Visiting the Comunisarias

Visiting the Comisarias

We had another fun change of assignments this week! This week we were assigned to work with a group of government workers. Each day they travel out to neighborhoods outside of the main city and address any needs in the city, such as broken streets or a house without a bathroom. On Monday we mostly just observed the meetings that the workers have with the community members. In the meetings, the community members talk about needs in the community  then the city workers teach some sort of arts and crafts or cooking so they can be more self sufficient. Each worker has either one or two neighborhoods to address.

Tuesday the group we starting going with canceled on us so we had the whole afternoon free. I went with a couple buddies, Jake and Calvin, to do a little shopping because the clothing and shoes here is so inexpensive! I started off my purchases with black Mexico soccer jersey! I was so tempted to buy the white one as well but I couldn't get myself to do it... yet. While in that shopping area, rain started pouring outside! We looked around a bit more so burn some time then decided to make a run for it because the store we wanted to go to, Cuidado con el Perro, was only half-a-block away. We got sufficiently wet but we made it! We all bought a little something and waited for the rain to pass over. While waiting, we found a very colorful and Calvin decided to have a little fun hahaha (see picture below). Jake and I then found a delicious burger place just a few blocks from out hostel so we will most definitely be making a return trip to eat there again.

On Wednesday Jake, Kim and I were split up a bit at work. Jake and Kim went with Laura to one neighborhood while I went with Selene, the boss lady. I asked questions about the reliability of health insurance in Mexico and the education of physical, emotional and sexual health in schools. It was sad hear how poorly some people are treated at hospitals due to a lack of insurance or how they don't receive the treatment necessary because their insurance won't cover it. It was also nerving to hear that they teach very little in way of health to kids. Also, early Wednesday morning my sister returned from her mission from Concepcion, Chile! I was able to video call in and be apart of her homecoming at the airport! It was so fun to see her arrive and be with the family again.

Thursday was an eventful day. In the morning, Kim and I traveled with a friend here in Merida named Martin to some of the outer neighborhoods. We went to install water filters that PACE International Academy had previously donated to me with the purpose of finding people in need of a clean water source. We helped the families of Manuela, Jose Antonio and Dona Carmen. It was quite heartwarming to see their reactions and the gratitude in their eyes. I am excited to do that again in my future travels! In the afternoon, Kim, Jake and I started teaching Days for Girls. They are lessons directed to women about their health and menstruation. After giving the lessons, we give them kits full of washable pads. We able to give out 14 kits on the first day! We were also taken to visit a random cenote so that was fun too. Later in the evening we saw Spiderman: Far from Way. It was even in English! I would certainly recommend it.

Estaba un poco nervioso en el prinicpio de la semana por el nuevo asignacion pero ha sido muy padre de verdad! El grupo de trabajadores son muy genials y entretenidos. La oportunidad de enseñar Days for Girls y repartir los kits ha sido especial porque hay mucha necesidad entre los comunisarias aquí.

 Adventures out shopping with Calvin

 A sweet hamburger shop just down the road

 Some snacks while watching Spiderman: Far From Home

 One of the buildings where we taught Days for Girls classes

 Eating some cochinita pibil with Martin and Kim

 Preparing a bucket for a water filter

 The water filter for Manuela and her neighbors

The family of Dona Carmen

Valladolid: Pueblo Magico

Friday we began our day with another day at the Centro Marista. That meant another full morning of playing soccer with a group of kids then instead of doing some arts and crafts, I helped teach some English classes to another group of kids. They were quite excited to learn about the days of the weeks and months of the year. Our weekend then started as we took an evening bus to a pueblo magico called Valladolid. It was founded in 1543 and built on top of an ancient Mayan city. We stayed at a nice little hostel called Casa Daniels. The hosts were very nice yet just a little awkward.

Saturday morning initiated the weekend with a gran adventure to Chichen Itza! It is one of the seven wonders of the world and it was totally (mostly) worth the ridiculously high entrance fee. We arrived pretty early so we beat the biggest rush and didn't have to wait in a huge line. As we entered, we were barraged by souvenir salesmen and tour guides trying to sell us their items or services. Upon passing the swarm of salesman, it opened up to a open field where we could see the large pyramid at one end and several other ruins scattered about. It truly was breathtaking, especially since it still wasn't super crowded. We split into a couple different groups and wandered around, seeing the different ruins, taking pictures and even doing some souvenir shopping. From Chichen Itza we ate lunch at a local restaurant and went back to the hostel. Many people wanted to simply rest but a small group of us decided to explore. Lily, Jake, Calvin and I visited a set of two cenotes, X'keken and Samula. Like most cenotes, they were gorgeous and contained nice cool water. In the evening time we then spent time just wandering around the city and exploring the pueblo magico.

Sunday was another adventurous day. We started the day off by seeing another set of ruins called Ek Balam. It was a little closer to the city of Valladolid. These ruins were a bit more fun because unlike those at Chichen Itza, we were able to climb on them! We spent those couple hours just going up and down all the ruins that were there. The tallest pyramid had a stunning view at the top. You could look around for miles and miles and see nothing but the tops of trees. Underneath the tree tops we knew there are some little cities but it appeared that we were in the middle of no where. After spending some time climbing and taking lots of pictures, we returned to the hostel in order to attend the 12 o'clock services of the local ward. There was around 12 of us so were made about one-third to one-fourth of the people in attendance. It was heart-warming to hear such pure and sincere testimonies from many of the members since it was fast and testimony meeting. It was also exciting because I had the chance to play the piano for the last hymn, "How Firm a Foundation", which is one of my favorites! Lily also ran into a guy that served her mission (what a small world!). After church, we went to another cenote near Valladolid. This one was probably the funnest so far because they had some places for cliff-jumping and a rope swing! We spent a good amount of time there then returned for some dinner before we caught our bus back to Merida.

Que bendecido siento la verdad por estar aquí en un lugar tan bonito y con otros voluntarios/amigos tan padres. Igual ha sido una gran bendición servir la gente aquí y hacer una conexión con ellos. Obvio que Chihuahua siempre será mi lugar numero uno en Mexico pero Yucatan le hace una buena competencia. 

 Chichen Itza

 Chichen Itza

 Ball Court at Chichen Itza

 Restaurant between Valladolid and Chichen Itza

 Valladolid in front of the San Bernardino Convent 

 El Trompo de carne al pastor

 Cenote San Lorenzo Oxman

Cookies at the Chocolate Shop!

 Adventuring atop of Ek Balam

The crew!

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! 

 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!

Exploring Cenotes

Well the first full week in paradise is now complete. It's been a good week of adapting and getting to know the city, the people and our community center. There seems to be no relief from the muggy heat, except for the small pool in our hostal. At least at night we have four different fans blowing in our room! Also, our group lucked out because the commute to our community center is a mere 20 minutes. It is lucky because the majority of city buses don't have AC here so bus rides consist of sharing body heat with other very sweaty human beings. 

The kids at the community center are so cute and full of energy, once they get over their timidness and begin to talk. We have been working with the English teacher most of the week. The English teacher actually takes advantage of the time we are with her and asks us a lot of questions too. We played a lot of alphabet bingo this week so the kids can practice their pronunciation. I definitely learned that games is a fantastic way to get kids out of their shells! They would get competitive between each other and beg us to play "una vez mas". Unfortunately, those classes come to an end this week so this upcoming week we will mostly be with adults and teenagers. 

As far as exploring, we started by visiting el Paseo de Montejo, which is a road with a lot of old, fancy architecture and nice restaurants. We also found the closest Walmart, which was a big win for us! However, the funnest activity of the week was visiting Restaurant and Cenotes Santa Barbara. Cenotes are underground natural water springs that are literally all over the place in the Yucatan and Quintana Roo region; they were sacred places for the Mayan people. The place we went to was a set of three cenotes all within a few hundred yards of each other. We arrived most of the way by van then parked and checked in at a little lobby area. We were then taken the last kilometer by horse and a little buggy that was on a little railroad track. It was a little sketchy but so much fun! The cenotes we went to in order were, in order, a cavern, then a semi-open one and we finished with a completely open one (check the last picture). They were honestly breathtaking and my pictures simply do not do them justice. The water was actually cool and so clear! If I could go to a cenote to enjoy the scenery and cool down everyday, I would! Sadly that is not possible haha. 

The LDS Temple, just three blocks from our hostal. 

 Monument la patriota

 Teaching some English!

First cenote with the crew

 Cenote #2

 Better angle of cenote #2

The last cenote of the day. 

Welcome to Merida

The damp, muggy air hit me square in the face as I walked out of the airport. I had just come from Mexico City where the weather was cool and perfect; but this place was nothing of the sort. I suppose I really didn't know what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this study abroad to Merida. Despite the heat, Merida is one of the prettiest places I have ever visited and it chalked full of nice people. Our guides and counselors for UBELONG are named Leo and Linda. They have been super helpful as far as helping us get acclimated to the city and culture. 

Our hostel is located only two blocks from the main plaza so we are right in the think of things. It's great! There are restaurants and taco shops galore. One of the typical foods here is cochinita pibil, which is shredded pork in a special salsa. I have had it in tacos and a sandwich and it is amazing either way! Panuchos are also amazing. They are a corn tortilla filled with beans and topped with either pork or turkey. It's really hard to go wrong with the food here. 

Yesterday we started at our project for UBELONG. I am placed with Kimberly(Kim) and Jake at a community center called Centro de Desarrollo Municipal Amapola. We met the director today and she put us straight to work with the elderly people. We just talked it up with them then played bingo! We played  a round in English so we could feel like we were also teaching something. Then today we had the opportunity to work with kids today! We teamed up with the English teacher at the community center and taught about health with English words. The kids were a bit shy at first but most of them came out of their shells by the end. It was fun to work and interact with them and I really look forward to getting to know them more!

The Merida sign!

Pollo a la curry

Parque Santa Lucia

Tacos de cochinita pibil y un panucho de pavo.

English class!