Happy Fourth from Merida!
What a great second week is has been so far! Things have slowed down a little bit at the Centro de desarrollo Municipal Amapola. Many kids have finished up the semesters at their elementary or middle schools so they are on vacation. Therefore on Monday we worked with a group of seniors. I use the word "worked" very lightly because we simply played Bingo and card games for an hour and a half. It was a pretty rough afternoon (much sarcasm intended). Tuesday morning we did some exploring of the city and went to the city zoo! The most exciting part for me was meeting up with an old mission companion, Jorge Mena, after not seeing him for over two years! The zoo itself was decent but the conversation and meeting his future bride was a blast. That same afternoon the kids of music and arts and crafts put on a little show at the community center. They absolutely killed it! It was fun seeing some of the kids we have taught present other parts of their talent. That same evening we decided to go see Toy Story 4 in Spanish! Honestly I was a little surprised about how entertaining it was! Plus it was fun to hear all the characters talk in Spanish. However, we went to the tiniest movie theater I have ever seen! It only has two auditoriums and the lobby/snack area couldn't have been wider than 25 feet. Overall, I would definitely recommend seeing the movie.
Wednesday we went on another adventure, but this time to the closest beach! It is called Progreso and it is about 45 minutes by bus from Merida. As we began entering the water, I was shocked as the water was not freezing cold, as I am used to the cold water beaches of California. The water was rather warm and very relaxing. We just floated there for a bit then my buddy Jake and I proceeded to build a sand castle and play three-hit kill with a soccer ball. It was in that moment we realized we aren't the most talented soccer players, as we only achieved three hits in a row twice in 15 minutes of game time hahaha. That afternoon we taught some English at the community center. We had a group of older ladies who were knitting purses then we taught a couple group of kids who were practicing for a dance performance. We went with some basic verbs so it was rather fun!
Thursday was the 4th of July!! 'Merica! We actually were switched around to a different community where another volunteer/student, Maria, was already giving English classes. Since there was four of us, I had the opportunity to help instead with soccer! So despite being in the sun for two straight hours, it was a blast! The kids were having such a great time and I made a few new buddies (mostly the ones who didn't actually want to play so I attempted to entertain them). The next hour and a half I was placed with arts and crafts. The little kids there were just the CUTEST, like I literally would have taken a few of them home if we were in an orphanage. We probably spent a solid hour doing the craft work then most of them either wanted to play or see my pictures from back home. Los quiero mucho!
Thursday being Independence Day in the United States in America, we decided to celebrate in a very American fashion. We ate hamburgers at Fuddruckers then went bowling! That was probably the funnest evening I have personally had here in Merida. The hamburgers were delicious (despite me not being able to finish it due to my eyes being bigger than my stomach) but the company was even better. We were missing a few people in the group but it was still fun! Bowling was just full of laughter, booty shakes and people accidentally bowling for someone else hahaha. Needless to say, we really enjoyed ourselves. Though the groups around us may have seen us as the obnoxious American crew hahaha.
Me encanta las adventuras que estoy experimentando aquí en mi querido México. Es tan interesante conocer una nueva parte del pais y sentir una cultura poco diferente. ¡Viva Mexico!
Wednesday we went on another adventure, but this time to the closest beach! It is called Progreso and it is about 45 minutes by bus from Merida. As we began entering the water, I was shocked as the water was not freezing cold, as I am used to the cold water beaches of California. The water was rather warm and very relaxing. We just floated there for a bit then my buddy Jake and I proceeded to build a sand castle and play three-hit kill with a soccer ball. It was in that moment we realized we aren't the most talented soccer players, as we only achieved three hits in a row twice in 15 minutes of game time hahaha. That afternoon we taught some English at the community center. We had a group of older ladies who were knitting purses then we taught a couple group of kids who were practicing for a dance performance. We went with some basic verbs so it was rather fun!
Thursday was the 4th of July!! 'Merica! We actually were switched around to a different community where another volunteer/student, Maria, was already giving English classes. Since there was four of us, I had the opportunity to help instead with soccer! So despite being in the sun for two straight hours, it was a blast! The kids were having such a great time and I made a few new buddies (mostly the ones who didn't actually want to play so I attempted to entertain them). The next hour and a half I was placed with arts and crafts. The little kids there were just the CUTEST, like I literally would have taken a few of them home if we were in an orphanage. We probably spent a solid hour doing the craft work then most of them either wanted to play or see my pictures from back home. Los quiero mucho!
Thursday being Independence Day in the United States in America, we decided to celebrate in a very American fashion. We ate hamburgers at Fuddruckers then went bowling! That was probably the funnest evening I have personally had here in Merida. The hamburgers were delicious (despite me not being able to finish it due to my eyes being bigger than my stomach) but the company was even better. We were missing a few people in the group but it was still fun! Bowling was just full of laughter, booty shakes and people accidentally bowling for someone else hahaha. Needless to say, we really enjoyed ourselves. Though the groups around us may have seen us as the obnoxious American crew hahaha.
Me encanta las adventuras que estoy experimentando aquí en mi querido México. Es tan interesante conocer una nueva parte del pais y sentir una cultura poco diferente. ¡Viva Mexico!
Going to the zoo with an old mission companion, Elder Mena!
Beautiful sunset in the city 😍
We watched Toy Story 4 in Spanish!
Playa Progreso.
Niños at the Centro de Maristas
Love these kids!
