Ashley's blog

This past week has been extremely chaotic, so I am sorry that I haven't had the opportunity to write!  I am, however, going to give a brief run-down of events from last week, just to keep everyone up to date!

I saw my first car accident in Mexico last week.  I know that this sounds like a horrible thing to be talking about, but if I could show all of you the driving style in Merida, you would all be surprised that I hadn't seen a car accident sooner!  I keep experiencing more and more surprises with the driving style in Merida AND the public transportation system.  The busses last week were just horrendous.  I had two busses that didn't even follow the normal bus route, so I ended up walking many more blocks than necessary.  I can't imagine the complaints that would come from Americans if a bus driver did not follow the bus route in an U.S. city.  This just further proved to me that Mexicans seem to be much more laid back and tend to do what they feel.  It just seems to be so entirely different from America, especially in the fact that people feel they need to be so regimented and follow certain standards, which is probably why I was so angered by the fact that the bus driver was not following what I knew to be "the correct" driving route!

Last week, I studied every day for my Spanish final.  Even though it is "only" Spanish 101, or "Elementary Spanish I," I can honestly say that I was struggling.  I am able to comprehend alot of the grammatical aspect of Spanish due to my knowledge of the French language, but I felt extremely frustrated when I would try to speak.  Since the majority of the vocabulary I had to know was completely different from French, I was starting a whole new language, and I guess I just forgot how hard that truly is!  Regardless, I had to keep going and try to practice my Spanish as much as possible, both in aspects of comprehension and responses.  I feel as though I am able to really comprehend people (as long as they speak slowly, of course!), but I really have a difficult time speaking back.  Even though I start of speaking Spanish, I somehow find a way to incorporate a French word in my speech without realizing that my mind is switching languages on me!  As I learned more and more Spanish, this became the most frustrating thing for me.  I didn't realize how challenging it would be to enter a Spanish speaking country and expect to just "learn" the language without any prior experience!

After my Spanish final on Friday, a small group of us bought tickets to see a symphony, a soprano soloist, and choreographed ball-room dancing at the Instituto de Cultura de Yucatan.  Under the direction of Jose Luis Chan Sabido, the symphonic orchestra was really excellent.  While I was listening to the orchestra, however, I felt like I was at an ordinary concert.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially due to the fact that the performance was very well done, but I was more excited to be in the theater during one of the final pieces.  Just as I had thought the performance was not extraordinary, Maestro Sabido began conducting the audience to clap to the beat with the orchestra, in addition to instructing us to become forte or piano!  I have never been to a performance where the experience was interactive!  I'm not sure if it was just the fun-nature of the conductor, or if this is acceptable in Mexican art performances, but I really loved it!  Because of that three-minute piece, I can say that my trip to the orchestra was the best 80 pesos that I have spent on this trip!

On Saturday, we took a trip to Oxkintok, which is a Mayan city about an hour and fifteen minutes from Merida.  It was the first time that we used our field notebooks and binoculars, so it was truly quite the experience!  I couldn't believe how challenging it was to spot a bird, grab my binoculars, and find the bird through the binoculars before it would fly away!  I still do not have the "hang of it," but I was able to observe grackels, tropical mockingbirds, turkey vultures, and a mot-mot!

In addition, we explored the ruins of Oxkintok.  I was able to talk with our Mayan anthropology teacher, Rebecca Hill, about some of the things that we were seeing, including the architecture of the buildings.  She told me that in this region of the Yucatan, many of the ruins were characterized as being "Puuc" styled architecture due to their location in the Puuc Hills Region of the Yucatan.  She also showed me two types of vaults which were seen throughout this region, which include the boot vault, which is made from triangular shaped stone pieces that are stacked so that the stability of the structure comes from a more outwardly located center of gravity; and the inverted stairwell vault, which truly resembled an inverted stairwell!

As I walked around the ruins and climbed some of the structures, I felt that it was most interesting to see the hills which bordered the city of Oxkintok.  After being told over and over that the Yucatan is completely flat like an antacid pill, I was a bit confused by this.  I was looking over top of Mayan ruins, but I was suddenly reminded of the hills that I can see outside of my window at home!  We were later told that these hills are a part of the aforementioned Puuc Hills, but I still felt that this was quite odd to see rolling hills in background this Mayan city!

After Oxkintok, we visited Usil, which is a cave a short distance from Oxkintok.  Being that this was my first visit to a cave in the Yucatan, I was very excited to enter but, after hearing that there were hieroglyphs left by the Mayans in the cave, I was even MORE excited!  I was in awe looking at the hieroglyphs that covered the ceiling of the cave.  There was evidence found that part of the hieroglyphs symbolized the entrace into the underworld, while others displayed the Mayan numbering system to show the year in which the Mayans wrote in the cave!  After looking at the hieroglyphs, we entered a small, enclosed part of the cave in which many small rocks were placed as a form of offering to the Mayan dieties and to the underworld.  In this area, there was also a small, carved Mayan head.  When I saw this, I was initially intrigued but, after thinking logically, I began to wonder how legitimate this was.  Following this, the guides showed us a very large rock that was covered in bone and pottery pieces that were left by the Mayans.  Although the pieces appeared to be real artifacts, it seemed as though someone had placed them there rather than the Mayans leaving them there.  Rebecca Hill confirmed my thoughts and stated that she felt that the hieroglyphs were legitimate but that the Mayan head figure and the placement of bones and pottery may have been done by someone else.  It was interesting, however, that she felt that although the ancient Mayans did not do this, it may have been another Mayan individual who did this more recently in order to honor their Mayan religion and culture.

We then went to swim in a cenote.  I was really excited to go swimming, especially since I was completely covered in mud from the ruins and the cave!  When we got to the entrance of the cenote, I began feeling really nervous after I saw HOW I had to enter the cenote. Through the small entrance, I could see a small, very "riggity"-looking ladder that I would have to use in order to decend into the cave.  As I dangled my leg into the hole, I could not seem to find the step, and I started feeling really anxious.  I stepped back and let everyone else go so that I would be able to relax and go at my own pace.  This cenote was totally different from the others, especially in the fact that it was entirely underground and was lit by huge lamps rather than by some form of sunlight!  I'm really glad that I am getting the opportunity to visit so many different types of cenotes, especially since each cenote seems to have something special about it!

Yesterday and Saturday night were solely devoted to working on my Bio 220 project.  I was able to finish, which was great, but I was so sick yesterday that the day just felt like it would not end!!!

I don't really have any updates for today, besides the fact that we started our Biology 220 and Mayan Civilization classes today.  I really think that I'm going to love the rest of my classes and learning about the Mayans and biological aspects of the Yucatan through hands on experiences!!

That's all for now, folks!  I miss you all so much!!!

Love,

Ashley

Today was the first day that I reverted back into my American lifestyle.  Although I am enjoying Mexican culture and all it has to offer, I just really needed a day inspired by the good ol' U.S.A.  The day began with plans of going to the beach in Progreso but, because the weather was horrible today, no one wanted to go.  Instead, Amanda and I paid 100 pesos (or $10 U.S.) to go to the spa and pool at "FiestAmericana", which is a hotel in Centro that allows non-hotel guests to pay to use their services.  Because this was my first taste of "gringo" life, I felt like I was in my glory.  The pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and (you have no idea how excited I was to see this in el bano) HAIRDRYERS all made me think of America and how I miss the many novelties that it offers me.  Having not originally planned to make the day a "gringo," American day, I am, in retrospect, shocked at how fast I became completely comfortable at the luxuries of the hotel!

After roasting in the sauna, swimming in the frigid pool, and bathing in the jacuzzi, I took a shower.  It was all down-hill from there for me.  The ability to use a hairdryer made me so thrilled that my downward spiral into gringo-ism accelerated rapidly.  From this point on, I was a tourist.  No longer did I feel as though I was living in Merida.  With my hairblown dry hair and my camera on my wrist, Amanda and I walked through Merida taking pictures of things that we had seen multiple times, but never as tourists.  Not to say that this is a bad thing, but I definitely was a tourist.  My gringo tendencies did not quite sink in until, as usual, a man came up to me to say his usual catcall but, this time, he said "Hello, Gringa!" 

Gringa? Really?  Until this afternoon, I had yet to be called out as a gringo, but I guess there's a first time for everything.  Even though I was willing to accept the fact that, today, I was a tourist, I still felt a bit taken back by this.  I knew that it was obvious that I am not a Mexican native, but the fact that I was "called-out" on it made me feel a bit confused.  What do I want to be: a gringo or a civilian?  The one day of this entire trip that I have felt as though I was a tourist made me realize that I don't want to be the "American stereotype" or the "gringa"; I want to be able to fit into the culture and fully emerge myself.  I hope that I will be able to do this more effectively this week and be able to learn more about how to "live" in Mexico rather than just being a visitor. 

Aside from this, however, Amanda and I had an awesome day.  I'm not quite sure if it is because I felt like a tourist or if it's just because I was able to explore the landmarks of the city without having to "get to class" or meet a group of people downtown.  I had my first McDonald's meal today which, shockingly, was extremely refreshing.  I hadn't realized how much I was craving a "taste" of home, even if it had to be through McDonald's greasy burgers and salty french fries.  To add to our tourist-inspired day, Amanda and I headed to Centro and walked around to the different vendors (all of which speak English for the visiting tourists) and looked at souvenirs.  Almost as equally shocking as the wonderful taste of the McDonald's food, today was the first day that I bought any souvenirs for myself (see, Cory? I don't always spend alot of money!): two pairs of glass-blown earings (for only $8 U.S.)!  After all of these America-inspired actions, I feel that I am now ready to re-initate my emergence into Mexican culture!

Also, Amanda and I met an interesting vendor who was trying to help us with our Spanish and was telling us some of the history of the oldest church on the American mainland, which is called Catedral de San Ildefonso.  Inside of the church was a crucifix of Jesus Christ that was originally in a cathedral in Guatemala.  The church had been struck by lightning and the only piece of the building that remained erect was this crucifix, which only was blackened by the smoke of the fire.  More interestingly was the fact that the crucifix was not blackened at the points of which Jesus was crucified (on his palms and feet)!  The man kept saying (in Spanish, of course) that this was truly a miracle and has been regarded as such by the Catholic church.  A statue of the Virgin of the Yucatan was also featured within the church and symbolically was shown standing on top of a serpent with an apple in its mouth; this was displayed as such to show the defeat of the tempting serpent in the Garden of Eden whom told Adam and Eve to eat the fruits of the garden.  In addition, a huge crucifix of Jesus Christ was featured in the middle of the cathedral and, as told by our friendly vendor, three unusual pieces were different about this crucifix when compared to others: Jesus was depicted as being crucified through his wrists rather than his palms; Jesus was not wearing the "Crown of Thorns"; and the wound which was inflicted upon Jesus's side was missing.  Of all of the places that I've been to so far in Merida, I can say that I truly enjoyed visiting this cathedral the most! 

In addition to teaching us history, I was able to ask the vendor about the lifestyles of the Mexican working class.  He was telling me about the popularity of hammocks in the home and, even though he has a bed at home, he often sleeps in his hammock for half of the night and then will move over to his bed.  Through his knowledge of the city, I was also able to see the pride in which Merida's citizens have for the city.  Not only did he know the locations of various monuments in town, but he was able to tell us indepth details about the smallest, almost unnoticeable details of each building in Centro (as seen above!).  Through his pride in his city and his devoutness to Mexican culture, I was able to see that Mexican citizens are truely genuine people.  Not many individuals in the U.S. could tell you much about the monuments in neighboring cities, nor could they say that they've been able to stay true to their heritage and ancestral culture!  Because of this genuine care for preserving their culture, I began questioning why many of the streets and houses in Merida appear to be so poorly maintained.  Is it because of their culture that the country is not able to move forward economically?  Could the desire to remain devoted to ancestral cultural aspects be resulting in Mexico's inability to become a "developed country" rather than remaining "developing?"  To be honest, I'm not quite certain.  By retaining cultural aspects, for example, as an occupation may limit some Mexicans in their ability to become economically secure, but I feel as though one must weigh the benefits and the disadvantages.  Because culture is so rich in Mexico, it may be a limitation on societal growth but, as more influence from America comes in, I feel as though the country will continue to grow.  As this occurs, however, much of the Mexican culture will be lost as financially suffering individuals resort to jobs in American corporations, such as the many McDonalds or the soon to be Hershey factory in Mexico.  As I see more and more American corporations in the city, all of which seem to be located within close proximity to one another, I feel as though the city is more economically sound.  Travelling to the outskirts of the city, however, prove to me that the city is still poor, although parts of it seem to be thriving in tourism and business.  It will be interesting to see how the towns in Mexico change as we travel to areas where little or no American/corporative influence has been experienced. 

After walking around Centro, we took a cab to the Dawley's, where we met up with our whole group for some good company!  In addition, we walked around the Dawley's beautiful backyard and identified plant species.  It may not sound that fun, but I really think that knowing the names of different species is very interesting!

And, just to update on last night's activities, a small group of us met in Centro and went to a restaurant/bar that had live music.  It was alot of fun, especially because we had a small singing competition going on between our table and the neighboring Mexican table.  The competition began when "Living On a Prayer", by Bon Jovi, came on and our entire table sang/yelled the words very loudly.  Following this song, the Mexican group next to our table began singing the next song obnoxiously loud as well, mainly because it was in Spanish and they knew we wouldn't be able to compete with them! 

That's it for today.  I miss you all, and I will be sure to continue to update you on my Mexican adventure!

Love,

Ashley 

Last night, I began wondering what is so great about this trip.  I was feeling frustrated and a bit tense as Amanda, Allison, Jessie, and I walked from a random bowling alley to find a street which actually had busses running on it.  All I could think of was how completely exhausted I was and, really, had no desire whatsoever to go and do anything.  Because of my exhaustion and frustration with the "finding a bus" situation, which, keep in mind, lasted for about an hour, I hopped in a taxi and went back to my homestay.  As I sat in the room alone, my frustration continued.  I hadn't felt like this all trip, and I really began wondering what I was doing.  After talking with some friends online and then to my family, I went to bed so that I could get up at 6:30 AM today. 

With today's "planned fun" Saturday, I was reminded why I am on this trip.  I love all of the things that we're doing and seeing.  Everyone is bound to get frustrated at some point and question their study abroad experience but, since my questioning was so abrupt (especially since, prior to yesterday, I hadn't felt any such emotions), I was taken off-guard and forgot that bowling and the "city-life" is only part of my experience, but not my sole reason for being here!

Today, we went to Dzibilchaltun, which is a small, ancient Mayan city 10 miles from the Gulf Coast.  While we were going to the ruins (I'll admit it...), I was a bit "bucky" as my mom likes to call me, but once we got there, I was so excited/happy/glad to be exploring the ruins!  The city was MUCH smaller than Chichen Itza, but it was still very neat to learn about the significance of the various remaining buildings.

One of our drivers told us a bit of background information about Dzibilchaltun.  Because of its close proximity to Merida, many of the Spanish conquerers travelled to Dzibilchaltun and disassembled many of the buildings in order to use the already cut limestone for contruction of Spanish-influenced buildings and churches in Merida.  Due to this, most of the city was only made up of basic frameworks marking where the city's buildings used to stand. 

In addition, the driver informed us not to believe many of the stories about Mayan culture and society that were written by conquerers of the Maya.  Because the Spanish were trying to make the Mayans look vulgar, the Spanish were able to make the Mayan culture seem not worth preserving, which allowed for many of the Spaniards to support the dismantling of many of the Mayan cities.  For example, the driver stated that many of the stories of Mayan sacrifices were not true.  Many of the findings of bodies in cenotes and other supposed "sacrificial ceremonies" were to honor individuals who had died, thus making the findings of bodies in cenotes only a type of "burial ceremony" rather than an actual sacrifice.  Some cities, however, did have evidence of sacrifice.  Because of these inconsistencies, I will blog later about any more information I find on the sacrifices during my Mayan culture course!

While we were at the ruins, we visited one of the still intact buildings of the city.  This building was one of the only Mayan buldings to have actual windows in it; these windows were used to detect the soltices based on the way that the sunlight would pass through the windows.  By knowing when the solstice was, Mayans were able to identify the coming of various weather changes, including when the rainy and dry seasons would begin!  In this building, the Dawleys saw animal feces on the ground.  I'll admit that I was very grossed out when I saw it, but after it was determined that it was an owl pellet AND there was a whole mouse skull in the pellet, I was very intrigued.  The entire skull of the mouse was intact, so Dr. Dawley kept it for her collection of animal skulls!

After this, we walked to the cenote that was in Dzibilchaltun.  The driver also told us that this is one of the only Mayan cities that has a cenote in the city!  Other Mayan cities who were more inland did not have cenotes due to the fact that the fresh water was so far underground that it could not be reached in the form of cenote; thus, Mayans in these inland cities were forced to find other ways of having water sources (when we learn about them, I will be sure to blog more about it!). 

It was alot of fun swimming in the cenote, especially since it wasnt in a cave, so it was completely different from the ones that we saw last week!  Overall, the trip to Dzibilchaltun was really fun, and I can't wait to see more of the Mayan cities soon!

As for tonight, I'm still not quite sure what I am doing, but I will be sure to write about it in a future blog for you all!

Miss you all!

Love,

Ashley

UPDATE:

Sorry that the above post was the first in three days.  Here's the blogs that I didn't have a chance to post until now!

January 17th:

Today is my dad's birthday!!!!  I was able to call him twice today using wonderful skype and talk to him.  I hope that he had a good birthday! :-D

As for my blogging, last night was alot of fun.  We went to the "Mambo Cafe, which is a salsa dance club about 10 minutes from my homestay!  A group of us met there and waited until the dancing started.  I started getting very impatient waiting for the dancing to start but, once it did, it was so much fun!  There was even a live band at the club playing salsa music!  While Dana, Amanda, and I were dancing on the dance floor, three guys came up to us and asked us to dance.  The guy that I was dancing with did not speak English, and because I know very little Spanish, we just kept dancing and laughing because that was all that we could do to communicate! 

After this, the live band took a break, and regular club music came on, most of which was in English.  It is so strange to me how so many things here are in English and have American influence!  From the restaurants to the popular clothing styles, a large number of things constantly remind me of home;  maybe this is another reason why I have not been very homesick! 

During class today, we took a trip to Centro and looked at a number of the stores featuring Yucatan fashions.  At the "Casa de los Artesanos," we saw a number of handcrafted items which were made from Henequen.  Just as a refresher (or if you haven't read the blog about this), henequen was a major product shipped from the Yucatan to other countries as a textile to make many things, including ropes.  Some of the things that were handcrafted there included handbags, hammocks, and small toys!  We also visited a small jewelry store that had the supposedly fashionable "maquech" pins. Maqueches are LIVE beetles are decorated with jewels and a long, gold chain to make it look like a pin.  The beetle just grabs onto your clothes and sits there!  This was so weird to me, but I still tried one on!  It was kind of neat when it was on my clothes, but I was still minorly disturbed by it!

That's all for today!  Adios, muchachos!

Love,

-Ashley

January 18th:

Today, all of the culture classes took a trip to the Anthropological museum in Merida, which showcased alot of the artifacts and general information about the Maya.  We learned alot about the Mayan calendar and the numbering system, but I found the concept of "Mayan death" to be very interesting!  The museum information stated that, after an individual died, the person would be placed on a sort of display and surrounded with their favorite personal belongings and food to take with them to the underworld.  Individuals who were regarded as the nobility were be buried due to their potential to become divine beings. It was also very interesting to find out that the entrance to the underworld was believed to be the cenotes!  In addition, those who passed through the cenotes into the underworld were able to control those who still were alive on earth. 

Also, I had been wondering what the significance of "Chac Mool" was and, after visiting the museum, I was informed that it was used to place the hearts of those who were sacrificed.  In the stomach of the Chac Mool was a small container in which the heart was placed.  Following this, the bodies of the individuals were thrown into a cenote as a sacrifice to the underworld!

While reading many of the signs about the Mayan, I began looking over at the Spanish just to see how much I could understand of it.  As I read, I noticed that many of the things were not translated over to English and, often times, the signs contained more information in Spanish than they did on the English signs.  I can only imagine that this would be a result of the lack of translating ability of the person who made the signs, but I still found this to be very interesting!

Tonight, our host mom plans to take us bowling, so I will let you know how that goes!

Love you all! Miss you!

-Ashley    

The phrase "De donde eres?" translates to "Where are you from/what nationality are you?"  Being in the lowest level of Spanish classes at CIS has exposed me to this question, as it is one of the basic questions in the Spanish language.  I find it to be ironic, however, that it is one of the first questions that I've learned to ask others, especially because I am studying abroad in such a different country compared to the U.S.  In reflecting upon this question, I have realized some of the most basic amentities that I take for granted in America, in addition to seeing how others are able to lead their lives based on a completely different culture and, somehow, are able to exist!

I know I stated before about how I've longed for my blowdryer, but, besides that, I feel that I haven't gone into much depth about the differences between Mexico (as seen in Merida, at least) and the United States.  If you have talked to me online or on the phone, you know about the many catcalls that come from Mexicans as anyone (females AND males) walk down the street.  Although it still makes me feel a sense of anger when I hear it, I have heard from my teachers at CIS that it is simply a form of flattery in Mexican culture and is not used to belittle females.  My preconception of such catcalls was seen, in my mind, as it would be by most American females; I felt as though I was getting attention as a piece of "meat" and was considering it to be using my self-worth as a target.  Because it has been brought to my attention that this is not their intention, in addition to the fact that none of the men that have yelled/whistled at me have acted upon it, I feel as though I'm beginning to accept it more.

In following through with the idea of acceptation, I feel as though my past travels to various countries throughout the world has opened my eyes to a number of cultures and has allowed me to take many of the obstacles I have faced thus far as simply learning experiences rather than hindrances.  I have heard many times that students studying abroad are often faced with a sense of "culture shock," especially within the first three weeks of being abroad.  As this is my second week in Mexico, and I have yet to feel any sense of such "shock," I feel that I can contribute my ability to adjust to my past experiences throughout the world with my family.  Also, because this is my third time in Mexico, I feel that I had more or a sense of the Mexican lifestyle, although it is my first time here without my family, which does make things a bit more complicated. 

Without my family here to tell me that things are "okay," I have felt myself step back and reflect many times about what I was seeing.  For example, I was reminded about the sense of uncertainty about the public transportation bus drivers here this morning as I was on one of the same busses that I was on before; the only reason I know this is because the driver was reading the newspaper while driving again, which quickly reminded me of one of my days last week when I was on his bus!  Normally, on vacation with my family, my mom and dad would assure my brother and I that we'd be okay if we saw something like this but, now that it is just me, I have to reassure myself because I do not have them here to depend on. 

As I find more things to reflect upon and share with you, I will definitely do so!  Now, I'm just going to go through my past two days because I haven't had time to blog!

The past two days have been solely devoted to studying.  Tuesday morning, we had a quix on the taxonomy of birds, which was quite challenging to study for, but I think that I did fine.  Today, we had our first Spanish exam, which counts for 25% of my grade because our Spanish course only lasts until next Friday (which is when my final is!!).  Besides studying, not much has happened.  I was able to talk to my crazy friend Meaghan on the phone two days ago, which was great because I haven't been able to talk to her and I really missed just being able to vent/talk/laugh with her!  I also talked with my parents both days, which I always enjoy :-D ! 

Yesterday, to review for our exam, we played a Yucateca game called "Loteria," which is similar to BINGO but involves Spanish and Mayan words rather than simply numbers.  Valentina, my Spanish teacher, told us that this is a traditional game in Mexico, and that during hot days, parents will have their children play this game at mid-day so that the kids are not outside playing in the heat!  It has been a game played traditionally at family functions, as well, for many decades here in Mexico.  I really enjoyed playing this game not only because it helped me to review for my exam I had today, but because it exposed me to a bit more of the traditions of Mexico!

Today, after our exam, we learned more of the past tense of verbs (yes, its only week two and we're already on past tense...it's just so fast!).  I think that I'm beginning to enjoy Spanish a bit more now that we're learning verbs because I'm beginning to be able to express myself more to others in Spanish!  In culture class, we learned the history of panuchos, which is a traditional and economical Mexican dish.  It started out as a dish for a guest at a restaurant who was very picky and wanted something made only from "Restos de comida," or left-overs.  The restaurant owner made a dish which the guest loved.  Because he loved it so much, he asked for the name of it but, because the owner had made it simply through his creativity, he did not have a name.  The guest asked for the owner's name, which was Jesus, but his nickname was Chucho.  From his nickname, the guest called the dish "Pan de Chucho," which later developed into "Panuchos."  Essentially, two tortillas are fried with refried beans inbetween them, so that the beans are contained inbetween the two fried together tortillas.  Refried beans are placed ontop of the tortilla, along with shredded chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and onion.  We were all able to help make the dish, in addition to taste-testing it!  It was alot of fun, and the food was really good.  I hope that I can continue to experience such cultural aspects of Mexico to further enhance my study abroad experience! :-D

Now, I'm going to go study before I go out with some of my classmates to "Mambo Cafe" tonight, which is a salsa dance club!  It should be alot of fun, and I'll be sure to write about it tomorrow!

Hastas mena! 

Love,

-Ashley   

Here's a recap from last night:

We all met in town and listened to a concert that they were having at the Plaza de Montejo (it seems like they have free parties for the city residents constantly!).  Then, some of us went to a bar/restaurant while the rest of us went to a karaoke place called "Up All Time" (we're pretty sure they forgot the "The" when they were trying to make it an Americanized karaoke place).  We all had alot of fun, and four of us got up and sang "Stop" by the Spice Girls!  After karaoke, we all met up in town and danced in the street with a bunch of natives to salsa/merengue music.  It was so much fun!!!

Today, most of us met up and went to the beach at Progresso.  It was so much fun having all of us there just tanning/swimming and being on the beach in Mexico!!!  A few of us went out on banana boats twice, too.  I flew off the boat both times, of course, and had to be pulled back on, but it was still so much fun.  Especially the first time, we kept yelling "muy rapido!" and putting our thumbs up, so they kept going faster and faster and making us swirve like crazy.  The second time around, they remembered us and just started off at the same pace as we had ended the first time, and from then, they got faster!  It was seriously a ton of fun, but now I'm exhausted and can't wait to go to sleep.  AND I didn't get sunburned, thank God, so my lathering techniques for sunscreen really seemed to help! :-D

Other than the above, not much is new.  I've just been really enjoying myself here and getting to know everyone on the trip.  It seems like we're going to continue to have a really good time!

Ohh and I updated my Photobucket, so feel free to check out my new pictures!

Love you all!  Miss you!!!

-Ashley

I had to pee today OUTSIDE of an old abandoned hut.  Now THAT was interesting.  I had to go to the bathroom so bad that I didnt even care where it was, or if anything would bite me in the butt...thank goodness nothing did, but I didn't even think about any of that.

My lack-of-bathroom experience was today at the cenotes.  I had such a good time just swimming all morning/early afternoon...it was seriously sooo much fun! (I'll put those pictures up on Photobucket for you all haha)

Anyway, I didnt get to write on here yesterday because it was a really hectic day.  I went to school, learned how to salsa dance (which was fabulous, by the way), and then was picked up from school by my host-mom to go and have lunch with her and her family.  It was really interesting how all of the women were expected to stand until the men and guests (aka me and Allison) finished eating...totally different from the United States!!

After this, we all met up at CIS for a "Welcome to Merida" party, where everyone and their host family went and had dinner together.  Then, a group of us went out to Sega____(I don't remember the whole name...it was something that began with Sega though haha), which was a small lounge area.  When we finally made it home, after having to fight to get a taxi, of course (haha), I fell asleep and had to wake up at 630 this morning!

But it was worth it because we went to the cenotes today.  There was a platform that all of us were jumping off of into the water, and it was sooo much fun!  I can't wait until we all go to the beach in Progresso tomorrow!!! :-D

Welp, that's it for now...I'll update my pictures sometime today!

Miss you all!!!

-Ashley

http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj59/asoconnell/

So that is my Photobucket site that I will be using to upload pictures.  It told me yesterday on facebook that it would take 10 hours to upload my pictures and, after I waited for an hour and it said 9 more, I decided to forget that.  Also, vox won't let me upload pictures because the connection seems to be slow, so I'll just do it through that site!

Anyway, today has been pretty good.  I've been able to relax today after class and just gradually do my homework, which is a nice pace compared to the past few days where we've been constantly running around! 

This morning, I woke up and had breakfast.  It's funny because, since my housemom has realized that I can't eat heavy foods at breakfast, she's been giving me a plate of fruit, which is always amazing.  Then, Allison and I went to school and made it there safely; I think we've really got this "public transportation" thing under control.  At school, we took our Mammal taxonomy quiz, which I think went well.  After this, I had Spanish class.

In Spanish class, we learned numbers, verbs, some gramatical words, and, best of all, how to go to a place and meet guys (while speaking only in Spanish, of course!).  It was pretty interesting not only doing this as an exercise, but seeing the opinion of my Mexican teacher and how Mexican culture approaches meeting guys haha.

After Spanish, I was able to convert 1/2 of my U.S. dollars into pesos, which was good because after the bus this morning, I had absolutely no pesos left!  We then had our culture class and learned about how, in Mexican culture, guys will pay for a trio to go and serenade the women that they are interested in.  Roger said that, for one song, it costs 50 pesos (or 5 dollars U.S.), but because the entire neighborhood watches and listens to the serenade, the guy will often purchase at least a 1/2 hour's worth of music, or about 500 pesos ($50).  If he does not go "all out," the neighbors will think that the guy is poor, so it seems to me as though it is a form of flattery for the girl, in addition to a status symbol for the guy!

We then returned to our homestay and have just been sitting here relaxing.  I was able to catch up with some friends from home online, too, and it was so nice to just be able to talk to some of them for a while! 

Tonight, I will probably just study some Spanish with my CDs that my dad bought me over Thanksgiving break (I told you I'd use them!!!!), and then go to bed early because I am EXHAUSTED!

Enjoy the pictures!

Hastas manana!  I love you all!

-Ashley

I hate my hair.  It is so gross down here because I'm sweaty all of the time and I can never blow dry it...ughh I sound so vain but it's cool...haha.  I just finished taking the best shower of my LIFE.  The water was freezing cold and felt amazing because I've been so warm all day long.  It's kind of gross though to see dirt in the water that is flowing off of your skin...kinda made me feel really disgusting today.

So thats my rant about Merida.  Everything besides my hair and feeling dirty 24/7 has been really great.  The people here all seem to be very friendly, the classes are interesting, and the food is good! 

This morning, our house-mom woke us up an hour early because she didn't know that we didnt have class at 8 today (it was at 9 instead because we didn't have a taxonomy quiz).  I didn't really even wake up though and I ended up getting up at 7:30, getting ready for school, and then having breakfast.  After breakfast, Allison and I took the bus by OURSELVES for the first time.  We were able to survive finding the school and everything, so it was a successful trip!

At school, we learned more vocabulary, include the parts of the body, some verbs (hacer, trabajar, etc.), and articles of clothing.  Then, we played a game where there were 5 chairs for 5 people in the class and then the remaining 6th person had to say a part of the body or an article of clothing and if you had it, you had to get up and move to a new seat; whoever was the last one standing had to ask the next question.

Then, we had culture class, where we went to a museum (Museo de la Cancion) but, because it wasn't free and the teacher had thought it was (because it used to be), we just read an article outside of the museum about it.

After class, we all went to a small restaurant for lunch, where I had "Arroz con pollo", which was really good.  Then, we took a historical tour of the city. 

After 10 hours of being away from my homestay, Allison and I returned and are now sitting here about to study for our 2nd quiz tomorrow on the taxonomy for the class Mammalia.  It should be a fairly interesting day tomorrow and, hopefully, there will be some down time so that I can maybe go over some of my Spanish vocabulary before my first exam next Wednesday!

Adios, muchachos!  Tu me manques!

(the last part is in French, just because I miss speaking it...alot...oo and that means "I miss you") (if you know French, don't translate that literally...it's a special relexive verb where you make the direct object the subject of the sentence :-) )

-Ashley

P.S.  The internet connection here won't let me upload pictures (it told me that it would take 9 hours to upload pictures on facebook...and that was after I waited for an hour haha)...I will try to figure out where I can do that faster and get back to you all on that :-D

Hola los Estados Unidos!

So i still don't know alot of Spanish, but I'm starting to pick up on some things.  Today's class was pretty interesting...we learned how to say the days, months, food items, and the various areas of the house during today's Spanish class.  The only thing is that I found out that we have an exam next Wednesday in Spanish...aaahh!!!  That's a bit nerve wracking, but I'm hoping that it won't be too bad!

We also had our first "official" taxonomy quiz today for Biology.  I think that I did well, so I'm not too worried...I'm just hoping that I'll be able to remember all of the names we have to know for the various phyla!!!

Also, I just want to make a correction to yesterday's blog...it was brought to my attention by Meaghan Lupinacci (did I spell that right?) Reid that I used "Maria" and "Martha" in my blog.  If I'm being completely honest, I had thought that my house-mom's name was Maria, but then as I was finishing it, I remembered that its Martha, so I thought I changed them, but I guess I didnt...sorry!! :-D

So today, we had to wake up at 6:30 because we were late to school yesterday and we couldnt be late for our quiz today!  After Allison and I got ready for school, we had breakfast, which was this chicken sandwich with some sort of spread on it and potatoes, I think...but I'm not really sure.  We also had strawberry yogurt, which was amazing, by the way...haha.  I still couldnt finish my whole breakfast though, so Martha packed it for me, along with a banana and this Quaker snack pack for a little snack at school. 

We then got on the bus and went to school to take our quiz and have Spanish class.  After Spanish, we had culture class, in which we learned about the origin of chocolate.  It first originated by the Aztecs in Mexico, but it was very bitter.  They also started the idea of "chocolate caliente" and, after we learned about it, Roger took us to a small shop where they made it.  Amanda and I shared a cup of it, and it was seriously awesome.  Remind me again why we use stupid "Swiss Miss" powder...we should totally make it like the Aztecs!  haha

We then came back from school and had lunch with Martha.  After this, we met up with Amanda and Jessie at two of the malls that are about a 15 minute walk from the house.  It was interesting seeing all of the different Mexican stores!  Following this, we met with everyone from Ursinus for dinner.  We ended up going to a small restaurant, which was really nice and had a great atmosphere!

I'll update again tomorrow!  Love you all!

-Ashley

So I am in Mexico!!!  It's crazy to think that I'll be here for the next few months, but I'm starting to see how this is going to be a great experience!

Yesterday, during our last night at the barn, where we studied taxonomies of a number of phyla and read multiple scientific papers on our research topics (I'm studying flamingos and hummingbirds, by the way), we woke up promptly at 2:30 and left at 3 AM for Ursinus!  My parents came to meet me at Ursinus for a last "goodbye" which definitely made me feel alot better about going on this trip.  I think I would have had a much harder time getting on the plane if I hadn't seen them yesterday morning for 10 minutes! :-D

When we got to the airport, we had 3 hours before we could board the plane, so I spent some time with Shoji, Aakash, and Caitlin in the airport looking at DVDs because Shoji insisted on buying one for the plane (WHICH he didn't even get one, by the way...urrghh Shojiiii haha).  Then, we found out that they have wireless in the food court of the cafeteria, but that was all the way at a different wing of the airport.  Distance didn't mean anything to a bunch of internet-loving teens, however, so we all walked for about 15 minutes to get internet!

On the airplane, I slept...alot.  I was placed next to some random guy on the plane, though, so I couldn't get too comfortable while I slept.  The plane ride went very smoothly and we arrived in Cancun where we waited through Customs and for our luggage for a while. 

After leaving the airport, we went to a restaurant in Cancun where they had the best soft serve vanilla ice cream I've ever tasted (my brother would have LOVED it!!).  It was really funny too because there was a pharmacy next door to the retaurant called "Farmacias Paris", so of course I had to take a picture!! :-D

Following this really good meal, we had to drive to Merida...for FOUR HOURS!  It was such a long drive, and I started getting so nervous on the bus that I thought I was going to be sick!  

I began feeling alot better though when we were entering Merida.  I kept seeing that families had fully decorated Christmas trees in their homes!!  It was even more exciting to see that the entire Plaza de Montejo decorated for Christmas!  There were huge lighted palm trees, a small gingerbread house that kids were playing on, Christmas lights galore, and a HUGE Christmas tree right in the middle of the plaza!!!!  It was beautiful. :-D

When we got to our homestay, Allison and I dropped our bags off and left with Maria, our host mother, to pick up her son, Gerardo, at her mothers house because they were celebrating Christmas yesterday!!  She explained to me that they celebrate Santa Claus on the 25th of December mainly due to U.S. influence, but they continue their Mexican Christmas traditions today by giving children toys from three saints.  She told me that they want to be sure to keep their Mexican traditions alive so, even though the children love the idea of Santa Claus, they still practice their Catholic-based traditions for Christmas!

Allison and I were then brought to our room, which is fabulous!  We have our own small house behind Maria's house that has our bedroom and full bathroom in it!  By being behind the house, we're further from the road, so its nice and quiet! 

This morning, we had to wake up at 6:50 and get ready for breakfast at 7:15.  Maria prepared a wonderful breakfast for us with some sort of soft shell taco that was cooked with ham and cheese inside, along with fresh bananas and fresh squeezed orange juice (it was so different walking into the kitchen and seeing Maria using an old fashioned orange juice maker this morning...but it was so good!).  We then used public transportation to get to CIS Centro, which is where I'm studying Spanish while I'm in Merida.  THAT was very interesting because the bus driver was driving and all of a sudden, he's resting his newspaper on the steering wheel and reading it!  It was a bit disturbing, but I guess that just made it more clear to me that I'm no longer in the United States!

During my first Spanish class, I was able to learn alot about beginner level Spanish, such as the pronunciation of numbers, the alphabet, and various vocabulary (i.e. family words).  It was very difficult for me to say things that I wasn't reading out of the book, however, because everytime Valentina (my teacher) would call on me, I was mixing my Spanish with French!!!!

We then had a small break at 12 until 12:30, which is when I was able to go to the bank and get some pesos!  On the way there and back, we were all whistled at by Mexican men on the street, which was disturbing but also only part of the different culture in Mexico. 

After this, we had culture class, in which Roger (pronounced Ro-hair, which I learned today in Spanish haha) showed us a map of Merida and told us the best places to eat and visit and where not to go in the city!  We also went on a small excursion so that he could show us how to use the bus system in Merida. 

When we returned to CIS, I was greeted by Martha and she went with Allison and I back to the house on the bus...I'm so glad that she's coming with us for the next few days to show us how to get back to her house! 

After we arrived at her home, Martha had lunch prepared for us, which is the largest meal of the day.  Because I'm not used to eating so much for lunch, it was very hard for me to have alot, so she kept it for me and I will probably eat the rest for dinner (they only have a small snack for dinner...it's so different from the U.S.!).  It was also difficult to eat alot because Mexican food is much more grease filled than I had expected, so it was hard to eat a mass amount of greasy food (it was very good though!). 

Tonight, Allison and I are going to go to the mall and Walmart, which is only about 5 minutes by bus from the house, so that we can buy cell phones that will work in Mexico!

I'll keep you all updated!  I miss and love you all!

-Ashley