Coming soon...

...CHIAPAS! Tonight (at midnight) my classmates and I will pack ourselves into a van and begin the 12 hour drive to the Mexican state of Chiapas. Honestly, I didn't know until I arrived here that my study abroad program would include this four-day excursion to San Cristobal de las Casas, but from what I hear, it will be a trip to remember! Chiapas is different from Yucatan in practically every way: it's mountainous, much cooler, and has its own distinct cuisine and traditions. People from Yucatan are extremely proud of their home state, but several have told me that Chiapas may be the most beautiful in all of Mexico. I can't wait to see it for myself -- I'll post again on Wednesday and let know you how it went!

P.S. I feel bad about not doing a real post this week, so here are some random pictures of sweets to make up for it:

Mamey (maw-MAY) ice cream. Mamey is a fruit that I've fallen in love with here.

Whole mamey fruit. Its texture is so soft and smooth that you can just scoop it up with a spoon...making it into ice cream is actually kind of unnecessary.

Another student in my program had a birthday this week and his host family threw him a fiesta, complete with a piñata! These were some of the goodies inside...I especially liked the "Bubu Lubu."

On our trip to Uxmal last weekend, I was starving after all of the temple climbing and these caught my eye.  Strawberry/raspberry/blackberry ice-cream flavored Oreos...they were just as bad as they sound. But I was REALLY hungry.

¡Progreso, Uxmal, and Cenotes!

What a weekend! This Friday, I finally made it to the coastal town of Progreso for an afternoon at the beach. Progreso is really only a half hour drive from Mérida, but by the time I walked to meet up with classmates, took a city bus downtown, and then caught the Mérida-Progresso bus, it had taken closer to 2 hours. Mérida's bus system is...interesting; I've tried to explain it to a few people by comparing it to the "Knight Bus" from Harry Potter. There are virtually no official bus stops. Instead, you just stand on the side of the road and fling out your arm when your bus goes by (which is about every 15 minutes). Flagging down the correct bus can be tricky, since the route numbers are often hand-painted on the windshield in chipped, peeling letters. Grab ahold of something as soon as you step aboard, though, because the driver will step on the pedal the instant you've climbed the steps. He'll then take your bus fare and make change while simultaneously navigating Mérida's narrow streets and seemingly optional traffic lanes. And did I mention that all of the buses are stick-shift?

The long commute was absolutely worth it, though. What with the sunshine, the sea breeze, a good book and my Coke, I couldn't have been happier:

On Sunday our group took a day trip to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal and Kabah: 

Main quadrangle

Governor's palace

Temple of the Turtle

Group picture

So many stairs...everywhere...stairs...

Top of the world?

These next two pictures are from Kabah. One of the things I love about studying at UADY's School of Anthropology is that it's made me very aware of how discoveries about the Maya are still ongoing. The white stone portion of the building in the above picture, for instance, was uncovered by archeologists just six months ago. Before, it was covered by the earth and rough stones you see towards the top of the picture. 

This wall is covered in carvings of faces with elephant trunks for noses.  

After the ruins, we headed to a restaurant for lunch. My favorite part was dessert: crema española!

Next we headed to a Mayan village about an hour outside of Mérida to swim in a cenote.

Cenotes are underground pools of fresh water that were sacred to the ancient Maya.  They believed they were entryways to the afterlife. I know it looks dark and spooky, but there was plenty of light and the water was perfectly clear! It was also nice to swim out of the hot sun. 

Something Old, Something New

THE MAYANS ARE OLD.

Confession: I sometimes have a hard time keeping my eyes open in my History of Mayan Civilization and Culture class. Defense: the class starts at 8 a.m, consists of two hours of nonstop PowerPoint slides and lecturing, and the maestra speaks very, very quickly. It doesn't help that the first two weeks of the course were essentially an overview of ALL of Mayan civilization, covering the pre-classic, classic, and postclassic periods and their numerous defining characteristics...You can hardly be surprised that my body sought sleep as a refuge from Information Overload!

Fortunately, I think the course has finally turned a corner. Each day this week, we've been focusing on a different type of archeological evidence of the ancient Mayans (ceramics and rocks and bones, oh my!). On Tuesday we visited the university's ceramics laboratory and held vase fragments dating from the pre-classic era -- over 2,000 years ago!

In addition to the more interactive and focused subject matter, I've really enjoyed getting to hear more from my Yucatecan classmates this week. Majors (carreras) work a little differently in Mexico: most students arrive to university with a fairly specific career in mind, and take only those classes necessary for a degree in their field. (Since they know I'm taking Spanish and history classes, people here look confused when I explain that I'm actually a policy studies major.) As a result, several of my classmates already have highly specialized knowledge in their carrera. On Monday one student gave a presentation on the use of shell as a material for toolmaking. Today, another student helped the maestra fill in some blanks about skeletal evidence of ritualistic cranial alterations...I can promise you I wasn't falling asleep during that conversation!

LUXURY MOVIE THEATERS ARE NEW.

Sorry for that embarrassingly terrible segue, but I really had to write about this. Yesterday, I went to the Movie Theater of the Gods.

Mérida's biggest mall has two movie theaters: your average one...and then the Altabrisa VIP. After forking over just 9 bucks, my classmates and I took our seats in massive, reclining leather chairs and were promptly presented with a menu offering everything from chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks to white wine and carrot cake. Although I had solemnly sworn to resist temptation, the appeal of a giant, $5 cheesecake crepe with raspberry sauce was too much for my willpower. The waiter brought it to my seat just as the lights began to dim for the feature presentation... The movie ("Man of Steel") was pretty unremarkable, but the atmosphere was heavenly. I think I might have to head back tomorrow for Pixar's "Monsters University!" :D

We interrupt these "mensajes de Mérida" to bring you...

OK, I know what you're thinking: "An entire week since your last post, Sally! What gives?" Well, it just so happens that I...uh...haven't actually been in Mexico for the past several days. Surprise! This past Thursday, I flew back to North Carolina to be with my family for the consecration of my mom as Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. I may have missed out on a trip to the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá, but I think you'll agree that it was well worth it:

More than 1,400 people attended the service in Duke Chapel.

Liturgical dancers during the procession.

My dad presents my mom with the pectoral cross.

The fam.

My mom with Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, and Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States.

It was a truly wonderful weekend of being with family and friends, and coming together in one place as a church and diocese. While I wouldn't have minded a few more days of relaxing at home, I felt genuinely happy when I returned to my house in Mérida late last night. As always, being in North Carolina reminded me just how much I love home, but it also reminded me of all the incredible experiences I need to take advantage of in Mérida during the time I have left here. So I'm switching back to Spanish mode and gearing up for a month of learning, exploration, and fun. I hope you'll hang in there with me...¡Vámonos!                                 

Celestún and "Mérida en Domingo"

Sorry I'm late with this post -- I knew I would regret telling you all to "check back on Monday." I had a wonderful, fun-filled weekend (Celestún on Saturday and downtown Mérida on Sunday), but have been so busy catching up on schoolwork that I haven't had a chance to post about it until now. Who knew studying abroad would require so much studying? I've had to write so much in Spanish today that even English is not very appealing to me right now, so I'll let the pictures take it from here...

Saturday morning we woke up early to drive to Celestún, home of the Parque Natural del Flameco Mexicano.  It was a gorgeous morning...

...but there wasn't a single flamingo to be found! Heavy rains the day before made the water too deep -- flamingos are filter feeders and have to be able to touch the ground.

But we still got to see lots of other wildlife!

Pelicans!

Mangroves!

Man catching (harvesting?) shrimp!

Then we had lunch at this place. No big deal, it just has a panoramic view of the water.

The weather was perfect...

...initially.

Fortunately, we were able to get a swim in before it got really bad!

We took refuge from the rain and played (you guessed it, Hodgeses) mafia.

The excursion definitely didn't go exactly according to plan, but what ever does? It was still a great day, and I had even more to look forward to on Sunday. Sunday morning I visited Mérida's Mayan history museum. I don't actual have any pictures to share, but my favorite exhibits were the ones about the Mayan creation story and the juego de pelota (ancient Mayan ball game in which the captain of the winning team was sacrificed to the gods). 

After the museum, I went with my host parents to Mérida en Domingo, an event held downtown in the Plaza grande every Sunday. Vendors set up stalls all along the plaza and surrounding streets are closed to traffic and reserved for pedestrians and bicycles. Entire families turn out to enjoy the food, music, and shopping. 

 

Once we were done strolling around the plaza, we crossed the street to take a tour of the Casa de Montejo. Francisco de Montejo was a conquistador of the Yucatan peninsula and Mérida's founder.

Construction began on the house in 1542...

...but its interior was restored to the style of the late 19th/early 20th century.

dining room/comedor

dining room ceiling!!

 Pretty great weekend, huh? Now back to reading about la sociedad maya en el periodo clásico...

Food, Familia, and a Few Frustrations

(Wrote this yesterday, but just now posting today. Sorry!)

Phew! Even though this first week of classes was only four days long, I am completely exhausted and more than ready to begin my first full weekend in Mérida. My church youth group used to start each meeting by sharing “highs and low;” here’s a (not so?) quick list of some high and low points of my first week:

HIGH. The food! Meals in Mérida (or at least in my host home) work a little differently than meals back in the States. Lunch, for instance, is the biggest meal of the day and is always eaten as a family. It’s also served a little later in the afternoon – I arrive home from the University around 1pm each day and sit down to lunch with my family between 1:30 and 2. On Tuesday, Mama Bojo prepared Puerco con frijoles…and beamed when I ran to my room to grab my camera. I’m usually not one for snapping photos of every meal I eat, but in this case I couldn’t resist:

Mama Bojo repeatedly emphasizes how she wants to expose me to as many Yucatecan dishes as possible. “This meal,” she says at each lunch, “es muy de acá,” – is very “from here.” Yesterday, we had an Arab-Yucatecan dish: kibi and arroz con lentejas. (Apparently Mérida has a large Arab population, but I wasn’t quite able to catch the historical explanation for their immigration…) Needless to say, the late hour, delicious food, and Mama Bojo’s insistence on large servings cause me to completely stuff myself at every lunch. I make up for it at breakfast and dinner, though, which are much lighter and more individualized. My family usually eats these meals separately, fixing ourselves whatever we want, whenever we want. Because of the huge lunch, I don’t have dinner until close to 9 pm, when I eat some fruit and make a sandwich…or warm up some unbelievable enchiladas that Mama Bojo pre-prepared and stuck in the fridge.

LOW. My History of Mayan Civilization and Culture class. It’s not that it’s a bad class, it’s just a little tougher than I expected. I’m taking two classes here at the university, the Mayan history class and an advanced Spanish language class. While my Spanish class is only for students in the IFSA-Butler program, my history class is open to any UADY student – meaning the teacher speaks at a pace and vocabulary level appropriate for native Spanish speakers. This is a little challenging for me, to say the least. After two hours of attempting to simultaneously read Spanish PowerPoint slides and keep up with my teacher’s speaking, I usually leave the classroom with a faint headache. My mood doesn’t improve much when the class’s reading assignments (the last one was 60 pages) eat up most of my afternoon. I’ve reached the conclusion that, if I want to have the time to get to know Mérida like I should, I need to get a whole lot faster at reading Spanish…or be a little less thorough about completing the assignments. Ah, time management! I know this class will turn out to be extremely beneficial to my Spanish – I’m already understanding more of the lectures each day – but at least for now, it’s not my favorite part of the day.

OK, that was a sad, whiny paragraph so it’s time for another HIGH: my Spanish language class! My teacher, Astrid, is fantastic. She’s extremely patient, and has done a great job of creating a classroom environment where everyone can feel comfortable speaking up and making mistakes. Spanish in general has been a HIGH/LOW for me this week. I love the constant exposure to the language, but it’s been frustrating to realize just how far I have to go. While I’m improving with each day, I still have a hard time following everything that my host parents say to me, and my speaking skills are even worse than my listening. My brain feels incredibly relieved whenever I take a break from mental verb conjugations and switch to English with a fellow IFSA-Butler student. I’m trying not to get too discouraged after just one week, though!

One last HIGH. While the whole “Spanish-is-hard” thing can make interacting with my host family a little stressful at times, it has been really exciting to get to know them better over the last week. On Tuesday afternoon, my host dad Roberto took me with him to run a few errands around town. I got a tour of his Italian restaurant (the latest in a series of restaurants he’s owned over the years), and then we stopped by a pandería pick up some bread for lunch. As we drove around, he told me a little more about his family and career. From what I gathered, before he got into the restaurant business he was a guitarrista and traveled with his bandmates around Mexico, the U.S, and France (I think?). He still practices most afternoons after lunch (the perfect background music for my daily siesta!). Once back from our errands, we flipped through his family photo album together, and I pulled up some pictures of my family and friends on my computer. Overall, it was just a really nice afternoon of learning a little more about each other. Both of my host parents seem so interesting – I can’t wait for my language skills to improve so that I can understand more of what they share with me!

That’s all I have for now! My program goes on its first “excursion” this weekend to nearby Celestún, so check back on Monday for a post with lots of pictures of mangroves! :) 

Los primeros días

I arrived in Mérida late Saturday night and was met at the airport by my host mom, “Mama Bojo.” I am staying with the Bojorquez Molina family. Mama Bojo and her husband Roberto are just a few years older than my own parents (so young!), and their children have all finished school, started families, and spread out across the globe: Mexico, the U.S, Spain. Roberto owns a local Italian restaurant, Restaurante Bernardi (I’m told we will eat there sometime later this week!).

Since I was pretty tired from my long day of traveling, Mama Bojo gave me a very quick tour of the house before showing me my room and letting me get some sleep. My family has una casa abierta – an “open house” – with a sort of interior courtyard and many large windows that open to el aire fresco. My room is pretty wonderful...take a look!

View from my little balcony! The 2 o'clock rainclouds are gathering -- it's the rainy season here (la época de lluvia).

Sunday was a long day of orientation activities. At nine in the morning, Mama Bojo drove me to IFSA-Butler’s Mérida office (just a 15 minute walk from my house) where I met up with all of the other students to review information about health, safety, and academic expectations during our time in Mexico. We took a break at 1 pm to go home for lunch; I ate with one of Mama Bojo's neighbors, Silvia, who is also hosting a student. My favorite part of the meal was the horchata, a sweet, iced drink made from rice, almonds, and tigernuts – the perfect way to cool off during the hottest part of the day!

After a little siesta, we headed back to la oficina at 4 for even more orientation. This segment focused on host family relationships, and was actually pretty entertaining. Basically, we listened to two hours of anecdotes about what NOT to do as a guest. I figure as long as I don't come home intoxicated at 3 am, make myself three PB&Js, leave the food out and the front door wide open, pass out on the couch, and let a stray cat wander in and track peanut butter paw prints all over my family's pristine sofas, I'll be OK. (Yes, that actually happened once and no, the family never hosted again.)

Today I woke up early to go for a short run before the day’s activities began. Mérida has TONS of parks – literally every five blocks or so – and it was so nice to enjoy the outdoors before the heat set in. At 8am our group headed downtown to get our bus transportation cards and our IDs for la Universidad Autónoma de Yucantán (UADY). At 10am we went on a guided bus tour of historic downtown Mérida. I’ve already written too much, so I’ll just let the pictures do the talking:

La casa de Montejo (the founder/conqueror of Mérida)

The largest avenue - Paseo Montejo - is lined with mansions  of various architectural styles: French, Moorish, Spanish colonial.

Some of the mansions have been converted into museums...

...but this one is still a private home!

Franciscan church

Fountain in the "New Maya" style

We stopped to visit this building -- it houses some type of Catholic religious order...not nuns...and the women don't actually live there...this was at the end of the tour and my brain was getting tired...

Chapel

                                               

And under the garden of this building...

...is a cenote, a underground pool of fresh, crystal clear water. Mayan priests would bathe here. 

How about we wrap this post up! After the tour we all returned to our homes for lunch (Mama Bojo made incredible mole, served with corn tortillas, rice, and beans) and rest. We met back at la oficina at 4 pm to take our language placement test (blegh). Classes start tomorrow at 8 am, so I'm off to bed! Now that you're all up to speed, I'll try to keep my future posts shorter and more focused ;) ¡Hasta luego!