3 posts from 2008

On Tuesday the culture classes took a field trip to CICY (Centro de Investiga Cientifica de Yucatan) which was like a botanical garden or arboretum. It was really nice and made me think of how much I enjoyed just walking around the arboretum and nature trails when I am home. The purpose for the excursion was to review and practice recognizing plants from our taxonomy for the plant quiz on Thursday. This was a very useful exercise because we saw many of the families that we needed to learn as we walked along the trails identifying orchids because of their specialized petal that attracts pollinators to them, their thick tongue shaped leaves, their pseudobulbs, and that many orchids are epiphytic, meaning that they live on another plant. While we were there we saw examples of many epiphytes and members of the families Bignoniaceae (which have tubular flowers resulting from the fusion of petals), Bombacaceae (specifically Ceiba pentandra, the Ceiba, the sacred tree of the Mayans which can be identified by its swollen trunk and spines on younger trees), Burseraceae (specifically Bursera simaruba, also known as the Gumbo Limbo tree and can be identified by its peeling reddish bark), Fabaceae (commonly called legumes. We actually saw a Bull-thorn Acacia, in addition to many other types of legumes), Araceae, Arecaceae (commonly known as palms), Bromiliaceae, Ochidaceae (orchids), Zingiberaceae (ginger), Heliconiaceae, and after we left we saw a Musa acuminate (banana plant). In addition to seeing all those types of plants some of us also saw a turquoise-browed motmot!

The biggest downside to the whole trip to CICY is that were was an extreme amount of mosquitoes which made me really paranoid about adding to my already rapidly increasing number of mosquito bites which before we went had already reached a count of over 30 bites so far. As soon as we walked into the garden there were mosquitoes everywhere. I was so paranoid about getting more bites I swore I was still getting bit even though I was wearing repellent. These mosquitoes here are beasts. Everywhere I looked I saw a mosquito somewhere or on someone. I decided to take out my revenge for all my mosquito bites by attempting to hit every mosquito I could get a good shot at. Killing mosquitoes hasn’t been that satisfying since the El Diablo mosquito attack four years ago.

Friday during culture class we went to the Museum of Anthropology to learn more about the history of the Yucatan. The museum is located on Paseo de Montejo and is in what used to be the house of the governor. The building was so enormous and spectacular I couldn’t fathom how a place so grand and huge could have been the residence of one person or family. The architecture and the interior were absolutely stunning with beautiful decorative designs on the walls and marble floors and staircase.

In the museum we learned more about Mayan culture and saw many artifacts that have been recovered from archeological sites and ruins. Some artifacts were even recovered from cenotes because the Mayan viewed the cenotes as sacred because they were how the Mayans could reach the water under the ground because there are no lakes and rivers. Because of the reverence shown towards cenotes the Mayans would throw items into the water as offerings to the gods, especially the god of rain who was believed to live in the cenotes. The museum also had artifacts of different idols of the various Mayan gods that have been recovered, weapons and tools that were used, utensils, and jewelry. One of the interesting things about the Mayan jewelry is that they used jade a lot, but jade was not present in the region, which signifies that the Mayans had a trade system with other groups of people. I also thought it was interesting when we came across examples of deformed skulls which the Mayans had deliberately altered by strapping weight to the heads of children and infants so that the head would change. Walking through the museum made me more excited about starting the Mayan course and learning more about the purposes of such strange actions and just to learn more about the ancient Maya.

On Saturday we went to Dzibilchaltun, our first Mayan ruin! Dzibilchaltun is a smaller ruin site to the north of Merida about ten kilometers from the coast. It was constructed about before the time of Christ and has continuously had people living close to its vicinity ever since it was first erected. There was more to Dzibilchaltun than what remains today, but as a result of the colonization of the Yucatan and building on Merida, people would dismantle the Mayan ruins and use the stones to use in new construction. Because it is located closer to the coast, Dzibilchaltun is also located in a scrub forest with low growing vegetation and trees. We learned that the range of the Mayan civilization consisted of a range of climates and habitats: the further north towards the coast you go the drier the land is resulting in scrub forests with smaller types of trees and vegetation. As you move more inland you move the more moisture there is and as a result the vegetation becomes larger and denser.

When we got to the ruin site there was a small museum that contained artifacts and information about the pre-Hispanic period of the peninsula and of the early colonization of the area. The pre-Hispanic artifacts was just as interesting as the ones we had seen the day before at the Museum of Anthropology, there were other idols of Mayan gods and another hoop from the game of ball the Mayans would play, along with many other interesting artifacts. In the other wing of the museum there were examples of the types of weapons and armor the conquistadors brought over, representations of the crosses and alters that were set up by the Europeans in the attempt to Christianize the New World, along with many other artifacts and examples of products that was useful to people after colonization. Once we left the museum area there were reconstructions of Mayan huts that we could walk through to get an idea how that Mayans lived. The living arrangement was very simple and consisted of two oval shaped huts. One hut would have walls made from sticks and filled in with stucco, or mud for insulation, and a straw thatched roof. There were only doors in the hut, no windows, and the inside would have a hammock for sleeping. The other hut was for cooking and was made from sticks but was not filled in with mud so that smoke and heat from cooking could ventilate. In the cooking hut we could see an example of the way the Mayans used to cook there meals using the arrangement of three stones on the ground in which a fire was started between, and then another surface or stone was placed on top of the other three stones to be heated by the fire and cooked on. Although there descriptions sound like primitive ways to live to most of us today we were also informed that some of today’s Maya still live in huts like these and still lead very rustic lives. As I was walking through the huts I kept thinking to myself how hard it would be to imagine a large family living in this small, one room hut made out of just sticks and mud, and how much we all take our conveniences at home for granted.

When we reached the site of the first part of the ruins I was astounded. We had been walking on a trail through the scrub forest and then came to a clearing with a Mayan monument, and as we turned to the left there were the ruins of the building that was used to study astronomy. Although I know that it was not very large in comparison to some of the other ruins we will be seeing throughout the semester, this first taste of the ancient ruins was nothing short of extraordinary. I could not believe that I was there, standing at the base of ancient ruin that had been constructed over 2,300 years ago. I had remembered seeing pictures of ruins like these in the past and thought to myself how incredible they were but never thought that I would get the chance to see them with my own eyes, but there I was. After I climbed to the top of the steps and looked out over the land and I was hit with a second wave of amazement. The room on the top of the ruins was used to study astronomy and had four doors, smaller windows, and a smaller raised room within the room that was built so that the main room could be extended.

The top of the ruin was great for biological observations as well. On top of the ruins we found a black vulture, and saw several ctenosaurs. Inside the room we also found an owl dropping that contained the skull of a small mouse it had consumed that we could identify by its elongated chisel-like incisors.

When we left the first ruin we walked down the ancient Sacbae, which was the road that connected the main buildings in the Mayan cities to other ruins. From there we walked to the nearby cenote. This cenote was imperative for the Mayans that inhabited Dzibilchaltun because it would have been their source of water that allowed them to live there because there are no lakes or rivers on the peninsula. This cenote was very different from the two that we visited last week. Instead of the subterranean, cavernous cenotes we visited before, this one was more like an open pond, complete with lily pads and many little fish that were so accustomed to people that they would swim right next to you. The cenotes have been so much the past two weeks. Jumping in from the edge (or getting pushed in by Aakash), splashing/dunking each other and even just leisurely swimming in the cenotes just feels amazing.

After such a great trip to Dzibilchaltun, I can’t wait to see what the trip next Saturday will be like with even more ruins, a cave, and a cenote!

The first full day in Merida began with an early wake up for the first day of classes. Being somewhere new is always weird but that feeling is amplified a thousand times when you don’t know the customs and I was still having trouble understanding my host mom’s Spanish and remembering how to say what I wanted to say. I was also worried about taking the bus to school; I hardly like taking SEPTA at home so I was really worried about taking a bus in a different country. Thankfully we were shown how to take the bus so we didn’t have to go by ourselves. As we walked from the bus stop to CIS I got my first small taste of walking around the streets of Merida. I admired how different the buildings looked, I liked all the different colors of the buildings that we never see at home and just took in the streets and my new surroundings.

CIS is amazing. It is so simple and pretty with beautiful outdoor landscape and courtyards containing ctenosaurs, anoles, whiptails, and other creatures and plants we are studying in our taxonomies for biology. I was not expecting the courtyards or how beautiful it was when we first found it in the middle of a row of buildings in the middle of the city.

Once at CIS we took our placement tests and began our classes with three hours of grammar class in the morning and two hours of culture class in the afternoon. The first day was stressful because I still was having trouble adapting to having to listen, think, and speak in Spanish all the time.

We were fortunate enough to be taken around the city by our instructors in order to show us a little bit of the city. We were taken to banks on Paseo de Montejo and shown how to take out money from the ATMs and then told more information about walking around the city, the bus system (which seems to be if you see a bus you want to get on all you have to do is wave it down), and a little bit on the history of Merida and the way it is set up as a city. One of the most important things to know when trying to get somewhere in the city is to know what Colonia your destination is in. The city of Merida is broken up into several different Colonias, each of which might have its own Calle 21 or whatever number, so one of the most important things about trying to get somewhere is making sure that you are in the right Colonia.

 In culture class we also talked a little bit about the Yucatan Pennisula and its history. The Yucatan peninsula is comprised of the three Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. The name Yucatan actually has no significance and was actually derived from a misunderstanding between the Mayans and the Spanish conquistadors. When the Spanish first arrived in the Yucatan they asked the Mayans “what is the name of this place?” the Mayans could not understand what the Spaniards were asking so they replied “I don’t understand your language” the Spanish thought that the Mayans were answering their question and mispronounced the end of the Mayan’s statement resulting in the formation of the word Yucatan.

The rest of the first day was spent exploring the neighborhoods around my homestay with friends who live nearby and continuing to talk with my host family and trying to become more comfortable conversing in Spanish.

On Tuesday we had our first taxonomy quiz focusing in amphibians and reptiles at 8am. Afterwards we had classes as usual in Spanish grammar and culture. When Danielle, Dana, Cindy and I were going home on the bus for the first time by ourselves we got off at the wrong stop, in the wrong Colonia. We decided to walk from Colonia Itzimna to Colonia Mexico Oriente because it did not seem that far on the map and it was nice out. Although I would normally have been extremely aggravated by something like this I did not really mind having to walk through all the different neighborhoods once we knew which way to go. Walking through the streets gives you a greater appreciation for the way the people live and a better feel for the area. It’s interesting to look at the houses because for the most part they are so much simpler than those seen in Pennsylvania suburbia. I love the use of bright colors in many of the houses we saw. I’d have to say that the house that sticks out most in my mind was a blaring yellow house with a giant crucifix on it. I could not help to think how strange it looked to me because we are not accustomed to brilliant colors in our buildings or such huge religious symbols hung on the sides of houses. I just thought that it was extremely interesting because we never see anything like that at home. After about fourty-five minutes of walking through various neighborhoods we eventually found ourselves back on Calle 21 in Mexico Oriente and finally walked into our homestay, tired and hungry for the midday meal.

Tuesday was also interesting because it as the first night that all of the students in our group planned to meet and explore the city for Aakash’s birthday. It was decided that everyone would meet at Pasejo de Montejo and then proceed to the Zocolo, also called la Plaza Grande. It was amazing to think that we had only just gotten there and were already ready to explore the city and the streets on our own.

Merida is a city with a very interesting and cultural past. Merida was founded 466 years ago by Francisco de Montejo “El Mozo” in 1542. The site upon which Merida was built was first the site of the ancient Mayan city of T’ho o Ichcaansiho, which first had four pyramids that one by one were destroyed and the stones the Mayans had used to build the pyramids, were used to construct many of the first buildings in Merida. One of the main buildings in la Plaza Grande is the Cathedral of San Ildelfonso built in the 16^th century. The Cathedral is the oldest church in the American continent and was built from the stones of a Mayan Temple. Also in the Zocolo is La Casa de Montejo which is the house that was built by the founder Francisco de Montejo “El Mozo” in 1543 to be his residence and symbol of authority and power. The house is adorned with a very ornate decoration displaying the Conquistador’s power over the natives, shown through the depiction of armed conquistadors standing on the heads of natives to guard the residence. The other main buildings in la Plaza Grande are el Palacio de Gobierno which was opened in 1892, and el Palacio Municipal.

I was so excited to be going to la Plaza Grande and to see the buildings and just experience being in the main plaza where everyone congregates. I was filled with anticipation as we approached la Plaza Grande because I had read about it before and had learned about it in class. It was so beautiful and so much more than I imagined when we arrived. The area just had an exciting ambiance all around with groups of people just meeting and talking with each other and merchants trying to sell things. Seeing everything at night just enhanced the ambiance to see the way the buildings were showcased with lights. Que alucinanate!

We walked up Calle 60 to another smaller plaza with another church and monuments  that were also beautifully showcased. We eventually settled on a restaurant and commenced the celebration of Aakash’s birthday along with the celebration of being here in Merida and for being afforded the wonderful opportunity to be here and see and experience all the spectacular things that await us in Mexico.

The next day we were immersed even more into Merida. It was planned for us to take a bus tour of Merida after school on Wednesday so many of us decided to try a restaurant close to the school for our midday meal. I was excited to be in a restaurant to try Yucateca food, especially Conchinita Pibil since I had heard so many good things about it over the course of the week from my language and culture professors. It was absolutely delicious! I have surprised myself with my openness to new foods here since I am usually such a finicky eater, but I have tried and liked almost everything so far!

After lunch we went on a bus tour of Merida and saw many different parts of the city. Although I had already taken the bus down Pasejo de Montejo it was interesting to hear about what all the beautiful, older building were and to notice the different styles of architecture that were used in the construction of the building. Throughout the tour was were shown many buildings and houses that were built in different styles. The three main influences that

Park of the Americas

were used during the construction many of the colonial houses were Moorish, Spanish, and French. We also explored the Park of the Americas, drove past several smaller plazas, to zoo, the bull fighting ring, and many other points of interest eventually ending up in the Zocolo. On the way into La Plaza Grande we drove through the arch of one of the original entrances to the city and learned about how the city used to be broken up into different sections for the Mayans, African slaves, the poor, and the affluent. Being in the Zocolo again was just as good as the night before. I love going to the main plaza it is so beautiful and full of excitement.

After I got back to my homestay I sat and talked with my host-mom for a long time for the first time one on one. At times it was really hard because sometimes I would become frustrated when I couldn’t express what I meant or wanted to say in Spanish so she wouldn’t always understand me, at other times the same thing would happen to her and she would say something that I just couldn’t understand. Even though it was somewhat frustrating we were able to understand each other for the most part and I learned more about her life, where she was from, her family, and other students that have lived in her house over the past twenty years. I was really glad that we were able to sit down and learn more about each other even though we couldn’t always understand each other.

On Thursday many of us went to La Serenata, an event that occurs every Thursday night in Plaza de Santa Lucia close to La Plaza Grande. Santa Lucia was a smaller plaza but when we got there it was full of life and plenty of people to observe La Sereanta. During La Serenata there were Mayan performers dressed in traditional Mayan dress, who demonstrated several examples of traditional Mayan dances. Two dances stick out most in my mind. The first was a dance in which the dancers performed a dance where bottles and glasses on trays were placed on their heads and they danced spinning rapidly without dropping the tray or any of the glasses. I couldn’t help but think how hard that must be and how much practice it must take to accomplish. The second dance that stood out in my mind was one in which the woman played the part of el toro while the man dances with a  panuelo or scarf and they dance together. It was interesting to see the traditional dancing of the Mayans and how they have been upheld over the centuries. After the dancers were finished trovadores came onto the stage and began singing. In culture class, we were taught about serenatas and trovadores which are tied to the history of the Yucatan. Serenatas are romantic occasions when a man that really cares for a woman brings group of trovadores (musicians/singers), usually a trio, outside of the window of the woman he cares for and sings a song of deep affection to her. This is a very rich and cultural Yucatecan tradition that appears to have died out in today’s generations but is still upheld and celebrated in events like La Serenata in Santa Lucia. I am so glad that I am getting the opportunity to witness these examples of traditions that are integral and unique to the area and culture. It was interesting to witness the trovadores because we had just learned about them in class and to imagine what it could have been like back in the times when it was customary for there to be a group of men singing beautiful love songs outside of a house. It just seems so much like something out of a movie. I also admired the size of the crowd in Santa Lucia to see La Serenata because there were so many people there, that it just made me think that these are traditions that are very important to the people here because of how large and receptive the crowd was.

Friday we learned how to Salsa dance in culture class. I was really excited when I found out that we would learn the dance in class. I have always enjoyed dancing from as far back as I could remember but have never had any lessons or really gone anywhere where everyone knew how to dance. At first it was hard to try to follow the instructor and I would find myself mixing up my feet or going in the wrong direction, but eventually when I just relaxed and just went with it I found it to be a lot easier and incredibly fun. It was also amusing to look around and see everyone in our group making their attempts at salsa, even though not many of us knew what we were doing it was still just so much fun to be trying something new together and to look around at everyone else’s reactions.

Later that night was our Welcome party at CIS. The party consisted of everyone coming to CIS with their host families, each family contributing a different dish, and everyone from our classes and CIS coming together to sample different foods and just converse with each other. My host-mom did not come with us because it was her birthday and she stayed home with her family. I wish that she had been able to come so that way we could have seen her outside of the house environment and how she interacts with some of her friends. After dinner some of us decided to go out for coffee at a café called Sega Fredos, or at least something like that. It was so nice to just go to a café with friends and just relax from our first week of class. The place that we went sort of had an American feel to it just in its very modern style and I just couldn’t help but laugh when I heard many songs playing that were very popular in the United States recently. I’ve actually heard music in English in other places but I just find it amusing and interesting how much the people here know about the United States in respect to politics, television, and music, and that is a problem how few people in the United States know about the happenings in other countries or even within our own country.

Saturday we had our first excursion outside of the city to the cenote of Chelentun. Cenotes are underground streams and collections of fresh water that become accessible from the surface when some of the limestone that the peninsula is composed of collapses allowing the water below to be available. Cenotes were extremely sacred to the Maya and essential to life for some of the Mayan cities because it is how they could access the water that does not exist on the surface in the form of lakes and rivers. Pieces of pottery and other Mayan artifacts have been found in cenotes and are used to support the idea that the cenotes were sacred and that objects were thrown into the cenotes as offerings. Cenotes can also be found in a variety of different sizes and forms as well. Some cenotes are cavernous and under the surface, whereas others are open on the surface and look like ponds or lakes.

To get to the cenote we left from CIS around 8:00am and drove out of the city. Once we reached the place we had to take carts pulled by donkeys on little tracks to the actual cenotes. The tracks that the carts were placed on, were originally constructed for the transportation of henequen from the fields where they were grown to warehouses. Henequen, in a sense was the gold of the Yucatan. When the conquistadors came to the Yucatan looking for gold to become rich they did not find any, but years later wealth was achieved in the Yucatan by the growing and exportation of the henequen plant because of the many uses that were discovered for it causing a great demand for it in Europe leading to a growth of industry and wealth in the peninsula.

Entering First Cenote

Our first glimpse of the first cenote we breathtaking! We had to take a long staircase under the ground

into cave-like area. It was so stunning to see the brilliant blue water, the clearest and most blue water I have ever seen, in the surroundings of the cave with rays of light that shown in through the opening in the ground. I had seen pictures of cenotes before but nothing came close to seeing the real thing with my own eyes. Right now I am even having trouble trying to find words to describe the cenote because it was so amazing that words simply just cannot describe it. I could not believe that I could be in a place so magnificent. The water was perfect, fresh, clear, and even

First Cenote

 had a few fish. There were a few rocks around the edges to sit or stand on but once you left the edge the cenote became very deep. For a while we just swam around and took in the scenery. E

ventually it was discovered that we could jump and dive from the platform and that became the main pastime as everyone took turns and watched each other. It was so much fun!

The second cenote that we went to was just as beautiful, if not more striking than the first one. There was an even smaller opening to the second one that we had to duck down to get into it and then go down even longer stairs. The se

cond cenote was darker and even more cave-like, and simply spectacular. It was interesting how there were roots from

a strangler fig that came down from the ceiling above and actually reached the water. Our time in the second cenote was cut short as a result of a massive wave of French tourists that just overran the place making it too crowded and taking away from the natural ambiance and tranquility of the cenote. It was almost impossible even to go back up the staircase because there were so many people trying to go down it to the cenote and others just stopping on the stairs to take a picture holding up the whole flow of movement.

When Danielle and I got back home we were so exhausted, but we could not nap because our host-mom’s family was coming over for lunch for her birthday. Senora Gomez’s son, daughter-in-law and their four children arrived shortly after we got in. At first it was really awkward because I still was not very confident in my ability to speak in Spanish, especially to new people and also just because I was so tired and all I could think about was how much I just wanted to take a nap. Eventually I started to feel a little more relaxed as I sat at the table and thought how much they reminded me of my family in some ways. I still would feel uncomfortable every time someone would as me a question and I couldn’t catch it and had to ask for it to be repeated several times, or if someone asked me something and I misunderstood and answered something completely different. I tried not to get too embarrassed and just laughed it off with the rest of the family because there is nothing else I could do about it. It would just be especially hard when the family would be talking to each other because they would speak so rapidly I could hardly catch what was being said. I was glad when I actually left the table and went outside to play papa caliente (hot potato) with Danielle and the five year-old grandson, Fernando, who is just completely adorable. It was harder than I thought it would be to play with Fer just because I couldn’t always understand what he was saying when he would talk really fast or try to explain a game to us. I really liked Senora Gomez’s family and just hope that maybe I’ll be less nervous next time they come over and be able to converse with them better next time they come over.

This will be the first (and very beastly) post about my life while I am in studying abroad in beautiful Mexico. So I finally arrived in Mexico about a week ago and have already experienced and seen so much that I hope I will be able to recount it all soon.

The past week and a half has been absolutely crazy and I can not believe how much we have done since the morning of January 2^nd when everyone first arrived at the Barn and our semester abroad officially began. During our time at the Barn there was a lot of preparation for the semester ahead of us. We dove right into lecture on amphibians and reptiles as soon as lunch was over and began our series of pre-quiz quizzes the very first night. Over the next days spent in the Barn we were woken up early in the morning and spent the majority of the time was devoted to working on our tropical biology projects and learning our taxonomies. It was a very intense way to begin the semester starting the day after new years and to leave home, family and friends so quickly after a break of only a little more than two weeks and already be working on one of the major projects of the semester, but I am glad that we had the time to begin working on it so that way I can use my time in Mexico to experience new things and go out and see everything and do as much as I possibly can. The four days in the Barn also allowed me to get to know everyone else going on the trip, because we were together all the time and were always busy. In the little free time we had at the barn we went on hikes with the Dawleys around the barn area where we learned the tropical biology essential skill of walking across a frozen pond. The trek across the pond was probably one of my favorite parts of the Barn experience and is a good representation of this trip for me. I want to push my limits and do things that I normally might not and just experience all that I can and all that is offered to me. One of my other fond Barn memories was when a member of the family vespertilionidae (a plain nosed bat) got into the Barn and flew through the living room while we were watching the movie “Sin Dejar Huellas” in the dark causing the majority of the room to scream and Robert to put together his handy net.

            Our time in the barn came to an end at 3:00am Sunday morning when we departed from Mensch Mills, began our drive to Ursinus and then to the airport. Leaving the Barn filled me with a mix of emotions. I was overwhelmed and excited, exhausted but hyper, stressed out but still calm in some ways. I could not believe that the day had finally come and that I was actually leaving…I was going to Mexico…I was studying aboard… I was leaving home for 3 months…I am going to be doing amazing things and seeing sites I never thought I would…these are the thoughts that rushed through my head as I sat there silently on the bus rushing down a dark road in the early hours of the morning bringing me closer to the biggest adventure and challenge I have ever undertaken in my life. Change has always been hard for me and this was going to be huge. One of the strangest things about going to the airport was the drive on 476 south. To get to the airport from Ursinus we essentially had to go through my home area. It was very strange to be on the road and see the exits that I had been familiar with my whole life, including the exits that would take me to my high school, and exit 9 for my town, Havertown. It was weird to be passing everything that was so familiar to me and know that I was leaving it all behind. I have never been this far away from home and have never been away from home for this long.

After we got to the airport around 5:30am I felt better. It finally hit me that we were going and that this was actually happening and I was filled with more excitement and anticipation. At the airport everyone waited by breaking off in to groups doing their own thing, we grabbed food, people made phone calls, some slept or studied, and a group went over to terminal B where their was wireless internet. When it came time to board the plane everything about it just felt surreal. I was ready to go when we plane started to leave the gate but was quickly dismayed when the pilot announced that we were to be delayed and that we would just have to sit on the ground for a few more minutes. When we were given clearance for take off I was relieved and looked out the window as our speed increased and we finally lifted off the ground. To me there if nothing like the take off of a plane, it’s my favorite part of flying. As we ascended into the sky I took my final glimpse at Philadelphia.

The flight went well and I used the time to rest, study taxonomies and look out the window. At the first sight of the Mexico mainland I could not believe how beautiful the blue ocean looked and I was amazed at how green with trees the land was with little disruption of roads. It was strange to compare the way Mexico looked to way that Philadelphia looked as we flew over it. It was in the plane flying over Mexico that I realized that we were finally there, this semester that we have been preparing for was actually happening.

The air was warm when we got off the plane and embarked on our three month adventure. It took a while for us to gather our luggage and get through customs but once we reached our bus we were on our way. On the bus we met our tour guide Hugo began to tell us about how Cancun had been a mechanically picked tourist location. We were taken to a restaurant in the city of Cancun, not the beach location. It seemed unbelievable that I had woken up in the barn in the middle of a Pennsylvania winter and was standing in the warm tropical sun in Mexico just hours later. The restaurant we went to for lunch was beautiful with an open courtyard in the center and had a buffet with a variety of Mexican dishes to try. I had some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had at that restaurant.

By the time we finished lunch and loaded back into the bus everyone was exhausted. I passed out before we even left the city and did not wake up until the sun was almost setting and we were well on own way traveling on the highway to from Cancun to Merida. The whole bus was silent and dark and everyone I could see drifted in and out of sleep. The highway was different from any highway I had ever been on in my life. The highway was narrower than they are at home and all I could see from the windows was just dense trees. When the sun actually set it was pitch dark out with no lights on the road except those coming from other cars. The darkness seemed really intense as we continued to our destination.

When we reached Merida I did not know how to react or what to expect. I was excited to finally be there but I was also nervous about meeting my host family, and worried about being able to find my way around this strange new city that I knew very little about. It was surreal when we actually pulled up to Pasejo de Montejo, the main boulevard of the city, where we were to meet our families. The Pasejo looked like a winter wonderland, even though it was 70+ degrees, and decorates with so many lights and decorations for Christmas that is was simply breathtaking and amazing.

When we got off the bus there was a crowd of families anxious to pick up their students and calling out names every time someone stepped off the bus. I was glad to receive a warm welcome from my host-mom Senora Gomez and her grandson Felix who immediately gave me and Danielle a welcoming hugs and helped us load our luggage into the car. Senora Gomez reminded me of a kind grandma as soon as I saw her and I was instantly relieved to some degree. I was even more relieved to learn Felix was fluent in English which helped compensate the fact the Senora Gomez does not speak any English. Instead of taking us right home Senora Gomez and Felix took us on a brief driving tour around the area by our house and tried to tell us good places to go. The car ride was a little frustrating as I realized just how rusty my Spanish was when Senora Gomez would try to talk to us and we would try to respond. I had been so exhausted from the whole day that I just couldn’t switch my brain into Spanish mode and had trouble trying to communicate in Spanish.

Our house is a nice size and Danielle and I share our own room and bathroom. Our house also has a pool and a nice upstairs balcony that is just beautiful at night. After we had taken our stuff to our room, we continued to make conversation with our new family over pizza for a few hours. We talked about where we were from, our families, what we like to do, showed them pictures from home of our families and learned about them. Senora Gomez is a widow with three grown children and nine grandchildren, two grandsons live in the house and go to school in Merida. Once again dinner was another challenge in Spanish speaking but we were able to communicate and understand each other for the most part. By the time we had made it up to our room to go to bed we were exhausted and easily fell asleep. That was probably the first time I’ve ever been able to fall asleep fast in a new place, even though my mind was full of thoughts of disbelief that I was actually in Mexico, not even those thoughts or questions about the rest of the trip could keep me from falling asleep.

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                    This is a picture of Danielle and me with Senora Gomez the first night