It's So Hard to Say Goodbye...

Alrighty, a catch-up on my final days in Mérida!

On Monday, Kelsey and I didn’t have class since we did double-duty on Thursday. So we got to sleep in! It felt sooo good! That night we went to FHE and had a wonderful final lesson given by Emilio. We then all shared a reflection of our experience. And then we all headed off to the beach to go see THE METEOR SHOWER!!!!!

When they announced we were going to do that a couple weeks ago, I was so excited. I was kicking and dancing around in my chair!!

The people around me were telling me to CALM MYSELF DOWN. But they didn't understand!!!

Stargazing is one of my favorite things! (Okay, I have a lot of favorite things…. But activity-wise). Add shooting stars to it, and I’m a happy camper! Falling stars are the greatest. They’re beautiful AND you get to make a wish on them. SO COOL!

It was a perfect night because the sky was so clear, we were in a dark area so we could see so many stars, and we were on the beach! There was a sea storm in the horizon, so we saw flashes of reddish lightning off in the horizon while there were MILLIONS of stars up the sky and occasional shooting stars... Gorgeous. 

Too bad cameras can't capture stuff like that. But here's a shot of us!

You wouldn't believe how bad that flash hurt...

A little bit later, Kevin, Emilio, Kate, and I decided to take a swim into the ocean. You could never do that at night in Oregon, cuz you'd freeze! We didn't stay in the water too long, but now I can say I've swam in the ocean at night! In total that night I saw 11 shooting stars, and it was dang awesome! YESSS :)

Tuesday, Daniel, Sam, Mario, Kate, Gabi, and I went to one last cenote. It was a ton of fun, SUPER COLD, and of course pretty! 

Here's a little peek:

Mario had an underwater camera too, so we used that a bunch! Unfortunately we aren't very good at getting pictures taken of us...

But in general, we're a pretty good-looking group, huh? :)

That night we had a final fiesta with our entire group since nearly everyone was leaving in the morning, and most people were leaving through Cancún. Only 4 of us left through Mérida :( 

In all honesty I didn't do much since I was feeling so down about the program ending. I just talked for the most part... 
Okay, I'm not that lame. I ended up doing a little experimenting to amuse myself :)

While we were at the table talking, Kelsey told me that when you lick people's elbows without them knowing, they don't feel it. I had heard that before, but thought that it was just a lie. But, to satisfy my desire to know, while Emilio was distracted, I licked his elbow. AND HE DIDN'T NOTICE. 

As you can imagine, Kelsey giving this newfound knowledge to me was like giving candy to a baby. I WANTED MORE. So, of course, being mischievous and to prove to Emilio that YES, I did lick his elbow, I did it a few more times. He was so surprised every time I told him that I did it! It was super entertaining and I was giggling so much!

In total, all within about 20 minutes, I licked Emilio's elbow 8 times, Gabi's once, and Eric's once. And they had no clue. It was so funny! A little strange of me, I'll admit… But totally worth it! My entertainment for the night!

When it came time to say goodbye to everyone it was absolutely awful. The hardest goodbyes of my life, since it's not certain we'll all see each other again. Hermana Stallings, the director's wife, was the one who first got me to break and shed a few tears. She's such a sweetheart and I'm going to miss her so much!

The next morning we left bright and early at 6:30 to head to the airport. While we were waiting in line to check our luggage, Emilio showed up! He said he'd come to see us off, but I honestly wasn't expecting him to show since we stayed up late the night before. 

He stuck around with us until it came time for us to go through security, and then we said our goodbyes.

It was hard to say "see you later" to him since he was really sad and taking it pretty hard. He and I had gotten pretty close and I got a little attached to him because he reminded me so much of my older brother, Adam. He mentioned maybe coming to visit us this Fall... That'd be so awesome!!! Luckily for now we can keep in touch with Skype!

My travel back to Oregon was a bit of an adventure. While I was getting a smoothie during my layover in Houston, I had been chanting what I was going to say in my head so that I wouldn't mess up and slip Spanish in. After I ordered, I started to say "por favor", but I shut it down at "por f-" because I realized what I was doing. 

The barista totally noticed. I tried to recover and say "please", but it took a good 3 seconds of "uh um" to get the dang word out of my mouth! 

Also, you know how on flights they give you a complimentary drink? When the stewardess was confirming with me, I responded, "sí". Instantly I apologized and explained I had just spent 2 months in Mexico and it was habit. Then the ride home with my parents I couldn't think of SO many English words. It was so frustrating!

I never thought that I would have trouble speaking English like that... I got a little taste of how missionaries feel after their missions. Yeah, imagine what I'd be like after my mission if I go foreign...

... Speaking of my mission! I had my mission interview with the bishop yesterday, and I passed! My interview with the stake president is on Thursday. Then my papers can be turned in this coming Monday, the 26th since that'll be exactly 120 days before my availability date. SO CRAZY! So I should get my mission call in just a bit over a month. I'm really nervous, but really excited!! EEP :)

And on the topic of missionaries... I have a favorite one of mine to talk about! :)

He's been a bit annoyed with his companion. He's a bit of a slob, so Elder Gibby cleans up after him. Then for four days this past week him and his companions were without water! His companion forgot to pay the water bill, so it was shut off. He was making due by showering with his neighbor’s hose. Hahaha. I must congratulate him on being innovative though!

One of the days this past week he went on splits with an Elder that has been out the same amount of time as him. Elder Gibby mentioned that they had finished 6 months of their missions, and the other Elder replied, “Sad, isn’t it?”

That response changed Elder Gibby’s view of the time he has left. Rather than being excited because he’s closer to coming back and being with his family, he realized that he should love every day and enjoy it while it lasts.

I can already tell that Elder Gibby has grown since going out. I’m so happy and proud of him! It's a little touching...

"My little baby's all grown up and saving China... Do you have a tissue?" 
Well, in this case, he's saving souls! :)

Anyway, rewinding back to earlier in this post... This study abroad has been the best experience of my life so far. I also got to experience the Church in another language, and that was just incredible. Doing baptisms for the dead in spanish three times?!? AWESOME. I also got to experience and enjoy another culture and bond with some really amazing people. I learned so, so much. Not just about Spanish, but about life in general. 

I learned that need to go outside my comfort zone and take everything life offers me. Each person in the program taught me a lot and helped me realize things about myself. It was a real eye-opening experience, and I'm going to miss it so, so much.  I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to have the experience that I did. I'm such a lucky girl!

I'm not going to lie, it's been hard for me to be back in the United States. Don't get me wrong. I am LOVING this constant, strong wi-fi, refrigerated milk, carpet, smaller bugs, and whatnot... But this pretty much sums up my feelings:

I miss Mérida so much. And after every day being such an adventure, now I'm just... Here. Being boring. I don't know how I'll keep you guys entertained anymore... Oh boy.

PS - Sorry about the video from last week of the juego de pelota. Now it works! :)

728 Days Left! :)

Week 7: Todavía, después de México, no puedo bailar

So I'm nearing the end of my journey here, so I made sure this weekend was chock-full of fun!

Thursday we had a talent show for our group. Our directors invited the whole ward, and I guess they all invited their friends… Because the chapel was over-full and a good amount of people were standing! I don’t really have any talents that are show-able, and some other girls felt the same, so we got together and did a yoga skit… But people laughed, so that was a success!

Friday we went as a group to a Henequen factory. We saw how they make Henequen out of the plant. The best part was this Mayan man that was just adorable! He told us about Henequen and how to plant it and whatnot. Then he did this awesome secret handshake with a few of us and said a couple salutations in different languages! IT WAS SO CUTE! I wanted to just take him home with me…

We went to the cenote there and swam for a bit. It was so much fun! There weren’t very many people and it was super cool!

That night we finally made it to the juego de pelota! IT WAS SO COOL! It wasn’t exactly what I thought, but I got this really cool video of them playing hockey with a ball on fire:

And us with the players!

Afterward, Kate and I went out for dinner with Kevin and Emilio. We got sushi! I got California rolls with salmon in them… But the salmon was raw. It was gonna be my first time eating raw fish… I just tried not to think about it, and it wasn’t terrible. Not my preference since slimy isn’t really my thing, but I ate it!

Saturday was SO much fun! We went on an excursion to some caves that the ancient mayas used back in the day. Like the women who couldn’t have children would climb through the caves in order to worship a god in a specific area of the caves so that they would be blessed with fertility. They had to travel through these really, REALLY tight and narrow passages that, for us, were impossible to get through without help. Don’t ask me how they did it just with lighting from torches! 

We had to wiggle through a lot of narrow and tight spaces on our stomachs, quite literally like worms. Inching myself along and getting scraped wasn't exactly the most fun...

We also climbed up ropes, slid down rocky slopes, and saw a bunch of sculptures! It was totally worth all the bruises and battle wounds! We got really muddy and smelly and it was super duper scary, but it was really the coolest!

Later that night, we went Mambo Café to dance, FINALLY. Emilio took Kate, Anita, Eric, a chica here named Ale, and myself. We had been wanting to go so much!

At the beginning there were free salsa lessons, so we jumped on in and learned some salsa moves. After a decent amount of people came, we got paired up with partners. My partner was a guy named Alberto and I think he was about my age, maybe a little older. I apologized in advance because I knew I was gonna have problems. I don’t know hardly anything about salsa, so I was kind of struggling. He was a good teacher though, and super patient!

After the lessons ended, he asked me to dance some more and we probably danced for a good half hour. I felt bad since I was still having issues, but he was super nice! Then Emilio swooped in to “save” me, which was fine since I didn’t want Alberto to feel obligated to keep dancing with me haha.

Later on, close to midnight, there was a live Cuban band, and DANG, could those guys dance! It was crazy! Mambo was tons of fun, and I’m so glad we got to go!

Sunday was our last time at church here in Mérida... It was a little sad! 
We got a picture of most of us in front of the sign:

After church Kate and I decided to go to the beach. Sundays at the beach are crazy! They have a huge stage set up with a DJ and dancers… Not to mention the beach was the most crowded I’ve ever seen a beach crowded before. Given beaches in Oregon aren’t visited super often… But for 4^th of July they’re pretty crowded!

Sam and Mario met us there, and we stayed long enough to see the sunset, and got some pretty great pictures! It was so gorgeous!

When we headed back to the bus stop to take us back to Mérida, THE LINE WAS SO LONG.  There were switchbacks and it wrapped around… We ended up being in line for a little over an hour. We had some good bonding time though!

Today I got a super long e-mail from Elder Gibby! I was so super excited because since I wasn't in class today, I got to read the e-mail RIGHT when he sent it! :D

So Elder Gibby was an assistant for 3 days! They taught, organized, and did normal assistant stuff for the most part. While he was there, he found out that the rumors of American girls coming to Oaxaca are true! They're coming starting in October. Sooo, it's a possibility I might get called there, but he said he wouldn't wish that on me. And if we were in the same mission, we couldn't write each other at all! I'm pretty sure I won't get called there, but even that .009% possibility stresses me out a little bit, you know?

He also had the wonderful experience of eating tacos made out of cow brain! Not as savory as tacos arabes, I'm positive. He says that he's developed a new talent of swallowing whole bites of food without chewing. I think it's come pretty handy with the icky foods he's had to eat.

He doesn't eat much in Oaxaca since the food is so… Different. He's already lost 25 pounds. Aren't missionaries supposed to gain weight on their mission?? Crazy boy.

Awh, I can’t believe I’m leaving in less than 48 hours…

I’ve made so many amazing memories here, and I’m not ready to go back yet…

735 Days Left! :)

Week 6.5: En verdad, no prefiero los cumplidos de un borracho tonto

Have you ever gone for a run, and as you pass by other people running, they say “Good morning” or “Hello”, or even just give you a little nod? It feels pretty good, right?

I came across this realization when I went for a run on Tuesday, and while I was running, and older man that was going the opposite direction told me, “Buenos días.” Normally I just smile at people as I passed by, but I thought that saying good morning was kind of fun, so after that during my run I told two guys “buenos días.” Their focused, almost-angry faces lightened up into a smile! It was so cute!!!

So I made a goal to say “buenos días” to everyone I pass by on my runs. Well within reason of course. I wasn’t going to shout across Paseo Montejo (similar to University Avenue in Provo, but two lanes bigger). For the past couple days it’s been awesome!

Okay, my activities starting from Monday!

Monday Kate and I went shopping with Emilio! We bought some presents for people back home. He bought us some sweets, and I tried this nasty candy stuff made out of something called chaya. Chaya is a lot like spinach, but this candy… It was sour and spicy at the same time. I shouldn't have let him trick me into eating it! IT WAS SO GROSS. 

Don’t ask me how it was possible for Emilio to pop them like pills. Blech!

After FHE, we went out for tacos arabes!!!! Yesssssss. 

So I’ve never been able to eat spicy stuff in my life. That’s always been my brothers’ job, to eat spicy food. I’m a huge baby when it comes to eating something even slightly spicy. But while we were eating our tacos, I decided to be stupid and try to eat a chile! Perfectly reasonable, right? I wanted to see if maybe after being here for two months if my spicy-food eating skills had increased!

And the verdict: Uh, not so much.

I took a bite from the tip about an inch or so long. After about 10 seconds, I realized it was hardly spicy at all, so I decided to take a little bit of a bigger bite. I chewed, and chewed… Swallowed… AND THEN MY MOUTH LIT ON FIRE.

I thought for a second about running away and joining a circus, doing a fire-breathing act. Not a terrible job, really...

But that thought was cut short. After a minute or so, my eyes were welling up with tears and I started drooling. DROOLING. Okay, so my mouth couldn’t handle it, but why did it have to drool?!?

Anyway, that was a bad idea. The chile-spiciness was still lingering in my mouth an hour later. I think I’m gonna ban myself from ever eating a chile again...

On Tuesday we went to Progreso! For those of you who saw on Facebook, you know vaguely that while I was there, I got hit on by a 40-year-old man. I'll provide you with the entire story...

While Gabi, Kate, Kelsey, and I were sitting on the beach, an American guy came up to us and said, “You all don’t look like you’re from Mexico!” After talking for a minute or two, he told us his name was Tristin, and he offered to give us drinks and take us for a ride on his boat or go jet skiing. Honestly, I wanted to go, more than I care to admit. Not for the drinks, but because I've never jet skied before! I knew it was dangerous though, so we told him no, but that maybe we’d stop by his restaurant later. Heck, I’m not opposed to free food!

He ended up coming up to us again shortly after with a friend of his, talked some more, and he told us that the reason he came by the first time was because he saw my white skin and knew we were American. He wanted to prove to his friends that he could hit on us because we were his own girls, from the United States like him.

His friend kept on mentioning how guapa Kate was, and once they found out she didn’t have a boyfriend, he asked her to marry him! It was super funny! He gave her a promise ring made out of seaweed and everything! Hahaha.

Tristin then said that he really thought that one of us would have taken him up on his offer for the boat ride, and then started talking about… er, things I’d rather not to repeat.

After about 10 minutes after he’d left us alone, we decided to get in the water, and he waded over to us. We talked some more, and he asked if I'd keep my mind open to coming back and marrying him. He said I'd have a nice five-bedroom house on the beach front and could have a margarita in hand everyday… You know, a “good life”. He then told me that he loved my white skin, that I had a nice butt (except... a little more vulgar), sexy blue eyes, and a really beautiful, innocent smile.

I guess that’d be flattering coming from a guy closer to my own age, but a 40-year-old? Uh… yeah... I think I just might have to pass on that one...

Eventually we got onto the topic of the Church. He had found out we were Mormon before, and he told us that he had grown up in the Church but that he wasn't anymore. He told us  that if we drank or did anything else, it didn't matter because God will forgive us. He also said that he doesn’t think that pre-marital sex is bad. After all, “you should take a car for a test run before you buy it… If you know what I mean."

We tried to explain our point of view, but he kept talking over us, and eventually told us that we shouldn't call ourselves Mormon because we don't know the Bible and the Book of Mormon, we weren’t looking at the facts, yada yada yada. Soooo… we left.

It just kind of irked me that all he wanted was to get in my pants, which he made perfectly clear. A real classy guy. Then telling me I had no idea what I was talking about when I said what I believed... Jeez. Like he'd know. Stupid borracho. I didn’t want his dumb free food anyway!

Okay, we all know what my true feelings were...

So a big shout out to all you respectful guys out there. I know who you are, and I really appreciate you! Thanks for being good to girls and treating them as they should be, as people, not objects. You guys rock and keep doing what you do! :)

Wednesday morning was our last day of our conversation class. We went out to a French pastry shop and got breakfast there! Then we went to our teachers house to eat it. It was SO good! And she had the two cutest dogs… I wanted them so bad!

It was sad to say goodbye to Lilia though! I'm gonna miss her!

That night we finally got to do what we’ve been dying to do for the past 3 weeks! BICYCLE RIDING AROUND THE CITY. There’s hundreds of people who get together every Wednesday night and ride bikes around the city for a couple hours.

On the way there we ended up getting into a little bit of a fender bender. We were driving with Daniel, and he wasn’t watching the road and rear-ended the car in front of him. Luckily we were only going 15-20 miles per hour or so. But yeah, it’s safe to say we won’t be going anywhere with him in a car anymore…

 Kelsey and Gabi decided to go home after that and took a bus, but Kate and I didn’t want to give up our chance to ride the bikes. This was the last time we could do it before we went back to the United States!

When we finally got there, we had about 15 minutes before everyone was going to leave the park. There were no available bikes left, so we had to go to another place to rent them. We rushed back to the park, but by the time we got there, the hundreds of people had already left!

So we rode after them.

Before that night, I hadn’t rode a bike in probably… 6 years. So I had some issues when I started moving. I crashed into a wall. A WALL. You know how people say you never forget how to ride a bike? I think I might be the exception. Well, at least for the first 15 minutes. Then I just had problems starting up.

We got directions from people off the street, asking which way the herd of bikers went. We finally caught up with all of them at the second park. THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE! It was awesome!!!

After about 20 minutes, they started the ride back to the first park. It was so much better riding with hundreds of other people! It was a little dangerous, but IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I’m so glad I went! I wish we would've gone earlier though, because we could've made so many new friends!

Today was our last day of class here! YAYAYAY!!! We’re free from homework and Universidad Modelo! So happy!

Alrighty, so yes, I did get an e-mail from Elder Gibby on Monday night! He was transferred into Hacienda, Oaxaca and is in a trio! He’s super happy though since it’s a lot cooler in his new area!

So I told Adam about the whole Daniel sitch in the e-mail I sent him this week. I was afraid he’d be mad I didn’t tell him til now and that I didn’t tell him while it was happening. I really wanted to wait to tell him though, since I didn’t want to worry him since he's on his mission. As a missionary girlfriend, I come after God, everything relating to his mission, and his family. I shouldn't take his focus off of his purpose right now. Anyway, he told me he wasn't mad about the situation, and not to worry about it since I’ll be gone in a week. Huzzah!

Awh man, that's right! I have less than a week left here! That's really sad:( I still have so much left to do... 

739 Days Left! :)