Sour Cream is NOT Mexican

I`ve eaten beans every day! As proud of myself that I am, they still gross me out... not the flavor, just the thought. Two days ago they served me actual beans (not all mushed up) and I snuck them onto my roommates plate when my Mexican mamà left the room. I`m still working on eating the actual beans/june bugs. I`m betting that I`ll be able to do it by the end of the six weeks here... maybe.
Okay, so Mexico has done something to me... it makes me VERY happy to see a 7 eleven. I have NEVER been so happy to see a 7 eleven in my whole life. Just to see it and know that I can buy a cold drink is awesome. It`s rare to find a place here that used AC. The school does, and the 7 elevens do, but almost nobody else. At the house there is no AC in the main part so it`s super hot. And we have AC in the bedroom but we can only turn it on at night (to sleep) or for the times in the day when we are too hot to concentrate on doing our homework.

Today, I was cold. It was the first time I have been cold since I`ve been in Mexico. I`m in the library at school right now and the AC is on. I took a nap and woke up so cold! I went outside and it felt SOOOO good, about 78 degrees. (First time it has been in the 70s since I`ve been here, and that includes night time). I wanted to finish my nap in the shade outside but I couldn`t get the courage to sit on the grass... there`s all these weird-looking bugs here and I don`t want to sleep with them.

Heidi called me yesterday and told me that Daniel wanted to see me. I miss all the munchkins so much! All the munchkins here speak Spanish only and look at me funny `cause I`m the tallest person they`ve ever seen, and I`m white. Well, I`m not so white anymore, since we went to the beach on Saturday... I`m back to my normal color... but still whiter than the Mexicanos. I have skype if anybody wants to see me! :-)

And finally for the sour cream... I know you`ve all been dying to hear this one. I don`t think sour cream is even Mexican. Did you know that? I haven`t had sour cream once yet since I`ve been here. And I haven`t seen any anywhere. I ordered a quesadilla and there was white stuff on top, but it was just regular creme (like heavy whipping cream)! Weird huh? They use the plain cream here all the time.

Sweat a lot? or pee a lot? That is the question

What do you think is better... to pee every half hour or to sweat constantly?

Anybody who knows me knows that I pee all the time. Well, when I planned for my Mexico trip, I expected to be peeing a lot, maybe even more than normal since I knew it was hot here and that I´d be drinking lots of water. Well I only pee like 3 times a day! It´s crazy. I`m sweating out all the pee. Nasty, huh?

Church, My Mexican Name, Mayan Ruins, and Birds/Iguanas!

CHURCH

Today we went to church here in Merida. I think it was a branch rather than a ward. There were about 30 to 40 people (not including our study abroad group). So we were about half! I didn't understand very much of church. The people there talked fast, but it was fast Sunday so some of the kids from our group bore their testimonies.

And the church is the same everywhere! It's amazing. Even the Relief Society had the nice decorations.

MEXICAN NAME

So, my teacher told us to pick a Mexican name to have in class. Mine is Lola!!! Which is awesome since I use that name sometimes anyway. And I learned how to sing Eenie Meenie Miney Mo (sp?) in Spanish. It's fun.

And tomorrow is a holiday in Mexico so there is no school tomorrow! Woo hoo!

MAYAN RUINS

Yesterday we went to the Mayan Ruin called Dzibilchaltun. I wish I could understand Spanish better because the guy was telling us about all these cool things about the Mayans and I couldn't understand all of it. I wish I had a personal translator. But I'll tell you what I did understand. It's sooo cool! They were so smart! How were they so smart? They didn't even have computers. The Mayans built this sweet building and then wanted bigger buildings and so they built buildings on top of buildings. Look it up, I can't explain it very well.

There was also a cenote (a natural pool) there and I swam in it. BUT, I only swam in it because I knew I would regret it if I didn't. It was kind of embarrassing because there were lots of little fishies in there and I was screaming and hyperventilating. They kept touching me and they didn't swim away when I moved my hands. So finally my roommates swam with me to the edge to get out.

How did the fish even get in there? It's an isolated pool.

Also, this pool had tons of lily pads in it... everywhere! They look just like they look in movies and cartoons, with the pink flowers and everything.

THE BIRDS ARE IGUANAS!

So remember how I said I wished my mom was here so she could tell me what birds are that are making those weird sounds? Well, my Mama Mexicana told me that it's not a bird at all! It's an iguana!!!! Crazy huh? The iguanas sound like woodpeckers. Interesante, no?

I love you mom and dad! And I love you family!

Different Sizes in Mexico

So the people here might be smaller than us people in the U.S., but other things are BIGGER! I went to Dzibilchaltum today, some Mayan ruins, and saw lizards the size my my arm! One looked just like the little lizards we have at home except on steroids. Another looked like a huge iguana.

 Also, there are so many new flowers and plants here that I don't recognize! I wish my mom was here to tell me what they all are. She would know. Also, there's new birds too. I can't see them, but I hear them every day and wake up to them every morning. She would know what they are too.

Minority

I now know how it feels to be the minority! AHHHH. I know I'm technically already a minority since I'm a woman. And yeah, I'm Mormon which makes me a minority too. But even in the states it's not always so noticeable (that I'm Mormon... hopefully it's noticeable that I'm a woman). Here, everybody stares. Now I know how black people in Utah feel. Or Muslims. Or all sorts of people. It's not fun being stared at all the time. I know that everyone is watching my every move (like when I fall on the bus) and every word I say (like when I say the wrong word in Spanish). It's so embarrassing, but it's just something I have to deal with.

Nevertheless, I'm having fun. It's hot here. 100 degrees today and super sticky and humid. I have two roommates, one is Rebeca and the other is a mosquito. It's great, hahaha!


I love you guys!

You Will Be Proud of Me, Mom

Eating Beans...

Well, yesterday I ate beans. Yes, beans, you heard correctly. I ate the food that looks like june bugs. I am in Mexico after all. I will admit that they were refried beans, so they didn´t look like june bugs any more. They tasted good, although I knew I was eating mushed up june bugs.

Bugs!

Secondly (this is not something to be proud of, just a funny story), there was a live cockroach in class today. My teacher picked it up and when he walked toward me with it I ran out of class screaming. The Mexicans get a kick out of me and my roommates. My conversation class this morning was dificult. Since there´s only 6 of us in the class (and only 2 today), I got picked on a lot. And I could only understand less than half of what the teacher said. He talks SOOOO fast! And when I say, "Habla muy ràpido" then he slows down for a minute and speeds back up. He´s nice though. He laughs at how little I understand.

 I`m a freak show here...

The Mexicans here stare A LOT. More than Utahins, which says a lot. When we are waiting at the bus stop and a guy on a motorcycle goes by, he usually stares and stares until I think he´s about to crash. The guys in the cars not only stare, but they honk too. I just wave and try not to smile (since I learned not to smile at foreign men while I was in Europe). But I always smile anyway, I can´t help it. They are so funny. It´s like they´ve never seen a white person before! We are the freak show of Merida. When we`re on the bus and there´s no room to sit down we just sand and hold the bars. The driver of the bus stop and goes a lot so when we fall over nobody laughs except for us. I think they`re very serious.

School at 7 AM!

Yes, classes on Tuesdays and Fridays start at 7 AM. But breakfast is at 5:30 AM so I wake up early every day.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of classes. I´ve been so scared, but it´s not too bad so far. I like it. I just got out of class (there is only 5 people in my class and the teacher is a native to Merida so I hope I`ll learn fast).

Did I say already that there is 4 of us in the house. Two per room. Well I`m here at school with Alyssa and we realized that our other two roommates (the two in the advanced Spanish class) left. And Alyssa and I are both directionally challenged. So we are stuck at school... too afraid to get on the bus alone. We found our teacher but he has another class to teach. *sigh* I`m in Mexico... speaking a language I can only half understand. Sometimes not even half. Well, I´m gonna try to get home now.

P.S. I love you family. And I miss you mucho!