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!

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.

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.