I guess I should write about my experience on the train and coming back home, since I've been back for a week now. The plane from Atlanta to Salt Lake City was an hour and 45 minutes late leaving the airport because the brakes needed a new part or something, we just sat inside the plane while they fixed it. I was really worried because my train was going to leave whether I was there or not and the next one didn't leave til the following evening. Crosswinds helped us out a lot and we made it, the airline let people off first who had connecting flights and were in a hurry, I got off with them, met with my ride and made it to the train station right on time!
The train wasn't bad actually, it was long but not bad. I took Amtrak, and it was suprisingly comfortable. I have never ridden a train before and I didn't buy a sleeper car, just a normal seat. I could recline my seat all the way, had a really big footrest and I had enough legroom to completely stretch out.. And I had two seats to myself so it was nice. My only complaint was that it was cold at night.
After 1130 is quiet hours, they turn out the lights and you aren't allowed to talk unless you go to the lounge, they said if you do talk they would kick you off the train lol. So crazy, I felt like I was in preschool but it's alright, it was nice to be able to sleep. I woke up early in the morning really cold, and some guy in front of me gave me a blanket. The next morning he offered to buy me breakfast. I didn't want to take it because I didn't even know him.. He proceeded to introduce himself, shake my hand, and buy me breakfast from the dining car. His name was Victor, he was probably in his early 30s, he had an 11 year old son, not married. He was really cool, we talked a lot. He's from Midvale, UT but originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. He made me speak Spanish to him, which was fun. He knows a lot about the church because of friends and what not, so that was cool.
We parted ways at the train station, he was sad but what was I going to do? He's too old for me anyways lol!
Anyway everything was good, I made it back, my mom and Amber picked me up from the train station - it was weird to see my mom because she has lost so much weight since I last saw her!
This is where I'm going to end my travel blog, if you want to read more please visit my personal blog, it is private so leave your email in a comment and I'll add you to the readers list! :)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
San Ignacio, Belize; Day 24
Last full day in Belize! Bittersweet. This morning we got up a bit early, walked to Hode's Place for a PANCAKE breakfast! lol and then headed to Actun Tunichil Muknal cave!!! It was a couple hours to the cave, and it started raining and the ride was on super sketchy dirt roads, I swear I thought our bus was going to get stuck so many times.. But we made it just fine! We separated into groups of 8 and went with a guide. Our was this little Belizian five foot tall guy named Jamil, but we called him JamJam :) We hiked for about 40 minutes down to the cave, had to cross the river 3 times in order to get there. Once we got there we left our bags at the top (I didn't take one but some others did) and headed to the mouth of the cave. We had to swim for maybe 10-15 feet into the cave so we were totally wet right off the bat. From there we continued in, over rocks and through water that was anywhere from ankle deep to chest deep. That was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life, hands down.
There is lots of artifacts inside, like ceramics and human remains and stuff. We weren't allowed to take cameras inside, because tourists are dumb and drop their cameras on top of skulls and break bones, so since 3 weeks ago, no one can take cameras inside anymore.
The cave was way cool though, there were drops and sharp rocks and you have to be careful because you could easily hurt yourself or die. Haha. I totally loved it though and JamJam was a GREAT guide! He had us turn off our headlamps and lead eachother in the dark for a while, he would just disappear though and we'd start freaking out, but then he'd be right next to us and we'd feel dumb. lol. It was fun.
After ATM we just came back, showered and ate dinner at Hode's.. BBQ Chicken, potato salad, beans and tortillas. I forgot to mention that we had cake the other night 5/15 for someone's birthday, and tonight we had donuts for the same reason! yay birthdays!
Well I'm all packed up and ready to go tomorrow, for all day of flying and then a 16 hour train right, wooooo.
There is lots of artifacts inside, like ceramics and human remains and stuff. We weren't allowed to take cameras inside, because tourists are dumb and drop their cameras on top of skulls and break bones, so since 3 weeks ago, no one can take cameras inside anymore.
The cave was way cool though, there were drops and sharp rocks and you have to be careful because you could easily hurt yourself or die. Haha. I totally loved it though and JamJam was a GREAT guide! He had us turn off our headlamps and lead eachother in the dark for a while, he would just disappear though and we'd start freaking out, but then he'd be right next to us and we'd feel dumb. lol. It was fun.
After ATM we just came back, showered and ate dinner at Hode's.. BBQ Chicken, potato salad, beans and tortillas. I forgot to mention that we had cake the other night 5/15 for someone's birthday, and tonight we had donuts for the same reason! yay birthdays!
Well I'm all packed up and ready to go tomorrow, for all day of flying and then a 16 hour train right, wooooo.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
San Ignacio, Belize; Day 23
Our trip is coming to a close! This last week is like a party though, everyday is great, new things and we don't have homework or classes - at least I don't! I'll have a little bit of work to do when I get home but maybe I can get some done on the train.
This morning we woke up and had to be at the dock to catch the charter boat to Belize City at 7. I feel bad for the boatmen because they have to load all of our stuff, and we have so much of it! One of the guys looked at our bags and said, "What, have you guys been here for a month?" Little did he know that we pretty much have, HERE as in Central America. We had our 45 minute boat ride back to Belize City and are now on the bus with our Beloved Bus Driver Frank and Erik on our way to San Ignacio. Today we will go to the Iguana Conservation Project and ziplining! We are dropping off Emily and Taylor at the zoo because they have interviews for internships here!
It's so stormy right now! Like pouring rain and lightening and thundering, it's awesome! We haven't seen rain our whole trip until now, it's alright with me :)
The Iguana project was really cool! We separated our large group into two and half of us went to the project and half of us went to lunch, and then we switched. The Iguana project is there because in Belize a lot of people hunt iguanas for meat, they call them the Bamboo Chicken because they often live near rivers in bamboo and they apparently taste like chicken. They are a delicacy here. Since so many people hunt iguana, the project has rescued them and raises babies until they are large enough to fend off predators, then they are released into the wild to raise the population.
We got to go into a cage with some huge iguanas, there was a couple dominant males that were HUGE! Like 3-4 feet but I guess they can get to be even 8 feet long. We got to hold some little babies too, they wanted to climb to the highest place so they all ended up on our heads. One of my friends on the trip, Dana, ended up with about 9 on her head at once, it was awesome.
We went to lunch after and ate at some Creole buffet, they had stewed chicken, stewed beef, fish in creole sauce (tomato base with coconut milk), salad, coleslaw, potato salad, fried plantains, bans and rice, and more that I can't think of. I love the food here it's so yuummmyy.
Then the zipline! So fun. I can't really even describe this. We separated into groups of 14-15 and went with a guide who suited us up with harnesses, gloves, caribiners, etc. The course had 7 lines, and 15 stations. Sometimes we had to hike, cross bridges, climb ladders, etc to get to the next station. It was way fun! you get up to the line and the guide would hook me up, when he was ready I just jumped off and you fly away! I had a glove with a thick piece of leather, when you get close enough to the end you just pull down on the line and you stop. If you don't stop you end up running into the guide or the tree or something and you die. lol. It was all really fun! I would definitely do it again.
We ate dinner at this restaurant/bar/grill called Hode's Place. It was pretty chill, I liked it. Chicken, potato salad and rice - typical Belize.
I'm rooming with a girl I have really learned to love dearly! :) If this trip has taught me anything, it's love and charity... At first I was annoyed by certain members of the tour because I didn't think my personality meshed with them.. What doesn't mesh is my attitude - once I realized that it's up tome to make that choice, to change my attitude, I can love anyone, and I definitely learned to do that on this tour.
This morning we woke up and had to be at the dock to catch the charter boat to Belize City at 7. I feel bad for the boatmen because they have to load all of our stuff, and we have so much of it! One of the guys looked at our bags and said, "What, have you guys been here for a month?" Little did he know that we pretty much have, HERE as in Central America. We had our 45 minute boat ride back to Belize City and are now on the bus with our Beloved Bus Driver Frank and Erik on our way to San Ignacio. Today we will go to the Iguana Conservation Project and ziplining! We are dropping off Emily and Taylor at the zoo because they have interviews for internships here!
It's so stormy right now! Like pouring rain and lightening and thundering, it's awesome! We haven't seen rain our whole trip until now, it's alright with me :)
The Iguana project was really cool! We separated our large group into two and half of us went to the project and half of us went to lunch, and then we switched. The Iguana project is there because in Belize a lot of people hunt iguanas for meat, they call them the Bamboo Chicken because they often live near rivers in bamboo and they apparently taste like chicken. They are a delicacy here. Since so many people hunt iguana, the project has rescued them and raises babies until they are large enough to fend off predators, then they are released into the wild to raise the population.
We got to go into a cage with some huge iguanas, there was a couple dominant males that were HUGE! Like 3-4 feet but I guess they can get to be even 8 feet long. We got to hold some little babies too, they wanted to climb to the highest place so they all ended up on our heads. One of my friends on the trip, Dana, ended up with about 9 on her head at once, it was awesome.
We went to lunch after and ate at some Creole buffet, they had stewed chicken, stewed beef, fish in creole sauce (tomato base with coconut milk), salad, coleslaw, potato salad, fried plantains, bans and rice, and more that I can't think of. I love the food here it's so yuummmyy.
Then the zipline! So fun. I can't really even describe this. We separated into groups of 14-15 and went with a guide who suited us up with harnesses, gloves, caribiners, etc. The course had 7 lines, and 15 stations. Sometimes we had to hike, cross bridges, climb ladders, etc to get to the next station. It was way fun! you get up to the line and the guide would hook me up, when he was ready I just jumped off and you fly away! I had a glove with a thick piece of leather, when you get close enough to the end you just pull down on the line and you stop. If you don't stop you end up running into the guide or the tree or something and you die. lol. It was all really fun! I would definitely do it again.
We ate dinner at this restaurant/bar/grill called Hode's Place. It was pretty chill, I liked it. Chicken, potato salad and rice - typical Belize.
I'm rooming with a girl I have really learned to love dearly! :) If this trip has taught me anything, it's love and charity... At first I was annoyed by certain members of the tour because I didn't think my personality meshed with them.. What doesn't mesh is my attitude - once I realized that it's up tome to make that choice, to change my attitude, I can love anyone, and I definitely learned to do that on this tour.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Caye Caulker, Belize; Day 22
Today the sun came up so early, I think the first time I woke up it was maybe 5am and the sun was already up.. it sets early too, its dark by 7. It must have something to do with being closer to the equator and the tilt of the Earth.
We woke up, got ready and headed to breakfast on the other side of the island. It took maybe 10 minutes to walk there, so you have an idea of how small the island is. I ordered a breakfast burrito instead of pancakes, I figured I should switch it ip since I've been having pancakes the majority of the trip... the tortillas in Belize are thick like flatbread tortillas but they're airy-er. The burrito was fine, it had bacon.. I don't like bacon... shoulda gotten the pancakes, they were served with fruit!
During/after breakfast we were fitted with fins and masks for snorkeling! We got ready, separated into chicken and fish boats and headed out at about 1030am. I had fish. We had at least a 30 minute ride out to the reef. The sky was really dark and it was windy, it looked like it was going to be pretty stormy.. I was kinda nervous because I didn't want to get caught in a bad storm.
when we were on our boat out, it started raining indeed! At first it was just sprinkling but then it started pouring! And it hurt, I thought it was hailing! We all started laughing because it was not perfect weather for snorkeling. It was like the "Perfect Storm" movie. The guides put a plastic tarp over us and we kept going. After maybe about 10 minutes, he rain stopped, it was sunny, and we were at our first stop, the coral garden.
We got in and swarm around for quite a while, there was some good coral to look at and lots of fish. I did notice that a lot of the coral was bleached - evidence of temperature change. They had a hurricane here not too long ago so maybe that's why. After that we got in the boat and our guides Patrick and Chilo (hot rasta guys) had lunch ready. There was rice with vegetables, pasta salad, and fish, that was prepared with tomatoes and green bell pepper. It was good! We had pineapple squash (juice) too.
We sailed to the next stop, shark ray alley. When we got there, Patrick threw in some shrimp and all the tuna were jumping up out of the water. It was crazy! We got in and the first thing I saw, besides the school of tuna swimming all around me, was the HUGEST sting ray I've ever seen in my life, in real life or on tv. It was at least 6 feet in diameter I swear! Not counting it's tail/stinger. I hope the pictures I got are good. We also saw nurse sharks. I got to pet one that Patrick caught. It was really cool to just swim with the sharks and fish and rays. They would get so close!
After that we had pineapple and watermelon. It was nice to eat after every dive because it got the salty taste from our mouths. We had another long "drive" to the last stop, Hol Chan Marine Reserve. This time we had to be divided into groups and stay with our guide. I went in Chilo's group. We saw sea turtles, one of which got really close to me and I got to watch it go up for air and go back down, that was neat! We got to see a green Moray eel, like in The Little Mermaid. If you clap hey come out of the dark places in the coral. We saw so many fish, some more rays, and we saw a cool cave, Chilo and one of the guys in my group went down it in but it was 15 feet down and I didn't want to die so I didn't push it. It was so cool to be down there!
We had ceviche <3 and chips after that dive! And pineapple juice and we sailed (literally with sails) back to the Caye. It was so awesome. The ceviche was good but I like mine better ;) lol. It was missing something. It was past 5 by the time we got back so I ran back to the hotel, showered and then went to dinner.
For dinner we had this awesome buffet, they had fish like the fish we had at lunch, also chicken that tasted like it had taco seasoning or something on it, mashed potatoes, rice and beans (the mixed kind), cole slaw, bread and watermelon. It was so yummyy!
After dinner I got some homemade chunky monkey ice cream and bought a few more things for souveniers for family and friends. But Now I'm almost out of belize dollars - luckily they take USD here, (all my change is in USD, but it's worth double here so that's good I guess!)
It's been really nice on Caye Caulker, the attitude is so relaxed, everyone is very much about the "Go Slow" personality, which is the town motto, they're also huge about Bob Marley and weed and just cchhiiilllin I guess but that's cool haha. Reminds me of some friends back home lol.
We woke up, got ready and headed to breakfast on the other side of the island. It took maybe 10 minutes to walk there, so you have an idea of how small the island is. I ordered a breakfast burrito instead of pancakes, I figured I should switch it ip since I've been having pancakes the majority of the trip... the tortillas in Belize are thick like flatbread tortillas but they're airy-er. The burrito was fine, it had bacon.. I don't like bacon... shoulda gotten the pancakes, they were served with fruit!
During/after breakfast we were fitted with fins and masks for snorkeling! We got ready, separated into chicken and fish boats and headed out at about 1030am. I had fish. We had at least a 30 minute ride out to the reef. The sky was really dark and it was windy, it looked like it was going to be pretty stormy.. I was kinda nervous because I didn't want to get caught in a bad storm.
when we were on our boat out, it started raining indeed! At first it was just sprinkling but then it started pouring! And it hurt, I thought it was hailing! We all started laughing because it was not perfect weather for snorkeling. It was like the "Perfect Storm" movie. The guides put a plastic tarp over us and we kept going. After maybe about 10 minutes, he rain stopped, it was sunny, and we were at our first stop, the coral garden.
We got in and swarm around for quite a while, there was some good coral to look at and lots of fish. I did notice that a lot of the coral was bleached - evidence of temperature change. They had a hurricane here not too long ago so maybe that's why. After that we got in the boat and our guides Patrick and Chilo (hot rasta guys) had lunch ready. There was rice with vegetables, pasta salad, and fish, that was prepared with tomatoes and green bell pepper. It was good! We had pineapple squash (juice) too.
We sailed to the next stop, shark ray alley. When we got there, Patrick threw in some shrimp and all the tuna were jumping up out of the water. It was crazy! We got in and the first thing I saw, besides the school of tuna swimming all around me, was the HUGEST sting ray I've ever seen in my life, in real life or on tv. It was at least 6 feet in diameter I swear! Not counting it's tail/stinger. I hope the pictures I got are good. We also saw nurse sharks. I got to pet one that Patrick caught. It was really cool to just swim with the sharks and fish and rays. They would get so close!
After that we had pineapple and watermelon. It was nice to eat after every dive because it got the salty taste from our mouths. We had another long "drive" to the last stop, Hol Chan Marine Reserve. This time we had to be divided into groups and stay with our guide. I went in Chilo's group. We saw sea turtles, one of which got really close to me and I got to watch it go up for air and go back down, that was neat! We got to see a green Moray eel, like in The Little Mermaid. If you clap hey come out of the dark places in the coral. We saw so many fish, some more rays, and we saw a cool cave, Chilo and one of the guys in my group went down it in but it was 15 feet down and I didn't want to die so I didn't push it. It was so cool to be down there!
We had ceviche <3 and chips after that dive! And pineapple juice and we sailed (literally with sails) back to the Caye. It was so awesome. The ceviche was good but I like mine better ;) lol. It was missing something. It was past 5 by the time we got back so I ran back to the hotel, showered and then went to dinner.
For dinner we had this awesome buffet, they had fish like the fish we had at lunch, also chicken that tasted like it had taco seasoning or something on it, mashed potatoes, rice and beans (the mixed kind), cole slaw, bread and watermelon. It was so yummyy!
After dinner I got some homemade chunky monkey ice cream and bought a few more things for souveniers for family and friends. But Now I'm almost out of belize dollars - luckily they take USD here, (all my change is in USD, but it's worth double here so that's good I guess!)
It's been really nice on Caye Caulker, the attitude is so relaxed, everyone is very much about the "Go Slow" personality, which is the town motto, they're also huge about Bob Marley and weed and just cchhiiilllin I guess but that's cool haha. Reminds me of some friends back home lol.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Caye Caulker, Belize; Day 21
Today we met at 8am, loaded up the bus and drove maybe 10 minutes to church in Orange Walk. The church had 20 foot fences all around it, it was crazy! They also had the name of the church in Spanish and english, which was odd but only prepared us for what would happen in sacrament meeting.. the ward we visited was a very small branch, we made up probably 95% of the ward's attendance today. The sacrament prayers were given in Spanish, both english and Spanish hymns were sung and each talk was translated to Spanish. They speak english alot here but they have to cater to the Spanish speakers here too because its such a small branch.
After church we had a 90 minute drive in our ghettobus with Frank to the port in Belize City. From there we took a 45 minute boat to Caye Caulker. The island is pretty awesome! The culture here is really interesting. The island is really small, you can see either end of it if you stand in the right place. There seems to be a lot of restaurants and bars and tourist shops, but a lot of local housing as well. I wonder what it would be like to live here!
We went to dinner right on the beach, I had a mango fish sandwich, I think it was tilapia. It was in a mango lime sauce and was with french fries, it was pretty good.
Our hotel is right on the beach too, its kindof awesome. Some of my tourmates went down to the dock and found these huge conch shells! Ill have to go down tomorrow and see if I can find some shells.
Yesterday at Lamanai I got eaten bad by bugs, even though I waa wearing 100% deet bug spray and pants. I have nasty bites up to my knees. Brother Stricklan told me to put nail polish over the bites to keep the eggs from growing.. eeeeeew! They itch like crazy.
Something else cool about Cayw Caulker is theres not many cars, most people drive golf carts.
At dinner, we were requires to write a poem or thought or something and share it for everyone. Afterwards they collected everything and said they'd make a poem book. I hope they do, they were all excellent and Id love to have a copy of them!
After church we had a 90 minute drive in our ghettobus with Frank to the port in Belize City. From there we took a 45 minute boat to Caye Caulker. The island is pretty awesome! The culture here is really interesting. The island is really small, you can see either end of it if you stand in the right place. There seems to be a lot of restaurants and bars and tourist shops, but a lot of local housing as well. I wonder what it would be like to live here!
We went to dinner right on the beach, I had a mango fish sandwich, I think it was tilapia. It was in a mango lime sauce and was with french fries, it was pretty good.
Our hotel is right on the beach too, its kindof awesome. Some of my tourmates went down to the dock and found these huge conch shells! Ill have to go down tomorrow and see if I can find some shells.
Yesterday at Lamanai I got eaten bad by bugs, even though I waa wearing 100% deet bug spray and pants. I have nasty bites up to my knees. Brother Stricklan told me to put nail polish over the bites to keep the eggs from growing.. eeeeeew! They itch like crazy.
Something else cool about Cayw Caulker is theres not many cars, most people drive golf carts.
At dinner, we were requires to write a poem or thought or something and share it for everyone. Afterwards they collected everything and said they'd make a poem book. I hope they do, they were all excellent and Id love to have a copy of them!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Orange Walk, Belize; Day 20
Wow. So today is such a blur I'm going to have to think about everything that happened! Haha. We woke up and met for breakfast at 630am. Our tour guide/travel agent guy Eric brought us breakfast, orange juice and ham sandwiches and bananas. It was weird to eat sandwiches for breakfast but they were good. We headed out to the Lamanai ruins after that. It was a short drive in our bus with Frank to the boat docks where we loaded HUGE coolers with our mystery lunch in it, provided by our ruin tour guide, Isidro. He was so cool! The thing I'm loving about Belize is the culture, they speak english but many of them speak Creole, and talk like they're Jamaican, and they're black! Its awesome, so different from Mexico yet we are still so close.
Our boat ride to Lamanai was great! The boats were really nice, we could have skiied behind them! He showed us lots of wildlife, there are manatees in the river but we didn't see any.. lots of birds and a couple crocs. We saw a Mennonite village! People who were kicked out of Chihuahua for their religion and now settled here. They are huge agriculturalists and drive horse and buggies.. they aren't allowed to own land, I think because they are citizens of Mexico, but they get like 150 year leases on their properties. That was cool but I feel bad for them because they are such spectacles for people taking the river tour, but they're just people!
When we reached Lamanai, we got off and headed up. We only got to see maybe 3 temples, the place is small and not too excavated, because they're trying to preserve it. They even put fiberglass on top of the masks at the main temple to protect it from human touch.
I noticed too today that the weather here is so nice, not nearly as hot or humid as it was at Palenque and those other places.. so grateful!
I forgot to mention that when we were on our boat ride, there was a baby lizard on the boat and it wad jumping around and crawling over people, it was so fast! It jumped and perched itself on my knee and then just sat, staring at me! Haha I was so scared it was going to jump in my face.. it finally jumped away but I got a good picture.
The lunch that Isidro brought us was AWESOME! Juices to drink, and then chicken in some sweet sauce, salad, coleslaw, watermelon and fried plantains.. so yummy! Oh and beans and rice, mixed together.. because rice and beans is separate, you have to know that if you order in Belize!
After lunch we had about a 45 min boat ride back and came back to the hotel, by then it was about 330.. I had Pearl of Great Price and Capstone class for a couple hours and then at 730 we had dinner. Before that though a few of us went to the convenience store to get snacks for tomorrows lunch/boat ride to Caye Caulker, and I picked up a last gift. :)
On our way back to the hotel I could hear music coming from our pool area, we were having a BBQ put on by Eric.. he totally was spoiling us! He was going to DJ too. I told everyone "we're hahvin a danz par-ty!.. can't chu hea the muuusic, mahn?" In my best Belize accent. Bro Strickland said I got it good :) haha. Eric fed us BBQ chicken, Belize style potato salad, rolls, baked beans and orange juice (its this bottled OJ, I don't know what it is but its some orange drink and its good!) It was all so yummy! He also had homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. Incredible, right? I think we can keep this guy.
So we had a dance party/pool party, after a while I came up to my room and did some homework and crashed. Tomorrow we go to church and head to the island of Caye Caulker! Caye is pronounced Key, like the Florida Keys!
Our boat ride to Lamanai was great! The boats were really nice, we could have skiied behind them! He showed us lots of wildlife, there are manatees in the river but we didn't see any.. lots of birds and a couple crocs. We saw a Mennonite village! People who were kicked out of Chihuahua for their religion and now settled here. They are huge agriculturalists and drive horse and buggies.. they aren't allowed to own land, I think because they are citizens of Mexico, but they get like 150 year leases on their properties. That was cool but I feel bad for them because they are such spectacles for people taking the river tour, but they're just people!
When we reached Lamanai, we got off and headed up. We only got to see maybe 3 temples, the place is small and not too excavated, because they're trying to preserve it. They even put fiberglass on top of the masks at the main temple to protect it from human touch.
I noticed too today that the weather here is so nice, not nearly as hot or humid as it was at Palenque and those other places.. so grateful!
I forgot to mention that when we were on our boat ride, there was a baby lizard on the boat and it wad jumping around and crawling over people, it was so fast! It jumped and perched itself on my knee and then just sat, staring at me! Haha I was so scared it was going to jump in my face.. it finally jumped away but I got a good picture.
The lunch that Isidro brought us was AWESOME! Juices to drink, and then chicken in some sweet sauce, salad, coleslaw, watermelon and fried plantains.. so yummy! Oh and beans and rice, mixed together.. because rice and beans is separate, you have to know that if you order in Belize!
After lunch we had about a 45 min boat ride back and came back to the hotel, by then it was about 330.. I had Pearl of Great Price and Capstone class for a couple hours and then at 730 we had dinner. Before that though a few of us went to the convenience store to get snacks for tomorrows lunch/boat ride to Caye Caulker, and I picked up a last gift. :)
On our way back to the hotel I could hear music coming from our pool area, we were having a BBQ put on by Eric.. he totally was spoiling us! He was going to DJ too. I told everyone "we're hahvin a danz par-ty!.. can't chu hea the muuusic, mahn?" In my best Belize accent. Bro Strickland said I got it good :) haha. Eric fed us BBQ chicken, Belize style potato salad, rolls, baked beans and orange juice (its this bottled OJ, I don't know what it is but its some orange drink and its good!) It was all so yummy! He also had homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. Incredible, right? I think we can keep this guy.
So we had a dance party/pool party, after a while I came up to my room and did some homework and crashed. Tomorrow we go to church and head to the island of Caye Caulker! Caye is pronounced Key, like the Florida Keys!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Orange Walk, Belize; Day 19
This morning I woke up at 5:50am and got dressed and went down to the beach to watch the sun rise :) there was maybe 10-15 of us that were down there at the beach.. at first it wasn't that pretty, there were lots of clouds in the way of the sun. But after a while the sun came out from behind the clouds and it was really beautiful. Just writing this now, I was thinking about how the sunrise can be like our lives? Sometimes its not that pretty, there's dark times and clouds that can prevent us from seeing what's next, from seeing the light. But!! If we keep our eyes to the SON, we will always see the brighter day, a beautiful end. I know its true!
After we ate breakfast and checked out we had a 3 hour bus ride to a Maya Culture museum - which ended up being closed. We did get to see other exhibits in the museum though, like an extensive Barbie collection. There was Barbies in there I had never even heard of! After that we got ready to cross the border to Belize.
We've gotten kindof close with out bus driver, Jose Luis. He came to church a couple times with us and testimonies were given in spanish for him. Our leaders have been talking to him about the church and he seems at least minorly interested so as a parting gift, we gave him a Book of Mormon in Spanish and wrote all our names and little messages inside about how we hope he'd share it with his family and pray about its truth and know that its important to us and because of that we want to share it with him, because we've grown to love him and want him to know it too. We also gave him a group picture of us from Mexico City and a generous tip for all he's done for us. It was sad to say goodbye to him and to our fancy bus!! :(
We got off our bus, handed over our passports and visas, got back on the bus and drove across the border.. them we got to customs and immigration, went through no problem and met our new bus. Its like a school bus only painted (appropriately) red, white and blue and it has air conditioning. There wasn't enough seats because we had to pack the luggage on the inside and the air conditioner leaked really bad everywhere haha.. it's gonna be a fun week!
We have somewhat of a tour guide/travel agent with us to show all the good restaurants and hotels. He also surprised us and told us that we're going ziplining on Tuesday! We've been bugging our tour directors since the very beginning but they said it wasn't possible. It'll be fun to go! We're missing the zoo though in order to go ziplining, Im kinda sad about that because the zoo was supposed to be really good but its ok
So we ate dinner at some restaurant and we all had American food. It was so good. Haha and everyone speaks english! Its so nice! There was a guy playing with a band at the restaurant, playing Tom Petty and Journey, and just some other good stuff. It was really fun.
After we ate breakfast and checked out we had a 3 hour bus ride to a Maya Culture museum - which ended up being closed. We did get to see other exhibits in the museum though, like an extensive Barbie collection. There was Barbies in there I had never even heard of! After that we got ready to cross the border to Belize.
We've gotten kindof close with out bus driver, Jose Luis. He came to church a couple times with us and testimonies were given in spanish for him. Our leaders have been talking to him about the church and he seems at least minorly interested so as a parting gift, we gave him a Book of Mormon in Spanish and wrote all our names and little messages inside about how we hope he'd share it with his family and pray about its truth and know that its important to us and because of that we want to share it with him, because we've grown to love him and want him to know it too. We also gave him a group picture of us from Mexico City and a generous tip for all he's done for us. It was sad to say goodbye to him and to our fancy bus!! :(
We got off our bus, handed over our passports and visas, got back on the bus and drove across the border.. them we got to customs and immigration, went through no problem and met our new bus. Its like a school bus only painted (appropriately) red, white and blue and it has air conditioning. There wasn't enough seats because we had to pack the luggage on the inside and the air conditioner leaked really bad everywhere haha.. it's gonna be a fun week!
We have somewhat of a tour guide/travel agent with us to show all the good restaurants and hotels. He also surprised us and told us that we're going ziplining on Tuesday! We've been bugging our tour directors since the very beginning but they said it wasn't possible. It'll be fun to go! We're missing the zoo though in order to go ziplining, Im kinda sad about that because the zoo was supposed to be really good but its ok
So we ate dinner at some restaurant and we all had American food. It was so good. Haha and everyone speaks english! Its so nice! There was a guy playing with a band at the restaurant, playing Tom Petty and Journey, and just some other good stuff. It was really fun.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tulum, Mexico; Day 18
Today was kinda a rough day.. last night I slept horribly, probably because the sea breeze makes everything wet around here so its just damp in our room. And it was hot. And my sunburn was killing me! I kept waking up and couldn't stay asleep so.. I just didn't sleep well. When we woke up and got ready, we went to breakfast here at the hotel.. I had pancakes :) and then our tour directors sat us all down for a talk.
I guess some kids were out on the beach past curfew (at BYUI its 12 so its kindof just assumed its the same here, although it should prob be earlier) last night so they were upset about that.. and they have told us from the beginning that there's no dating allowed during the tour, I guess they felt that we (as a group) have gotten to friendly and relaxed with each other and needed to be reminded. They named names! There's one couple that is with us that have been together for nearly a year and they've been so good, they never hold hands or hug or anything to stay within the rules. They always sit next to each other on the bus, but now the directors have asked them to find new seats. I think it's a little unfair, its not like the rest of us are using them as an excuse to break the rules or pair off because they 'get to', or that we see them as being exceptions. Their situation is totally different. I feel kinda bothered too because we're all adults and we should be treated like it.. but I guess if we can't act like it then obviously we won't be treated as such. But they're being so mature. I don't see anything wrong with trying to enjoy the trip with your best friend.
Anyways I recognize that its all for the betterment of the group and there's only 6 more days and they'll live.. we all will.
Today we went to the ruins. After the "come to Jesus" speech about rules, many pole were either given the option or told to stay behind because their sunburns were so bad. I knew I should stay behind but I went anyways. Half an hour into the trip I was DYING. Couldn't listen to the guide, all I wanted was shade and cold water because just being in the sun was hurting so bad. I enjoyed what of the ruins I saw, its a small place. It was super packed with tourists though, it was actually kindof bothersome... fighting to take pictures everywhere we stopped, and actually we were probably the most clothed people there, most people were walking around in their bathing suits. We did she a few LDS people though, that was fun :)
After the ruins we came back, or maybe -- yes, actually we went to a grocery store again to get food. And then we came back. I hung out with Brother Strickland in the SHADE on the beach and talked birds and boys and stuff haha. In the late afternoon I finally went in the water but I wore a shirt. Lots of people stayed back and didnt go to the beach because they got burned so bad. I was only in for a little while. The sand is so fine here, it sticks to everything!!
We went to dinner at the same place as last night. On the way there we stopped at the grocery store again because one girl bought Mexican vanilla to take home for her mom.. spent almost 200 pesos on a bottle for her and then realized after we left that it was so expensive because it was imported from the USA. LOL. So we went back to exchange that, also because there was a guy who's birthday was today.. we got cake and ice cream and ate it after dinner at the restaurant. It was like a chocolate tres leches cake, so good! I love tres leches.
Im sitting on the porch writing, its 10:30 pm and a bunch of girls are running up from the beach saying that they just saw a huge sea turtle come up from the water and make a nest and lay eggs! I wanted to see one while we were here at Tulum, there was an info sheet about it on our bedside table when we checked in, it got me excited. Im bummed I missed it haha.
Tomorrow we cross the border to Belize. It'll be interesting, I have two non-rolling duffels, a backpack, a jug of maybe 3 liters of water and a gnarly sunburn. Lots of stuff for one person.. should have taken my rolling suitcase lol.
I guess some kids were out on the beach past curfew (at BYUI its 12 so its kindof just assumed its the same here, although it should prob be earlier) last night so they were upset about that.. and they have told us from the beginning that there's no dating allowed during the tour, I guess they felt that we (as a group) have gotten to friendly and relaxed with each other and needed to be reminded. They named names! There's one couple that is with us that have been together for nearly a year and they've been so good, they never hold hands or hug or anything to stay within the rules. They always sit next to each other on the bus, but now the directors have asked them to find new seats. I think it's a little unfair, its not like the rest of us are using them as an excuse to break the rules or pair off because they 'get to', or that we see them as being exceptions. Their situation is totally different. I feel kinda bothered too because we're all adults and we should be treated like it.. but I guess if we can't act like it then obviously we won't be treated as such. But they're being so mature. I don't see anything wrong with trying to enjoy the trip with your best friend.
Anyways I recognize that its all for the betterment of the group and there's only 6 more days and they'll live.. we all will.
Today we went to the ruins. After the "come to Jesus" speech about rules, many pole were either given the option or told to stay behind because their sunburns were so bad. I knew I should stay behind but I went anyways. Half an hour into the trip I was DYING. Couldn't listen to the guide, all I wanted was shade and cold water because just being in the sun was hurting so bad. I enjoyed what of the ruins I saw, its a small place. It was super packed with tourists though, it was actually kindof bothersome... fighting to take pictures everywhere we stopped, and actually we were probably the most clothed people there, most people were walking around in their bathing suits. We did she a few LDS people though, that was fun :)
After the ruins we came back, or maybe -- yes, actually we went to a grocery store again to get food. And then we came back. I hung out with Brother Strickland in the SHADE on the beach and talked birds and boys and stuff haha. In the late afternoon I finally went in the water but I wore a shirt. Lots of people stayed back and didnt go to the beach because they got burned so bad. I was only in for a little while. The sand is so fine here, it sticks to everything!!
We went to dinner at the same place as last night. On the way there we stopped at the grocery store again because one girl bought Mexican vanilla to take home for her mom.. spent almost 200 pesos on a bottle for her and then realized after we left that it was so expensive because it was imported from the USA. LOL. So we went back to exchange that, also because there was a guy who's birthday was today.. we got cake and ice cream and ate it after dinner at the restaurant. It was like a chocolate tres leches cake, so good! I love tres leches.
Im sitting on the porch writing, its 10:30 pm and a bunch of girls are running up from the beach saying that they just saw a huge sea turtle come up from the water and make a nest and lay eggs! I wanted to see one while we were here at Tulum, there was an info sheet about it on our bedside table when we checked in, it got me excited. Im bummed I missed it haha.
Tomorrow we cross the border to Belize. It'll be interesting, I have two non-rolling duffels, a backpack, a jug of maybe 3 liters of water and a gnarly sunburn. Lots of stuff for one person.. should have taken my rolling suitcase lol.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tulum, Mexico; Day 17
Today was the most relaxed day ever. I decided that maybe the best days on these tours ate the days where you don't have a lot planned. Its so nice, in the middle of the hustle, to just sit down and relax! We got up at our hotel in Valladolid and could eat breakfast anywhere from 7-9. I/we went down at 8 and had pancakes <3, orange juice, eggs, a quesadilla and bread rolls. It was all so good. And it was a buffet so that of course makes everything better!
I went back to the store that closed early last night and *nearly* finished shopping. I have one more family to buy for. I really want one of these cool sitting hammocks but I can't figure out how Id get it home on the plane.
We got on the bus at 9 and left for TULUM! We got here about 1030 and first went to a grocery store to get food for the next few days. I stuck with PB just because its so easy. After that we drove to our hotel.
We are right on the beach, literally. It is so amazing. We are staying in these little huts with cute porches and hammocks.. its all really romantic.. haha. Its a place you would want to share with someone you love. Its a public beach but there's no one on it except us. La Vita E Bella, remember this hotel for future reference..
I was in the ocean for maybe two and a half hours. The ocean (actually its the Carribean Sea if you want to get technical) is really salty over here, I forget that about this side of the country. Pacific Ocean is better for that but the water is so warm!!! I put on sunscreen but I burned so bad, so did a lot of other people.. we had an aloe party, "Latter Day Saints Lathering It Up" because we were all so roasted.. we just stripped down and rubbed it on each others backs haha. I bought some finally that has Lanacaine and menthol in it. Best decision of my life.
Tomorrow we go to Tulum ruins, with an LDS guide if we can find one! And then we're supposed to have beach day again but I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to avoid the sun tomorrow!
I went back to the store that closed early last night and *nearly* finished shopping. I have one more family to buy for. I really want one of these cool sitting hammocks but I can't figure out how Id get it home on the plane.
We got on the bus at 9 and left for TULUM! We got here about 1030 and first went to a grocery store to get food for the next few days. I stuck with PB just because its so easy. After that we drove to our hotel.
We are right on the beach, literally. It is so amazing. We are staying in these little huts with cute porches and hammocks.. its all really romantic.. haha. Its a place you would want to share with someone you love. Its a public beach but there's no one on it except us. La Vita E Bella, remember this hotel for future reference..
I was in the ocean for maybe two and a half hours. The ocean (actually its the Carribean Sea if you want to get technical) is really salty over here, I forget that about this side of the country. Pacific Ocean is better for that but the water is so warm!!! I put on sunscreen but I burned so bad, so did a lot of other people.. we had an aloe party, "Latter Day Saints Lathering It Up" because we were all so roasted.. we just stripped down and rubbed it on each others backs haha. I bought some finally that has Lanacaine and menthol in it. Best decision of my life.
Tomorrow we go to Tulum ruins, with an LDS guide if we can find one! And then we're supposed to have beach day again but I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to avoid the sun tomorrow!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Valladolid, Mexico; Day 16
This morning we got up bright and early and headed out for Chichen Itza, a huge ruins site near Valladolid. We got there and there was almost no one there yet because it was so early. It was kind of nice! Instead of getting a guide for our huge group of 41, we divided into groups, one fluent Spanish speaker each and we got a book that told all about Chichen Itza and we got to go tour the ruins site in our own little grouPs. Chichen is the biggest site we've been to so far, and its the biggest we will go to. I think it might be my favorite because it was in a few different styles because different peoples lived here at different times.. it was cool to explore and I got some good pics!
I bought one more item on the way to the sacred denote at Chichen. Everything was so overpriced.. usually you can barter and get them down but here, their starring price was so high its impossible (almost) to get them down. They had some great stuff though, but they were charging at least 3x more than anywhere else we had seen similar items.
The sacred cenote is essentially a huge sinkhole with water at the bottom. They used to make offerings to the Gods by throwing in it gold handcrafts, food, and babies or virgins.. crazy stuff.
After Chichen we got go go swimming in a cenote, but this one wasn't used for sacrifice ;) it was inside a cave like at Loltun. Its called X'Keken or something, it was so beautiful. Almost completely natural. The only things that men did to this was make steps down into the cave, add lights, and put some ropes in the water.. you can stand on them so you're not treading water the whole time. There was fish and manta rays/sting rays swimming around in the water, haha! After a sweltering 4 hours in the heat of the day at Chichen Itza it was really nice to swim for a few hours in the cool water at the caves.
One thing I noticed at the cenote and as we walked around in Valladolid is that there are a lot of stray dogs around here. They're all so cute but so sad looking.. many of them show that they have had multiple litters of puppies, maybe used by the people here to make money. Many of them have scars and are mangey from disease. And so skinny! Tonight we were walking around in the zocalo and this puppy followed us around everywhere! I don't think they have ant sort of humane rescue service or anything here.. its so sad because they're just trying to survive and no one takes care of them. But they're all so nice!
Our hotel is good! We went to dinner and I had a Hawaiian hamburger haha with fries and a coke. The American is coming out. :) I had a good time looking around at shops, there was a really good one right down the street from our hotel but at 730 our teacher pulled us out for class, and when we got out an hour later they were closed! Everything shuts down so early in Mexico, its so weird! I guess I would have thought they would be big partners but maybe they just don't care about work lol.
Tomorrow we head to TULUM!! SO EXCITED. This is the day I think the majority of us have been most excited for, for the whole trip!
I bought one more item on the way to the sacred denote at Chichen. Everything was so overpriced.. usually you can barter and get them down but here, their starring price was so high its impossible (almost) to get them down. They had some great stuff though, but they were charging at least 3x more than anywhere else we had seen similar items.
The sacred cenote is essentially a huge sinkhole with water at the bottom. They used to make offerings to the Gods by throwing in it gold handcrafts, food, and babies or virgins.. crazy stuff.
After Chichen we got go go swimming in a cenote, but this one wasn't used for sacrifice ;) it was inside a cave like at Loltun. Its called X'Keken or something, it was so beautiful. Almost completely natural. The only things that men did to this was make steps down into the cave, add lights, and put some ropes in the water.. you can stand on them so you're not treading water the whole time. There was fish and manta rays/sting rays swimming around in the water, haha! After a sweltering 4 hours in the heat of the day at Chichen Itza it was really nice to swim for a few hours in the cool water at the caves.
One thing I noticed at the cenote and as we walked around in Valladolid is that there are a lot of stray dogs around here. They're all so cute but so sad looking.. many of them show that they have had multiple litters of puppies, maybe used by the people here to make money. Many of them have scars and are mangey from disease. And so skinny! Tonight we were walking around in the zocalo and this puppy followed us around everywhere! I don't think they have ant sort of humane rescue service or anything here.. its so sad because they're just trying to survive and no one takes care of them. But they're all so nice!
Our hotel is good! We went to dinner and I had a Hawaiian hamburger haha with fries and a coke. The American is coming out. :) I had a good time looking around at shops, there was a really good one right down the street from our hotel but at 730 our teacher pulled us out for class, and when we got out an hour later they were closed! Everything shuts down so early in Mexico, its so weird! I guess I would have thought they would be big partners but maybe they just don't care about work lol.
Tomorrow we head to TULUM!! SO EXCITED. This is the day I think the majority of us have been most excited for, for the whole trip!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Ticul, Mexico; Day 15
Today was a pretty awesome day!! We did so much. Last night after we got into the hotel, I was assigned my own room. I had a single double bed and I was kinda happy about it but also sad because because its fun to room with other people and get to know them.. also the balcony door doesn't lock so I was scared I would get kidnapped and no one would notice haha. We went out on a group and explored Ticul a little bit, it's a small down and they don't get a lot of tourists so we stuck out like flies in milk, or maybe the other way around..
Eventually some other girls got their rooms switched around because of some plumbing issues so a girl got switched into my room! :) I really like her, I've known her for about a year.. she served in a mission with a friend of mine from Galt, Adam Vuinovic.
Today we woke up and had an AWESOME buffet breakfast provided by our hotel. Fruit, eggs and salsa, juice, yogurt and PANCAKES. I don't think I've ever been so grateful for pancakes except on this trip. They also provided lunches for us but I had already packed my own.
Once we got on the bus we headed out to Uxmal ruins, which I was pretty excited about, it was the first one we have to see that is in the Puuc style.. we had a great tour guide to show us around. We saw tons of iguanas, some of them were HUGE! Some guys in my tour tried to catch them, they did get one of them! Those suckers (the iguanas) were fast!
We walked around Uxmal and I really enjoyed learning about the place. I bought some good souvenirs after ;) it's a secret so I can't post on here what they are!
After Uxmal we went to a Cacao museum. Its an indoor/outdoor ecomuseo for a working cocoa plantation. When we first got there, there was this bright blue statue of a man in ceremonial Maya clothes and with a big headdress. I was looking at it and then all of the sudden his eyes shifted -- he was alive! Haha he was so good! He stayed in character so well, his death glare sent chills down your back.. he held a conch shell and our professor would ask him to blow the conch but he just glared.. Brother Riggins would say "hey, you want ME to show you how to do it?" Haha it was funny. As we were leaving, Brother Richards said "the ladies just want to see you smile, a smile for a kiss?" (With plans to give blueman a kiss himself hahah) but he just tightened even more! So awesome. The guy couldnt have been more than 25 years old.
When we were at the plantation we got to watch them grind cocoa beans into a paste and make it into a drink... we all got a cup. It was bitter, even after adding sugar and spices but I liked it, it tasted really similar to Mexican hot chocolate and Abuelita!
Okay so after that we made a surprise stop at Loltun caverns. BEST SURPRISE EVER. It was a huge cave we had to walk down into, stalactites and stalagmites everywhere. We ended up going 45 meters underground and saw original cave paintings of handprints by the ore-mayas. We saw some at Uxmal too. The guide also took us to another part of the cave that is supposedly 'not open to the public', it had engravings everywhere on the rocks and had more paintings. It was like a large denote in this part. It was so beautiful, birds chirping and flying in and out.. at one point in the tour, he had us turn off all headlamps and cameras and lights and we were silent for a minute. We experienced what it was like to be in complete darkness like the Mayas. Crazzyy. There are also lots of grinding stones down there too.
After Loltun we came back to the hotel and they had dinner ready for us.. plain white rice, chicken and tortillas for fajitas and chicken enchiladas.. and watermelon juice. They have a thing for watermelon and canteloupe juice down here. It was all yummy! It was mexican but far enough from what we've been eating to give me a nice break.
Tomorrow we have to load luggage at 530am and leave by 6am so we can beat most the tourists at Chichen Itza, which is 3 hours from here. It'll be so cool to see that place but Im not looking forward to the drive. Im hoping to sleeeeep!
Eventually some other girls got their rooms switched around because of some plumbing issues so a girl got switched into my room! :) I really like her, I've known her for about a year.. she served in a mission with a friend of mine from Galt, Adam Vuinovic.
Today we woke up and had an AWESOME buffet breakfast provided by our hotel. Fruit, eggs and salsa, juice, yogurt and PANCAKES. I don't think I've ever been so grateful for pancakes except on this trip. They also provided lunches for us but I had already packed my own.
Once we got on the bus we headed out to Uxmal ruins, which I was pretty excited about, it was the first one we have to see that is in the Puuc style.. we had a great tour guide to show us around. We saw tons of iguanas, some of them were HUGE! Some guys in my tour tried to catch them, they did get one of them! Those suckers (the iguanas) were fast!
We walked around Uxmal and I really enjoyed learning about the place. I bought some good souvenirs after ;) it's a secret so I can't post on here what they are!
After Uxmal we went to a Cacao museum. Its an indoor/outdoor ecomuseo for a working cocoa plantation. When we first got there, there was this bright blue statue of a man in ceremonial Maya clothes and with a big headdress. I was looking at it and then all of the sudden his eyes shifted -- he was alive! Haha he was so good! He stayed in character so well, his death glare sent chills down your back.. he held a conch shell and our professor would ask him to blow the conch but he just glared.. Brother Riggins would say "hey, you want ME to show you how to do it?" Haha it was funny. As we were leaving, Brother Richards said "the ladies just want to see you smile, a smile for a kiss?" (With plans to give blueman a kiss himself hahah) but he just tightened even more! So awesome. The guy couldnt have been more than 25 years old.
When we were at the plantation we got to watch them grind cocoa beans into a paste and make it into a drink... we all got a cup. It was bitter, even after adding sugar and spices but I liked it, it tasted really similar to Mexican hot chocolate and Abuelita!
Okay so after that we made a surprise stop at Loltun caverns. BEST SURPRISE EVER. It was a huge cave we had to walk down into, stalactites and stalagmites everywhere. We ended up going 45 meters underground and saw original cave paintings of handprints by the ore-mayas. We saw some at Uxmal too. The guide also took us to another part of the cave that is supposedly 'not open to the public', it had engravings everywhere on the rocks and had more paintings. It was like a large denote in this part. It was so beautiful, birds chirping and flying in and out.. at one point in the tour, he had us turn off all headlamps and cameras and lights and we were silent for a minute. We experienced what it was like to be in complete darkness like the Mayas. Crazzyy. There are also lots of grinding stones down there too.
After Loltun we came back to the hotel and they had dinner ready for us.. plain white rice, chicken and tortillas for fajitas and chicken enchiladas.. and watermelon juice. They have a thing for watermelon and canteloupe juice down here. It was all yummy! It was mexican but far enough from what we've been eating to give me a nice break.
Tomorrow we have to load luggage at 530am and leave by 6am so we can beat most the tourists at Chichen Itza, which is 3 hours from here. It'll be so cool to see that place but Im not looking forward to the drive. Im hoping to sleeeeep!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Villahermosa, Mexico; Day 13
This morning we woke up and walked to the place we've been eating at for the last few nights and had breakfast. We had pancakes and bacon!! I didn't eat the bacon of course but it was so good to have an American breakfast.. we've been eating rolls and bananas and nasty Mexican juice for the last few days so this was so good.
After breakfast we loaded the bus and headed to La Venta in Villahermosa, in Tabasco state. We walked around for a couple hours there and saw some good big heads and altars and stuff from the Olmec era. They had a neat zoo section as well, we watched a boa constructor eat a baby chick. Haha it was sad but part of nature and definitely amazing to see. After La Venta we went to the Villahermosa temple. It was so hot outside I thought I was going to pass out. I noticed that all the temples we've been too are kinda cookie cutter temples, they look like Sacramento without the fountain and arches. But whats more important than aesthetics is that they have them here. And so many!
We arrived at our hotel which is actually probably the nicest we have had so far.. everything works right, its really nice haha. My only complaint is that there's no pool! Lol its currently 95 degrees with 63% humidity. But I guess I shouldn't complain because in 4 days its going.to be 111 here!
Tomorrow is fast Sunday and we have what is supposed to be an 8 hour drive to Ticul. I, and some others, have started our fast now so we can eat earlier tomorrow on the bus. We will only go to fast and testimony meeting tomorrow since we have such a long drive but we will have a testimony meeting on the bus. That'll be cool. I am fasting and praying hard this week, I hope that the Lord will accept my offering and guide me the way that he sees fit at this time.
After breakfast we loaded the bus and headed to La Venta in Villahermosa, in Tabasco state. We walked around for a couple hours there and saw some good big heads and altars and stuff from the Olmec era. They had a neat zoo section as well, we watched a boa constructor eat a baby chick. Haha it was sad but part of nature and definitely amazing to see. After La Venta we went to the Villahermosa temple. It was so hot outside I thought I was going to pass out. I noticed that all the temples we've been too are kinda cookie cutter temples, they look like Sacramento without the fountain and arches. But whats more important than aesthetics is that they have them here. And so many!
We arrived at our hotel which is actually probably the nicest we have had so far.. everything works right, its really nice haha. My only complaint is that there's no pool! Lol its currently 95 degrees with 63% humidity. But I guess I shouldn't complain because in 4 days its going.to be 111 here!
Tomorrow is fast Sunday and we have what is supposed to be an 8 hour drive to Ticul. I, and some others, have started our fast now so we can eat earlier tomorrow on the bus. We will only go to fast and testimony meeting tomorrow since we have such a long drive but we will have a testimony meeting on the bus. That'll be cool. I am fasting and praying hard this week, I hope that the Lord will accept my offering and guide me the way that he sees fit at this time.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Palenque, Mexico; Day 12
Today we had to be down in throe lobby for breakfast at 530am and on the bus at 6. So early! It wasn't bad though. We had to get up so early because our bus ride to Yaxchilan ruins was 3 hours. I guess its not a good area to stay the night in so that's why we're driving there and then driving back to Palenque. We got there and it was sorta overcast, I was thinking it might be cool weather but nope it was consistently hot and humid and within the hour the sun came sizzling out! We got in these cool little boats and took a 10-15 minute boat ride on the Usamacinta River to the Yaxchilan ruins. One side of the river is Mexico and the other side is Guatemala, we were really excited and were taking pictures and saying 'We're in Guatemala!!!' when we were on the boats.
Touring the ruins was cool, we had a guide again and he gave us a really good tour and explanation of everything. There are alot of steals still here at the site, though many have been moved to an anthropological museum in London. There are some really awesome lintels still intact here though!! That was way cool. We saw toucans and howler monkeys again. Like we did at Palenque. I brought my binoculars this time!
On our way out of the site, our tour directors surprised us and had our boat drivers take us to the shore at Guatemala. We got to stay for about 5 minutes, took a picture at a sign that said "Bienvenidos a Guatemala" and we left lol. Haha so it was unofficial and probably illegal and there's no stamp on my passport but I've been to Guatemala!
We ate lunch after the boat ride but it was so sultry outside I wasn't really hungry. We took the bus back to Palenque, 4.5 hours back. We got stopped by the Mexican Military National Guard but it was no big deal. We had pizza for dinner!!! Hawaiian and a veggie pizza and a jalepeno, avocado, chorizo pizza haha. It was so good.
Tomorrow we leave Palenque for Villahermosa. We will go to La Venta, which Im pretty excited for. Then on to the Yucatan! Uxmal, Chichen Itza, TULUM! And Belize!! The end of the trip is coming so fast, I can't believe it. Ill be grateful to step back on US soil though that's for sure!
Touring the ruins was cool, we had a guide again and he gave us a really good tour and explanation of everything. There are alot of steals still here at the site, though many have been moved to an anthropological museum in London. There are some really awesome lintels still intact here though!! That was way cool. We saw toucans and howler monkeys again. Like we did at Palenque. I brought my binoculars this time!
On our way out of the site, our tour directors surprised us and had our boat drivers take us to the shore at Guatemala. We got to stay for about 5 minutes, took a picture at a sign that said "Bienvenidos a Guatemala" and we left lol. Haha so it was unofficial and probably illegal and there's no stamp on my passport but I've been to Guatemala!
We ate lunch after the boat ride but it was so sultry outside I wasn't really hungry. We took the bus back to Palenque, 4.5 hours back. We got stopped by the Mexican Military National Guard but it was no big deal. We had pizza for dinner!!! Hawaiian and a veggie pizza and a jalepeno, avocado, chorizo pizza haha. It was so good.
Tomorrow we leave Palenque for Villahermosa. We will go to La Venta, which Im pretty excited for. Then on to the Yucatan! Uxmal, Chichen Itza, TULUM! And Belize!! The end of the trip is coming so fast, I can't believe it. Ill be grateful to step back on US soil though that's for sure!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Palenque, Mexico; Day 11
Today we woke up, had a small breakfast, and headed out for a short bus ride to Palenque Ruins.. this is like the big daddy of Maya ruins so I was excited to go! It was sooooooooo hot and humid. Haha I can't get over how sweaty we all are! I don't think I've ever felt anything like that before. We had three guides, Ernesto, Ernesto and Belen. The last two spoke English pretty well. The english speaking Ernesto told us some really great info that I hadn't learned in my class with Brother Raish. He also talked to us about why Palenque could have collapsed as a city. All these ruins are covered with stucco, but in order to make the stucco they had to have had lots of rock and have it go through this process with fire.. basically it took alot of wood and Ernesto said that they had to have cut down alot of the rainforest to make the city. No forest means the clouds and rain have no way to stop, they'll pass right over the city. No rain means no water for the crops which means no food.. no food means you have problems. I'm no meteorologist but it makes sense maybe?
We explored the ruins, sweated like DOGS, or PIGS, or some other nasty animal that sweats a ALOT. then we made a walk through the jungle! We saw more (actually alot) of rocks and ruins that are completely under the jungle. There is so much left unexcavated because the government wont fund a place that is so far from an airport/beach because its less of a tourist attraction than Tulum or Cancun or other places. Its really quite sad because Im sure theres really awesome stuff here! We continued and made it to a waterfall. It was so refreshing to even stick my feet in and relax. Some of the students full on went under the waterfall and got soaked.. I thought about it but I knew we had to be dry before we got on the bus and hot, wet clothes didnt sound fun to me.
I have "earned" the nickname 'Trouble' by Brother and Sister Riggins :) they call me that because I'm the exact opposite haha.. I am always on time, I don't go astray, listening, and they said they don't have to worry about me but they wonder if I'm even enjoying the trip lol. Of course I am though! I love them, they're so great.
We came back to town and went to a supermarket to buy lunches for the next few days. My plan was to do PB&Js for the next week for lunches but its basically impossible to find peanut butter in Mexico. They don't really eat it here I guess. Super depressing :( haha. Bro and Sis Riggins gave me 1/3 of a jar they had though so that'll last me a little while.
Tonight we had our Pearl of Great Price class. It was really good, we focused on Moses 7 and 8. One of my classmates commented on how important it was to her to love others because it pains the Lord when we don't. All we are supposed to do is two things, really. Love the lord and keep the commandments, its simple. It made me think of how grateful I am for the gospel and how I hope I can have a greater love for those around me.
D&C 50:23
That which doth not edify is not from God, and is darkness.
We explored the ruins, sweated like DOGS, or PIGS, or some other nasty animal that sweats a ALOT. then we made a walk through the jungle! We saw more (actually alot) of rocks and ruins that are completely under the jungle. There is so much left unexcavated because the government wont fund a place that is so far from an airport/beach because its less of a tourist attraction than Tulum or Cancun or other places. Its really quite sad because Im sure theres really awesome stuff here! We continued and made it to a waterfall. It was so refreshing to even stick my feet in and relax. Some of the students full on went under the waterfall and got soaked.. I thought about it but I knew we had to be dry before we got on the bus and hot, wet clothes didnt sound fun to me.
I have "earned" the nickname 'Trouble' by Brother and Sister Riggins :) they call me that because I'm the exact opposite haha.. I am always on time, I don't go astray, listening, and they said they don't have to worry about me but they wonder if I'm even enjoying the trip lol. Of course I am though! I love them, they're so great.
We came back to town and went to a supermarket to buy lunches for the next few days. My plan was to do PB&Js for the next week for lunches but its basically impossible to find peanut butter in Mexico. They don't really eat it here I guess. Super depressing :( haha. Bro and Sis Riggins gave me 1/3 of a jar they had though so that'll last me a little while.
Tonight we had our Pearl of Great Price class. It was really good, we focused on Moses 7 and 8. One of my classmates commented on how important it was to her to love others because it pains the Lord when we don't. All we are supposed to do is two things, really. Love the lord and keep the commandments, its simple. It made me think of how grateful I am for the gospel and how I hope I can have a greater love for those around me.
D&C 50:23
That which doth not edify is not from God, and is darkness.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Palenque, Mexico; Day 10
Today we checked out of our hotel in San Cristobal after breakfast and made our way to Agua Azul! It was about a 4-5 hour drive. When we got there it was SO hot and humid.. its like the jungle/rainforest out here! Agua Azul was so beautiful. At first we were swimming really far away from the falls behind some safety ropes, but then the lifeguards allowed us to go in groups right over to the falls. It was incredible how pale blue the water was. We took a group picture, while we were trying to do that, one girl slipped and started falling down the waterfall and almost went down, some of the students tried pulling her up but she had her back to us? So her back was bending. She was able to spin around and then a lifeguard came over and helped her up. Haha it was intense for a minute! Our teachers told us not to get any of the water in our mouths because we might get a parasite! Bbuuutt that's really hard when you're swimming? So we'll see what happens.
After Agua Azul we went to Misol Ha, another waterfall. It was beautiful. Alot of people wanted to swim here but we didnt get to. We found a bunch of fossils in the rocks at the waterfall, because its made of limestone and used to be underwater so there was seashells.
After the waterfall we finished our drive to Palenque.. dude it is so hot and humid here.. you take a shower, and immediately feel gross. I can't imagine living in this all the time, like in Florida or Georgia or Mexico lol. Im looking forward to everything though. We ate dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel, I wasn't feeling that great so I only had rice and beans.. and a banana liquado con leche (like a milkshake). After we boxed up our leftovers to give to poor people! There are so many around here who have nothing to eat, and our portions are so large we can't finish so we gave out our extra food.
After Agua Azul we went to Misol Ha, another waterfall. It was beautiful. Alot of people wanted to swim here but we didnt get to. We found a bunch of fossils in the rocks at the waterfall, because its made of limestone and used to be underwater so there was seashells.
After the waterfall we finished our drive to Palenque.. dude it is so hot and humid here.. you take a shower, and immediately feel gross. I can't imagine living in this all the time, like in Florida or Georgia or Mexico lol. Im looking forward to everything though. We ate dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel, I wasn't feeling that great so I only had rice and beans.. and a banana liquado con leche (like a milkshake). After we boxed up our leftovers to give to poor people! There are so many around here who have nothing to eat, and our portions are so large we can't finish so we gave out our extra food.
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