Laura vs. the World: August 2012

Seven days ago I packed my swimsuit, summer dresses, and sandals. I made my bed for the first time in a month, even though I had been sleeping in my hammock for the past four weeks. I ate lunch with Mamá and Papá for the last time; we had tacos al pastor, aguacate, and limonada. At 11:00 PM, Papá put all my bags in the truck of his sedan. Mamá hugged and kissed me goodbye, blessing me with the sign of the cross before I left her arms. Papá drove me to the ADO bus station and put me on an 11:30 PM bus from Mérida to Cancún.

Today I am in West Valley City, with my tio José, tia Clara, and primos Aaron and Natalie. Because West Valley has a large Hispanic population, I’ve had a sort of buffer since I’ve returned to the US. The past week, I bought pan dulce and drank jamaica made by my tio. Today, I attended church in Spanish. But tomorrow I go back to BYU, and I think that is really when it is going to hit.

Don’t get me wrong; I am way excited to start a new school year. I can’t wait to get back to my job, my classes, and my friends. But I really do feel as though I left a part of me in Yucatán, with my host parents, in the Mayan ruins and cenotes, on the buses. Everywhere I went left an impression on me. When that bus left Mérida, I cried shamelessly; silently, but shamelessly. I cried because I don’t know if I will ever get to return to Mérida, the City of Peace. I hope someday I will find a way, because I left my heart in Yucatán.

Our last week there was a roller coaster of events and emotions. That Thursday was our last day of classes at La Modelo, and I swear it was the best day of any class I’ve ever had. Our class had presentations of some of the things we had worked on that quarter; skits, stories, advice to future study abroad participants. I know it kind of sounds like the last day of class for third graders, but it was really fun. Our program director, some peers, and program coordinators from the university attended. I did a skit about how my host parents meet with two of my roommates and our friend Lyndy. Another group performed a song the wrote about Mérida and our experiences there; it was so legit. I had that song stuck in my head all week long!

That weekend, we visited Sotuta de Peón, a hacienda outside of Mérida. We learned and saw how henequen is produced. Henequen is an agave plant that is made of fibers used to make rope and twine. However, only 10% of the plant contains fiber, while the other 90% is just basically plant juice. We also toured the hacienda and learned its history and importance in the region. Afterwards, we visited the humble home of a Mayan man who lived on the plantation. He told us how he used to work in henequen fields, hauling as many as four bags of henequen leaves on his back at once. But now, he told us smiling, he just waits at home for visitors like us and gets his picture taken. I never imagined, he said, that my picture would be all over the world.

Then we visited our last cenote of the trip. It was absolutely gorgeous! The water was the clearest I have ever seen in my life! I could see all the way down to the bottom of the cenote, which was actually kind of nerve-racking. After the excursion, we headed back to Mérida to have a closing lunch with our host families and program directors. We went to this big fancy hotel downtown which had this enormous seafood buffet. It was so delicious!

This past week I got to hang out with my friend Alannah from the study abroad. She too is here in Utah, waiting for the semester to start. On Tuesday, we went and saw a movie together. Then on Friday, we got to go to the wedding reception of Becca, another friend of ours from the study abroad. How that girl managed to plan a reception in Mexico and get married four days after she returned, I will never know. We got to see our friends Caitlin, Natalie, and Jackie at the reception too! It was such a happy reunion. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera, so I only have some bad quality pictures from my phone. But I did catch the bouquet!

I’m so grateful for the time I got to spend in México. I will never forget the people I meet, the place I visited, or the things I learned. I hope that I can continue to improve my Spanish and learn more about the culture of Yucatán and México. And even though my study abroad has ended, I want to keep this blog going. There are so many opportunities ahead of me, and I want to be able to share my experiences with others. I hope that this blog can inspire others, even the tiniest bit. Thank you for reading and sharing this amazing journey with me. Enjoy the pictures and we’ll see you next time!

the hacienda at Sotuta de Peón

a portrait of one of the past owners of the hacienda, wearing the
traditional dress of Yucatán, el terno

One of my roommates, Caty, doing her best goose impression.

One of the workers showed us how to "comb" the henequen fibers...

...and then let us have a go. It's not as easy as it looks! Ask Bradley and Jackie.

As a complimentary refreshment, we got limonada with
jamaica on top and a slice of limón...sooooo good!

loading up the henequen leaves to be processed

sorting them out

coming out of the machine with the fibers separated {obviously it wasn't always this easy...}

the leftover henequen "juice"

the fibers hung out to dry

Sitting on top of a henequen bale!

henequen fields in the plantation

Kaitlin, Lyndy, Brooke, Rachel, and Cody's back on the way to meet...

...this guy! In this picture, he's telling us how he used to carry the henequen on his back...hence the unusual face.

Alli is scared of henequen...and Tyler. Mostly Tyler.

This man's name was Antonio. He spoke to us in Mayan and our tour guide translated to Spanish. The ties of his shoes are made of henequen rope. Pretty legit.

What a cool guy.

inside his home; it was really just a mud hut with one painting hanging on the wall and a hammock. Antonio's a simple man.

Showing us how to sleep in a henequen hammock {any hammock really} He told us, "You put one wife on your right side, and the other on your left and 'hacer loch'," or cuddle in Maya.

Our ride to our last cenote.

Alannah and I hanging out in the land of the free! Love her to death! Thank goodness friendships don't end even if study abroads do. :)

My bad pictures from the wedding I told you about. They had the reception in this cute little mansion. Look at how refined Alannah looks!

pan dulce in West Valley City...seriously a life saver

My uncle made jamaica! Yet another tender mercy :)

Have a stupendous Sunday!

Can you believe that just five blog posts ago was my first week in Mérida? I can't. My time is running out, as is my money. I am not sure I'm ready to leave; maybe I'll just miss my plane on purpose. Fair warning, the first part of this post is going to be incredibly sentimental. And of course there will be some rocking pictures of Yucatán at the end!

This was never the plan, coming the México after only one year of college. I always wanted to go on a study abroad, but to me it was just wishful thinking. I don't exactly have money trees growing in my backyard, so traveling seemed way out of my league. But, here I am! Now, I feel like my options are endless. The possibilities for life and the path I could take are numberless. And that used to terrify me. Now, I say, ¨Bring it!¨ I hope to anyone who has read my blog or is reading it now can feel the same excitement I feel for life. There are so many good people in this world and so many things to experience. There are so many lives being lived, so many things to taste, feel, and touch. Every person is extraordinary. I hope I can utilize this vigor I have developed for life and use it to serve and love everyone I meet. Everyone deserves to feel special.

Never settle for less than what you are capable of achieving.

As for Mérida, I hope someday I can come back. Mostly to visit my mamá and papá. I am going to miss them so much! They have just been the best host parents anyone could ask for. And I am going to miss being around everyone in my study abroad. I learned so much from them and their examples. Granted we go to the same school, so this really isn't goodbye to them. I am going to miss the hustle and bustle of Mérida, the burning sun in México, and especially la comida de los yucatecos!

Okay, now let me tell you what we did this past week! Friday, our excursion took us to las Grutas de Loltún, basically caves. We had a tour guide who took us through and explained how the Mayans used las grutas. Afterwards, we explored las ruinas de Mayapán, some Mayan ruins about 40 minutes outside of Mérida. Because these are smaller, lesser known ruins, we were able to climb and explore to our hearts' content. It was so fun. The biggest building there is called El Castillo and looks exactly like El Templo de Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá. The only bad part about the excursion was getting stung by three angry wasps. I was just trying to pick an avocado from a tree, but little did I know the branch I was tugging on also housed their hive. Moral of the story is don't steal avocados that once belonged to Mayans...they will get their revenge.

Saturday we drove three hours to the beautiful city of Campeche, Campeche. Apparently, it is one of the cleanest cities in México {it really was!} We first visited Fort San Miguel, a Spanish fortification that was used to protect the city against pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. The view of the gulf was absolutely stunning; we even saw a pirate ship! After the fort, we had four hours to do whatever we wanted. Unfortunately, we had to walk everywhere, limiting what we were able to do. However, my friend Kaitlin and I did buy eyepatches; that was pretty legit.

And we have reached the end of today's post. Because I am on a school computer right now and not my laptop, I can't upload any pictures. But I will later on today, since we can't really do anything because of Hurricane Ernesto. Oh yeah, a hurricanes passing through Yucatán today, but Mérida is only going to get some extra wind and rain. Have a stupendous day!

August 14th: Sorry! Here's the pictures I promised to put up! {four days ago...)