welcome to the windy city

So I'm getting settled in to my July home. And I already LOVE it here at Lawndale. I love the mission, the people, the clinic. This is definitely the type of place that I can see myself working someday. And we haven't even started working yet! Today was our first day of orientation and while it was boring sitting in basically the same room all day it was necessary I suppose. Tomorrow we start learning about how to do home visits!

Yesterday I got here pretty early but it turned out to be a good thing because I just sat around and talked to the other people who got here early. There are 8 of us and we all get along great. It's a really diverse group of people and I think we're going to work very well together.

Our team (minus one)

l to r: Mahate, Ibukun, Linda, me, Justin, Gabe, Chase, and Jess was at a bridal shower

We've already started planning for our first health fair which will take place a week from this Saturday. Once everyone was here we went across the street to Lou Malnotis for dinner. This is a chain of Chicago pizza restaurants owned by Christian brothers. As they were getting ready to open their tenth restaurant, the pastor of the Lawndale Community Church convinced them to do it here in Lawndale- and to give all the profits back to the community! They consider it their tithe (giving 10% back to God). And the people who work at the restaurant are people going through the final steps of a program at the Hope House, a place that helps men with substance abuse issues.


I am staying with another girl from the program, Linda, at Alissa's apartment. Alissa is a pharmacist at the clinic. She just graduated 2 years ago so she's not too much older than us. Lawndale encourages its employees to live in the community (which I think is an important part of its success) so Alissa lives about 0.5 miles from the clinic in a two bedroom apartment.

The family that lives downstairs is very nice. The neighborhood where we live is predominantly Hispanic. It is a bit of a rough place but I feel safe here. Alissa has two cats which, luckily, have not been a problem with my allergies. I try not to touch them much and wash my hands a lot. But it's hard because they're really really cute! Linda and I share a bedroom which we keep off limits to the cats:)

Shadow (the big one) and Jula (the little one)- they own this place!

Today was the company picnic- there are over 300 employees at the clinics three locations! Chase participated in the hula hoop contest at the picnic!

He had quite an audience

This place is growing like crazy. There has been an 80% increase in the number of visits since 2001. The clinic gets a lot of money from Medicaid patients and also just from people who pay cash. If you are uninsured, it costs $15 to see a doctor and have any labs or x-rays that you might need. The pharmacy also provides medications at a very low cost. Much of their funding also comes from government grants. This place is pretty much the mothership of Christian clinics of this magnitude and I feel so lucky to be learning and serving here.

Thanks so much for your support and prayers as I begin this month!

tying up loose ends

My Mexican Parents: Jose Louis and Rosi

Look how tall I am in Mexico!

The Whole Gang

Trent, Diego, Cait, Me, Nelson, Ted and Pau

After being so faithful to my blog for all this time I've been feeling guilty for just leaving things hanging. So here's how my trip ended. My last day in Merida, Diego and I were supposed to go to the zoo so I met him at his school at 10:15 like he told me to. He thought he didn't have classes but he did so during his 20 minute break we just went to the zoo and sat on the bench in front of the giraffes.

Friday was a day of "it's a small world after all." After saying goodbye to Diego at his school I looked across the street and saw Juan, I guy I had just met a couple days before. And before that too. Juan grew up in Xochempich and was at the clinic talking with Dr. Federico the first day that I got there. Then the night we went dancing in Merida, Diego and I went to this restaurant because he wanted to talk to this guy that he knew would be there. It was Juan and we realized that we had seen each other before. And then the day on the street. Is this guy supposed to teach me something? He is an incredible guy. He's an anthopologist with a doctorate who speaks perfect English and recently taught at Indiana University. In January, he'll be teaching at UC Berkley. And before that he has an interview with Mel Gibson to talk about his recent movie, Apocalypto. The movie is about the Mayans and Juan is Mayan. I'm interested to hear about it (we traded emails) and to read his masters thesis about Xochempich. After Juan and I parted ways, I decided I was going to walk home from the zoo (about an hour or so) because I had the time and I wanted to talk a few last pictures. I was about half way there when a van pulled up beside me and someone shouted my name. It was Alicia, a girl I had met when I went to Diego's church with him. She asked me if I wanted a ride but I told her I was enjoying walking and promised that I could ride the bus if I changed my mind. That night when we went for a later dinner at Chilis, she was there! How weird! On that last night Paulina and I went out for iced coffee and then met up with Diego and Nelson for dinner. We drove around in circles for almost an hour before deciding where to go (this is normal for them but it drives me crazy!!!). Ted was in Cancun for work so I had said goodbye to him the night before.

Pau and Diego at Chilis

At 4am on Thursday we woke up and called the boys to make sure they were awake and coming to take us to the airport. When they showed up, Ted got out! He had come back from Cancun. It was sooo nice to have all of my friends at the airport to send me off. I miss them all soooo much already!

Here are the pictures of Pau and I at the airport on the day that I arrived and the day that I left.

above: when I arrived, below: when I left. Yes, I wore the same outfit:)

On the plane from Houston to Merida I was sitting next to an older lady who I could tell was rich and probably divorced. I sneezed and she said, "Salud" which is like "bless you." I said "gracias" and she got so excited and asked me if I spoke Spanish and instead of saying "a little bit" like I usually do, I said yes:) Before the plane had even taken off I knew all about her. She has a huge house in Merida with air conditioning and a pool and she made me promise that I would come stay with her someday. She was serious. We had a great time talking and she said that my Spanish was great (which it's not but it's very much improved). This took my mind off the fact that I only had an hour to get through all the lines in Houston. That's right, in one hour I got off the plane, went through immigrations, collected my bags off the carousel (three suitcases and a backpack...), went through customs, put my two checked backs back on another carousel, went through security where they found a bottle of hot sause in my carryon suitcase that I had forgotten about and aparently had been missed in Merida, and barely made it on to my plane! Whew! For your reference, one hour is the absolute minimum layover time needed when reentering the country!

It's so nice to be back home and spend time with my family and friends. And to eat American food again! And to sleep in my bed! I will be leaving again soon though. I have to be in Chicago by 5pm on Tuesday to start my internship at the clinic there. It's a crazy summer but I'm having a great time and learning sooo much. It's great because many of the clients at the clinic speak Spanish so I'll get to keep practicing! When I get home I'm going to have to find a way to keep speaking- maybe a Spanish-speaking church?

I'll be back soon with stories of Chicago: in the US, but in a world that many people have never experienced. I know it will be a journey.

the countdown: 3 days

Counting today, I only have three more days here in Merida because I fly out on Thursday morning at 7am! I am going to miss my friends here so much but I am excited to sleep in my own bed and enjoy my mom´s cooking for a few days. For those of you who are sad because you´re thinking that I won´t have anything to blog about anymore, do not despair. I still have another adventure this summer! On June 26th I leave for Chicago to be a part of a ministry called Lawndale Summer Health Project. I will be working at Lawndale Christian Health Center which serves a low-income population in Chicago. Check out http://www.lawndale.org/ to find out more about the clinic. Training is the last part of June and the project is during the month of July. I´m very excited about this because I think that this clinic is the type of place that I see myself working someday (like in 9 or ten years...wow...let´s not think about that).

Here is the main body of my support letter which explains a little more about the program. I have been very blessed and have all the financial support I need for the project but I would love to have you support me by reading my blog while I´m in Chicago and keeping me in your prayers.

During the month of July, I will be working at Lawndale Christian Health Center on Chicago’s west-side and I need your support. LCHC is an amazing organization which provides holistic healthcare to members of this impoverished community, regardless of their ability to pay. This is especially exciting to me because this is the kind of place I see myself working when I complete my medical education.

Twice a week I will be shadowing the physicians there – learning from their interactions with patients and watching them share the love of Christ through healthcare. The remaining days, my fellow team-members and I will be out in the Lawndale community, checking up on patients and ensuring that they are following their care regimens for chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes. We will plan, organize, and staff health fairs in the community each Saturday.

One of the most important aspects of this project is mentoring. Not only will I be mentored by the staff at the clinic, but I will be mentoring high school students from the community who are interested in medical careers. They will go with us into the community as our guides to their neighborhoods.

Because Lawndale is committed to holistic, relationship-based care, most members of the staff live in the nearby community. By living with a member of the staff, I hope to better understand the importance of these relationships. There are still costs for the LCHC to sponsor this Summer Medical Project. I need to raise $700 which will cover my housing and food costs as well as training expenses. This is roughly $20 for each of the 33 days that I will be at Lawndale. I would greatly appreciate your support. All donations are tax deductible.

I would love to have a sponsor for each day so that I can personally let you know what I did that day. I will also be writing an online blog (journal) while I am there to keep you all updated on our progress and prayer requests. Whether or not you are able to sponsor me financially, I would appreciate your prayers during this unique chance that I have to serve right here in the US.

Some Statistics about the Lawndale Neighborhood:

North Lawndale
- 93.8% African American
- $18,000 median income
- 59% of children live below the poverty line
- 25.8% unemployed
South Lawndale
- 83% Hispanic
- $32,320 median income
- 32% of children live below the poverty line
- 11.7% unemployed

In recent Merida news:
-Friday night we hung out with Trent and Cait who are here for the rest of my trip and I went with Diego to the young adult program at his church
- Trent, Cait and I watched The Offfice...ahh, American humor:)
- Pau and I spent a nice relaxing Saturday morning at her house
- Saturday afternoon we all went to the beach (minus Ted who was working).
- On the way home we ate ceviche which is cold seafood with chopped up veggies. You get a HUGE plate of fresh seafood for $10!
- Saturday night, Trent, Cait, Diego and I went downtown to go dancing. It was a good time even though I was starting to get a migraine.
- It´s getting hotter here, I´ve been having trouble sleeping :(
- Sunday after church I went with Pau´s parents to visit her mother´s parents and then they dropped me off so I could do some shopping downtown. On Sundays they close off the streets in the middle of downtown and have music and vendors. It´s like a street fair every Sunday- one of my favorites about Merida.

I do have a couple of recent pics but they´re on Ted´s camera so I´ll have to add them later. Sorry.

I can´t believe how fast my time has gone! But I´m so excited to go home with all of my memories already captured. It´s kind of hard to have the "so how was your trip" conversation about a 6 week trip so I´m glad that so many people have been keeping up all along. Thanks so much. I love writing down my memories to share with you.

i hate people who talk in libraries

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves- people who talk in libraries. Classes are out at the medical school where I use the library here so when I got there today there were a ton of people. Which was fine, I went to my cubicle and started working on GRE which was frustrating me anyway and add to that that there was no place in the library where people weren´t talking. So, doubly frustrated, I left and came back to my house where I finished my GRE practice test in silence. The GRE part is still frustrating.

Yesterday, after doing GRE at the library I decided to check out the zoo which is right down the street. It´s free so I figured why not. It was actually a pretty nice little zoo with a good selection of animals. The funniest thing was when I was standing with a few other people in front of the tigers and one man started to walk away. One of the tigers ran from the other side of its cage and lunged at the man and growled. Luckily there was a fence there but we were all shocked to say the least. Just goes to shows that even animals in zoos are wild animals. Here are some of my favorite pics from the zoo:

As you can see, I really like the birds. Especially the flamingos- they are so fascinating to me. I was wondering, why do flamingos stand on one leg? So being the good scientist that I am, I went to Wikipedia (that´s a joke- both parts) and it said that the reason is not exactly known but that one common suggestion is to conserve body heat. This does not seem necessary to me here in Mexico. It´s also funny because they bend their necks all the way around and rest their heads on their backs. How convenient.

On the way home I snapped a couple more pictures to show you what my everyday surroundings look like:

Coca-Cola EVERYWHERE! This is also the most common form of advertisement, painting on the walls of buildings.

The little grocery store that is close to Pau´s house

My street

Last night, Me, Pau, Nelson and Diego went to hang out at the mall. Pau and I took a moto-taxi. Not living in Mexico, this will not make sense to you but it is literally a taxi pulled by a motorcycle. A little cart with a bench is hooked to the back of a motorcycle. It´s hilarious. Pau, always looking out for you, my blogging audience, insisted on taking pictures.
Finally, this is me before the mall and after Pau asked me if I was going to take a shower. They take so many showers here it´s ridiculous. The look on my face can be translated as, "Another shower?? I´d really rather just lay here in my hammock until we´re ready to go."

Good Things Happen in the Dark

This is a rough draft about my time in Xochempich. Once I finish writing something I have to put it down and come abck to it later. But I didn´t want to keep you waiting too long so I´ll let you see it in its first stages. If you have any criticisms, large or small, please let me know. Enjoy.

Good Things Happen in the Dark

That was the name of a song on my childhood favorite, Muppet Babies. I don´t even remember who it was, but one of them was afraid of the dark, and so the others sang this song, "Good Things Happen in the Dark." They explained that without the dark there would be no drive-in movies, moonlit serenades or fireflies. And it seems to me that here in Mexico the same is true.


I could tell that she was going to say something about my legs.


Femia and I had come to the family´s palapa to check on the feverish Diego and his dying mother. On the less than a minute walk there, Femia said to me, or maybe to no one in particular, "She was one of my best friends here." And then matter of factly, "She is one of my best friends here." It was painful. The hug for Diego warmed my body with infectious heat. The sounds of his mother´s labored breathing chilled my core. She lay in her hammock, surrounded by a slight stench of the cancer that was eating her body alive. Though unconscious, Femia spoke to her, "Margot." Louder, "Margot." Her breathing changed, quickened. "She can hear you," Diego assured us. There was fluid in her lungs, that was obvious from the rattle. I cannot imagine sleeping in the same room with my dying mother, with an audible reminder that she was in pain, that she was dying.


It was one of the aunts, and she had actually gotten up from her chair and was coming over to where I was sitting, legs crossed. I could tell by her gaze that this had something to do with my legs. Great, I thought. She is going to ask me about the excema on my ankles just like everyone else. And since there is no word for excema in Spanish (that I know of), I will explain once again that it is like an allergy on my skin. Instead, she cradled my calf between her dark, calloused hands and her face lit up when she said, "Que bonita." How beautiful. "Son grandes. Y blancas," she said, drawing out each word for emphasis. She liked my "large, white" legs. All I could do was laugh. Only in Mexico would that be a complement.


The lights had been out since three in the afternoon and Femia was getting worried about the meat in her freezer. Sitting out on the porch we gleaned the last of the light, she for her knitting, I for my lesson plan. I was teaching a class on first aid to the nursing students, in spanish. Talk about in the dark. When our eyes couldn´t stand the strain anymore we went inside to look for candles (which we obviously should have done earlier). With one in hand, we went once more to visit Margot, stepping carefully over the stones that lead the way to the palapa. There, candles were wedged in the rafters. It was hard to see her face but hard to ignore the breathing. Silently, we were all wishing that tonight would be her last.

Federico didn´t have a match nor did his candle have much of a wick. He´s a wonderful and caring doctor- the kind I hope to be if I ever get into medical school. But I was not shocked at his lack of preparation. While I did surgery on his candle, he sat down on the porch and began talking with Femia and I. It was one of those times where my Spanish just clicked. I wasn´t thinking, I was just talking. "What made you choose your university?" he asked me. "I wanted a small school," I told him. He laughed when he found out that small meant 2,500. "Why did you go to medical school in Puebla and not in Merida?" I asked when it was my turn. "I wanted a big school," he said, and they laughed. "Actually it was because I flunked out of school here." Good things.

At three in the morning, I lay in my hammock. I could not sleep for the dog which had decided to start barking incessantly. After a minute of so, I thought, Doña Margot has died. "Do you believe that dogs can sense when a person´s spirit leaves their body?" one of the nurses asked me next day after I told her this.

The funeral was one of those things that you wish despirately to capture in pictures but know that only words are appropriate. Around seventy people, virtually all of Xochempich, formed a mass of flowers and silence that moved slowly down the road to the cemetary. No one was wearing black. Or church clothes. There was no slideshow of pictures. Only a few simple words from the pastor, some song and some prayer. The friends of Doña Maria Clara "Margot" Chan Mis filed by to throw flowers into the still-open casket. Diego had none. Just as the last of the flowers were being tossed, someone handed him one, and as he reluctantly let it fall to his mother´s body, I saw him cry for the first time.

Walking back the mood was lifted. Later Diego came over and we ate empanadas and watched soccer on tv. Somehow, as we were sitting around talking after the game, Ted snuck away and found a water gun. We found the other two and were soon engaged in a no holds barred watergun fight which took place in and around the house. By the time we were mopping up the kitchen floor we were laughing so hard that I couldn´t tell if my face was wet from the water or the tears.

take a deep breath and...

type!

Wow, do I have a lot to say. I´ve been out of touch for almost a week now and a lot has happened. I did end up going to Xochempich on Tuesday to stay with Ted and Nelson´s mom, Femia, for a week. I knew her from when I visited last year so it was really nice to spend time with her. I also went to see the nurses that I knew from last year.

First thing when we got to Xochempich we went to the clinic to see the nurses. The three that I knew from last year were so excited to see me- they had no idea I was coming. They jumped and started screaming my name- that´s gotta make you feel loved. Then I went to help Femia with a phone call. She´s going to the US in August to have eye surgery and Nelson is coming with her! So exciting! Even though she speaks perfect English she wanted me to talk to the doctor on the phone to make sure she understood everything.

Then she pulled out a book...and ask me to teach a class to the nurses. In Spanish, of course! Using the Red Cross book, I taught I three day course in first aid, wrote my own exam and gave it on the fourth day. My students got 72, 88,88,92,96. Pretty good curve. I spent a lot of time teaching and preparing but it was a great experience and a great way to get to know the first year nurses. I love those girls so much and I really enjoyed teaching.

Under my "list-journal" for Tuesday I also wrote that there were three huge cockroaches in my bathroom that I couldn´t bring myself to kill after reading Kafka´s "Metamorphosis." Silly me.

This is Femia´s house where I stayed

This is the clinic

Wednesday
At the nursing school the girls don´t get to go anywhere. They live at the school and aren´t free to just walk around town. They are literally there most all the time. So I asked Femia if I could take them to the cenote and she said yes! When I told them they were sooo excited. I ate lunch with the nurses every day that I was there. After lunch I took a three hour nap (it was soo hard to get out of my hammock) and prepared my lesson. Then I went to visit with the nurses and spent a nice evening with Femia who told me all kinds of fun stories about Ted and Nelson when they were little. That evening we also went to Diego´s house to see his mother. I am purposefully leaving things out because I am going to write something more creative tomorrow but wanted to get the rest of the details written down now:) So stay tuned.

Thursday
The girls and I went to the cenote after class. Enjoy the pictures. To learn more about cenotes, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenote. The power went out around 3pm and didn´t come back on until 12am. Just like in Merida, we had a good time without electricity. This will be part of my creative piece.

Friday
Diego´s mother died during the night and Friday was her funeral. It was a sad time but I´m very glad I was able to be there. It was one of those times where you wish you could take pictures but you know it would be inappropriate. So I´ll try to paint one (stay tuned for creative piece 2)- they´re coming- I promise. Ted, Nelson, Pau and their friend Angel came to Xochempich for the funeral. Angel was so fun and he speaks English so we had a great time talking with and teaching each other. He cannot say the word "girl" and it was so funny trying to teach him! He reminds me a lot of my friend Josh (hi Josh!) so with the English and everything it was like a nice little taste of home. We sat around and ate empanadas and watched a soccer game. You´ll never believe what happened after that (especially you, Mom)- we had a water gun fight- in the house! It was soo much fun and we were all laughing so hard we were crying. Only in Mexico:)

Me and Angel

Me and Diego

Saturday
I gave my exam and my students did very well: 72, 88, 88, 92, 96. After lunch we went to the cenote again (it´s about a 2.5 mi hike in the hot Mexican sun- great exercise). Early afternoon Ted came to pick us up and take us back to Merida.

My students, studying for my exam!

A picture with the nurses before I left

Sunday
After church on Sunday, we did something that I´ve been wanting to do this whole trip. We went to Celestun. Celestun is home to a wildlife preserve with flocks and flocks of flamingos! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestun You have to rent a boat to go out and see the birds, so I rented a boat for us and we went on an hour tour of the reserve. It was absolutely amazing- you could see the pink far off in the distance. According to Wikipedia: Celestun's ecosystem is unique because of a combination of fresh water from Celestun "river" and salt water from Gulf of Mexico. Celestun's flamingos are the pinkest in the world due to high concentration of carotene in the water. And I believe it- they were really pink. You can´t get too close to them in the boats, so the pictures just don´t do it justice.



There was also a mangrove forest that we went through in the boat- so cool.

Best friends: Nelson and Diego (this picture captures them perfectly!)

After our boat tour we went to the beach and made sandwiches with the stuff we had brought. Good sandwiches. I´m talking lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, ham, cheese. The works. Then we played in the ocean all afternoon and sat on the beach and watched the sunset. It was a really nice day. Back at home I made us grilled cheese sandwiches with our leftover cheese and bread. They really liked it.



Monday
I went to the library to study in the morning and met Diego at his school when it got out so he could introduce his "American girlfriend" to all of his friends. Don´t worry, I don´t really have a boyfriend here:) We walked downtown with his friend Mauricio and got my favorite- Jugos California- orange and pineapple. Then they wanted me to try some kind of fruit with chili on it and it was actually good because it tasted more like a vegetable than a fruit. We had a good time just sitting in the park and talking. That night Ted, Pau and I went to Costco to print out some pictures. I wanted to print out the ones for the nurses to give to them before I leave. We then had some kind of sandwich called chicken bake which was really good. If you go to Costco you should check this out.

Tuesday
I went to preschool with Pau in the morning- her kids were horrible this day! They all remembered me though and weren´t quite as freaked out this time. They are working on a "Lion King" show for the end of their school year and I got to watch them practice. It is adorable. For the Circle of Life, all the kids come out acting like animals and then at the end, one of the teachers who just had a baby comes out and holds her baby up in the air just like they hold Simba up in the movie. It was hilarious! I wish I was gonna be around to see the finished product. Pau and I went downtown to run a couple of errands and had lunch at Burger King. It was so nice because we are finally getting to the point where we can have meaningful conversations because my Spanish is finally good enough. But of course, I´m leaving soon. But we´ll be able to talk on Skype so hopefully I won´t loose what I´ve learned. If you don´t know about Skype you should check it out. It´s been so great for me. http://www.skype.com/ Tuesday night is ladies prayer night at church and we went around in a circle and shared recent blessings in our lives. Then we read a passage from Exodus where the Israelites are complaining that there isn´t any water to drink. We talked about how, just like the Israelites, we tend for forget our blessings and ask, "Is God going to take care of us or not?" And if we just think about our lives we can see that God is always taking care of us. It was encouraging. And when I shared, they all said my Spanish has gotten a lot better. Yay!

Wednesday
As you can see, I´m catching up on my blog today, and I´m also catching up on my laundry which is an all morning process. You can´t just throw it in an leave, you have to be here to fill up the washer with the hose when it´s time for the rinse cycle and to hang the clothes on the line when they´re done. At least there is a washing machine! When I´m through catching up on here I´ll do some GRE- hard to believe that´s coming up so soon! Other exciting news: Trent and his girlfriend Caitlin are coming tomorrow and leave on the same day that I do. With new people here these last days will fly! I´m sad to leave but am missing everyone at home and looking forward to seeing you all soon.

For those of you still reading, a treat. I´ve been working on this poem for awhile and I´m still not completely happy with it but I´m going to post this rough draft. Enjoy. And look for more to come.

What the White Girl Knows

That I am different
is an understatement.
That this is not
like stereotypes in America.

I don´t know
Black in Macon
Latina in Chicago
in la Villita or on Michigan Ave.

I don´t know prejudice
because I know
a gringa
a white girl in Mexico
is a pearl.

My sand:
They don´t talk to me.
Maybe I don´t speak Spanish (I do)
Maybe they want my shoes ($2.50 at Old Navy)

I don´t want to say it
but it´s there
polishing me.

I am strange
rich
pale, plump calves with foreign freckles.
They think I think I´m better?
They want to live in America too?

I don´t know different in Macon or Chicago
but in Mexico I do
And it´s not cruel
it´s not intentional
just uncomfortable

for whom?

according to plans

Things don´t always go according to plans no matter where you are in the world- but in Mexico- things almost never go according to plans! Let me catch you up:

Friday:
There was a three day bike race that started in downtown Merida that I wanted to see and take pictures of the start. The website where I learned about the race said that it started at 8:30 so being a good, punctual American, I got up early to make it downtown by 8:15. Well I couldn´t believe my eyes. The race had started on time, and the time was 8:00, not 8:30. I was so bummed. So I went to Jugos California, an amazing juice place, and got a very large glass of fresh squeezed OJ for $1.50. You couldn´t even come close to buying the 8 oranges I watched them squeeze to make my juice for $1.50 in the US. What a deal. I walked around a lot looking in stores for things to bring back but I don´t really like most of the stuff they sell here. I went to another market. I love just walking around the market- so much to see and smell. I want to take more pictures but I´m not sure how people would react- I´ll have to ask Ted. After all my walking I was getting tired so I stopped in one of my favorite parks to rest. This guy came up and sat by me and asked if I spoke Spanish. Well I do so we started talking. His name was Ricardo. He kept asking me if I had a boyfriend in the US. I think he wanted me to hang out with him but I´m such a stickler for safety and I didn´t need a tour guide (I have my friends who live here). After we talked for about 40 minutes and he figured out that I wasn´t going to go anywhere with him he said he had to go to work and left. But not without kissing my cheek (don´t get excited- this is normal in Mexico) and asking when I would be downtown again. I should have gotten a picture of him but I´m forgetful about pictures. After he left I headed back toward the buses and bought some cheap shirts at a clothing store before going to my new favorite- Michoacana! It´s an icecream place that has anything you could ever want. I had a "small" dish of lime sherbet which was actually very large for $1. How exciting. I shared my table there with a lady and her little boy while we make small talk. Back at home I took a looooong (3.5 hr) nap and later that night found out about Diego´s mom (see last post).


Saturday
We had left-over pizza casserole and sausage (which is actually hotdogs!) for breakfast. On Thursday night they wanted me to cook dinner for them but I was limited because they don´t have a functioning oven. So I made them pizza casserole (my favorite) without the pepperonis (no where to be found in merida). They said they liked it but I wasn´t totally convinced.

Here I am making Pizza Casserole

Sometimes I say I like food that I don´t actually like! Back to Saturday- Diego´s mom came to Merida to have surgery but when she got here the doctors decided that there was nothing they could do. So she´s back in Xochempich, hopefully on a lot of pain meds, and will probably die within a couple of weeks. So sad. Please keep praying for Diego- this is obviously very hard for him and he has to keep going back and forth because it is exam time at his school. I can´t imagine.

Four hours after leaving for Cancun we arrived at a friend´s apartment (small and dirty). What I discovered from spending three days in Cancun is that the only nice part is where the resorts are- the rest is very dirty and poor. It´s actually interesting though how you adjust to your surroundings (at least I do). After spending a couple hours in Meme´s apartment it felt like I was at a friend´s back in the US. At 12:30 we left to go to the salsa club where Meme´s fiance, Oscar, plays in the band. It was free to get in, food and drinks were cheap, and the music and dancing were great. Ted, Nelson and Pau don´t dance but Meme and Pau´s sister Rosanna do! So I danced with them and they taught me salsa (kinda). I danced with several guys including an older Puerto Rican guy from Brooklyn who spoke English and taught me some more salsa moves. At about 3:30, I was ready to go home. T, P and N had left to go visit a friend so I was stuck with Meme (who, it turns out, was waiting for Oscar). I was sooo tired that I turned down probably 8 offers to dance between 3:30 (when I wanted to go home) and 5:30 (when the cub closed and we actually did!). We ended up sleeping at Rosanna´s tiny apartment until about 1 when we got up to explore Cancun.

Posing for the camera at the Salsa club

Our sleeping arrangements at Rosanna´s: How many hammocks can you fit in one room?

Sunday
We went to the area of Cancun where all the hotels are and went to Hard Rock Cafe where their friend Samantha works at the gift shop. I bought a t-shirt because she gave me her %50 discount! She also gave us free hard rock pins and bandannas! Nice to have connections.


We then ate at Burger King, over looking the beach:)

Some Burger King, huh?

Pau loves this picture. She says the caption is "Now, where is my Mexican boyfriend?"

After meeting up with the boys we enjoyed my favorite part of Cancun- STARBUCKS!!! I got a Starbucks Cancun mug for my collection and a much needed caramel frappachino. Nothing says home like starbucks. I bought Pau a Frappachino too (her first) and she looooved it! We went to the beach for awhile around 6:30 which was nice because the sun wasn´t as strong. We only stuck our feet in because we were going to dinner.

I love this picture of Ted and Nelson

Now I thought maybe we´d go to HardRock or Planet Hollywood or Bubba Gump. But obviously those places are for Americans. We at somewhere much more Mexican...Sirloin Stockade. That´s right. Sirloin Stockade. I HATE buffets but they were all really excited about it so I wasn´t going to say anything. I ate a normal amount of food (plate of salad and plate of other food) and they thought I was crazy! They kept asking me why I wasn´t eating more. Oh Mexico...

My favorite part about Cancun was meeting Meme, Rosanna and Samantha. Other than that I don´t think I need to go back. Monday we did nothing all day (don´t ask) and came back late at night. I was supposed to get dropped off in Xochempich on the way home but Ted´s mom is actually here in Merida and I think I´m going back with her sometime today. Repeat after me: "Don´t ask questions, just be flexible. Don´t ask questions, just be flexible..." Once I get there I´ll be out of touch until Saturday and Sunday we´re taking a day trip to Celestun to see the flamingos. Until then.

This is from when the group was here but I liked it so I thought I´d put it up here.

More Cancun pics to come (from Ted´s camera)