I dunno if you people know, but I'm in Boston, MA now. I'm here with the family. Not all of them, but Mom, Dad, and Kelly and Rich's family. It's been a really busy week and I haven't written for a while because I've been running around Boston! The girls are here because they are performing in the 4th of July parade here. They also did a parade today in the city of Gloucester.

What I Got Out of Mexico

Wow, where do I start? I’ve learned so much on my study abroad. Merida, Mexico is a beautiful place and far exceeded my expectations of it. Aside from the fun I had and the friends I made, I also discovered some things about myself that I did not know before my 2 months in Mexico. For example, I never knew I could sweat so much. I could actually avoiding going pee because of the amount that I sweated. I imagined sweating would be a hassle, but it’s much better than having to use the bathroom, really. I also discovered that I could walk around town with sweat dripping down my face and not even be ashamed of it! Quite a feat in my opinion.

Another discovery I made while in Mexico is that just because something is tacky in the United States—like a house painted purple—does not mean that it’s tacky in Mexico.

I went to Mexico with the expectation that I would discover differences in culture, lifestyle, and opinion. I did leave Mexico with my knowledge of these differences, but I also left with something else: my discovery of the similarities between culture, lifestyle, and opinion. I think it all started when I saw the Star Wars store. I saw it and thought to myself, “Wow, there are lots of Mexican Star Wars fans too!” Later I saw a “Cruz Roja” (Red Cross in English). Again, I thought to myself, “Wow, Mexicans have the Red Cross too!” Okay, I know it sounds silly to a cultured person, but it’s really not so unrealistic. I grew up in Southern California, close to people of all sorts of cultures, and I’ve never considered myself an “uncultured” person. But still these discoveries seemed quite exciting to me.

As the study abroad went on, I continued to noticed similarities and differences, but to this day I am still convinced that each individual is different. I know that cultures have their differences, but there are so many cultures… and cultures within cultures. I don’t like the idea of putting a whole group of very different individuals into one big lump and saying that they all act one way.

Okay, I admit that it feels good to be part of a culture. And there are, of course, notable differences between certain groups of people. And I am proud of many of the differences that my culture has from other cultures. But just as notable as those differences are the similarities.
I have a confession: there really aren’t too many similarities in the language differences. I know some English and Spanish words sound the same, but I found that if I wanted to understand anything that was going on, I needed to listen hard and carefully. Even with the hard and careful plan, I still didn’t understand everything I wanted and needed to understand. But I don’t feel any regrets. The point of this study abroad for me was not to understand everything. The point was to understand better that before; and that I did. So in my opinion I have succeeded. It feels good. Although my confidence is still not complete, I can’t lie and say that it’s not better—because it is. My ability to speak is better, I’m sure, but even more exciting is my confidence in speaking Spanish. I can’t think of what contributed to this change of confidence. I think it was probably just because I had to use Spanish, whether I wanted to or not, and so I learned that I can just do my best and hope for the best.

One Year with Chris

We've been together for one year now. I wrote him a cheesy little poem for our one year anniversary thing.

Here is it:

Christopher, my lover boy
I love you more than just a toy.
I found you only one year ago
I liked you lots but my love was low.

First I saw some sexy man
His green eyes shined with his perfect tan.
I liked him and he liked me
But a problem bit us like a flee.

My family didn't believe in you
And close I came to join them too.
Then I got to know you well
And then in love with you I fell.

You're kind at heart with so much love,
Your lips fit mine just like a glove.
I love your attitude of life,
You smile always, even through strife.

I see an example in all you do,
And I love that we wear the same size shoe.
You read and you pray every day,
I want to be with you after our hair turns grey.

I know it's hard that we live so far apart
But you're always with me in my heart.
I promise you that I love you,
And I know that you love me too.

We've done the golf cart, zoo, and beach
We've eaten out cereal with strawberry, blueberry, and peach.
You surprised me with flowers at my car,
We kissed on the water tower and saw Provo from afar.

Now it's been one year, I know,
It's hard to believe when time moves so slow.
If only you knew how much I love you
Well I hope this poem will give you a clue.

We've been through a lot this past year,
To my heart you are so near.
We've learned so much and cried some tears
I hope this lasts for many more years,

Again I will say that I love you so much,
Your face, your love, your every last touch.
Christopher John and Lauren Nicole
I'll love you forever, deep down to your soul.

We Can Each Make A Difference

Okay people. I'm home from Mexico as you all know. I have more to say about it, but this week has been busy. I just started working (tutoring the neighbor kids) and I also have an internship that I just started. I'm also preparing for my trip to Boston that I leave for in two days. This means that I don't have a lot of time to help out my friend. Soooo, I really need your help! Please. Chris's cousin just found out that his cancer is a lot worse and so they are stopping chemo. He has been dealing with cancer his whole life and he is only 20 years old! Well, he wants to go to Hawaii and spend some time with his family.

And so, I'm asking each one of you (please pretend that I am asking you personally, to your face) for a $1 donation. You are more than welcome to donate more, but even just $1 from each person will make a difference.

If you want to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and not only donate money, but get put into a drawing to win a Kitchen Aid, then go to my sister-in-law's blog page at www.treasuresofhope.blogspot.com.

ALL of the money that goes to my paypal account will go straight to the Mash family. My sister-in-law is going to drop it all off next week to Chrissy Mash next week.

You can read more about it on Facebook and join the group page and the event page at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=132715040089895&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=126738337362441

Paypal your money to lolomugg@aol.com. $1. Let's make this happen!

The Good Life

It's good to be home, but since I'm using this as my journal, I need to talk about some things that I haven't written about yet. Last weekend was quite fun. On Friday my roommates and I went to the beach; it was great for about 20 minutes. Then it started raining. Not just raining, but pouring. like more pressure than a shower raining. Some of the girls wanted to stay and play in the rain, so we did. The Ocean water was so warm. All of my things
were soaked, including my clothes and towel. Finally they decided to go home
when the lightning and thunder started. So I walked back to the bus stop in my
swimsuit (I wasn't about to put on soaking wet clothes). Shelby did the same,
but she was wearing a bikini and has a hot body, ha ha. So this creeper kept
following us and didn't stop until she put on a shirt. The interesting thing is
that I was walking down the street, barefoot, wearing only a swimsuit, in
the pouring rain, and I wasn't even cold! It was great.


And I forgot to tell you guys about Rebekah and Becca's teacher. His or her friend died from a drug trafficker. Isn't that sad? I hate to leave on a sad note. So I gotta say that I am just grateful I didn't have any problems with the drug people while I was in Mexico. Before I left, everyone was warning me and scaring me. I kept assuring them that the drug problems weren't happening in the Yucatan and especially not in Merida, but I guess I was wrong. Thank goodness I didn't have any problems bigger than sunburns and bug bites!

Home, Sweet Home

I'm in Houston, Texas right now. On my way home. It feels weird to be in the States again, if feels wonderful, but at the same time, I keep talking in Spanish to random people. I have so much to tell. I will start with 2 nights ago. I went over to the house of a girl in our group (her name is Lauren). Rebekah and I spent the night there. First we watched a Spanish drama movie. It was sad and cute. I went to the bathroom during the movie and guess what I saw? A moth the size of my hand. This is no exaggeration... pictures are on Facebook.

When bed time rolled around, we didn't really have a place to sleep. Lauren's roommate, Sarah wasn't home so I slept on her queen size bed. I really don't know her well enough to sleep with her but I didn't want to sleep on the floor because I was scared of bugs. Also, because I love to cuddle so much, I was afraid she would wake up in the morning with me spooning her or seat-belting her. Lauren kept telling me, "it's okay, she won't care!" but I wad super nervous. I guess I did a good job at telling my sub concience to keep to my corner of the bed because I woke up in the same spot.

Then last night (my last night in Mexico) I fell off my bed. I felt really stupid but my roommate said she never heard a thing.

The day before yesterday my roommate flushed her keychain down the toilet and then had to tell our mamá who called the plummer.

Ohhh, I never did tell you guys that I got to go to the Mérida temple. It's small, but very pretty.

Remember the parade I told you about? The small pueblo we went to and joined in their parade... well I didn't do a good job of describing just how it felt. My roommate said it very well. Just imagine a group of Asian tourists (with their fancy cameras and all) came to our city and joined in our 4th of July parade or something. Or even better, imagine that our neighborhood held a parade every year and a group of Asian touris showed up at it for to understand the culture of Californians better.

What I Expect Upon My Return

My life has changed while here in Mèxico... (by the way, sorry that a lot of my accents over letters are backwards, the Spanish keyboards are different). Okay, so, I wake up every morning and breakfast is ready for me. It sits on the table waiting for me. I get home from school and lunch is ready. The table is set and we all eat together. The dinner comes and again, the food is ready. On weekdays, the housekeeper, Reina, usually cooks, but when she´s not here, our mamà does it.

So, when I get home, I will wake up and wonder where my food is. I will get home and lunch should be ready at 2 p.m. And if I plan on not being home for dinner, then I should tell mom that I won`t be home.

Okay, not really. I won`t expect those things. But it`s interesting how different things will be.

Three days left!!! I`m excited to come home!