Week 6: Un casi encuentro con la muerte!

Okay, I'm just cutting to the chase today since I don't have too much time to write!

Thursday! We went to the temple, and naturally it was fantastic :)

Afterward, Emilio took Kate, Gabi, Kevin, and I to Progreso in the nighttime! CARNIVAL TIME! :) It was so much fun! 

The first thing we did was play foosball. We all got really into it and were yelling and whatnot. And guess who won? Kate and Chanel! I’m telling you, we’re the DREAM TEAM!

Afterward, we decided to go on a couple of the rides there (which probably wasn't very safe since they were really rickety and old…). They only cost 20-25 pesos (about $2), so why not?! :)

The first ride was a mini rollercoaster sort of thing that just went in circles. It was kinda like Tilt-a-Whirl, but in rollercoaster form! 

Kevin and Gabi! 

Kate and I sat in the same cart. It was pretty fun at first, but as we started going faster it started to get pretty scary. Then the force from going so fast and in such a tight circle was making it so I was getting crushed by Kate (just kidding, it wasn’t THAT bad!).

To make matters worse, after a couple minutes, the rollercoaster started going BACKWARD. But that's not the worst of it. Right then, our safety bar came unhinged, so instead of just regular yelling, we started screaming for our lives!

We were clutching onto the back of the cart, panicking, screaming, eyes wide... and all Emilio did was point and laugh at us the entire time. How mean! I can honestly say that was in my top 10 scariest moments of my life! Although it wasn't likely, I very well could have DIED! Okay, I'm just being dramatic ;)

The second ride was a ferris wheel sort of one, but instead of going up and over, you stay on the inside of the wheel and go upside down. Gabi, Kevin, and I were all together in a cage (that’s basically what it was). Oh my gosh, that one was seriously frightening. We were yelling so much. The worst was when we were hanging directly upside down for a good 20 seconds… I felt like my head was gonna explode!

Afterward I felt so sick and dizzy. My head hurt so bad!

The 3 girls who went on the ride after us hardly made any noise… Wow, us three Americans are a little embarrassing...

I got some pretty nasty bruises from the rides, but it was totally worth it!

Friday we went on an excursion to some really cool caves in Loltun. There were these really cool columns that you could hit really hard and it’d make a noise!

Afterward we went to a nearby cenote and ate lunch there. We had Poc Chuc! There were all these piggies running around, and they were kind of cute!

But then Kelsey pointed out to me that they weren't just there for funsies like I thought. Their brothers were the Poc-Chuc that we ate for lunch! :'(

Saturday we went on another excursion to Izamal. On our way there we stopped by a hammock factory to see how hammocks are made. All of our tour mostly consisted rooms full of thread. It was super cool to see all the bright colors though!

Izamal also known as the Yellow City. 70% of the city's buildings are yellow! It was so pretty! It’s actually where our mamá is from. Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, but we got to go on a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout the city! It was so cute because a lot of the horses had hats! We were riding in a yellow carriage through a yellow town. It was adorable!

Oh, and I won’t forget to mention we had a very cute and nice chauffeur named Elmo. Who lived in a yellow house of course. And his horse was named Dora. SO CUTE!

Later that night Kelsey and I went out with Emilio to get REAL, refrigerated milk and Oreos. Normally here our mamá buys this stuff in a carton called Nutri-Leche. It's this gross milk that has vegetable oil in it and doesn't need to be refrigerated. Warm milk and cereal is always a tasty treat! Hahaha... hah...

When we brought it home, I saw the peanut butter on our table, and I was so happy! Parent Trap, anyone? YUM.

Sunday was great! Since it was fast Sunday, and I decided to get up and bear my testimony. Gosh, I was so nervous. I don't bear my testimony very often, and adding onto that a different language… I was afraid I'd end up standing up there, like:

It was hard! It was hard to express what I wanted to, and I know I made plenty of mistakes. But I guess I didn't do too awful, since I got some compliments. I was pretty proud of myself! 

So as for Elder Gibby... He got transferred into another area today!! I got an e-mail from him this morning saying that, but he wasn't sure if he'd get time to e-mail anyone today other than that quickie one. I'll letcha know on Thursday if I hear from him or not :)

742 Days Left! :)