As soon as I arrived in Mexico, I knew, if nothing else, it was going to be an experience. Jose, Morgan, Samantha, and I walked out of the doors of the Cancun airport, and were overwhelmed by yelling, sign-holding Mexicans. Jose, the native Spanish speaker, took charge, and somehow we were offered to be taken in a private van directly to the Hotel Caribe in Merida for only $280 USD. How great, right? We could be as loud as we wanted, go where we wanted, and party as much as we wanted, just for $50 dollars a person. However, it wasn’t that great. As soon as we agreed, workers from other companies bombarded us. In rapid Spanish or broken English they told us that the guys were “pirates,” we were going to be stopped by the police, and that they were in fact the “real” van company. Apparently to stop this hassling, we were quickly rushed into the van, left our waiting place for Blair and Sarah, and driven to the massive van parking lot to sit and wait. The van next to us had its door open and inside were 4 Mexicans sitting on top of the folded down seats, playing cards. It turned, that while we were shadily waiting in the parking lot, Blair and Sarah got though customs, looked for us outside of the airport and proceeded to take the free shuttle to the bus station, where they bought their ticket to Merida for only $250 pesos. We, however, were unaware of this, and finally decided to leave 4 hours after we had initially landed, with the increased cost of $70 USD per person. Oh, and instead of the great Yucatan/Mexican food that we were going to stop and eat on our way to Merida, everyone was so irritated and itching to get to get out of Cancun that we stopped by McDonalds. Yes. My first meal in Mexico was indeed a happy meal, and there wasn’t even a toy.
However, after the bus/private van ordeal, Mexico turned into paradise. The Hotel Caribe is very tropical and gorgeous. I roomed with Christine, Sarah, and Morgan Lynn. The swimming pool on the top floor looks over one of the earliest cathedrals in the Americas. The pool perfect place to relax and dangle your feet, so perfect in fact, that Christine, Mamie, and I just couldn’t help jumping fully-clothed that first, new, and magical night. We giggled all the way back to our rooms, dripping wet.
That first day, my clueless, American self was definitely in need of some of the knowledge that I now know: $35 pesos is way to much for a beer, $70 pesos is way to much for enchiladas, and you don’t need to tip the bellman $50 pesos. But, at that point pesos just seemed like monopoly money with no real value. Oh well, I know better now.
The second day: lunch with the host moms. This was fairly intimidating, especially when my mom, Elsy, just starting rambling in Spanish. The whole time I was wondering, “Does she know that I am just stupidly nodding my head?” It turned out fine though, as the accepting and caring nature of all of the home stay moms made me smile. After the meeting I went on a several hour excursion with Omar and Maria Luisa looking for a bathing suit. Apparently, there is a bathing suit season in Merida, after which stores don’t keep them in stock, even though the city is only 30 minutes from the beach and still 90 degrees Fahrenheit in September.
The schedule activity that night: SALSA LESSONS!! A perfect way to start a trip in Mexico. I was so excited! I really like to dance, especially to anything with Latin American beats, rhythms, and moves. It turned out to be great fun. My great dancing partner Lee and I were able to pretty much master the routine that our skinny non-English speaking salsa instructor taught us.
As you know the cenotes were beautiful and the experience absolutely charming. Tulum and Ek’Balam were nice and fairly interesting.
However, at Tulum I had my first and only bad encounter with the heat. I had a headache, a queasy stomach, and felt lightheaded, as if I was going to pass out. Painfully for me, Miguel, our tour guide, would explain intricate details about the Maya for long minutes in the hot sun, trying to politely pretend to listen while actually trying to stay alive and conscious. Then, to make things worse, he forbade us to go into the extremely tempting portion of the beautiful Caribbean sea that Tulum overlooks. It worked out fine though. I was able to hike back to the van and took Christine’s advice: lie down someplace cool, but not cold, and drink water. Finally after about an hour in the backseat of the van squishing Taylor and Mamie together, and stealing Christine’s water, I felt better.
That night we went to the wonderful Puerto Morelos.
The room I gladly shared with Christine and Morgan had a balcony that intersected with Taylor, Kit, and Michael’s, and proved to be a great place to relax or have fun. It was lovely.
The beach at Puerto Morelos was also the sight of the absolutely great sand castle/fort/god palace created by the goddesses Katie, Morgan, Chritine, and I. In the middle was a sacrificial fish named Borris, or he might be the main god, I can’t really remember. We definitely let our imaginations run free.
Jumping ahead, La Grita de la independencia wasn’t as crazy as I had expected it to be actually. Maybe it was because we, the loud half drunk, Americans were ruining it with our English-speaking and disrespect, but I still thought that people would be more into it. Apparently closer to the governor’s palace things were more intense. Yes there was a crowd and much pushing, but not an excess of dancing, singing, and yelling.
About the food: we eat local and traditional food most of the time. We have tacos every day for lunch, because no matter what we are eating, we are supposed to stuff it all into little corn tortillas. Usually, I would rather just savor the flavor of the delicious beef, but alas, I can’t waste the tortillas that Elsy makes me. There is also almost always a small bowl of very soupy, but tasty, black beans, and lime halves to squeeze over basically all of your food. Dinner usually consists of ham and cheese croissants either grilled in the cast-iron quesadilla maker or in the toaster oven.
This is what my room looked like when I first got to my homestay.
Basically, Mexico is amazing, and so is the group of Centre students who are living here. Thank you Centre for giving me the opportunity to do this; I would much rather be here than in the library. ☺
However, after the bus/private van ordeal, Mexico turned into paradise. The Hotel Caribe is very tropical and gorgeous. I roomed with Christine, Sarah, and Morgan Lynn. The swimming pool on the top floor looks over one of the earliest cathedrals in the Americas. The pool perfect place to relax and dangle your feet, so perfect in fact, that Christine, Mamie, and I just couldn’t help jumping fully-clothed that first, new, and magical night. We giggled all the way back to our rooms, dripping wet.
That first day, my clueless, American self was definitely in need of some of the knowledge that I now know: $35 pesos is way to much for a beer, $70 pesos is way to much for enchiladas, and you don’t need to tip the bellman $50 pesos. But, at that point pesos just seemed like monopoly money with no real value. Oh well, I know better now.
The second day: lunch with the host moms. This was fairly intimidating, especially when my mom, Elsy, just starting rambling in Spanish. The whole time I was wondering, “Does she know that I am just stupidly nodding my head?” It turned out fine though, as the accepting and caring nature of all of the home stay moms made me smile. After the meeting I went on a several hour excursion with Omar and Maria Luisa looking for a bathing suit. Apparently, there is a bathing suit season in Merida, after which stores don’t keep them in stock, even though the city is only 30 minutes from the beach and still 90 degrees Fahrenheit in September.
The schedule activity that night: SALSA LESSONS!! A perfect way to start a trip in Mexico. I was so excited! I really like to dance, especially to anything with Latin American beats, rhythms, and moves. It turned out to be great fun. My great dancing partner Lee and I were able to pretty much master the routine that our skinny non-English speaking salsa instructor taught us.
As you know the cenotes were beautiful and the experience absolutely charming. Tulum and Ek’Balam were nice and fairly interesting. 
However, at Tulum I had my first and only bad encounter with the heat. I had a headache, a queasy stomach, and felt lightheaded, as if I was going to pass out. Painfully for me, Miguel, our tour guide, would explain intricate details about the Maya for long minutes in the hot sun, trying to politely pretend to listen while actually trying to stay alive and conscious. Then, to make things worse, he forbade us to go into the extremely tempting portion of the beautiful Caribbean sea that Tulum overlooks. It worked out fine though. I was able to hike back to the van and took Christine’s advice: lie down someplace cool, but not cold, and drink water. Finally after about an hour in the backseat of the van squishing Taylor and Mamie together, and stealing Christine’s water, I felt better.
That night we went to the wonderful Puerto Morelos. 
This is what my room looked like when I first got to my homestay.
Basically, Mexico is amazing, and so is the group of Centre students who are living here. Thank you Centre for giving me the opportunity to do this; I would much rather be here than in the library. ☺
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