirs again and took a shower.  Then I asked MM if she could make us those burritos again (what, to me, is a quesadilla).  So I ate about four of those and some grapes, talking with MM about various things.  Then I returned to my room and watched Dr. Who and wrote this blog.  And now, I am exhausted and shall head to bed.

'Til Tomorrow

R J Carr

Side note:  I felt super bad for Profe.  He got stung/bit by a waspy thing at the park.  Then, on the ride home, a souvenir (not mine) fell from the luggage holder onto his poor head).  Luckily, he recovered quickly from both :)

Further side note:   Can I just say, when you come to Mexico...it is worth the trouble of changing your money to pesos.  Everything is MUCH cheaper in the parks and tourists sites if you do

Even further side note:  I had "Starships" stuck in my head all day, but instead of having the correct lyrics stuck in my head, "Starships were meant to fly!" I kept singing, "StarFISH were meant to fly." Lol.

...Down a Raging River of Death!

Today's blog was brought to you by the letter S and the word Monte (which means woods/area outside of a civilized area).

*Ahem*

The day started out wonderfully (and ended wonderfully too).  I went to my 7 AM class and...get this, stayed awake the whole time!  I decided that I wanted to super pay attention today, so I wrote down all the words on the slides (in Spanish) and then, when I didn't understand a word, I looked it up on my Spanish/English dictionary (conveniently located on my phone).  Basically, my mind got blown.  We learned about the whole Mayan agriculture system.  In a nut shell:  the Mayans realized that the ground here, as it was, is not fertile enough to grow crops.   But then they had an idea!

(Though I am sure they did not look as white as this guy, lol).  Looking at the trees around them, they realized that all the nutrients were in the trees.  So, using the slash and burn method, the Mayans were able to get the tree nutrients into the soil.  Of course, also being smart enough to realize that they still needed the trees for later, they left enough stump so that the trees could grow back and they could do it all again.  (They had to wait 16 years for the trees to go back.  My guess is they rotated plots).  Anyway, what's mind blowing is that this method sustained the Mayans for thousands of year!  Thousands of Mayans for thousands of years.  Mayans = intelligent.  It's a shame that the Mexican government has not made use of this knowledge.  But I'm sure there's a complicated reason for why they haven't yet.

Anyway, I also learned that June 16-20th the Mayans have a festival of rain called Ch 'a chaak.  (There's your Mayan word for today).  Needless to say, I could on and on and on about this topic, but I shall save you from my boring rants and move on to the next topic.  Which would be the fact that my next class gave me a LOT of homework (4 assignments).  Luckily I have until Tuesday to do it.  (Speaking of that class, I gave a presentation today and it went pretty well :)

*side note:  our first class always starts late, and then, consequently, ends late - generally running into our next class (which is saying something seeing that we have a 15 minute break between classes.  I guess Profe talked with the director of that class, so hopefully that will be better on Tuesday!*

Random picture:  This is the bus we take to and from school.

Another side note, I tried this delicous treat at school today (when I left my second class to go to the bathroom, I stopped by the vending machines.  It was either eat or sleep, lol):

After that class, Conner, Christina, Raquel, and I went and worked on the homework assignment (well, one of them).  That was exciting.  I didn't know Spanish accent marks were so...confusing.  But I think I understand?  Yep.  I was about to go into what we learned, but then I realized you probably aren't reading this blog to learn about Spanish grammer *ahem* moving on.

Following homework, we returned to our homes.  Originally, Conner came home with Christina and I as we were gonna watch a movie.  But then we ran into MM and ended up having lunch instead.  So Conner went home, but then returned about 30 minutes later to watch the movie.  Meanwhile, while he was out, and before we ate lunch we cuddle with the kittens :)  Which were born a day before Christina and I arrived.  Aren't they precious???

The middle kitten was having some troubles, lol.  He may be the first to have his eyes open, but he sure was hard put when trying to feed!  (He's also the only kitten that looks like his mama color wise).

Also of note, we found these in our rooms when we arrived home!  (The woman who comes in on Wednesdays works at a hotel, so she's learned how to fold things into cool shapes!):

A flower made out of toilet paper and a safety pin.  As Riley in National Treasure would say, "Genius"

After pulling ourselves away from this adorable little things (which, I found out that I'm not allergic to this type of cat, oddly enough.  I didn't get itchy eyed or anything), we had this for lunch:

Pork, rice, and salad

After lunch, we went back to the kittens.  That's when Conner arrived.  And that's also when I noticed this lovely scene on the office wall (the office is where the kittens were feeding):

It was kind of cool to see the little ants moving such a big piece of, uh, meat up the wall.  And it was gross too.  Really gross. 

This is the green stuff they put on the light fixture (which is where the ants were coming from) to keep at bay the little boogers.  *shudder*

 Moving on...I then had these adorable pictures taken of myself (I guess the kitten is cute too :P):

Anyway, after all that jazz, Conner, Christina, and I sat down to watch El Dorado (you know, to prepare us to go see Chichen Itza tomorrow.  Because that movie is TOTally historically accurate).  After that, I can't quite remember what I did.  But I know one thing I did was watch the PTX movie (SOOOOOOOOO awesome).  And then it started raining.  So I decided to take the opportunity to take pictures and a video to explain how the heavy rain drains (well, doesn't drain) from the roads here:

See how high up that water is on that car tire?  It takes about an hour ish to get to that point?  Maybe less.

This is a video of a cup I saw floating down the street. 

This is me explaining the roads :)

While it was raining, I skyped my daddy!  And it was the bestest!  We talked bout what I learned today and everything.  It was nice to see him and his lovely smile :)  (I got to skype my mommy a few days ago, and that was also fun!!  And I got to see my grandma then too).

After skype, I went and ate dinner.  Which was this deliciousness seen here:

Grilled cheese!  With ham and tomato and mayo.

After that I talked with Elisa for about 15 minutes about music and different things (See dad?  I followed your advice, went forth, and spoke!  I should also note that I spoke with the maid today as well.  That's when I found out that the reason we where shoes during storms is because if the house gets struck by lightening, there's less of a chance of being shocked or something.  Guess they don't have lightening rods.  This trip just came to a new level, lol.  Don't worry, mom, we'll be safe!).

Fun culture notes:

*The sewage system here can't process toilet paper.  Soooooooo, instead they have little trash cans here where you throw away your used toilet paper.  (If anything will make you miss the states, it's that).   Luckily, at our house here, we can put it in the toliet (thank goodness!).

*My roommate learned today that they don't have anything larger than size 7's at the shoe stores here.  Still...I hope I can find some new flip flops at some point.  Maybe they shall have some at el Centro.  If not, I shall buy guy sized shoes!

*Guys here only where pants.  (Now that's what I can manly)  Girls where pants or dresses.  Though I've seen some wear capris.

*Watch out when climbing walls (not that you would be, but if you were...) some of them have broken glass mounted/cemented into the tops of the walls (I'll have to get a picture of that sometime!)

This is the money they use:

And we totally have a closet that locks, as well as a dresser drawer, and a side table drawer that locks :)  Here's a picture of my side table (and lovely key chain):

That's it for today!  I can't wait for the excursion tomorrow!  Chichen Itza here I come!

'Til Tomorrow,

With love (and this song):

R J Carr

Totes Ma Goats

Basically I'm ignoring my homework for tomorrow and am instead writing this blog post (great start to today's entry, eh?)  Because writing blog posts is SO much more enjoyable than creating a power point.

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:

The fixed shoe via the lighter

The culprits (though, in their defense, they are six or more years old)

Another thing of mention is, while we were waiting for my shoe to be fixed, a drunk man approached asking for money for tortillas (at least, that's all I got out of it).  Conner was kind enough to give him some pesos.  I would have, if I'd had money.  Thinking back on it, I wish I'd remembered the bread I had in my bag because I totally would have given that to him.

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    

When the Sunburn Calls

Well, I´m afraid I haven´t much to write today.  Mostly because I didn´t do much, lol.  I got up this morning for class, and thought instantly, "Nope.  This is so not happening today."  I ended up going back to sleep until 10 AM or so.  Making sure that every time I awoke, I was drinking plenty of fluids (I think I've downed 3 20 oz bottles of water today.  And I'm going for a fourth).

My MM was so cute, when she came in she'd always ask if I needed something.  And she was very concerned that I wasn't eating.  I finally ate some toast (which settle well in my stomach) around 3ish (I'd had a bowl of cereal about 11), and am debating even now whether or not I would like to go eat a bowl of soup.  What was also cute is that my MM asked several times today, "Would you like to do to the doctors?"  If I believed the doctors could do anything for dizziness and nausea, I would have gone, but I think the best thing for me today is rest and water (and aloe.  LOTS of aloe).

I did watch the Book of Life today (it's actually a pretty cute little movie, I recommend it) and the 1st episode of Season 8 of Dr. Who (they have it here on the Mexican Netflix!!).  I also did my homework (THAT was exciting).  And about 5 PM this afternoon, I got a priesthood blessing from a member of our group.

I am hoping that I will feel well enough for class tomorrow (I am sure that I will).  As for now, I shall continue resting and drinking as much water as humanly possible.  And I'll probably go grab a bowl of that soup.

'Til tomorrow.

R J Carr

Rebecca, the Girl on Fire (AKA Lobster Girl)

Today's post will be short(er) because I am truly not feeling the best.  Which you may have picked up on from my blog post title.

Today started out awesome.  Got up at around 8 AM, I believe, than dressed in my swim suit, ate breakfast, and headed off to the beach.  The bus we got on was called the progresso.  It was SUCH a nice bus - complete with comfy chairs and AC.  It was only about a 20 minute bus ride until we arrived at our destination.  (Though we did have to walk a few blocks before finally stumbling upon the beach).  It was B-E-A-utiful!  We met many of the other students there (we'd planned ahead).  It was just Conner, Chrstina, and I at first, but soon Raquel, AubreyAnn, Claire, and a bunch of other people arrived.

I do believe that this is the boat grave yard.  It was kind of cool to see.

Here's what the main part of the beach looked like.  There we a lot of tiny vendor restaurants lining the beach.  And then, of course, you had the vendors that walked up and down the beach selling things.

Here's one of the "Mine" birds from Finding Nemo.  Hungry little guys.

This was our little dog friend.  He started leaving just as I crouched down to take a picture (go figure)

Here's a beach selfie (because you always need a beach selfie)

And this was the aftermath of the beach.  (It's really, really, painful - especially on the legs - but it was totally worth it).

 I think the most fun thing in the beach was wading out (till it was waist deep) than crouching down and letting the incoming waves bob you up and down.  It was like being in a wave pool, but better.  We came early (bout 10) in the morning and the ocean was pretty calm, but about noon it started getting nice and choppy with some bigger waves.

The funniest thing was that, at the end before we parted ways, we were all comparing sunburns.  And I had been thinking to myself, "hah!  I have no sunburn.  Except maybe little ones.  Awesome."  Then I came home and, as you can see from the picture above, I definitely have some pretty big sunburns.  #intense

Also, watch what happens when you throw food to the birds (it's pretty fabulous):

After the beach (I think we got home about 4?  or 5?  So we were at the beach for about 5ish hours) we (Christina and I) showered and then ate this delicious dish:

Baked potato with a lot of delicious toppings

Shortly after we went to FHE at Profe's house (he's also staying with a MM).  Where we ate pizza and had homemade horchahta (SO good.  Much better than the stuff you can buy in the states).  Then, I started feeling super sick and went home.  So now, here I am, lying in bed, praying I can sleep tonight with my sunburn (I'm sure it'll be fine.  And I'm just thinking about how good of a tan I will have after this!  I'm gonna walk into the airport and my family is gonna be like, "woah, where's Rebecca?"  and then when they seem me their eyes are gonna go all big and they're gonna be like, "WOW, maybe I should go to Mexico").

That's all for today folks.  Tomorrow I have class at 7 AM (yee-haw).

'Til Tomorrow.

R J Carr

Houston, I think We Have a Problem

Well, not really a problem.  Today was actually a pretty good day, overall.  I'd give it a 3/5 stars.  It started out well enough - with me dragging myself out of bed and going to church.  (Our MM was kind enough to drive us.  She's Catholic, so she didn't go to church with us).  Here's what the church looked like (for my Mormon friends, this is definitely not your average Mormon church building):

There was no AC, but they had lots and lots of ceiling fans that kept us pretty cool.  The only problem was, the noise from the fans made it hard to hear.  And when you can barely understand Spanish, the noise makes it nigh impossible to understand.  However, I was able to understand some Spanish (you may now commence in giving me a pat on the back).  But I think it was about halfway through Sunday School that the motor in my brain sputtered and stopped.  I call it my Spanish overload.  And my brain was like, "I'm sorry, but you've officially reached your Spanish quota for life."  And it went downhill from there.  I struggled to stay awake for the next hour and a half of church (I'm ashamed to say I pulled out my phone) and to not give into my irritation.

At the end of church, our group got together and decided upon where to have FHE.  We then went our separate ways.   For Christina and me, that was going home and straight to our camas (beds) and sleeping.  I think I slept for a good two hours (my MM actually came to wake me up for lunch).  When I awoke I felt slightly better, but still out of sorts.

For lunch I had the same delicious food that I had yesterday :)  And I got to meet the parents of my MM.  Which was a struggle.  They were super kind.  But I was half asleep and my Spanish motor was dead.  I just nodded and smiled, answering basic questions.  I guess MM's dad suffers from the same thing that my Uncle David did - kidney failure.  I'd mentioned to my host family at some point about my Uncle, so today that was brought up.  It was nice to talk about him and how sweet he was.  Even if it was difficult to express my sentiments in Spanish, it was well worth the effort.

During lunch, our friend Conner came over.  Shortly after, Christina, Conner, and I met up at the rest of the group at the Centro.  On Sundays, they have a fiesta all day at the Centro.  With vendors, dancers, and music.  It was super fun.  Here's a video I took of the dancers (they were so cute!):

After a while, I got a little restless, so I got up and explored the Centro, arriving just in time to see the lowering of the flag (that was exciting).  Then, Connor, Christina, and I went to see the Cathedral right next to the Centro.  It was really, really pretty.  They were in the middle of mass, and it was fun to see.  It felt a little eery in there with the re-verb and the singing of a 14th/15th century song, but it was still beautiful and calm.  Here's some pictures:

The Inside of the Cathedral.  SO pretty.

I THOUGHT this was the outside of the Cathedral, but then realized later that it wasn't, lol.  But I think we are going to go explore this building sometime, so stay tuned.

These are the cool little chairs they have in the park.  Great for conversation!
Left to Right:  Christina and I

 After the park, we went home via the bus (now is a good time to mention that all the buses are manual/stick shift.  #legit).  We then ate (eventually) - we being Christina and I - and later, Conner came back to our house and we looked over the tour guide magazines (they were left in our room) to see what we wanted to do for the week.  Then we watched an episode of Avatar:  The Last Airbender in Spanish (now THAT was exciting :P)

I think the coolest thing about being in Mexico is that I know that this is exactly where I need to be.  There are things to see, things to do, ways to grow, and people's lives to touch.  I don't quite understand the strong feelings I had of needing to come here, but I do know that if God asks His children to do something, that there is a reason for it.  And I think that that has been the most comforting thing on this journey.

Another  comforting thing has been being able to feel and to know that God is aware of where I am.  That He loves both me and all the people in Mexico.  I have felt His love for the people here, and I only hope that I can accomplish that which I need to do while I'm here - even if it is just having fun.  (Which, I think I am A+ing that part of this chapter in my life).

I think that this week may be difficult - what with finishing the adjustment to this new culture and figuring out what to do, and where to go, and how to speak - but as I've always been told, the hardest things in life are the most worthwhile.

I'll admit, this trip is not quite what I imagined it.  It's a little less structured than I thought it would be (i.e. I have TONS more free time with no idea of what I should do with it).  Yet, I'm still able to - and am - having fun.  I think that's a lesson to learn while I'm young.  That even if things don't turn out as thought, it is still totally possible to have the best time of your life.

So do not fret, dear readers, I figured the time would come when there would be a little bump in the road during this study abroad (#languagebarrier :)  As we all know, life is not perfect.  But life is good.  And I'm glad I have this wonderful opportunity to be here in Merida, enjoying more of God's creations and getting to know and understand more of His children on this Earth.

It's been a fabulous Sunday, and I know that this upcoming week will be a blast.

'Til tomorrow.

R J Carr