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?