Jam-packed day

The famous arch that is seen in all tourist books about the ruins of Labna. The arquitecture is phenomenal! Why don't we have more arches in the US???

The pyramid where the temple and official offices were probably at. As you can tell, it hasn't been competely exposed because there are tons of rocks and grass under the upper-exposed part. I also took a picture in front of it so you could get an idea of how big it was!

The Sorcerer's Pyramid. I seriously don't remember what its official name is, but its Magician or Sorcerer something...! Sorry! This building looks huge while standing in front of it, but its even larger when you see it in the distance, just like in the picture below it. There are archaeologists working on this ruin trying to repair lost stones. This ruin is not able to be climbed either. However, I don't think I could have mustered up courage to climb it for how steep it was!

That is the Sorcerer's pyramid far in the distance. I hope that helps you understand how massive it is! It is absolutely beautiful! I'm excited to take Mom, Dad, and Neal to this site!

Thanks to our tour guide, (who called me angelita, which means "little angel"..haha..) he got a picture of me coming down the pyramid we were able to climb up and down on. It was very large and I of course was hanging onto over step because it was very steep! Zach, who is to the right of me in the picture just started running down the steps and I yelled at him to stop because it was freaking me out, but of course he is a guy and didn't listen! =)

On Friday our group went on an excursion to three different places. We went to the caves of Loltun, a mayan site called Labna, and Uxmal which is another archaeological site full of buildings with mayan arquitecture.

We spent a couple hours at Loltun because the cave tour took a little over an hour. It was such an amazing experience to be in deep, dark caves, but luckily they have proofed it for tourists so there are lights all through it. Our tour guide said that when people were first discovering the caves with torches, they would never come back out because they would never be able to find their way out, and I can understand why. The part that struck me the most was that when they were putting money into making the caves accessible to tourists was that they found a skeleton of an infant. But luckily, it wasn't there. It is now in an archaeological museum. We even got some pet therapy throughout the whole tour because the tour guide's dog decided to come along. She was sooo cute and she looked like the first dog I had.

After the cave tour we moved onto the mayan site of Labna where we were able to understand the difference between developed and un-developed Mayan sites. Labna is definitely an un-developed site because archaeologists ran out of money when they were exposing the buildings and ruins so there are a couple buildings that are sort of exposed and not fully exposed because there are still tons of rocks and grass all over them. There are mounds that look like little hills, but really there are buildings underneath them.

After Labna, we went to Uxmal and got to climb a big pyramid (I got over my fear of heights once again!). Uxmal is absolutely beautiful and very developed even though some of the buildings have not been exposed yet. There are archaeologists still working at the site repairing missing stones on some of the ruins. The site is absolutely huge, but definitely worth all the walking, climbing stairs, and sweating!! Luckily, there was a pool and restaurant just outside of the ruins, so we were able to fill our tummy's and cool off for a bit. Uxmal is just under 1 hour from Merida, so we all took a short nap in the van and had a relaxing night since we were all VERY worn out from the day.

A Caribbean Weekend...

The beach and water where we snorkled and spent the day on Saturday.

The other part of the beach.

The fruit plate we got both mornings at breakfast! It was absolutely delicious! I think I am now in love with coconut-flavored yogurt!

The door to our hostel...nothing special! I forgot to take a picture of the inside..it only had two shelves, two fans, and two bunkbeds...like I said, very rustic!

A very small portion of the ruins. It at least shows how the ruins are on a cliff right on the water!

I had a much-needed weekend of relaxation after last week's days of struggle and sorrow. I and three other girls from the program made the trek to Tulum, a town on the Caribbean that is four hours southwest of Merida. The girls and I decided Friday morning at 8:30 that we needed to get out of Merida for the weekend because we were going to have another 3 day weekend ahead of us that would be filled with us staying around the house. So, we decided to go to the Caribbean to get away. We looked at bus schedules and saw that the earliest bus left at 12:40PM, so we went for it. We quickly packed, got things in line for the weekend, called our parents, and we were off in a taxi to go to downtown Merida to catch a freezing, cold, air-conditioned bus (or at least freezing to us since we haven't had air-conditioning since being down here) for four hours. Luckily, they showed August Rush and Bee's Life on the way there. However, they were in spanish, but we picked up on a lot of new words that we didn't know before! It was a great experience. Once we were in Tulum, we took a taxi to the hostel we had called ahead of time. Students from this program that have gone to Tulum before have always gone to this hostel, so they were excited to have another group of people from the same program this fall! The hostel area itself is very rustic, but it was very relaxing to say the least. They gave us bikes to take into town since the hostel was a little over a mile outside of town on the main highway. That was an unforgettable experience as well because I haven't ridden a bike since middle school! After getting supper in town, we headed back to the hostel to sit around and talk to other people staying there.

We had no idea so many people from different countries in Europe came to the Caribbean. We met people from the follow countries: Israel, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, England, Australia, and India. We were the only Americans there! It was great to hear about their experiences, why they are here, and what their views of the United States are. Most of them said that the first thing they think of when they think of the US is that "we buy a lot of stuff". Haha....so true! The next morning we got up, had a wonderful breafast, and went to a free beach where there were sea turtles, sting rays, and beautiful fish. I got a little burned, but it was so worth seeing the see turtles, stingrays, and beautiful fish while snorkeling! Once we returned to the hostel, we rode our bikes into town....or at least I tried to. A little over halfway to downtown, a rock got in the back tire of my bike which made it flat. Thankfully, Angela, my roommate down here, was gracious to walk back to the hostel with me to get a different bike. Needless to say, I sweat more than all the other girls down here, and I was drenched in sweat by the time we got back into town during attempt #2. I had spaghetti with a sort of meat sauce that wasn't really meat.

I have been on a healthy food diet this whole summer and now through the fall (thank you Neal)...and I was so excited to see that my pasta was very healthy. It contained spaghetti noodles and the meat "sauce" was made up of: oil, sauteed onions, chopped tomatoes, and browned hamburger. I thought it was great and much less fatty than sauce from a can! After eating, we returned back to the hostel and were very tired, so we went to bed quite early. Sunday morning we woke up early, had breakfast, and headed for the ruins that are right on the ocean on a cliff before checking out of the hostel. The ruins were absolutely stunning but of course it was VERY hot! I hadn't sweated that much since being down here...it was really disgusting but worth it. I included pictures above. After the ruins, we went back, showered, checked out, had another meal at a restaurant in Tulum and got back on the bus headed to Merida. We arrived safely and I was very grateful to get away from everything for a weekend! I am going to miss having a place like the Caribbean only four hours away!!! I was also looking forward to getting back however, to talk to Neal and see how he was feeling and how his blood sugar had been throughout the weekend. He is starting to stabilize more, so thank you all for your prayers! I know he appreciates it!

Yesterday I also changed rooms at the Patronato and absolutely loved it! The kids were working on cutting on dotted lines and gluing the pictures they cut out onto paper. I was so proud of them! What patience and concentration! I remember having to practice doing that when I was younger and I hated it! I am very much looking forward to working them over the next couple weeks!

One of the hardest weeks of my life...

As you could tell from my last post, this week has been a tear-filled one. Like I said, Sunday was filled with missing Grandpa, feeling bad for Grandma and wishing I could spend time with her in person because she is one of my best friends in the whole world. We have a relationship that is unexplainable, but it is a very precious one to both of us. After seeing the dead dog too, I was just wanting my animals from home.. :(. Monday was a good day at the Patronato because I was able to speak lots of spanish with the teachers and students. However, when I got back from there I talked to Neal on skype and he told me he went to an opthamologist because he had been struggling with blurry vision that showed up all of a sudden. He had 20/20 vision Friday night and when he went to the opthamologist on Monday, his left eye was 70/20 (or vice versa) and his right eye was 20/200!! The opthamologist said he had never seen anything like that before. The doctor told him it could be because of dehydration or a sugar spike. Neal knew it wasn't dehydration because he had been so thirsty and been drinking water all weekend. So, he was then sent to a doctor to get blood work done and low and behold, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. That came as a complete shock to him, his family, and me. He told me he was very scared about it and that his mom was concerned so that meant I was very scared because I knew nothing about diabetes and he and his mom had grown up around his older brother having diabetes since he was 3 years old. His mom ended up driving up that night to be with him during blood tests on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I was overwhelmed because I am thousands of miles away and the love of my life is going through a huge change and adjustment. I was afraid of being out of the loop and not knowing what his routine was, etc. But, he has been a trooper and has been answering all the questions I have for him as well as trying to do a lot of research myself since I knew nothing about Type 1 other than he now being insulin dependent. Neal and I love having skype especially now because we can see each other, talk, and cry together, which has been happening a lot this week. There are a lot of concerns about health risks in the future as well as the adjustments he will need to make for the rest of his life, but I am especially confident that he will get through this and become a natural thing sooner than later. I am so proud of him and I want nothing more than to support him through anything and everything. This is still an overwhelming time but we are relying on God's provision and strength to get through this.

So this week has been dealing with adjustments Neal is making by checking his blood sugar, eating the right amount of carbs at each meal, and taking insulin. It has been such a joy and relief to watch him check his blood sugar by pricking his finger and watching him give himself shots of insulin. I feel as if I am there with him as I watch him do it. I even asked him if I could give him a shot sometime just because I want to support him and learn how to do it (not that I will need to give it to him) but we'll see if I actually do it since I hate needles!

On top of all these changes Neal and I are going through and discussing, I found out Monday night that my bunny, Oreo, died of old age. I was very upset Monday night when I found out and haven't cried that hard since Grandpa Berg died. He was such a great bunny, I just wish I could have said goodbye to him...I am just so thankful Caryn was there to rock him and keep him warm as he was going. I have also had the most homework this week that I have had since I have been here, so I am so glad it is the weekend!

I know that Oreo is in a better place and not alone. Maybe he is up in heaven hopping around?? I don't know if its true but I'm going to believe it to give me peace of mind. I also know that Neal is adjusting well and that I am learning his routine along with him. Finally, all my homework got done on time! So, now I can just relax and move forward knowing that God truly answers prayers and is there for us when we are full of joy and when we are filled to the brim with sorrow and uncertainty. God is sooo good!

P.S. Sorry this is soooo long! I just want to keep everyone up to date! :)

Phenomena at Dzbichaltun

Sorry that these pictures came out backwards!!!
The phenomena is already over...it lasted about 2 minutes.

Here is is!!!! Yay! It was sooo beautiful!

The sun is starting to rise just a little bit...

Good morning! It was about 5:30-45 at this time.

This was probably at about 5:15 when it just started to become light enough out that a silhouette of the building could be seen

This has been one crazy, tear-filled week, so I'm sorry that I haven't caught you up on what has been going on the past few days. This week started with Sunday morning waking up after a dream that my Grandpa that I was very close to was alive and I got to talk to him. However, this is not reality and I woke up thinking it was and was super excited but then I knew it was Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary that day. It would have been 59 beautiful years together. So to begin with, the day was already not a great one and then I saw a dead dog on one of the sidewalks closest to the house which made me think of Barklee, my puppy (not so much a puppy in size but he sure acts like one!). So needless to say Sunday itself wasn't that great except for the fact that I got to talk to both of my aunts and uncles as well as my Grandma on Skype Sunday afternoon. What a blessing! I am becoming more and more thankful for Skype as time keeps ticking faster and faster down here. (Sunday also marked 4 weeks that I have been down here. It has gone by so fast already that it is crazy to believe I only have a little over 10 weeks left!) But finally, Sunday was over when I went to bed early because our whole group was getting up at 4:30AM, mind you (on Monday, the easiest day to get up early, right??). We weren't just getting up that early to get up. If any of you know college students really well, this is not our ideal situation!

We got up and were on the road by 4:30AM Monday morning to drive to some very old ruins called Dzbichaltun. Back in its day, which dates back to when Christ was on earth (crazy to think about, right?!) this city was a hopping metropolis with about 40,000 people! Over the years, archaeologists have uncovered ruins here and broke away layers of a temple/pyramid because the mayans used to believe that the world came to an end every 52 years, so they would build a bigger and better temple around the previous one. The building in the pictures above is called the House of the Seven Dolls which was named by the archaeologists that found 7 miniature figurines inside. The preciseness of the mayan mathematics and observations of the sun's movement are exemplified very clearly in this building.

Twice a year there is an equinox which means that the sun is directly over the equator. One of the days is in the fall and the other is in the spring. When the equinox occurs, the sun beams straight through the two doors of the House of the Seven Dolls which I said before demonstrates the preciseness of mayan mathematics and movements of the sun. It is quite a phenomena to see so I was not upset about getting up very early to see it! When we got to Dzbichaltun, the stars were brighter and bigger than I had ever seen them before. It was a great morning for lots of prayer and reflection on how great my God is and that I am one of His daughter's even though I do not deserve it. He created the universe and everything in it. I think most of us forget that or when we read it in Genesis we just skim over it because we have been told that our whole lives. However, it truly becomes a fact and something very meaningful in a situation like I was so happy to be in on Monday morning. Praise God! One last thing, I guess we waited for 2 1/2 hours to see the phenomena take place, but being so wrapped up in glorifying Him who created the stars and sun, I had no idea it was that long. It only felt like 30 minutes to me. Maybe it was also because I took 130ish pictures during that time frame!! Haha....I just didn't want to miss a thing!

3 cenote tour in Cuzama

The second cenote with cave-like features, tree roots almost in the water, and clear water below were absolutely stunning!

Me taking the plunge into the third cenote, down the ladder. I had no clue what I was going to see below! Sorry I couldn't put any more pictures of the third cenote in this blog...

The first cenote. Absolutely gorgeous! I loved the water in this one...

Our horse-drawn cart ride on the tracks. I was impressed by my accidental photography skills. Somehow I focused on the horse and the rest is unfocused...

What the bike-taxi looked like. Poor peddlers!! Quite an experience!

Yesterday our group went to Cuzama, Yucatan which is a little over an hour from Merida to see 3 different cenotes. We had no idea really how to get there except to take a bus to the town and figure it out from there. We also had no idea how many different forms of transportation we would be using either! We took a taxi to the bus station in downtown Merida where we waited a little over an hour for our bus to take off. Once we were on the bus, we traveled for about an hour to Cuzama and got off the bus when the bus driver told us to get off.. haha. The second we stepped out of the bus we were swarmed by 10 bike taxi peddlers who were telling us they could bike us over to the cenotes. That was quite an experience! One of the other girls in our group that was in a different taxi has a picture of Liz and I, so I just put a picture of the other girls so you could see what I'm talking about!

When we got off the bike taxis after over a mile of riding and feeling awful that these guys were tired (even though we aren't that heavy), we thought we only had to walk a little ways to get to the cenotes. However, that was not the case. We ended up having to take a cart-type thing pulled by a horse on little railroad tracks. It was quite an innovation since the tracks were already there from when the hacienda not far from it used to bring henequen in from the fields on those tracks. We all of course felt bad for the horse, but he seemed to be loving it. The horse was very gentle because I went up and petted him and he looked like he was enjoying the attention :).

The 3 cenotes were very different from each other and a little ways apart, so we were very thankful for the work of the horse :). The way it worked was, the driver directing the horse took us to the first cenote and let us swim in it for 30 min. and then would come and get us to tell us we needed to move on to the next cenote. Then we went to the third cenote did the same thing, then made our way back to the second cenote, so that the horse didn't have to work that hard for very long. We definitely got exercise by getting down into the cenotes, swimming in them, and then getting out of them. In order to get down into the first cenote, we had to go down VERY steep stairs for quite a ways, the third cenote was down a ladder in a hole that took us down to it, and then the second cenote was down another long set of stairs. Quite the exercise we got yesterday!

When the horse-drawn cart brought us back into the little village, our bike taxi drivers were waiting for us because they asked if we wanted them to come back after 3 hours and of course we said yes! That was very convenient and nice of them. I was riding in the taxi with Liz and I mentioned to her that these guys must have leg muscles of the Greeks back in the day! However, our ride from the cenotes was a little different from the ride to the cenotes because it started thundering and lightning above us. But, we made it back into Cuzama just fine and there was a bus going back to Merida that was waiting for us!!! The day was very eventful and tiring, but we all agreed that yesterday was and would be a highlight of our trip. I am convinced that those cenotes are one of God's greatest and most beautiful creations. I'm thinking of taking mom, dad, and Neal there when they come down in 65 days!

Izamal--class field trip

Our group once we all got up on top of the pyramid!

The long, high climb on awful stairs that we made to get to the top!

One of the outdoor hallways outside of the sanctuary of the cathedral that reminded me of Sound of Music for some reason, so I took the picture!

The incredible, jaw-dropping altar in the cathedral.

The climb we made to get up to the cathedral. I love the antique look!

On Thursday I went with my Mexican Civilization class to a little town called Izamal. We thought the drive to the town would be a piece of cake until we realized that our Civ. professor did not have directions to the town...haha. We stopped and talked to a couple different people and made a lot of turn arounds, so it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there instead of 45 minutes which is what it would have taken us if she would have had directions! That part of the trip drove me nuts because again I like to know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there! Oh well, we got there safely and got to see the beautiful cathedral built on the base of a pyramid as well as old ruins/pyramid that are located there. The drive into the town was beautiful all the buildings were painted yellow just like the Vatican is, or so I hear :) so the longer drive was worth it!

It was so neat to see the old architecture in the cathedral and think of how long that building has been standing. After that us girls ate our sack lunches while our professor from Central and his wife along with our Civ. professor ate at a restaurant. They said they would be back in 45 min. but we knew that wasn't possible. After 1 1/2 hours of waiting for them to show up, our Civ. professor came and picked us up and told us that the Central professor and his wife would have to find their way to the ruins because they were taking way too long to eat at the restaurant.

The ruins/pyramid were amazing! It seemed so tall and I wasn't sure I would climb up them because of my fear of heights, but I told myself that this is probably the only time I would be there, so I climbed them and climbed back down without screaming or freaking out once. I was so glad I did climb it because I was able to see for miles! However, I don't think I had sweated so much since playing volleyball by the time we got down from the pyramid. It was nice and cool up there because of the breeze, but it was very hot when we got back down!

Dia de Independencia! Viva Mexico!!

The governor's palace after the proclamation was read and we were all yelling "VIVA!" The confetti was a lot of fun :) The palace was decorated so pretty with Mexico's colors of red, white, and green.

The governor's palace on the left, stage ahead, and the historical cathedral a little behind and to the right of the stage. You can get a little understanding of how closely we were packed in there around people through this picture!

Our group before heading downtown! I was told after I put my dress on that I looked festive, but Mom and I bought that dress because we thought it was cute, but not for Mexico's Independence day. (I didn't even know when it was before coming down here!) I didn't even think about it being festive until I had it on and all the girls were telling me! haha....

The traditional dish served yesterday or today for Independence Day! It was delicious! The cooks even made festive placemats, pins, and even bought us little Mexican flags! They are so creative!

The nicely decorated dining room for lunch!

Today is Mexico's Independence Day! Viva Mexico! Last night our whole group went downtown to the Gran Plaza which is across the street from the Governor's palace where her office is. We were told ahead of time that there would be thousands of people there, but I didn't truly comprehend that until we got there. We stood in the middle of a street with thousands of people around us. It was super hot but also hilarious because we saw other pockets of American students studying in Merida in different spots on the street we were on as well. We all stood out like sore thumbs, but thats ok! We talked to a group from Calvin College in Michigan so that was cool to hear about their experiences! I'm assuming the town their college is in is Dutch as well! Everyone (including us) was/were standing around on the streets to listen to a couple bands on a stage between the governor's palace and a historic cathedral. But we also were waiting to hear the governor read the proclamation of independence from Spain that was read so many years ago. However, it took her forever to get out onto the balcony of the governor's palace. The band would play trumpets and drums to call her out onto the balcony, but they would play, stop, wait, play, stop, wait, play, stop, wait and so we all waited awkwardly for about 20 minutes for her to come out onto the balcony. That reflected Mexico's understanding of time! If that was happening in America, everyone would be upset because everything wasn't flowing from one thing to the other. The other sad thing was that the governor didn't even end up reading the proclamation. Another guy read it and the governor herself just yelled "Viva Mexico!" "Viva Yucatan!" etc. and we all followed her chant with "VIVA!". We were going downtown just for that part (called "El Grito" or the cry) because that was one thing our director wanted us to witness. The neat thing was that I could really sense the passion to be independent from the people around me.

Backing up a bit, for lunch yesterday decorated the dining room and our place settings. We were even fortunate to have the traditional meal served the day before Independence Day or on Independence Day. The nice thing about having Independence Day in the middle of the week is that we don't have classes today! I hope you enjoy the photos from yesterday and last night! :)