Before
coming here, I have never heard someone try to speak English who doesn’t know
it very well. It’s so funny!! In Progreso the vendors always call out, “Hey
girls, check it out!” Then when we walk past them, they say, “Don’t miss me!”
There’s
a guy who’s a member of the Church that hangs out with our group, Emilio. He
doesn’t know very much English, but it’s so funny to hear some of the phrases
he’s said, like, “I am boss.” It’s hilarious!!!
On
Saturday our group went to ruins called Uxmal, and our tour guide told us
during dinner that he went to England to learn English. British people hardly pronounce their “r”s, as is commonly known, so that was how he spoke.
One day when going to a restaurant, he wanted a fork, so, as not being super
proficient in speaking English, he said, “Can I have a fork on the table,
please?” Now that would have been totally fine, except that without pronouncing
the “r”, it sounded like a different word… And the meaning of his sentence was
changed completely.
It's like, what do you even do in that situation when you realize what you've said?
He
also explained that “beach” was difficult for non-native English speakers to
say without sounding like another bad word. In addition, “sheet” is a no-go
too. They all just sound too much alike if you didn’t grow up with English!
Hahahaha.
Anyway, that was sort of off-topic... But now it's basically my favorite thing to hear Spanish-speakers say things in English! It's the best!
Okay, my activities of the week!
So
we ended up going to Dairy Queen and Burger Queen to celebrate the Fourth of
July down here in Mexico. Very American, yeah? :)
Of
course we ate our dessert first though! Delicious Mini Blizzards. Just the
cutest! :)
And check it out! The Burger King himself beside a
Mayan temple (which I think is Chichen Itzu):
Our celebratory American dinner:
Oh, and I forgot to tell you, BURGER KING CAN
DELIVER TO YOUR HOUSE WITH THEIR OWN DANG MOTORCYCLES.
Say whaaat?
Why aren’t there Burger Kings like this in the US?!
I’d never have them deliver, but that’s definitely something! Hahaha.
Friday our whole group took another trip to
Progreso! It was super sunny out, and as you could probably guess, I got a
nasty sunburn. Gaaaah. Totally worth it though! We were out in the ocean for a
good amount of time, came out and drank yummy limeade, played beach volleyball
(which I really am terrible at! … I’m afraid of the ball), went to the market,
and got these delicious coconut desserts called Pay de Coco. Yum!
Saturday was Uxmal! Oh my goodness it is awesome and super pretty!! There’s a ton of symbolism in all the buildings, there were butterflies everywhere, and it was SO GREEN.
My roommates and I!
Sitting on a little chair thing… That kind of
looked like a tiny toilet for some reason hahaha
They even had the game goal thingy from the Road to El Dorado!!!!!!
SO COOL.
While Gabi and I were exploring, we started walking down
this aisle way talking a laughing and whatnot. Then out of NOWHERE we see this
swarm of bugs.
I'm not kidding, this is exactly what we did:
There was bugs completely covering part of this plant, so
the entire leaf was BLACK. Gross!
(Courtesy of zooming! I was probably a good 15 feet away haha)
Also, there were iguanas EVERYWHERE. They’re basically
the squirrels of Mexico. They kind of look majestic…
After exploring the ruins we watched a show they put on at night called Luz y Sonido. They used different colored lights to light up all the buildings and narrated the history/folklore of the Mayans who lived there.
Sunday we went to Church and just relaxed afterward. It was
my roommate Kate’s birthday, so we had a small celebration. It was fun! Mamá
had bought a tres leche cake, we sang Happy Birthday to Kate in both English
and Spanish, and mamá even bought a present for Kate! How nice is that??
And today is Monday, so guess what that meaaaaans?
YES, I GOT AN E-MAIL FROM MY MISSIONARY :)
He got the package I sent him! Yaaay!
Adam said he’s making the cheesecake TONIGHT! Hahaha that
boy really likes his cheesecake, huh? :)
He said he already read the letter that was “when you need a
laugh” with his companion. He said it was really funny and that they really
needed it. I'm so glad!
Also, Elder Gibby’s companion got my letter and card I put
in there for him with the Chihuahua with a sombrero! He e-mailed me and said
thanks and that it made him laugh. He also said that Elder Gibby is a great
missionary, which of course the response in my head was:
Yep, I know. :)
The weather’s cooled down in Elder Gibby's area, so now it’s 105
instead of 120+. Which is still incredibly hot. I just about died at Uxmal with
100 degrees and 87% humidity. I’ll pass on 5 degrees more!
Anyway, you could say I'm the happiest girl in the world. I'm in Mexico having a blast, and I have the best missionary ever who is always there for me. LIFE IS FANTASTIC :)
770 Days Left! :)
