March 28, 2009

My bad, this is so late. The thing is the weekend actually kept me quite busy. But on to the interesting part of the weekend which would be Saturday afternoon where in we went to the cenotes!

Chelsea and I met Megan at the cathedral and took a little walk over to catch a combi which cost us all of 14 pesos for an hour ride to Cuzumá. When we got there, we were let out and there were a bunch of people with bicycle taxis waiting for us.

Chelsea and Megan each chose different bicycle taxis, but they fit two people each, which left me with the exceptionally difficult job of making a decision. The kid behind Chelsea was…exactly that, a kid, but normally I would ride with her. Megan helped out and said she would go by herself so I sat with Chelsea. Well, the two of us laughed the entire way at ourselves, the entire way being 5 km with this poor kid who was pushing us. We weren’t really sure if he was going to make it. But surprisingly, he managed.

When we got to the end of the road, we hopped into a cart with a pony that began the trek to the first cenote. We got to spend 30 minutes at each cenote which I think was actually just enough.

The cenotes were so interesting because while it was sweltering outside, when you went down into them they were so much cooler, then plus the water it was very refreshing. The water was so clear you could see straight to the bottom. Absolutely beautiful.

While we were there, there were also a couple of daredevils who climbed up some of the rocks and back flipped into the water. We clapped…so I kind of felt like a bit of an enabler but it was actually really neat to watch while I was glad for the first time that my guy friends from home weren’t here so that I didn’t have to worry about them getting similar ideas into their heads.

With that said, we made the rounds to the other two cenotes, all of which had a different appearance and charm before heading back to the bike taxis where Angel (the boy) and the other guy waited for us. They drove us back (this time Chelsea and Megan rode together with the other guy so it wasn’t quite as difficult for Angel, and we made it back, took a convi and came back to Merida.

You can find the pictures here on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028672&id=47802150&l=bd46b25b55

Cheers! <3>

March 27, 2009

Today I played hookie from school. It was only one class and I’ve yet to miss so I thought I’d take a three day weekend and save myself the 16 pesos to get there. So the morning was spent relatively lazily in my room reading, e-mailing, etc.

After lunch, Chelsea and I went on a wild goose chase to find tickets to a soccer game. This was kind of not smart of us because it was over 40 degrees celcius (over 100 degrees out) and we were walking around trying to figure out where we were going. Also when we got there just before 4 the place was closed.

Then we went to Grand Plaza where Chelsea got her hair cut and dyed grey. No, it was not supposed to be grey, they were supposed to make highlights it just turned into a disaster. But it’s all good, we got it, because, thanks to prior disastrous highlighting experience, I knew enough to get them to change it. Now it looks quite nice and the cut is really cute.

Since it was 8:30 by the time all that was finished, we went to the food court and got dinner. I ordered a spicy chicken sandwich…and ended up with some sort of burger. Yeah…I…don’t entirely get it either. We’ve really have excellent luck the two of us. The good thing is that in the end the hair turned out alright. =)

On the other hand, I just got an e-mail telling me my coke points are going to expire. Despite the large amounts of cocacola I’ve drank down here, they don’t participate in this points awarding system. So. You know, if you don’t happen to have a coke account yourself, but happen to have a code laying around that you feel like passing off to me so my points don’t expire on the 3^rd, that’d be pretty super sweet of you.

And I think that’s about it. Haha. Would reaaaaallly like some super sweet streak of good luck right arouuuuunnnddd now. We’re going to visit some cenotes tomorrow and hopefully nothing bad will happen. We’re going to cross our fingers (and not get them slammed into car doors or anything like that. We’ll make sure to take extra caution since the way things have been going of late haven’t proven to be particularly auspicious). I’m actually not as bitter as I probably sound. I’m kind of looking at the day as a “wow, it really didn’t go our way, did it?” and laughing to myself. So no worries. But really. Hope things go well tomorrow.

Cheers <3>

March 24, 2009

The goal for the day was to do laundry. That, at least, was achieved. The other, somewhat secondary goal was to find tickets for this soccer game in Cancun. That was not achieved. Chelsea and I went to this place in Plaza Fiesta where supposedly they would sell them but they didn’t. On the other hand, Chelsea did some investigating/asked someone else who gave us another location that we just have to find at some point. We can go check there then at some point in time.

Unfortunately, it was a work day. I actually set up the hammock in my room and got to work (now some of you think I’m being sarcastic but no, I sat in the hammock and read for 2 hours until I got a phone call from Mandy saying that they were going to the Centro for banana splits if I wanted to come along. It was kind of her birthday yesterday so I did. That kind of was a 3 hour trip (2 hours in the bus, 1 hour there…ah so pathetic). That kind of left me doing homework til 2- 2:30 in the morning. Which was a little unfortunate but that’s okay.
Cheers <3 Kate

March 23, 2009

Woo. Monday. Actually I’m pretty sure I was relieved that the weekend was over, even if that meant the beginning of the week. Weird right? Yeah, it’s cool, though.

The morning started out with a lovely weirdness between me and Pichel who I inadvertently ran into when I was trying to buy a can of tea, and by ran into I mean we made eye contact and I was pretty much just at a loss for what to do so I just nodded in acknowledgement. Well what was I supposed to do?

In the end, we resolved things…I think. And I’m pretty sure we can still be friends…even though he apparently isn’t going to be getting back to his house each day until 2 AM until sometime in july. Today excluded. I’m sorry honey, but I have a headache tonight… *cough* I mean I’m sure that’s entirely the case, but whatever ^.~

Ehm, so I did Mayan Civ homework in Cavernas…and then realized I did it wrong and had to redo it before/during Mayan Civ. It’s cool though there were no problems. During our break in Mayan Civ though I felt like soap opera/ telenovela because I was suddenly the center of attention explaining the drama between Pichel and I. It wasn’t really drama at this point, but it was something of an involved story, ne? Hehe pretty funny.

Anway after class we met up with Saidi and Oswaldo and decided we were going to go to the Soriana and get kraft macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. We brought them back to my house and ate them. It was pretty cool, not like…super cool, probably not quite as neat as your thinking but hey at least it was something.

That pretty much took up til like 9:30, and then I fooled around on the internet, talked briefly with Lee on AIM and J too. J I actually ended up calling. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be the best judge of my Spanish…and it didn’t sound supppppper terrible when I was talking with him surprisingly. Conclusion? It might have something to do with my confidence level, who knows. I mean, I feel like maybe it’s slipped a tad, but maybe it’ll go back to normal at least when I get back to the United States. Ugh so inconvenient though, for real. Anyway so we talked for an hour. And now it’s time for bed. I’m not going to be a very happy camper I’m going to have a lot of work tomorrow. And I seriously need to take my laundry to the laundry mat. I’ve been saying that for half a week now which is a super-bad sign. Yeah. I know I’m concerned, too.

Pues I think that’s about it. I hope all is well at home. Dad I still didn’t get that e-mail sent. Maybe tomorrow. Quite possibly more likely Thursday. As you can see I was quite busy today. My dying Spanish takes precedence just because it’s more of an immediate concern. Hehe.

Love to All,
Kate <3

String of Bad Luck

. . . I’m not really even sure how to begin this post, except to kind of repeat the title. It would seem that I’ve contracted a case of bad luck. Friday night, after posting, I went to go to Alta Brisa. I can take 2 buses to get there, it’s relatively close to my house (not walking distance, but like, still fairly close). So 2 buses, the circuito metropolitano, or the 52 norte. The 52 norte would only cost 3 pesos because I have my student ID. Well I just missed it when I walked out to the bus stop (by like, 2 seconds missed it). But that’s okay. Then another one comes by 10 minutes later. … This apparently is not like all the other 52 Norte Buses, as it turned and started taking me in the opposite direction.

So we went for a few minutes I had no idea where I was. Then we pulled out onto Prolongacion Montejo, which is a main street. I got off there, knowing that other 52 Norte buses (the normal ones) go by there. So I kind of dallied a little, but it was getting dark, and I didn’t fancy just waiting on the side of the road so I began to walk in what I knew was the direction of home. Finally I sat down at a bus stop with this other lady for 20 minutes waiting for a bus. No dice. I have no idea what happened to the buses during this time, but they were clearly missing. So I got up and started walking.

45 minutes after getting off the first bus, I’m on the main road that runs by my house, finally a 52 Norte bus passes. Well… it did just that. Passed me. I flagged it, it kept going. Seriously? Like for real?

Eventually I made it up to where my house is and took a circuito though I got off a tad early (it’s hard to gauge that in the dark) and got to the mall. Well at this point, I’m super late, there’s nothing really to do, we sat down, I ate a little because I was just so off kilter, and then we turned around and all went home.

Saturday.

Get up at 4 AM to see the equinox. This is supposed to be the change in bad luck. Get up, out of the house, we’re good. Get to the place we’re supposed to meet up with this group Merida Como Te Quiero which is going to take us for free at 4:45. Chelsea and I grab muffins from 7/11. We’re supposed to leave at 5 AM. …We left at 6:15. The sun came up. We didn’t see the equinox event.

Instead, we walk around the ruins which not too many of us had much interest in doing, but it was okay actually ‘cause we made the best of it. Took some pictures which can be found here : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028462&id=47802150&l=81b63ad7f4 The story is kind of told in the captions on the photos there too.

After Dzibilchaltun we went to the beach. Well we stopped in Progreso for 30 minutes, where we were told we could grab something to eat so we did, and then got back on the bus where they gave us a sandwich *hangs head* fail. We were under the impression we were going to get food from them a little later, at say…2. Otherwise we wouldn’t’ve eaten anything.

So then we went to the beach. And that was pretty good for the most part, but in an attempt to save myself a little bit of typing, I’m just going to copy/paste an e-mail regarding the tale at the beach:

Scott: Lol what about taking pictures with random girls? Does that happen to you a
lot?

My Response:
No, I can't say it happens to me a lot. It was really weird. We were just chillin' on the beach and, (something that is quite common) someone came over and started chatting me up, and I lied (I know I'm sorry >.< but sometimes it's just so much easier than explaining "no i don't want to date you, you're 30 some years old" etc) about having a boyfriend in the states, and eventually he left. Then, the unusual began. The kid, pretty cute, came over and asked for a lighter while Laurie and I were sitting there, and we didn't have one, but Chandra, the other girl who was still in the ocean I knew would have one so I let him borrow hers (in retrospect this in and of itself was out of character for me, why would i help someone out with their cigarette problem...? don't let that get out). So we went back to talking when he returned to his friend and towel which were fairly close to us. And not very long later, like 5 minutes, he came back and asked for it again, then he asked for my name, and I told him it was Kate, thinking this is the same general chat up, whatever. He goes back to his towel.

Then I hear "Kate!" And i turn, and he and his buddy hold up a beer can, offering it, and I say no, not a fan, and time goes on. Then they came over when Chelsea was at the towel, Laurie had gone with Chandra somewhere, and asked Chelsea to take their picture with me. Odd much? Yeah. Well then there was like this swarm of people over when they returned to their towels, and they all proceeded to hang out til it was near time to go, at which point they were like "can we have a picture?" And then there were three pictures taken, 2 with 2 guys and 1 with only 1 guy. Kinda felt like i was in a zoo.

I mean, I asked at some point I was like "what's the deal...why do you want a picture?" and they're like "as a recuerdo" like a memory token... It was *really* weird. So yeah. If you come across some weird photos of me with strange guys...now you know the real story. Hopefully they won't show up somewhere and end up haunting me. That would be bad.
/end correspondence.

So that was the beach. Then we came back, I got dressed, uploaded my photos from my cameras to my computer, made it so they were all facing the correct directions then somehow accidently deleted them all. Yeah. So then I did it all over again and recommenced the editing process. I got a shower, ate a little dinner, and then that’s when I started talking with Saidi and Oswaldo (well…mainly Oswaldo since apparently Saidi and I can’t communicate well on the phone). They were asking why I hadn’t called, which, I had said I would when we got to El Centro but we never actually went since we got off at Grand Plaza shopping mall to go home. So they were supposed to come with us to the beach but didn’t even after they made a big deal of saying they were going to (which Laurie will vouch for). They were like “yeah let’s do something tonight” so I told them about this Salsa and Sabor thing we had already bought tickets to. Sweet. We’ll meet at the Cathedral at 8:30.

Chelsea and I got to the Cathedral at about 8:35, Saidi arrived at 10 til 9. And finally we got in touch with Oswaldo, they were waiting for the bus, didn’t end up getting there until 9:30 (the thing was supposed to start at 9).

In the mean time, we were talking with Saidi, and she commented about how she has a hard time understanding me, and as we concluded, it’s because of the way I’m not pronouncing the R. Something has changed since we first got here, because she was saying she remembered how it wasn’t so hard to understand me before, and now it’s really hard. And I agree. My Spanish sounds horrific now (for some reason mom it didn’t sound so bad most of the time while you were here, I don’t know why). But it really grates on my ears to hear myself talk, and similarly I think it is the R. Like, I have a hard time saying “padre.” Yeah. I sound like I’ve taken Spanish for 3 years…even though I’m sure I sounded a lot better when I was in Spanish III.

So with that in mind, 3 hours of sleep, having gotten up at 4 AM, I was, as I put it then, a little “desanimada” Pretty sure I didn’t want to do anything. And it sucked because Chelsea and I had already bought tickets. But at least if we didn’t go we wouldn’t have to spend money on a taxi to get home. Eventually it was decided we would just leave. I had Saidi treating me like I was 2 years old. It was time for bed.

We got on the 52 Norte. Remember how I said it was 3 pesos with the student ID? The bus driver was just like “5 pesos” and I was like “what? Why isn’t the student ID valid?” And he gave me some answer I didn’t understand that was really short, so we had to pay the 5 pesos. Now, 2 pesos really isn’t that big of a deal. But after a day like this, surely you can see where that would be some icing on the cake. Freakin’ A.

And that’s that. A lot of bad luck, some of it’s done and over with but I still can’t speak Spanish. Anyway, enjoy the pictures at least I suppose. I think I’m going to ask Diana about the Spanish thing.
--Kate.

PS: check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_E9SBfWPNg

March 20, 2009

Well, I don’t have a whole lot of really interesting stuff to report. In other the news, Pichel suddenly has a girlfriend and I’m kind of under the impression we’re not so much going to be doing a lot of the hanging out. So that’s…rather unfortunate. And weird because I found out via facebook which was just…funny, really, when it came down to it last night.

Annnnyway. I think the whole napping thing is reaaaaally gonna have to stop. Actually this week I think my sleep schedule has just been off but as I’m writing I’m a little groggy with sleep. Oswaldo and Saidi invited me to go to the movies but I don’t think I’m gonna go because I don’t have a ton of money just hanging around for the rest of this month, ya know what I mean, bean? I actually just had to recharge my phone again last night, which was amusing because I got caught in the middle of a txt messaging conversation without any minutes left so I had to walk over to the Extra at like 11 o’clock and get more minutes. I actually ran into the guy who served us at the Antesala (since that’s on the way and he was cleaning up shop). We’re basically pals now. Or at least I’m recognized. Unfortunately it’s like 2/3 times I’ve worn sweatpants while being here and it’s been those two nights. Oh well, not like I need to make an impression. Don’t you guys go getting your hopes up he’s probably old enough to be my dad. Just seems like a nice guy. As for Saidi and Oswaldo, that’s okay, I don’t really feel like going to the movies anyway, though I do sort of feel like getting out of my room since, besides class this morning and lunch this afternoon that’s where I’ve been all day. Hehm…

Chelsea’s host mom has an art exhibit thing that she’s going. I’m not sure if it’s kind of more of an invite-only type thing; Chelsea asked if I was invited and I had no idea. See here’s where you need that other person who’s doing something interesting on a Friday night (but not too late ‘cause I don’t wanna be dying tomorrow).

In the course of this week I think I went from really being like 'yeah mexico is pretty sweet, this is what it was supposed to be like' to particularly homesick this morning. Thing's have pretty much leveled off at this point, I think we're good. It's kind of unfortunate though because I was something of a fan of the enthusiasm for being here. Mighty, mighty unfortunate. Well not like all is lost or anything like that. I mean i'm still looking forward to stuff, it's just now all like big "going and doing" type things instead of the day-to-day interaction stuff which is normally where I get my kicks lol.

mmmmm yeah so I think that's about all I got for ya. Just lettin' you know i haven't abandoned you (or writing) altogether, hehe. Cheers~

Hope all is well in the U S of A.
<3 Kate

March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patricks day. Apparently that is so totally not a big deal at all here. Much more popular in the states. But clearly, as a very Irish person (my last name being what it is etc). Annyway, originally the plan was to try to find this crazy place that I’ve never seen but have heard of called O’Taco (like O’Reilly in case you didn’t catch on). Supposedly they serve Irish Tacos. I’m pretty sure no one in Ireland knows what an Irish taco is, but either way it would’ve been fun.

Unfortunately, however, no one actually knew where exactly it was. Somewhere in Pensiones apparently. Not exactly the most helpful thing in the world since that’s apparently a very large neighborhood type thing. So instead we just went to a place in El Centro.

It was really cool though because Pichel brought two friends, and Mallory, Mandy, Laurie, Chelsea, Nandini and Gustavo were there (sorry if I’m forgetting some one). But we just chilled there for a few hours talking, it was nice to meet some more people and you know…actually speak in Spanish. Over all I’d say it was a very successful day. =)

<3 Kate

Holbox

Holbox was basically a blast. Some of the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been here in Mexico. We hopped on the bus at 11 and arrived at 5:30, took the half hour ferry and go to the island which basically wasn’t awake yet. We stayed at a super cheap place (haha) and hung out on the beach the first day. I would highly not recommend not putting on sunscreen, and similarly I don’t recommend falling asleep on the beach. What I highly recommend again even more than both of those is doing them both together like I did. So after Saturday there was no more beaching for me but that’s okay I still had fun.
On Sunday we rented a golf cart for two hours and drove around. There are actually no cars on the island, so if you want a taxi there are actually golf cart taxis haha. In our little bout with the gold cart though I almost killed us at one point I think, but we were good. One of Abimael’s shoes liked the island so much it decided to hop off and stay at Holbox (chuch!) and Mallory got sucked into the rankest smelling mud-swamp that looked like solid ground until she marched over to take a picture and sank in up to her calves.

Somehow on Monday I ended up sleeping *all day.* We got back around 12:30, I took a shower, grabbed a quick nap, had lunch with my family, fell back asleep at 3 until 11:30, grabbed some cheetoes to eat, went to sleep again at 12:30, woke up at 4:30 with a nightmare, went back to sleep til my alarm went off at 8. Was a ridiculous amount of sleepin’. But the weekend was really awesome. It was neat to bond with some of the people on the trip because I don’t think I’ve really done that up until this point.
This is a really brief overview of what I did (sorry to disappoint). I think I just don’t really feel like writing right now, so I’m just keeping it really brief. Hope you all had a lovely weekend, but here are a couple of the pictures I was able to take while on the island and my camera was functioning as it was supposed to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028348&id=47802150&l=01d271d3ca
Cheers <3 Kate

MiniVacation

Hola a todos~ I realize i'm late already on a couple posts (so much for that two day streak of being on top of that) but you're also not going to hear from me for a little while longer because we have a three day weekend and are going to Holbosh a little island on the tip of the Yucatan. So i'll be gone this weekend, no updates, pretty much entirely out of touch. I hope you all have a lovely weekend (and you can pretend your in mexico relaxing on the beach).

Les mando un besito,
Kate <3

March 11, 2009

Woot! Today officially marks half way day. From here on out it’s downhill..or…more days behind than in front (and of course that oddly happens as I’m starting like it more…well that’s the breaks). But! Let me thank everyone just over all who sent me letters/pictures =D I <3 you all very very much . =)

So today was one of those not really good at waking up type days. I set my alarm for quarter of 6, didn’t realize even what was happening when it first went off I was totally disoriented. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6, turned the water on in the shower so it’d be warm, and went back to sleep for 10 minutes and finally couldn’t put the day off any longer.

I had waffles with jam as I walked out the door. I bet most people don’t think of waffles as an “on the run” type of food because the syrup would be too messy. Good thing I like mine with fruit, not syrup.

And I pretty much mind-slept through migrations class, though I made somehow enough comments that she never once prompted me for an answer. Which was good because I wouldn’t’ve had one. Lucky me.

Then I finished some cavernas homework because that was definitely a need and I ate lunch where, apparently sitting alone is my key to meeting Mexican guys? This was actually just creepy. I was sitting in the courtyard eating my lunch and I kind of glanced up as someone walked by and he kind of did that head nod thing, and at first I just glanced back down at my food not to be rude but more because the action hadn’t registered, but noting that I was being acknowledge I looked up again and kind of half nodded/half smiled which was apparently an invitation which, hey whatever, right? Actually not really. Not really at all.

But he was like “are you from the USA?” (in spanish) and I was like yeah, and then he made himself at home on the bench next to mine and asked me what part. So I answered question as need be but it was one of those creepy interrogation-conversations I’m really sick of. So yeah luckily Chandra came over and saved me…sorta. But he came back and then asked us if we liked cenotes, and we were like yeah, or more like Chandra said yes because I’d had enough of him. At that point he started telling us about a cenote that’s really close to the school that’s kind of part of the archeological site something or other and LSD. … back up. LSD? And I looked at him like…are you for real? (not are you for real as in excited, as in, did you seriously just ask us to go to some cenote and do LSD?) I’m pretty sure that tops the charts in my “creepiest things I’ve ever been invited to.” So I curtly explained we weren’t interested. And Chelsea came over and he asked her if she liked cenotes and she said yes and I interjected that she didn’t like LSD however. When he was leaving though he made sure to call my name and say bye. It was weird. Blah.

Anyway on to better parts of the day. Cavernas (turned in the homework), and Spanish. We finished Amores Perros. Alright, having seen it in two settings I think my thoughts on it are a little skewed. At the end I liked it a lot more (see Andy I’m not an entirely uncultured person) but somehow I feel like to have a really accurate opinion I’d need to see it all in one sitting. Either way it was well made. I unfortunately had a headache during Spanish though.

Then I came home, well, I walked to three different places to get more minutes for my cell phone and then came home where I got to open my presents and cards =D That was really really cool. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t’ve asked for anything better. Pretty much the best.

And then I hung up with my parents and went to the movies with Mandy and Saide. We saw He’s not that into You which is freaking hilarious! Oh man that was soooo good and Mandy’s such a trip (not an LSD trip, just funny as all get out…just so we’re clear haha). Hehe but I definitely had a good time with that. So did Saide. And then we teased Mandy some and that was a good time too. Got these smoothie things from Cinnabons. Yummmm. And now I’m home. Except for, you know, the school part, it was a good day. Oh and sorry to disappoint all my awaiting readers, no, my movie plans were not (never were) with Pichel, lol. These were made a little earlier in the week because to go to the movies is half price on Wednesdays. Good thinking on our part. Like… 33 pesos or something like that. That means like…just barely over 2 dollars. Yeah. Fantastic movie theater. About 2 bucks. Be jealous.

Well, much love my dears! =) Cheers!! Kate <3

March 10, 2009

Mk, well it’s quarter to nine and I’m just getting home… haha. We’ll get to that. But lets jump backwards, shall we?:

Today is Tuesday. The only class I have is Rural Anthropology (for which I wrote that lovely essay last night). So I went to class, met Chelsea at the bus stop and we went to the computer lab, printed cosas, and then were on our merry ways to class. Well, actually while we were getting on the bus she said she was planning on taking the bus to el Centro to see where she had to get on in the morning and también she wanted to see if she could drop her stuff at the hotel before her parents arrived. So I was like “sweet, maybe I’ll come with you” and she was like “okay just lemme know after class” so we went our separate ways.

In Rural Anthropology I decided that I no longer have to take notes on anything that is not going to be relevant to my final paper. Today was not relevant to my final paper, so I doodled in my notebook instead. I worked on that essay; that was enough Rural Anthro for me.

Affffter class I went down and hung out. Chelsea came out of her class, I told her I’d chill til she got out of her next one at 2. And I tried to go to the computer lab to hang out, check out some info on Dzibilchaltun but that was a waste of effort as the internet is slow as grass growing. So I gave up and went to find Nandini and Gustavo in the library. Well, then what you’ve all been waiting for happened.

Yep, you guessed it, ran into my friend. So he was chillin’ with some chicas but came over and greeted me, asked what I’d done over the weekend and continued to explain that he hadn’t ended up going to the beach party after all and that he’d tried to send me a text message but it wouldn’t send, and then proceeded to ask if I’d like to get café some time or see a movie to which I heard myself respond ‘yeah sure just give me a call’ only in Spanish. Funny how sometimes your mouth gets ahead of you with things like that where all of a sudden you haven’t really thought through all the implications of stuff like that. Oh…Well…

So I went to the library. And I actually talked with Saide and Oswaldo for a tad bit and they laughed at me. I’m never going to know now if they’re laughing at my expressions or at my bad Spanish. Apparently when trying to convey the scene I made tripping my way out of the bus yesterday, I was quite amusing. But then also when we were talking about good grades. Who knows.

Actually from there I went and talked with Diana about going to Dzibilchaltun which Chelsea and I are going to do for the Equinox. Should be sweet, even though it’s at like… 5 AM or some other nonsense like that.

And then I went back to campus, had a hamburger because I wasn’t going to be home for lunch (I did actually call to let them know I wasn’t going to be there) and met up with Chelsea, she got a ham and cheese torta. And then we went out to the bus, and by went out to, I mean we walked out of the building, saw the bus was there, and then ran rather awkwardly with our backpacks where we met up with Pichel who was also going to el Centro but to get a book from the library.

So Chelsea and I sat together on the bus, but Pichel showed us where Chelsea’s hotel was (even though we kind of went in a circle but we figured it out relatively quickly). See mom, those couple of times I got us all confused going in the wrong direction, even people who live here get confused.

And at that point, we walked over to where the 52 Norte camion was, and Pichel had invited me to come to the library with him to look at this book and then get something to drink afterwards, so I did. Chelsea needed to pack and stuff ‘cause her parents get here tonight.

So we went to the library and it was generally uneventful. Looked through some art books and doodled a little while Pichel glanced through a particular book. Really didn’t take very long, and then we went to this little hole in the wall place that ended up being one of those really cool places and had limonada. It was actually like, super close as in on the same street (other side) as the hotel was. Too bad I didn’t know about it. Oh well.

We traded stories about scars and that sort of thing. Not started by me, mind you, although I have tons of those (scars and stories for them). I was actually surprised, he noted the cicatrizes that I have on my chin (I’m pretty sure no one has ever picked those out before, I’ve had them like…basically my whole like, I don’t see them when I look in the mirror, who knows). Actually his stories were much more dramatic than mine, but I probably trump in number (I certainly didn’t share all my stories, we’d’ve been there all day, right?)

Anyway, so after awhile we left the little place, and walked a bit and then kind of chilled on a park bench for awhile, until all of a sudden it was somehow 8 o’clock and more or less time to go home. Aaaand that was basically my day. Tomorrow for breakfast I get to have waffles, my host mom was making them when I got home and I got to have for dinner what we had for lunch which was immensely tasty.
Cheers Amigos~
Kate <3

PS: You guys are now 2 hours ahead of me because of your springing forward. We don’t cambiar horario until some time in April. =D

Blogging

Note: I've just realized how...revealing blogging can be. For like.. the second time. And it's scary. I'm not really sure how people blog all these intense thoughts they have. That's what diaries with keyes are for. And that's all I have to say about that. Cryptic, but that's okay.

March 09, 2009

So instead of being exceptionally lazy this morning as my first class is at 12 I decided to get up an hour before I really had to. Somehow I had actually decided to do this when I went to sleep last night but I’m not really sure why. Either way, when I woke up before my alarm I just waited until it went off and got out of bed, did the whole shower thing and got dressed, and then something amazing happened: I went and made a fantastic breakfast.

Peanut butter was recently re-added to the possible eating items, and I decided to make myself peanut butter toast. And you’re probably thinking, what’s so fantastic about peanut butter toast? The answer is nothing. The fantastic part is that I didn’t stop there. I decided, yo, I’m going to make myself a smoothie. So I put everything in a blender, everything being some cantaloupe, a couple strawberries, and a banana with a little thing of vanilla yogurt and ice spun it up and it made a glass of very tasty smoothie which was an excellent way to start of the morning.

Then I went back, finished getting’ ready and was off to school. Guess who I met at school? Stephanie (the girl whose parents ended up contacting me instead of her). Anyway apparently she only stayed with my host family for two months, apparently she and my host mom didn’t get along so well.

So I went to my first class, and then had lunch, and then it was time for the wonderful Mayan Civilization and Culture test. Woo. First test in Mexico. Actually I didn’t really like so much that we were going to have a test because usually the first one is more of a “find out what the tests in this class are going to be like” and then go from there. Can’t really do that here because there aren’t very many of them.

In the end it was a very fair test, only like, a good part of it (almost half) had to do with some information I hadn’t thought was exactly important (nor was it spelled out for us) so I didn’t really know it…I made a guess…but I think I guessed wrong. I think I did better on the identifying terms part. Hopefully. Otherwise I’ll be up a creek.

Chelsea and I then dropped by plaza fiesta, I needed to get money out of the bank for this month, and I came home and here we are. I’m now going to steel my determination to write this essay and then by the time I get it done probably go to bed. Wish me luck. *muah*
Cheers! <3 Kate
(check it out I was actually on time for once)

March 08, 2009

I’ve discovered why I’m waking up so ridiculously early in the mornings. It’s the exact same problem as I was having last semester only I fixed it last semester. This semester I can’t. That sunlight just comes right through the shades like it’s nobody’s business. I need to get like a scarf and tie it around my eyes so I get a solid night’s sleep instead of having the sun getting all hot and bothered because I’m not out of bed yet (haha, get it? Hot and bothered? That was a joke… ‘cause the sun’s hot… okay yeah moving on…)

In other news, I did homework. Well I feel like I didn’t really get on the ball about it immediately, but I did review for my Mayan Civ test and started my rural anthro essay. The essay is due Tuesday so I still have tomorrow to work on it. I wrote a page and a quarter but I got in 5 authors which is the requirement so now it’s just a lot of flushing…lots and lots of flushing out.

Around 5 or 7 something like that. Maybe 6? Chelsea called and we went to this place called the Antesala which is a little café reaaaallly close. It’s adorable, and quite possibly a new favorite place. It was just a really nice ambiance. I’m pretty sure it’s almost coffee-shop-esque, just with the quaintness being replaced kind of with nice-ness. I don’t know how to explain it.

But we studied Mayan Civ for a bit until I was restless and had had enough. Then we were going to go back to our houses, so we spent 30 minutes standing by the street talking about Mexican boys (haha) and decided to grab some popcorn and a drink from the Extra and head to her house to chat (at which point the conversation was a little less light but that’s okay).

And that was pretty much today. I’d say over all it was a relatively uneventful weekend. I think a breakthrough was made on the “why do I feel like this conversation is not quite hitting on but definitely not just friendly” question. The answer is there’s a difference between an interrogation and a conversation, a conversation being when there’s an equivalent exchange of information (everyone knows the law of equivalent exchange, right? (sorry sorry, another lame joke)). But yeah, it doesn’t make your skin crawl if you’re having a normal conversation with a guy if you’re getting information in exchange for yours. When it’s just a lot of questions about you, then it leaves you feeling a little creepy like you were just checked out or something without the overtness of it. I don’t know it’s just weird. If it ever happens/happened to you you’ll/d know what I was talking about.
Cheers <3 Kate

March 07, 2009

Good morning! …That’s going to have to tide us over for most of the day. Today was supposed to be one of those really good days that I was only thinking might have some minor draw backs depending on how things went. As it turns out, nothing went at all, which just left me restless and incapable of productivity. Lemme explain:
*cough* I was supposed to have plans. That is to say, last night, in all the bowling figuring out type thing Pichel had invited me to come with him and some UADY kids to a party near Progreso in the afternoon. So I’m thinkin’ sweet, Hawaiian beach party in Mexico. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Get up 2 minutes before my alarm went off (note: 9:58) pick the room up (ie put laundry that I never put away on the shelves) and generally just got ready, had a bagel for breakfast. Actually once I was entirely ready I was fairly impressed. It was about noon which was around when I was expecting the phone call that was going to tell me when/where we were going to meet up so we could go. And then I had lunch at 2 with my host family… and tried to watch a movie around 3:30. At 4 o’clock I couldn’t stay in the house any longer so I went shopping.

Mexico has a gazillion shoes. Unfortunately, as is somewhat typical with me, I couldn’t find what I wanted. Actually I found a pair of boots that I really liked, only I needed them in a size larger. What luck. After hitting up one mall I went to another one and had no luck too. All the while, I had people (read: pig-headed male shmucks) staring at me, and honking horns, and “hello” (which note, is not hola). By the time I made it back to my room I was high strung (though Will did give me permission to kill a couple people).

Chelsea also on my way back called to see about going to Chris’s birthday party. At the time I really didn’t feel up to it, long day, disappointing day, bleh. I was actually glad I went though.

So we’ll skip to there: We got there and things were really chill. Sit back, chatting, good time. It would’ve actually been totally fantastic if I hadn’t gotten this txt message saying to call my mom. And then there was a little back and forth that I feel kinda bad about now because I thought I was being pranked when it was actually a Dad trying to get in touch with his daughter. =(

But we stayed til around 12:30 and then got home, and that was pretty much the day. I was definitely glad I went to the party though. I’m pretty sure that was the highlight for the day =D

Cheers, Kate <3

March 06, 2009

This week has been all about not wanting to get up in the morning. That alarm went off at 6 and I just really wanted to roll over, turn it off, and pretend I didn’t have class. Especially migrations class. But I did manage to pull myself out of bed somehow, and even made it out the door in a timely manner with my bagel.

And then I waited. Waited. And waited some more. 20 minutes later, the bus *finally* came. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait that long, actually. So I got on the bus, and then got off at Plaza Fiesta, and guess what? I waited. And then after a little while, say, 10 minutes? The bus came by. And kept on going. Didn’t stop. Yeah, talk about not cool. But Chalet, who’s in my class, was sitting at the bus stop too and I asked if she was going to take a motul or wait for the bus. She said she was just going to wait for the next one. So I sat back down and began waiting again. Then guess who showed up? If you can’t guess, then you clearly haven’t seen the pattern of this week outside of me not wanting to get up each morning. Of course it was my bus-buddy, Pichel.

And he was walking across the street with this other kid who I recognized from my Rural Anthro class, and they were about to get into one of those motuls when I looked up from my book and I guess he saw me. (Side note: I’m actually quickly converting into Belle from Beauty and the Beast…and I don’t mean that in the egotistic sense so much as the parallel is the brown hair and the constant nose in the book). So he walked over and said good morning, and in the end we ended up taking a motul and he showed me some T-shirt designs for the UADY he’d come up with (like specially for the anthro school). They seemed pretty neat so I’ll probably get one. Who doesn’t love school t-shirts (btw, t-shirts here are called “playeras”). And then this kid is like super busy, not really sure if I’ve mentioned that. But he was saying stuff about the weekend, some party that a lot of uady kids were going to be at near progreso during the day on Saturday and something going on in the evening though he didn’t think he was going to go, etc. Points though for liking the SNES.

And then I went to school, and, you know, in accordance to my new Belle (we should note too that Belle does not equal Bella in this equation, just in case there was any confusion with that comparison to my life) my new Belle habits, I read while I waited for class. And then I was suddenly exceptionally glad I came to class because Mirian was there instead of the normal prof. So I knew I was in for a good class. And it was pretty decent; I finished my presentation which wasn’t as spectacular as the first half, but hey oh well.

Then class was over, we went and got some fotocopias and went to wait for the bus. I dropped by plaza fiesta for a little bit to get something to drink. I found out what the Crystal Negra flavor was. It had been bugging me for awhile that I didn’t know what it was, but I had been too hesitant to try it. Turns out it’s grape soda, so no worries we can drink that if we want.

And then I came home, had lunch with the familia, etc. And that’s pretty much were all the exciting stuff ends. Well I did talk to my friend Craig for about an hour and that was exciting (so I take that back). After that that’s where all the exciting stuff ends. I pretty much read for the rest of the day/night. I finished the 3rd Maximum Ride book and started the last one, almost finished it before I went to bed.

There was one point in the evening where I was talking about going out. I wanted to do something fun like karaoke though but people had already decided they were going to go do bowling so meh. I really was about to go, I even txtd Chelsea and Pichel to see if they wanted to come, but then in the end, after calling and talking with Chelsea and she was doing Hoy en Tu Comunidad tomorrow so she didn’t really feel much like goin’ out I decided I can do bowling whenever I want. Not that I have anything against bowling so much as it just didn’t seem that appealing at that point. I’ll spend the money elsewhere, some other time hehe.

And that, my dear readers, was my Friday hehe.
Cheers! Kate <3

March 05, 2009

Oookie dokie. Didn’t wanna get out of bed this morning even though I was basically behind from the time I got up. Alarm went off at 8 after a really rocky night’s sleep. I kept waking up thinking I was late, panicking. Don’t know what the deal with that is.

So I managed to get myself out the door eventually, much later than normal. But I actually caught the bus because someone else hailed it at the corner just as I was coming up, and then again the second bus just as I got off the first bus. Sweet.

I read a little while I waited for class, had class which was super long. Only an hour into the class I thought I was going to go insane. There was also this persistent beeping that I think was really trying to drive me into the looney bin but hey. Everyone wants to visit there once.

After class was a nice break. I talked with a lady from Louisiana which was fun. And she said she’d give me a ring when she and her Mexican friends went out so I could have Mexican friends too (hahaha). And after a little bit my bus-buddy (which I suppose I should just start referring to him by name, it’s Pichel (Will, I know you’re not reading this, but Andy, I think you might be, and while Pichel is not equal to Pierre I feel like they kind of sound similar enough, right?)

So Erin and Pichel joined us right around the same time, and Chandra left to go do something else. But we chit chatted and so on and so forth. After that we went to Spanish which was a downer which is quite different from normal.

We watched Amores Perros which deals a lot with dog fights and I can’t stomach that very well. Not very well at all. Ugh. But enough of that. After school Chelsea and I went to Wal*mart which was alright, got some stuff I needed. After that I came home, finished the Maximum Ride book, and Chelsea is currently over here [begin magic jack plug] using the Magic Jack to talk to her friend in the States.

Hope all is going well up North hehe. Cheers! <3 Kate

March 04, 2009

Well, a lot of musings for this date have already been processed, so about the day I’m going to keep things fairly short.

I did not want to get out of bed because it was COLD! I wasn’t even all that tired it was just freezing outside of the blankets. But I did. And it was cold enough that I had a scratchy throat.
Went to school, pretty uneventful. First class was Migrations. I decided afterwards I hadn’t probably paid enough attention because I wasn’t angry when I left. I did partially present on a text though, and by partially I mean I was cut off by time. After that was a quick rush to create/finish a powerpoint for Cavernas and that all went fine. Presented in that class too.

I got out semi-early from Cavernas and ran into my bus-buddy. Basically was just a brief chat before I had to go to class again that said ‘well I went out with friends yesterday’ and I said I only did homework though some people from IFSA and I were going to a movie later so I invited him to tag a long with us. We exchanged numbers but he had political things to attend to in el Centro. He said he’d let me know if he was going to join us if it ended early or something.

After that I went to Spanish which I thought was going to be long but we got out early and it wasn’t so bad. Caught the bus to Plaza Fiesta where Ariana, Chelsea and I had ice cream cones and then went to the house in time to read a tad of Maximum Ride before heading out to Gran Plaza to see the Changeling. I need to write Craig about that. It’s not at all like the other one the only bit of which I remember is jumping out of my skin when Ms. Dale came over the intercom.

Aaaaand that was the night. We stopped at cinnabon before leaving and chatted for around an hour. It was me Megan and Ashley which was nice. I haven’t hung out with them very much but they’re pretty fantastic. Hehe Megan’s computer knowledge made me feel pretty at home, so many of the guys being computer geeks and such.

So that’s where I’ll leave it. Pretty good day, I’d say. Went to bed and ta-da!
Cheers! <3 Kate

Musings from Merida 4.Mar.09

To start: My Aunt Dawn has given me a couple of “open on this day” dates, and today’s wasn’t a particular not-well-known-designated-day and was instead instructions to write something down that I’ve learned since I’ve been here. So here’s what I’ve got.

Language: Before I came to Mexico I had no idea what a “camion” was, didn’t know how to properly express “tell her that” (avisala), or “dar vueltas” is to run errands.

Geography: Didn’t know basically anything about the Yucatan peninsula and how they pretty much consider themselves not really “mexican” but Yucatacan. I had no idea where Altabrisa was, what Plaza Fiesta looked like, or even what the plaza grande in el Centro consisted of. I also had no idea that they had a completely different food style (see next note).

Food: Panuchos, salbutes, poc chuc. Never knew about them, had never tried them. They’re typical dishes here in the Yucatan. Beyond that, I hadn’t really explored much in the normal mustard area, but I found out I like that. Never tried a mushroom and I found out those aren’t too bad either. They make for pretty interesting texture in the salad. And I even found that I can eat tomato and pumpkin soup. Actually, that’s pretty impressive considering I’m generally pretty opposed to trying new foods.

Culture: I’ve never really been exposed to any “night life” and here I’ve been out to a couple of clubs for dancing. That might not be specifically Mexico, but all the same it’s included a lot of learning. Similarly, I didn’t know what a quinceanera reaaaally entailed and now I’ve been to one.

Sites: While I haven’t done a lot of traveling, I have seen two completely different sets of Mayan Ruins which is something not a ton of people can probably say (or if nothing else I’ve seen something my dad hasn’t (yet).

Self: Timelines make things difficult, or at least temporary stays. Maybe I knew this in part after we moved, but since being here I can see where there’s been some emotional disconnection simply because I know I’m not going to be here come (at this point) 3 months from now. It’s hard for me to socially/emotionally engage in something that seems exceptionally temporary. On the other hand, I’ve also learned that I’m not entirely ‘socially dependent’ as has been prior-to suggested. I’m self sufficient, still need to be socially fed, not starved completely, but I don’t *need* the same social level as some people assert that I do (and I’m not actually directing that ‘some people’ to anyone who’s reading this so it’s cool).

Friends: This one is more of an observation than something I’ve actually learned. It probably would require some intense thought to draw any real conclusions from it. It’s been interesting to see who I’ve actually kept in contact with, and similarly but not entirely the same, who’s kept in contact with me. Since being here, I’ve talked extremely a lot less with some people I thought I was a lot closer to (or with people I expected to talk to more frequently), and on the flip side talked exceptionally a lot more with some people who I don’t normally talk to through out the school year. And of course there are some who I’ve talked to about the same.

Well, that’s probably enough for one post. Originally, it was going to be connected with the rest of the day but I think it’s going to get its own category since we’re on the second page of a Word document now.
Cheers! Kate <3

March 03, 2009

Well, this is going to be a pretty short post. The day wasn’t particularly interesting for you folks. It was a day off however which was nice, even though I had a bunch of work to do. It sort of felt like a Saturday though, which didn’t leave me in the most productive of moods. I got most of it done though. Everything is set for my presentation in Migrations, and I should probably finish the powerpoint for Cavernas, but I’ll have a little bit of time tomorrow to do that between said classes.

I did go to the post office today: Mom your CD with the pictures should be en route now. I have a number so I should be able to track it. Otherwise that’s pretty much been the day. My host mom asked for the pictures of Maria Regina’s quinceanera so I gave those to her, andddd I did some work. Took a shower this evening and now am headed to bed after a little reading. I’m doing some Maximum Ride. Should be good times.

Cheers! <3 Kate

March 02, 2009

Woo. Got up at 8, only after being awoken just before 1 o’clock in the morning *so sick* Yeah, my stomach felt like it was trying to kill itself, and at some point I wasn’t sure if I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up. Neither happened, but I was in pretty bad shape til around 1:30. Not a very happy camper.

I did get to go back to sleep though, as I mentioned, and I got up at 8. 8 AM and I was pretty good to go. Got up, decided that since I had taken a late shower I wasn’t going to waste time with it, somehow my hair didn’t look too bad, just a little mussy which I wasn’t entirely opposed to as long as it saved me some time. I got everything together and was out the door just after 9.

I had to wait a surprisingly long time for the bus, around 15 minutes which is usual. Either way, I got to Plaza Fiesta with the intention of taking a Motul to school that way I would have more time to work on the Cavernas presentation. And guess who showed up? Remember my friend from awhile ago? Actually I’m not entirely sure if I mentioned him or not. We were on the same bus and then riding the same next bus home and we had a conversation which was unusual to have someone from the college take any interest so it was cool.

So yeah, he walks across the street, and I didn’t really recognize him, but he strolled right up and said hello (or it may have been good morning I don’t remember) and gave me a kiss on the cheek like we were pals. (cultural note: this is how people who know each other greet eachother) So we kinda chatted, sometimes there wasn’t much to say. I also felt a little silly because of course, while I didn’t completely lack putting myself together (like if I had bothered to take my shower I would’ve been just as nice looking as normal, lol) but I also was wearing my bottom retainer because I hadn’t worn it in some time so I figured I’d just give it the day to let my teeth reset or whatever.

Eventually, after two full motuls passing, we managed to get one. I did learn he doesn’t like cats. Too bad for him, lol. Pretty sure my loyalties remain with the Meek. Anyway, so that was kind of a neat way to start off the day, although by the time we made it to school I was starting to not feel so hot again.

As it turned out, there were no copies in the fotocopiadora, so I was out of luck if I did in fact have a presentation so I tried to be productive by starting my Migrations presentation. As it turned out I didn’t have one. It’s Wednesday (which I kind of suspected to be the case).

After class, I hiked up to 7-11 where in a lot of people were staring at me. And I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe I was just momentarily more aware of it (you know how absolutely observant I am). In any case, I got some meds from 7-11 and then walked back to the facultad where I had lunch and then had to go to the library for two reasons: 1) Diana had brownies, bus maps, and hoy en tu comunidad shirts in her office, most importantly the brownies 2) I needed those Cavernas copies for Wednesday since we don’t have school tomorrow.

Of course, getting all that done in the 15 minutes before class starting was impossible. Ariana went with me to get her brownie and shirt and map, and then she went to class before I had even managed to figure out where the book was I needed copies of. She said she’d tell our prof I’d be late. Which I was, by like half an hour (although being late here is not nearly as bit of a deal as it is in the States.) Either way I didn’t really have a choice because I needed the copies. The place would be closed by the time I got out of class.

So then I went and did Mayan Civ til 6 o’clock and took the bus(es) back home. The evening I’m taking off pretty much. Catching up on e-mails I haven’t had a chance to read. The Ellen one was hilarious, let me just say *nods*.

I’m hoping now to watch a movie we didn’t get a chance to watch while Mom was here. I hope everyone enjoys the snow that seems to have invaded up there. It was cold today, but no where near that cold lol.
Cheers! Kate <3

March 01, 2009

Happy First day of March! Actually, it wasn’t a pleasant beginning, I woke up feeling not so great at 8 which was also not a very great time to be awake. After a little while of attempting to fall back to sleep I got up and took some medicine, and (obviously) posted for you guys which was good. Then I managed to fall back a sleep for a little bit but not too long before I imagined one of the squawkers outside calling my name…but birds don’t really do that. Either way though it was 11:30 which is the longest amount of time I think I’ve stayed in bed here in Merida. That’s probably a record for a school semester, having only once stayed in bed til 11:30. Crazy.

Basically at that point I got up and got a shower and then began working on reading for Migrations class. I have a presentation in there on Wednesday. About half way through the reading I txted Chelsea to see if she wanted to go post card hunting like she said she wanted to get some earlier. Then I finished the reading, and my family had left to go out to lunch without me, so I made myself a sandwich with some potato chips and had a little slice of left over birthday cake before giving Chelsea a ring to see if she was up to going out.She said she was so we went down to El Centro and walked around.

As I was trying to walk out the door, my host family came back and after struggling to get the door open, my host mom apologized for having forgotten me. She asked if I wanted to have dessert with them but I declined because I was going out. Besides, I had already helped myself to a little cake.

Chelsea did manage to find some post cards, and she paid less for them than the original place we stopped at. Then, since it was Merida en domingo, we walked around the Plaza Grande just looking. All the fun people from Carnaval weren’t around which was a little sad, but that’s okay. We decided to split a Coca-Light and a bag of churros then went back to my house for a bit so Chelsea could try this Guanabana thing. I also lent her Velocity since she didn’t have anything to read. She lent me When Crickets Cry so I’m going to try it out. I’m not really convinced we have similar tastes in literature though, so we’ll see. More on that later

After that I talked to Mom on the phone for a bit, and J online, and by that time it was off to bed so I could go into school early tomorrow. I thought I might have to present in Cavernas so I was going to need to get the reading before class. Last time we had class I was sick and presenting all the same so my focus really wasn’t on the readings.

Cheers! <3 Kate

February 28, 2009

¡Feliz Cumpleaños Maria Regina! Today is my youngest host sister’s birthday. I woke up around 10, but there didn’t seem to be a whole lot going on festivity-wise. It would all be taking place later tonight. I got some breakfast in the kitchen and wished Maria Regina a happy birthday.

At lunch, there were 10 of us sitting at the table and several different dishes that were kind of varieties or leftovers. I wasn’t super hungry since I’d had a late breakfast but I ate a little and everyone sat around the table for a while longer than usual. Then my mom brought out a hostess cupcake surrounded by little bunny figurines with a heart-candle on a stick standing out of the center of the cupcake. We all sang happy birthday in Spanish (which I don’t really know the words to so I should work on that) and she blew out the candle though she gave the cupcake away to her sister. That was surprising to me.

After lunch I asked if she had opened her presents (someone had come to the door just before lunch and given her one) and she said she had so I told her I had one for her. We went to my room to open it, and then on it being a little difficult to get out of the box, she brought in back into the kitchen where her mom helped out a little. Maria Regina seemed to think it was neat, but all the while seemed distracted. Either way her mom seemed to think it was a good gift I think. =)

After that I had some free time. I finished Velocity which was quite good then hopped into the shower and began the whole getting-ready routine. Quinceaneras are formal events, so I got to wear my little black dress, though really I could have worn something even a little fancier if I had had it with me.

I talked to my parents on AIM, I have a plane ticket now for Sunday, May 17th. That’s earlier than originally planned (May 23rd) but it’ll be good. There’s a possibility I’d have to take a summer class because I’m short a few for graduation as is. But anyway, May 17th.

When I went to get a little something to drink and a small snack at about 5:15, Maria Regina was getting pictures taken in the back yard. She was very pretty, dressed in a gown that was somewhere between mint and tinkerbell green. She had a beautiful corsage and her hair was half up in a little up-do. Very very pretty.
Her mom actually had a dress on very similar in color so they matched. They finished taking pictures just as it was about time to leave to go to Mass. The Mass was a special service specifically for Maria Regina. She sat up front and center in a special chair and her parents sat to her left and her godparents to her right. It was a very special service.

After that the party began. We went to someone’s house/mansion and inside everything was done up in pink and green. There were balloons, cake, cupcakes, brownies, and over a hundred people there.

There was a video viewing of Maria Regina which was accompanied by a song written for her by her grandfather. The song was very sweet and incorporated her name, it was very special too. After that they put on a waltz and Maria Regina and her father took the dance floor which was set up over the pool. As they waltzed, another older gentleman took over, and so Maria Regina was passed from man to man, each cutting in after a few steps and ending with a twirl. After a little bit even some of her friends cut in. It was *really* nice. How neat, I thought, to do something like that where she danced with all of them. I’d kinda like to do something like that, ne?
After the waltzing, the music picked up into dance music where all the kids flooded the floor and began dancing it up. It was really quite the party, having started at 7:30 after Mass at 6:30: I did not get home until 1 AM. I was glad Chelsea was there so we could chat a little bit throughout the evening and I didn’t feel too out of place. Actually Diana and her husband were there too and we sat at their table. It was a really nice night and I think that Maria Regina had a great time. I’m glad, her quince años should be special =)

Cheers! <3 Kate

February 27, 2009

Well today I had my first presentation in migrations class and also turned in that crazy test she assigned us. My presentation was only on giving a summary of the book I read a while back, so that being considered it wasn’t super difficult. It would have been nice though if I could have presented when I was supposed to: I had already turned in my paper to her on it so I didn’t have anything to go off of once I was standing in front of the class…plus by that time it had been a good two weeks since I’d finished reading it. Either way though, I glimpsed a little bit of humanity in my professor after class when she said I did a good job and that it must have been hard for me since it was in Spanish. Maybe she finally has an inkling that doing everything in her class does require a lot more effort/though/brainpower since it’s not in our first language.

Moving on though, after a trip to the photocopier and the library I got on the bus and headed home, pulling out the book Velocity. Unfortunately, I got so wrapped up in the book I missed my stop at Plaza Fiesta and just kept right on going til I got to El Centro. This wasn’t really that big of a deal. It cost a little more time but 2 pesos less.

When I got home I knew I reallllllly needed to do laundry. So I skipped on down to the laundry mat (not really by this time I was pretty tired, so I kind of trudged along carrying my 8 ½ kilos of laundry) and got that all settled. Back at the house, I was caught going back to my room for an earlier lunch. Maria Regina was playing hookie from school since her cousin was here so we didn’t have to wait til 2:30 like normal. They had fixed fish, however, so I was a little out of luck in that respect, my host mom told me there was cochinita in the fridge so I had that instead which was quite tasty. Cochinita is pork cooked a particular way, or seasoned a particular way. It’s a dish that I think is specific to Yucatan.

After lunch, I came back to my room, read a couple more chapters from Velocity and took a nap that went from around 2:30 or 3 to 5:10 when Chelsea texted me to do something tonight. She said she wanted to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire, and I was down for that. I didn’t really feel like seeing a chick flick so that seemed like a good option even if I didn’t really know what it was about all.

Keeping in style, we also grabbed dinner before the movie. We went to the food court in AltaBrisa (the newest mall in Merida) and ate at some place called like the 60s or something like that. We had chicken strips and I had curly fries (Chelsea had straight fries). While the curly fries were more expensive, they were well worth it.

After dinner and three cups of Coca-Light (I was apparently rather thirsty at dinner and we got free refills), Chelsea and I stopped into this really sweet store where I bought Maria Regina’s birthday present. It’s a picture frame, but it’s a chalkboard, and it comes with 5 different color chalk pieces. It’s pretty neat I think =)

Chelsea and I also applauded ourselves when we got to the movie theater. Well, no, back up. First we went to the bathroom and I had my wits scared out of me when I went to walk into a stall and there was this evil little boy standing there. Surprise much? Well, he wasn’t *actually* there, it was one of those wall pin-ups type things; I selected another stall.

Mexicans don’t really feel much need to get the theater early. They don’t have a 20, so I guess I understand, but the seats are so amazingly comfortable and high-class I’m definitely going to miss that aspect when I get home. No more cheap movie theaters with fantastic viewing and sitting pleasures. But in either case, that just meant since we were a tad early (later than I would normally be to a movie theater I think) we had more or less first choice on seats so we got a central location. And then the rest came filing in til we had a full theater. We applauded ourselves on choosing to do something that the rest of the people in Merida do for their Friday night.

The movie was amazing. You’ve probably heard it won Golden Globes or something like that. I didn’t actually see the awards ceremony, but go see that movie. It’s worth it.

At the end of the night, we caught a taxi back and I came into the room, drew “Feliz Quinceañera” on the picture frame, packed it up, and headed to bed. =)

Cheers! <3 Kate

PS: you guys must think I’m dying or something by your comments, but I’m good, no worries lol. =D