Hola, hola, hola! ยฟCรณmo estamos? ยฟMe extraรฑaron?
At this point I have passed the halfway point of my program and feel the decline to the end of the 5 weeks. I love my host family, and I love my professors, and I love Mexico. I feel as if I’m trying to hold on to every minute. I don’t want my time here to end.
This week was actually the most relaxed, slow paced week I experienced throughout the entire program. Between my sister getting an odd skin allergy, my closest friend from the program feeling under the weather, and two final exams at the end of the week, we stuck to our usual schedule of classes and added in pretty small activities of walking to the plaza to shop around (and relax in the AC) or heading to the movie theater (if only for the world-shattering Tajin Popcorn). Our finals came and went, one being an essay submission and one being an in class exam, the girls were feeling better, and Friday had arrived.
Although we had both good and bad experiences from the week before in Cuba, we all agreed the the salsa club had been the best activity we had done thus far and decided to visit one of Merida’s most popular salsa clubs, La Discordia by Mambocafe. The location offered a live band of attractive young salsa singers, dancers, and musician with people of all ages dancing and enjoying the night.
Saturday morning we went on an excursion to a place known as, La Casa de los Lotos, or FUNDEBIEN. This is an exquisite location with breathtaking scenery and design that was created to support and aid in the treatment of cancer through completely natural methods that focus on inner and mental peace.
Sunday was the first, and only free day that we received. In order to take advantage of that, all of us in the program, along with one of our tour guides since our first day (a Mexican student studying tourism), took a 4 hour trip to Tulum, a small town known for its amazing beach. We arrived on Saturday night, stayed in a cheap hotel, and spent all of Sunday at the beautiful white sand beach, Playa de Akumal.
I felt a mixture of emotions at the end of this week. I enjoy every experience that I have and feel immensely happy here. However, every time I see my professors, my host mama, or look at the great friends that I met here, Annie and Sylvia, I feel a slight pain because I know that I will say bye to them soon.
I don’t want this semester to end!