Today classes went well - at least the one class I had did. During class we actually played the game that went with the children's song, "Lobo, esta ahi?", and it was both silly and so much fun at the same time! Then after class those of us that didn't have a class from 11-1 waited for the rest of our group to finish their lecture work. It was great just to chill and talk with my group, especially since I still really want to get to know them all better.
Thomas watching a beetle on his finger that he had gotten off my arm for me.
Lookie at the tiny beetle! Isn't it so cute? ... Ok, it was just interesting, and I was feeling random with my camera when I took the beetle pictures)
Morgan with her laptop listening to Thomas' and Laura's conversation (they were sitting next to me)
After class we followed Rebecca and Jackie to the bus stop they use to go to and from their house, since they and their host family were hosting the fiesta. Oh my goodness, I hate how hot it was out there! Bleeeeh... At least we didn't have to wait TOO long.
Tyler, Thomas, and Jackie
Talking and looking down the street to see if any of us spot the bus. The wait felt like it was doubled because of how hot it was... I don't know if I'll ever get used to this climate.
William smiling for the camera
Laurita doing her "fake smile" for the camera. She told me her whole family teases about her smiles being fake in all the photos they have of her.
Laurita with her natural smile. Naturally, I like this one better.
After the bus ride we walked to the private neighborhood where Jackie and Becca's host family's house is. Seriously, the people in this neighborhood are so rich the houses are huge. There's even a security guard right outside of it next to the bar gates that have to check cars before people drive through. Honestly, I never expected to see anything like this anywhere in Mexico. My jaw probably would've smacked to the ground several times over if I were a cartoon character.
One of the grandiose houses that we passed walking to the fiesta. This one was probably my favorite. I mean, holy cheese nips, that architecture just FLOORED me! I want a house that looks like that someday...
Walking through the super fancy rich neighborhood. It looks so super nice and well-kept, eh?
Me with the group as we arrived at the house of the fiesta. Look at how huge that entryway is!
Do you see that doorway? Do you see that doorway?! And that's just the beginning of it! This house was super fancy and big and holy... it was amazing. I love my host family's house a ton, but this one awed me when I visited it.
We put money together to order several pizzas, but before we got those, Jackie's and Becca's host mom served us fruit, veggies and chips as appetizers. I kind of wandered around and listened, switching conversations and talking with people myself. Brooke turned on her MP3 player of music, but later on a few of the guys switched from her American music to music in Spanish (which fits, right?). Eventually people started dancing to the music, and as it turns out, one girl in our group named Marie is an excellent dancer! She took up to Dance 480 at BYU, so she was trying to teach Tyler some samba. Eventually, she found that Taylor in our group also knows how to dance - and boy did they dance! Seriously, their samba dancing was amazing. I took some video of it, which I'll post on Youtube (along with my other video) and post a link to it here on the blog.
William, Aaron, and Lauren socializing and eating delicious fruit; the watermelon we had there was really juicy and tasty.
Thomas, Brad, Tyler, and Jackie (off on the side)
Taylor and Brooke; as a side note, I love how enthusiastic and happy Brooke always is. :)
Candid camera shot! :)
Rebecca smiling and waving at the camera as Jackie gets some more food
These were the appetizers Rebecca's and Jackie's host mom put out for us - veggies with dip, a fruit that I think was mango, chips, a small dish of jalepenos (can't type the "en-yeah" right now), and watermelon which vanished quickly.
A candid camera shot with Laura and Kaitlyn
Ethan telling an exciting story to Thomas; sorry about the lightening on this one, I wasn't expecting it to go dark like that
Caitlin and Aaron
Jackie over to the side; Brooke and a few of the boys were trying to turn on good party/dancing music on someone's laptop or on Brooke's MP3 player.
Me and Jackie! Yes, I took the picture myself; that's why you can't see all of my face.
A better picture of me; I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this fiesta.
An awesome camera shot of Brooke and Rebecca dancing as Marie (I think that's her name) and Tyler watch
Brad showing off his awesome dance moves; too bad I missed his best moves.
Rachel, Aaron and Thomas are off to the side there. We started dancing at random, and most of us here were just starting to get a feel for the beat, Brook and Marie in the background being exceptions to this.
Rebecca and Laura being rad dancers in the center of our circle.
Eventually all of us ended up going into the pool to swim. I didn't get any pics of that, but I took some for Brooke on her camera of some of the group in the pool, so I'll get those from her and post them here. Anyways, swimming is the best thing for the kind of weather down here, even if the pool isn't very big (like the one we were in, which is surprising. I mean, a huge house with a small pool? So weird...). The water wasn't freezing, but it was cool and refreshing, and I especially enjoyed submersing myself periodically even while I was listening to interesting dating stories (I won't go into details about those stories, but... Girls, I think, have the most interesting stories about that, sometimes in a funny way, sometimes in a bad way).
Me drying off and nom-ing on a delicious cookie. Seriously, it was sooo good! It's basically dulce de leche (a type of caramel that's traditional in Mexico and South American countries) between two tissue paper-thin wafers.
Those cookies were so good I just had to take a second. At least now I have a way to see if I can find them back home in the states. Sooooo yummy...
During the spontaneous dance some of the girls started talking about going salsa dancing in another part of Merida later in the evening, and truth be told, I do want to go salsa dancing. However, the plans were made so suddenly that I didn't feel adequately prepared to go, especially since we're still learning how the bus system works and I didn't want to get lost somewhere. Besides, I partied a lot at that fiesta, so I was ready to head back to my host's house. I'm totally up for going salsa dancing another day, though!
Shortly after Natalie and I got home, it started to rain really hard. She went outside onto our little porch and spotted a rainbow, which I got a couple pictures of below. I'll get better pictures of it from Natalie later, though. Oh, and I also took time to stand outside of the house and let myself stand and dance around in the rain - it was so great! I was soaked after standing out there for only a few minutes! I love it! Seriously, the weather down here is THE best when it's rainy! There's more water in Merida rain than in Utah rain by over 9000!!!
Well, after today's adventures, I'm going on a bigger adventure - to anciant Mayan ruins, an underground lake (un cenote), and then off to the beach! Stay tuned for that update!
Oh, and question for all of ya'll: Do you like how I'm formatting everything and how I'm talking about things? Or do you have suggestions for improving it? This IS my first successful time blogging, after all, and I think it'll start to be better once I get my videos on Youtube.
Hasta la vista, ya'll!
When you get home.... I'll show you how to make dulce de leche :)
ReplyDeleteYAY! Thanks Tera :D I think my dad showed me once or twice, but we haven't made it very much.
ReplyDelete