This past weekend, our teacher took us more to the west of the island to spend some time where she grew up. We had planned to go to a cancer benefit and meet her parents and ended up having a lot of fun along the way.
While we were packing on Saturday, our teacher called us and told us to bring tennis shoes just in case, but on the way out to Arecibo, Jenn realized she forgot hers at home. However, this meant that we were able to stop at the outlet malls where we went to the Nike store to get some cheap shoes. The outlet malls are just like the ones at home, but the buildings of course look more tropical. That means they have those stucco outer walls painted in bright colors and those ridged orange shingles on the roof. We were only there to get shoes, but I want to go back because I saw a Juicy Couture store :).
We were going to Arecibo for the cancer benefit for one of my teacher's friends from high school. She doesn't get to see her graduated class that often, but when they get together, they pick up right where they left off. We stopped at her friend's house first to go all together. They had a very nice house in a gated community and a little puppy named "Si." The cancer benefit was something that I had never seen before. Pandero's play hand drums and bongos in different beats to raise money at a bar. They were playing outside and we were right on the water. Our teacher's friends danced with us to the beat and we met a lot of new people. We saw that they were making food in the back of the bar and asked our teacher if we were allowed to eat. We didn't realize you had to make a donation, but when our teacher took us over, she put money in for us to eat. We never expect that from her, but she always pays for us when we go out. We had traditional pork with rice and beans. Across the street, we saw a stand with some fried things and got a fried marlin, which has a special name, but I forgot how to say it.
Next, we went to a coffee shop called "Black Coffee" in her hometown, Utuado, to meet with some more of my teacher's high school friends. We ordered a ham and cheese plate and a cheesecake that had vanilla and red velvet layers. It was really good and we spent a while talking with her friends and she saw even more friends from high school that she knew.
Just about every barrio in Puerto Rico has these little holes in the wall called "chinchorros." It's basically four walls and a tin roof on the side of the road with a juke box and bar for everyone to hang out. There was a DJ there with karaoke and on the side was a small tent where they were making "pinchos" or a kabob. Jenn and I had a barbeque chicken one with Yucateco salsa on it. I felt like I was kind of at a hoe-down or something. The best part was when the young people arrived. They go from chinchorro to chinchorro riding their horses. These horses aren't regular big horses, they're kind of like mutts and they're a smaller and skinnier breed. The people ride them in groups together around the cars and then just park them on the sides of the road. Since we were in the mountains, the area was really hilly and sometimes the horses couldn't stop. What was even more hilarious is that the people riding them were in their regular street clothes. For example, you would see guy in baggy jeans, an Aeropostal shirt and Nikes racing on a horse. We told our teacher how it was odd to see someone like that riding a horse and how we usually think of them with tighter jeans, a button up shirt and cowboy boots. She said that they would actually think dressing like that is ridiculous. It was fun trying to drive away from the chincorro because my teacher was afraid the horses would come in front of her.
My teacher decided that it would be best for us to stay in a hotel for the night, so we drove back in to Arecibo where we stayed in a really cute villa. Basically, there were little houses on a street with 3 separate partitions which were the rooms. We had a small kitchen with a stove and everything, two full beds and our bathroom. We were so tired when we got there, we went right to bed and decided not to set an alarm. We ended up getting up around 8:30 anyways, and even though we spent all day Saturday eating, we were starved. We went to a cafe for breakfast where I had a bacon and egg sandwich with tabasco and fresh squeezed orange juice. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel to go to the Rio Camuy caves.
My teacher had grown up in this area and she had never gone to see the caves. We were all excited and went on the tour which had audio guides for everyone with headphones in addition to a tour guide. We took this little tram to the opening and entered in the cave, which had 2 openings. There was a huge stalagmite that probably took millions of years to make. There was a stalactite that was in the shape of a person's profile, and as you got closer, it started to smile. There were also pools of water, one of in which they found a new and unique species of shrimp. We went out the second opening of the cave which had a hole up to the sky but we couldn't continue up because there was a mudslide there a few days before. We returned back into the cave into a labyrinth where the bats live, and I was horrified. It was this really dark place with bats sleeping in the deeper parts and a river 150 feet below us. The river is actually carving out another cave below and it runs underground all the way from the north of the island to the south. Some bats came out to fly around and I was freaking out, but they didn't come near us. We took a bunch of pictures and headed to lunch.
One of my teacher's friends from the night before wanted to meet us for lunch, so we took a confusing road down the mountains to the lake in between all of them. After we parked, she told us we would be taking a boat over to the restaurant which was on the coast of the other side of the lake. We could've driven straight to the restaurant, but this was we got to see the lake and some scenery and do something fun. We got off the boat right onto some steps to walk into the restaurant, which was all outdoors, but the weather was beautiful to eat outside that day. They served authentic Puerto Rican food there and I got steak in a special sauce with salad and fried plantains. We also had a fried cheese appetizer in a fruit sauce and for dessert we had a mango pudding and fried cheesecake with ice cream. Everything was amazing! We stayed there for quite a while because my teacher's friend just came to have a drink and talk, but we had to leave when the boat was making it's last trip back to the parking lot.
Finally, it was time to meet my teacher's parents. They actually have a pretty interesting story. Back when her mom graduated from high school, the kids usually went up to the states to find work. Her mom wasn't going to go, but another girl decided not to go at the last minute, so my teacher's mom went instead. Her mom left her boyfriend here, who was named Mario Santiago. Turns out that the girl she traded places with had a boyfriend in Florida who was also named Mario Santiago. There wasn't good communication back then, so the girl had no way of telling her boyfriend she wasn't coming in. Mario from Florida came up to New Jersey to await the arrival of his girlfriend, but met my teacher's mom instead and fell in love with her at first site. He returned to Florida to work and decided to write letters to my teacher's mom. Since they were signed from Mario Santiago, my teacher's mom assumed they were sent from her sweetie in Puerto Rico, and not the new guy she met from Florida. They wrote love letters to each other and Mario from Florida fell in love with her. Not hearing from his girlfriend, Mario from Puerto Rico kind of drifted away from having a relationship with her. When my teacher's mom returned back to Puerto Rico to meet with the Mario she thought she was writing letters to, she learned that it was the wrong one all that time. They ended up getting married anyways and my teacher says that either way, she was going to have a dad named Mario Santiago.
Anyways, they live on the top of a mountain in a house that her dad built, which has another story behind it. When she first lived in her town, they lived by a river. One day, it was raining and raining and raining and the river started to rise, but her mom didn't want to leave because there were no warnings. Her dad spoke up and they left everything in the house to get all 7 kids and the parents into their small Volkswagon to go up the hill. The water ended up taking over their car and they all got out to get away safely. They ended up having to stay in relative's houses while their dad built their house on a piece of land as high as they could get. Now her mom has peace of mind that the river can't ever rise to take over her house. So it took us forever to get to her house because we had to wind up and up the mountain. It was too dark to see the scenery, but our teacher told us it was gorgeous. They were very nice and the dad talked to us a lot about how he lived in the states. The mom thought we were Puerto Rican at first because of our tans. We only stayed for a little while, but I'm sure we'll go back to visit.
My teacher's friend then called us to meet them at the chinchorro, because he had a friend for Jenn to meet. We stayed for a little while, and the guy was very nice and said he would take us around a bit. We got home pretty late and went straight to bed to get up this morning at 6. It was a busy weekend, and we're tired but we had the best time with our teacher. We couldn't be in better hands or more lucky to be with someone like her.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
time flies when you're having fun...
Wow, this week has flown by! I can't believe my last blog was on Monday. It's been busy and fun, let's just see if I can remember it all. All of my days are kind of running together here, and I basically have to look at my Facebook timeline to remember exactly what I did.
On Tuesday after school, we didn't want to do any work so we tried to avoid that as much as possible. We went to Walgreens and the market to get bananas and also got some sort of sherbert or frozen yogurt which is made on site with the fruit. We got a tamarindo sherbert and a nutella milk shake to share. We also went running with the other girls from the states. If I'm not mistaken, we did get our lesson plan done that night.
On Wednesday, Jenn and I went to the pool after school to do some laps and get some sun. I remembered some of the strokes from my 6 years of swimming lessons, so we got to change up the laps we did and got a good work out. After, we laid on the bleachers which are made of cement to tan. The swim team started coming about to practice so we got to watch them and then moved to the other side of the bleachers because the sun was making shadows on us. We hung out and took pictures before going back to our apartment. For dinner, we decided it would be a good idea to try to cook. Each floor in the building has a communal kitchen, so we went in to fry some croquettas and make Spanish rice. Everything turned out good, except the croquettas were a little burnt, but we're not used to electric stoves. That night, we watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," because the next day we would teach our lesson.
Thursday was kind of nerve-wracking because we would be teaching the background information on the Holocaust and connecting it with the novel for some background information. When we asked what students knew about the Holocaust though, most of them had no idea what it was. They had never heard that word, but had an idea about concentration camps. Luckily, each class had 1 or 2 students who knew about it, and they were able to share their knowledge with the class. We showed a history channel video we found in Spanish, and there were a lot of gasps. The class was really interesting because in our discussion format, every student was able to share their reactions and perspectives, which was also interesting for us to hear. They also turned in a book of activities we gave them to do with the book so we had to get down to grading those. For lunch, a lady will provide a menu of things she will bring in that day so you can put an order in. For $6 it's a big meal and a drink, so Jenn and I split the barbeque chicken, rice, beans and salad. It was more than enough for both of us and really good. After school, it was time to Zumba! We were so excited to see what it was like here and learn new dances. It actually wasn't as intense as classes I've taken in the states, but I don't think we went for the full hour, because things usually start late here, and it did start like 10 minutes late. Afterwards, we ran a little bit and found some of our students on the track, so we got to talk to them. They were really cute and excited to see us. After showering, we caught the train the Old San Juan to go to dinner at a Spanish restaurant. When we got off the bus, we saw a Starbucks, and we pretty much ran to it so we could get cakepops! I had been dying to have one for forever! Then we went to dinner at the restaurant. We got Jamón Serrano (something pretty much only found in Spain), mofungo, chorizo, and papas bravas to share. Everything was really good and our waiter brought us a flan for free at the end! When we got home, we went right to bed to teach again in the morning.
So today, we continued our lesson by watching a little of the movie and comparing it to the book. The students were really excited and had so much to say. The only problem I'm having is managing them, because they all want to talk and I have to remind them to go one at a time and raise their hands. We also had a student teacher meeting of the school where we learned more about the type of school we're in. Since it's a lab school, the parents have to agree to let their children be part of research and they have to be open to changing teaching methods because this is where the University tests how methods work. It was really interesting and we got to talk to other student teachers, and there are around 20 of us there. We are all really lucky to be working in that school.
I probably forgot a million other things I did this week, but those were the highlights :)
Tonight, we are all going to the mall.
Tomorrow, our teacher is taking us to her mom's house in the country.
Should be fun!
On Tuesday after school, we didn't want to do any work so we tried to avoid that as much as possible. We went to Walgreens and the market to get bananas and also got some sort of sherbert or frozen yogurt which is made on site with the fruit. We got a tamarindo sherbert and a nutella milk shake to share. We also went running with the other girls from the states. If I'm not mistaken, we did get our lesson plan done that night.
On Wednesday, Jenn and I went to the pool after school to do some laps and get some sun. I remembered some of the strokes from my 6 years of swimming lessons, so we got to change up the laps we did and got a good work out. After, we laid on the bleachers which are made of cement to tan. The swim team started coming about to practice so we got to watch them and then moved to the other side of the bleachers because the sun was making shadows on us. We hung out and took pictures before going back to our apartment. For dinner, we decided it would be a good idea to try to cook. Each floor in the building has a communal kitchen, so we went in to fry some croquettas and make Spanish rice. Everything turned out good, except the croquettas were a little burnt, but we're not used to electric stoves. That night, we watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," because the next day we would teach our lesson.
Thursday was kind of nerve-wracking because we would be teaching the background information on the Holocaust and connecting it with the novel for some background information. When we asked what students knew about the Holocaust though, most of them had no idea what it was. They had never heard that word, but had an idea about concentration camps. Luckily, each class had 1 or 2 students who knew about it, and they were able to share their knowledge with the class. We showed a history channel video we found in Spanish, and there were a lot of gasps. The class was really interesting because in our discussion format, every student was able to share their reactions and perspectives, which was also interesting for us to hear. They also turned in a book of activities we gave them to do with the book so we had to get down to grading those. For lunch, a lady will provide a menu of things she will bring in that day so you can put an order in. For $6 it's a big meal and a drink, so Jenn and I split the barbeque chicken, rice, beans and salad. It was more than enough for both of us and really good. After school, it was time to Zumba! We were so excited to see what it was like here and learn new dances. It actually wasn't as intense as classes I've taken in the states, but I don't think we went for the full hour, because things usually start late here, and it did start like 10 minutes late. Afterwards, we ran a little bit and found some of our students on the track, so we got to talk to them. They were really cute and excited to see us. After showering, we caught the train the Old San Juan to go to dinner at a Spanish restaurant. When we got off the bus, we saw a Starbucks, and we pretty much ran to it so we could get cakepops! I had been dying to have one for forever! Then we went to dinner at the restaurant. We got Jamón Serrano (something pretty much only found in Spain), mofungo, chorizo, and papas bravas to share. Everything was really good and our waiter brought us a flan for free at the end! When we got home, we went right to bed to teach again in the morning.
So today, we continued our lesson by watching a little of the movie and comparing it to the book. The students were really excited and had so much to say. The only problem I'm having is managing them, because they all want to talk and I have to remind them to go one at a time and raise their hands. We also had a student teacher meeting of the school where we learned more about the type of school we're in. Since it's a lab school, the parents have to agree to let their children be part of research and they have to be open to changing teaching methods because this is where the University tests how methods work. It was really interesting and we got to talk to other student teachers, and there are around 20 of us there. We are all really lucky to be working in that school.
I probably forgot a million other things I did this week, but those were the highlights :)
Tonight, we are all going to the mall.
Tomorrow, our teacher is taking us to her mom's house in the country.
Should be fun!
Monday, January 23, 2012
these are a few of my favorite things
Overall, I had a pretty good Monday, besides starting it at 6:40am to get ready to go to school.
We went to school and assisted the teacher as she prepared the students for a standardized test called PIENSE, which is an acronym that also means "think!" in Spanish. Since we're teaching 6th grade, our students have to take this test to test their abilities in math, English, Spanish, and comprehension to get into high school. Jenn and I assist individually while our teacher directs the class.
Later, we went to Walgreens to get some things we needed and most importantly, Nutella. It's the best thing and the most economical way to get chocolate, since a bag of mini snickers costs around $4 here. On the way back, we saw a lot of students in a froyo shop so we stopped in there. The frozen yogurts they make are all natural with tropical fruits. We got a small cup of tamarindo flavor and a small Nutella milk shake to share. We have to go back soon to try all the flavors.
After getting some work done, it was time for TACOS! I had been dreaming about the tacos I saw at the taqueria because they sounded authentic, so we went there for dinner with our friend Caleb. They were great! They had cilantro, onion, lime and salsa picante, exactly how I like them. I liked them so much I ordered my first order of 2 and then went back for 2 more.
The girls from Massachusetts told us about a free trial class of yoga in the neighborhood, so we went there afterwards. It ended up being 2 hours long, but I feel relaxed. It was fun to do because the teacher only spoke Spanish and I got to hear how a yoga class is held in another language. If we want to go back, it's $13 a session or $40 a month, so I think we will see if the rec center has any classes first and then think about it, since we'll only be getting busier in the classroom as time goes on.
Well, we had Nutella, froyo, tacos, and yoga in Puerto Rico. A few of my favorite things all in a place that I'm falling in love with.
Nos vemos :).
We went to school and assisted the teacher as she prepared the students for a standardized test called PIENSE, which is an acronym that also means "think!" in Spanish. Since we're teaching 6th grade, our students have to take this test to test their abilities in math, English, Spanish, and comprehension to get into high school. Jenn and I assist individually while our teacher directs the class.
Later, we went to Walgreens to get some things we needed and most importantly, Nutella. It's the best thing and the most economical way to get chocolate, since a bag of mini snickers costs around $4 here. On the way back, we saw a lot of students in a froyo shop so we stopped in there. The frozen yogurts they make are all natural with tropical fruits. We got a small cup of tamarindo flavor and a small Nutella milk shake to share. We have to go back soon to try all the flavors.
After getting some work done, it was time for TACOS! I had been dreaming about the tacos I saw at the taqueria because they sounded authentic, so we went there for dinner with our friend Caleb. They were great! They had cilantro, onion, lime and salsa picante, exactly how I like them. I liked them so much I ordered my first order of 2 and then went back for 2 more.
The girls from Massachusetts told us about a free trial class of yoga in the neighborhood, so we went there afterwards. It ended up being 2 hours long, but I feel relaxed. It was fun to do because the teacher only spoke Spanish and I got to hear how a yoga class is held in another language. If we want to go back, it's $13 a session or $40 a month, so I think we will see if the rec center has any classes first and then think about it, since we'll only be getting busier in the classroom as time goes on.
Well, we had Nutella, froyo, tacos, and yoga in Puerto Rico. A few of my favorite things all in a place that I'm falling in love with.
Nos vemos :).
Sunday, January 22, 2012
all I do is eat fish everyday of my life
So Friday night, we went out to get sushi in Bayamón with a friend we met here and it was exactly how ours is in the states and the place looked like Sushi Rock. Jenn and I split a spicy crab roll and a Godzilla roll, which were great, and in the rolls you got to choose if you wanted avocado, mango, or pineapple. We got mango in our spicy crab roll and it was really good! The other nice thing is that when a Puerto Rican invites you out, they pay. So when I was disappointed at the end when they didn't have a chocolate dessert, our friend took us across the street to Chili's to get molten lava cake. And anybody who knows me (or any server at the local Applebee's) knows I am a crazy person for molten lava cake.
Saturday, we wanted to get to the beach but were too lazy to hop on the bus and decided to go to the pool instead. But why would the pool be open on the weekends? And on top of that, why is it so unacceptable to lay out on the lawns of the university? Either open your pool or loosen your policy people!!! Well, Jenn and I found a small solution to our craving for a tan, we climbed to the top floor of one of the buildings (which have their hallways outside, and therefore, their stairwells outside) and set up camp on the stair landing. Then came the rain. This is tropical rain, though, you know, that kind that comes when the sun is still shining and only lasts for 5 minutes. So we curled up under our umbrellas like the crazy Americans we are and waited for it to pass. If a news helicopter passed over, they would have had quite an interesting story.
When we got home, we had an angry hamper full of clothes asking to be cleaned. Since he wouldn't do it himself, we walked him down to the laundry room with a few dollar bills. It's a good thing the change machine was out of order and the guy at the front desk had no quarters, because I never want laundry to be dull and unadventurous. In fact, my ideal Saturday afternoon is spent in the laundry room or walking around the neighborhood in my bathing suit cover up to get quarters. So that's exactly what I did. I walked to this taco place that could only give me 8 quarters, we scraped up some of our own, and then crawled on the floor by vending machines and the washers to find the final quarter we needed. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you already got to see me playing around in the laundry room and fitting myself into the machines. While we were in there, another exchange student from Ohio visited us so we all decided to do something later with him and the 2 other student teachers from Massachusetts.
After all the clothes were done, we all went out for more sushi to this new restaurant that just opened up nearby. Jenn and I split the amarillo roll, which had a sweet plantain, avocado, cream cheese and spicy mayo, the spider roll and another spicy crab roll. The amarillo roll was really really really good, by the way :). Then we decided to check our a few of the college hang outs, and one of them had music to dance to and karaoke. While one guy was singing "Preciosa," a huge patriotic song that everyone in Puerto Rico knows, Jenn and I were following the words and the DJ offered us a microphone, so of course we sang! Then a girl came up to us to find the list of songs and asked us to sing with her, so we signed up for "Material Girl" and got cheered on as we sang that. It was a really fun night overall.
Today, Sunday, we went for a run and went with the girls to the beach. It's always really windy there, but the water was nice and we got some good tans. Afterwards, we went to this restaurant by the beach called Metropol. I got ceviche which was really good!
Well, that's 3 days in a row of fish, so tomorrow I ordered ribs for lunch at school. I also found a taco place that has tacos al pastor, which are real tacos, not those American things everyone thinks are tacos. Hopefully I get to go there soon!
Saturday, we wanted to get to the beach but were too lazy to hop on the bus and decided to go to the pool instead. But why would the pool be open on the weekends? And on top of that, why is it so unacceptable to lay out on the lawns of the university? Either open your pool or loosen your policy people!!! Well, Jenn and I found a small solution to our craving for a tan, we climbed to the top floor of one of the buildings (which have their hallways outside, and therefore, their stairwells outside) and set up camp on the stair landing. Then came the rain. This is tropical rain, though, you know, that kind that comes when the sun is still shining and only lasts for 5 minutes. So we curled up under our umbrellas like the crazy Americans we are and waited for it to pass. If a news helicopter passed over, they would have had quite an interesting story.
When we got home, we had an angry hamper full of clothes asking to be cleaned. Since he wouldn't do it himself, we walked him down to the laundry room with a few dollar bills. It's a good thing the change machine was out of order and the guy at the front desk had no quarters, because I never want laundry to be dull and unadventurous. In fact, my ideal Saturday afternoon is spent in the laundry room or walking around the neighborhood in my bathing suit cover up to get quarters. So that's exactly what I did. I walked to this taco place that could only give me 8 quarters, we scraped up some of our own, and then crawled on the floor by vending machines and the washers to find the final quarter we needed. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you already got to see me playing around in the laundry room and fitting myself into the machines. While we were in there, another exchange student from Ohio visited us so we all decided to do something later with him and the 2 other student teachers from Massachusetts.
After all the clothes were done, we all went out for more sushi to this new restaurant that just opened up nearby. Jenn and I split the amarillo roll, which had a sweet plantain, avocado, cream cheese and spicy mayo, the spider roll and another spicy crab roll. The amarillo roll was really really really good, by the way :). Then we decided to check our a few of the college hang outs, and one of them had music to dance to and karaoke. While one guy was singing "Preciosa," a huge patriotic song that everyone in Puerto Rico knows, Jenn and I were following the words and the DJ offered us a microphone, so of course we sang! Then a girl came up to us to find the list of songs and asked us to sing with her, so we signed up for "Material Girl" and got cheered on as we sang that. It was a really fun night overall.
Today, Sunday, we went for a run and went with the girls to the beach. It's always really windy there, but the water was nice and we got some good tans. Afterwards, we went to this restaurant by the beach called Metropol. I got ceviche which was really good!
Well, that's 3 days in a row of fish, so tomorrow I ordered ribs for lunch at school. I also found a taco place that has tacos al pastor, which are real tacos, not those American things everyone thinks are tacos. Hopefully I get to go there soon!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
School and Sun
So we started teaching a few days ago, and we love it. We've helped decorate the classroom inside and out and are planning a thematic unit on "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," but in Spanish, of course. Sixth grade is kind of hard to control sometimes, but with some help from our teacher, we're doing really well. Sometimes it's hard to give the whole class in Spanish, but we're getting better at speaking too.
But the best part is how relaxed things are here. I don't really feel stressed out and we're mostly having fun planning the unit. So after school, we can just go swimming. And I'm not sure I've ever been swimming in January before, but it was so nice. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we swam around the pool, laid out, then put our feet in a little more. We're looking nice and tan now :).
We've also been watching a lot of Modern Family and other shows on hulu. We don't have a TV in here, like most students would bring, so we watch some stuff on our computers. After watching a few things, we got Mexican for dinner but their Mexican restaurants are a little different. We all know that Mexican food can be made really quickly, but the restaurants we have in the States are always sit down with a waiter and everything. Well, here every Mexican restaurant I've been to is one where you order at a counter and then they call you when the food is ready, which is kind of weird to me, especially since I was a waitress at a Mexican restaurant. Over all, the food is a lot cheaper at these restaurants but it's never spicy, Puerto Ricans don't really like spicy.
On our way to dinner, we ran into one of the teachers from our school and she was with 2 girls from Boston that will be teaching English with here. The teacher is a little intimidating, she actually sent Jenn and I an angry e-mail before we even got there saying to beware, because if we didn't "have full master of Spanish" we were going to be moved to teach English. Rose Marie, our teacher, has stood up for us though and always shares with her how well we are doing in Spanish. So there. Anyways, we are curious about the new arrivals and hoping we can make some new friends, since most of the people that want to hang out with us are creepy guys haha.
Well plans for this weekend are: Sushi with a new friend, beach, Plaza las Americas (which is a mall) and church.
Which reminds me, I didn't write about our church experience last week. But we went to a small Lutheran church where we were the talk of the town. Everyone had something to say to us. Afterwards, they were having a lunch for everyone, so we stayed from some real PR food. We had pork, rice, beans and salad and a sausage. While we were having the sausage, they decided it'd be a good idea to share with us how it's prepared. Oh you know, the meat is just ground up, placed inside the intestines and cooked in the blood from the animal. Blood sausage. If there's one thing I hate to think about while eating, it's that 1. my food was once alive and 2. it was prepared in a weird way. Just don't tell me that, and I can enjoy myself. The people were very nice and wanted to help us, but I think we're going to try a baptist church next. We haven't really found Pentecostal at all.
After church Sunday, we decided to go back to Old San Juan to visit the artisans in the festival of San Sebastian. We thought it'd be relatively calm since it was Sunday, but actually it was crazier than the weekend. We could hardly walk through the streets with all the people around. We had to just shuffle through crowds to get to the artisans. Then we went to a Spanish restaurant where they had flamenco and tapas, some of which I got to try in Spain, so I was excited to eat there.
Well that's the update. The only thing hard about this experience is getting up at 6:30 to teach in the morning, but since it get's dark around 7 anyways, it's not like I want to stay up late all the time.
I'll be looking for you on the beach!
But the best part is how relaxed things are here. I don't really feel stressed out and we're mostly having fun planning the unit. So after school, we can just go swimming. And I'm not sure I've ever been swimming in January before, but it was so nice. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we swam around the pool, laid out, then put our feet in a little more. We're looking nice and tan now :).
We've also been watching a lot of Modern Family and other shows on hulu. We don't have a TV in here, like most students would bring, so we watch some stuff on our computers. After watching a few things, we got Mexican for dinner but their Mexican restaurants are a little different. We all know that Mexican food can be made really quickly, but the restaurants we have in the States are always sit down with a waiter and everything. Well, here every Mexican restaurant I've been to is one where you order at a counter and then they call you when the food is ready, which is kind of weird to me, especially since I was a waitress at a Mexican restaurant. Over all, the food is a lot cheaper at these restaurants but it's never spicy, Puerto Ricans don't really like spicy.
On our way to dinner, we ran into one of the teachers from our school and she was with 2 girls from Boston that will be teaching English with here. The teacher is a little intimidating, she actually sent Jenn and I an angry e-mail before we even got there saying to beware, because if we didn't "have full master of Spanish" we were going to be moved to teach English. Rose Marie, our teacher, has stood up for us though and always shares with her how well we are doing in Spanish. So there. Anyways, we are curious about the new arrivals and hoping we can make some new friends, since most of the people that want to hang out with us are creepy guys haha.
Well plans for this weekend are: Sushi with a new friend, beach, Plaza las Americas (which is a mall) and church.
Which reminds me, I didn't write about our church experience last week. But we went to a small Lutheran church where we were the talk of the town. Everyone had something to say to us. Afterwards, they were having a lunch for everyone, so we stayed from some real PR food. We had pork, rice, beans and salad and a sausage. While we were having the sausage, they decided it'd be a good idea to share with us how it's prepared. Oh you know, the meat is just ground up, placed inside the intestines and cooked in the blood from the animal. Blood sausage. If there's one thing I hate to think about while eating, it's that 1. my food was once alive and 2. it was prepared in a weird way. Just don't tell me that, and I can enjoy myself. The people were very nice and wanted to help us, but I think we're going to try a baptist church next. We haven't really found Pentecostal at all.
After church Sunday, we decided to go back to Old San Juan to visit the artisans in the festival of San Sebastian. We thought it'd be relatively calm since it was Sunday, but actually it was crazier than the weekend. We could hardly walk through the streets with all the people around. We had to just shuffle through crowds to get to the artisans. Then we went to a Spanish restaurant where they had flamenco and tapas, some of which I got to try in Spain, so I was excited to eat there.
Well that's the update. The only thing hard about this experience is getting up at 6:30 to teach in the morning, but since it get's dark around 7 anyways, it's not like I want to stay up late all the time.
I'll be looking for you on the beach!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
La Playa
Today we decided we were going to find out how to get to the beach, which is almost always first priority when I study somewhere. We made friends with the guy in the subway station, so we went back to check with him about the route to take.
So we wait at a stop, that is really a small green sign that says you can get a bus there, for the #40. Bonus: during the weekend of el Festival de San Sabastían, the city takes a lot of the normal buses from their routes to transport people to the festival, leaving each route with 1 or 2 buses. So we were on the side of the road for about half an hour before having to wave down the bus to stop. That's right. You have to be standing up waving the bus as if you were telling an airplane where to land. I mean, it makes sense that you shouldn't get a ride unless you look like you really want it. Otherwise, keep your 75 cents for the subway, because that will just come to you without questions.
Anyways, we had a little help finding out where our stop was from the driver and an American man in his swim trunks and a Hawaiian shirt who was evidently going to... the airport. We were there in less than 10 minutes. So we just decided to walk straight down a side street near the stop at which we were left off and finally saw water. It was the beach! and we were so excited to see it. The sand area itself was kind of small, but after walking a little bit closer to the hotels we found a comfy palm tree to put our stuff by and lay under.
The water was kind of chilly but easy to get used to. We laid out and ate our PB&J's and bananas and decided that we would like to try to swim in a pool. If there was a sign that clearly said "RITZ CARLTON hotel guests only," I must have completely missed it. That, or I looked at it and decided that I would play hotel guest. It was so pretty in there with chaise lounges and cabanas and lions spitting water into the pool. But when we tried setting down our colorful towels, which contrasted against everyone else's white ones, we were offered different towels and then told if we weren't hotel guest we had to leave. We were relieved to get back to our luxurious palm tree in the sand where we could be appreciated. After swimming a bit and taking pictures, we had to leave to make sure the bus would still be running since it is a holiday and weekend.
Javier, the guy from the subway station, told us how good Puerto Rican chinese food was, so we decided take-out would be good for dinner. Then we needed to stop at walgreens to get crackers for our Sour sop marmalade, you know, made of the fruit that comes from the sour sop tree. And I'm not kidding, you can look up pictures of this thing and it's very tasty. Ok, Chinese food. We ordered "mofungo" which is something made with corn and plantains that Puerto Ricans love, which was actually pretty tasty but probably not the best mofungo, but we needed to try it. Jenn got sesame chicken which apparently only means sesame chicken and no rice. I got chicken lo mein with all appropriate condiments: soy sauce, duck sauce, and an american favorite, ketchup. I also ordered a taco because, as most of my friends know, I have an unhealthy obsession to a proper Mexican taco complete with cilantro, onions, lime and hot sauce, since I spent the last 6 months working at a Mexican restaurant. I was so excited for my taco until I bit into it and got a mouth full of tortilla, chicken, mashed potatoes and cheese. Good effort on their part though, they got the tortilla and chicken right.
Well, I gotta go sour sop my crackers.
So we wait at a stop, that is really a small green sign that says you can get a bus there, for the #40. Bonus: during the weekend of el Festival de San Sabastían, the city takes a lot of the normal buses from their routes to transport people to the festival, leaving each route with 1 or 2 buses. So we were on the side of the road for about half an hour before having to wave down the bus to stop. That's right. You have to be standing up waving the bus as if you were telling an airplane where to land. I mean, it makes sense that you shouldn't get a ride unless you look like you really want it. Otherwise, keep your 75 cents for the subway, because that will just come to you without questions.
Anyways, we had a little help finding out where our stop was from the driver and an American man in his swim trunks and a Hawaiian shirt who was evidently going to... the airport. We were there in less than 10 minutes. So we just decided to walk straight down a side street near the stop at which we were left off and finally saw water. It was the beach! and we were so excited to see it. The sand area itself was kind of small, but after walking a little bit closer to the hotels we found a comfy palm tree to put our stuff by and lay under.
The water was kind of chilly but easy to get used to. We laid out and ate our PB&J's and bananas and decided that we would like to try to swim in a pool. If there was a sign that clearly said "RITZ CARLTON hotel guests only," I must have completely missed it. That, or I looked at it and decided that I would play hotel guest. It was so pretty in there with chaise lounges and cabanas and lions spitting water into the pool. But when we tried setting down our colorful towels, which contrasted against everyone else's white ones, we were offered different towels and then told if we weren't hotel guest we had to leave. We were relieved to get back to our luxurious palm tree in the sand where we could be appreciated. After swimming a bit and taking pictures, we had to leave to make sure the bus would still be running since it is a holiday and weekend.
Javier, the guy from the subway station, told us how good Puerto Rican chinese food was, so we decided take-out would be good for dinner. Then we needed to stop at walgreens to get crackers for our Sour sop marmalade, you know, made of the fruit that comes from the sour sop tree. And I'm not kidding, you can look up pictures of this thing and it's very tasty. Ok, Chinese food. We ordered "mofungo" which is something made with corn and plantains that Puerto Ricans love, which was actually pretty tasty but probably not the best mofungo, but we needed to try it. Jenn got sesame chicken which apparently only means sesame chicken and no rice. I got chicken lo mein with all appropriate condiments: soy sauce, duck sauce, and an american favorite, ketchup. I also ordered a taco because, as most of my friends know, I have an unhealthy obsession to a proper Mexican taco complete with cilantro, onions, lime and hot sauce, since I spent the last 6 months working at a Mexican restaurant. I was so excited for my taco until I bit into it and got a mouth full of tortilla, chicken, mashed potatoes and cheese. Good effort on their part though, they got the tortilla and chicken right.
Well, I gotta go sour sop my crackers.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Festival San Sebastían
Que locura!
El Festival de San Sebastían is kind of like a block party for all of Old San Juan. Our teacher was excited to take us there, and we were excited to go! We hopped on the subway from our campus to Sagrada Corazón and then waited in line for a good while to catch the bus. All the buses there were reserved just to take subway passengers from the subway station to the festival. The buses were all lined up and were the only ones allowed on the streets. We packed into a bus and the police escorted a fleet of us into the city. They dropped us off a little far and we had to walk to my teachers house. Along the way we heard music, people singing and dancing and there were people along the sides of the street selling hats and accessories that lit up.
We got to my teacher's house and it was sooo cute! We walked down a hall until we got to a courtyard. On the other side of the courtyard, we entered her house. It's a one bedroom apartment and all the rooms - even the bathroom - open to the courtyard. She made us a dinner of chicken with peppers and onions and potatoes and salad, it was really good! We talked a lot, mostly about the politics of the island and the differences between them and us, and then went out to brave the festival. People were packed in the streets and the plazas converted into discos with a stage playing music and people dancing in front while street vendors sold traditional foods, which are mostly fried. In addition, they had some Mexican food like tacos and Colombian food like arepas. We left the house just in time to catch the festival ending, but we got a good feel for it and returned to her house to sleep on her futon with the courtyard doors open to have a nice comfortable breeze.
For breakfast, we had grapes, toast, cheese and orange juice before leaving to walk around the town. She showed us a lot of different important buildings, stores and we finally made it to El Morro, an old fortress from when the Spanish first got to the island. It was soo awesome and massive. It lies right on the coast so we got some beautiful views. We also had a lot of exploring through it because it has 6 levels. It was castle-like but also defensive and one of the coolest things I've ever seen. After we left there, we went to a different plaza where they were selling a lot of artisan things in honor of the festival. Everything sold there for the festival has to have certification that it was made in Puerto Rico using things only from the island. This stops cheap vendors from selling things made in China. I got some really nice hand crafted things for good prices. Next, she took us to the first governor house, for the "emperor Carlos V" who was the king of Spain during the conquista. It was closed inside, but we walked around the gardens, which were gorgeous, and got some great pictures. On the way to lunch, we wanted to try something authentic so we got "bacalaito" which is fried bacalao, or cod fish. It was really good and thin like a pancake but hard because it was fried, a weird combination. She took us to a restaurant called Vaca Brava and we shared a meal with steak, ribs, chicken and fries as well as tostones and a pitcher of Sangria. Everything was awesome and it was nice to get out of the sun for a little.
We went back to her house to rest for a bit before taking the bus and subway back home. Tomorrow we plan on going to the beach to get some more sun :). I love it here.
El Festival de San Sebastían is kind of like a block party for all of Old San Juan. Our teacher was excited to take us there, and we were excited to go! We hopped on the subway from our campus to Sagrada Corazón and then waited in line for a good while to catch the bus. All the buses there were reserved just to take subway passengers from the subway station to the festival. The buses were all lined up and were the only ones allowed on the streets. We packed into a bus and the police escorted a fleet of us into the city. They dropped us off a little far and we had to walk to my teachers house. Along the way we heard music, people singing and dancing and there were people along the sides of the street selling hats and accessories that lit up.
We got to my teacher's house and it was sooo cute! We walked down a hall until we got to a courtyard. On the other side of the courtyard, we entered her house. It's a one bedroom apartment and all the rooms - even the bathroom - open to the courtyard. She made us a dinner of chicken with peppers and onions and potatoes and salad, it was really good! We talked a lot, mostly about the politics of the island and the differences between them and us, and then went out to brave the festival. People were packed in the streets and the plazas converted into discos with a stage playing music and people dancing in front while street vendors sold traditional foods, which are mostly fried. In addition, they had some Mexican food like tacos and Colombian food like arepas. We left the house just in time to catch the festival ending, but we got a good feel for it and returned to her house to sleep on her futon with the courtyard doors open to have a nice comfortable breeze.
For breakfast, we had grapes, toast, cheese and orange juice before leaving to walk around the town. She showed us a lot of different important buildings, stores and we finally made it to El Morro, an old fortress from when the Spanish first got to the island. It was soo awesome and massive. It lies right on the coast so we got some beautiful views. We also had a lot of exploring through it because it has 6 levels. It was castle-like but also defensive and one of the coolest things I've ever seen. After we left there, we went to a different plaza where they were selling a lot of artisan things in honor of the festival. Everything sold there for the festival has to have certification that it was made in Puerto Rico using things only from the island. This stops cheap vendors from selling things made in China. I got some really nice hand crafted things for good prices. Next, she took us to the first governor house, for the "emperor Carlos V" who was the king of Spain during the conquista. It was closed inside, but we walked around the gardens, which were gorgeous, and got some great pictures. On the way to lunch, we wanted to try something authentic so we got "bacalaito" which is fried bacalao, or cod fish. It was really good and thin like a pancake but hard because it was fried, a weird combination. She took us to a restaurant called Vaca Brava and we shared a meal with steak, ribs, chicken and fries as well as tostones and a pitcher of Sangria. Everything was awesome and it was nice to get out of the sun for a little.
We went back to her house to rest for a bit before taking the bus and subway back home. Tomorrow we plan on going to the beach to get some more sun :). I love it here.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
We've Met our Teacher!
Oh Em Gee.
That's how I would describe our teacher. And this is OMG in a good way.
Ok, first things first. We e-mailed her last night to see what time to arrive at the school because the guy that picked us up at the airport kind of just dropped us off at our apartment and said "there's the school, there's the campus, down this road is some food, see you tomorrow."
When we got to the school, everyone greeted us and our teacher was so proud to have us there. She was so nice and had so much to say. She has such an awesome philosophy on education, I wish I could share everything she said, but some of her most important points were that conflict and mistakes are good things, because we learn from them. She told me that if I do something well, then that's great, and if I do it bad, then that's great too. She was sad to learn we wouldn't be there the whole semester and she's going to try to plan events for the times we are there so we can have more to experience. Jenn and I will be in charge of her 6th grade classes. We will be collaborating on lesson plans but will split the classes so that we teach the whole time for a period and then switch the next period. But all this school talk is nothing.
Tomorrow we will be attending the San Sebastian street festival in Old San Juan where my teacher lives. It's this crazy thing that millions of people go to and I have no idea what to expect. She invited us to stay in her house overnight, since the festival goes until all hours of the night. I'm so excited!!! Especially after being just dropped off like that yesterday, it was so refreshing to be invited into her home and to the festival with her.
After school, we shopped at Walgreens to get some stuff we needed and some food. After eating PB+J for lunch, we decided to walk around campus and most importantly, find the pool. We took pictures the whole way and found swimmers doing laps in the pool. The lifeguard said we could go swimming, but when I say I want to "swim" I really mean float around the pool soaking up sun, get out to tan, repeat. Hopefully the swim team rests a few days of the week. We found the track and decided we could jog there and we're going tomorrow. Even though it's 80 degrees, it's not too hot, there's a nice breeze to work out.
We found the subway here and the guard inside told us what bus to take to the beach. It's only 75cents so maybe we can donate 25 to any homeless person we see on the way. We got Quizno's after, which was soo good, I don't know why I don't ever go there in the States. I guess daylight saving's time is a curse everywhere because it got dark around 6 so we've just been in the apartment online and looking over student teaching stuff.
I just can't wait for the festival tomorrow! I will surely come back with stories to tell and hopefully only good things.
That's how I would describe our teacher. And this is OMG in a good way.
Ok, first things first. We e-mailed her last night to see what time to arrive at the school because the guy that picked us up at the airport kind of just dropped us off at our apartment and said "there's the school, there's the campus, down this road is some food, see you tomorrow."
When we got to the school, everyone greeted us and our teacher was so proud to have us there. She was so nice and had so much to say. She has such an awesome philosophy on education, I wish I could share everything she said, but some of her most important points were that conflict and mistakes are good things, because we learn from them. She told me that if I do something well, then that's great, and if I do it bad, then that's great too. She was sad to learn we wouldn't be there the whole semester and she's going to try to plan events for the times we are there so we can have more to experience. Jenn and I will be in charge of her 6th grade classes. We will be collaborating on lesson plans but will split the classes so that we teach the whole time for a period and then switch the next period. But all this school talk is nothing.
Tomorrow we will be attending the San Sebastian street festival in Old San Juan where my teacher lives. It's this crazy thing that millions of people go to and I have no idea what to expect. She invited us to stay in her house overnight, since the festival goes until all hours of the night. I'm so excited!!! Especially after being just dropped off like that yesterday, it was so refreshing to be invited into her home and to the festival with her.
After school, we shopped at Walgreens to get some stuff we needed and some food. After eating PB+J for lunch, we decided to walk around campus and most importantly, find the pool. We took pictures the whole way and found swimmers doing laps in the pool. The lifeguard said we could go swimming, but when I say I want to "swim" I really mean float around the pool soaking up sun, get out to tan, repeat. Hopefully the swim team rests a few days of the week. We found the track and decided we could jog there and we're going tomorrow. Even though it's 80 degrees, it's not too hot, there's a nice breeze to work out.
We found the subway here and the guard inside told us what bus to take to the beach. It's only 75cents so maybe we can donate 25 to any homeless person we see on the way. We got Quizno's after, which was soo good, I don't know why I don't ever go there in the States. I guess daylight saving's time is a curse everywhere because it got dark around 6 so we've just been in the apartment online and looking over student teaching stuff.
I just can't wait for the festival tomorrow! I will surely come back with stories to tell and hopefully only good things.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Why Puerto Rico?
So it's been a long time coming, but I'm finally in my last semester at The University of Akron, and being an education major, that means I get to spend it paying a full time tuition while holding a full time job teaching children. This backwards concept is better known as Student Teaching.
Since I'm more obsessed with the Spanish part of my Spanish Education degree and don't plan on getting a job as soon as I graduate (because I wish to travel more and get my Master's in Spanish), I decided that I wanted an experience that focused more on my Spanish.
My university shared 2 partnerships with Spanish speaking countries: one in Mexico City and one in San Juan, PR. My friend Jenn and I signed right up for Mexico since it was the cheaper option. We e-mailed with excited teachers, talked with our home-stay teacher and even learned about our classroom placements. Our magic carpet was pleasantly ripped out from under our feet when the study abroad office informed us that it would be a liability to send us to Mexico with the increase in crime there. They had shared that this had been the policy for a few semesters, but why should the College of Education keep tabs on that when they can let their students' hearts be crushed in a more personal way?
Anyways, our sights turned towards Puerto Rico, our only other hope of skipping January and February in Ohio and practicing our Spanish. I'm beyond excited for this experience! Jenn and I will be living in on-campus housing at the University of Puerto Rico in their capital, San Juan. We will be teaching 6th grade Spanish literature at the university's lab school. Our teacher sounds very nice and let us know we will be teaching grammar, then the book "The boy in the Striped Pajamas," and "The Color of my Words." (Both of which will be in Spanish, of course).
Being the lazy person I am, I am much more excited to spend hours on the beach and taking millions of pictures. However, this is going to look awesome on my resume and give me a teaching experience that will be much different than here in the States. I will learn more in these next 2 months than any of my college classes could ever teach me, and that makes it worth all of the money I have spent and plan on spending (mostly on cute dresses).
Anyways, if you can bear all this sarcasm that I can't seem to get rid of, stay tuned, and I will let you know if all this work is worth the mini vacations I plan on taking at any spare moment on the island.
Adios Amigos!
Since I'm more obsessed with the Spanish part of my Spanish Education degree and don't plan on getting a job as soon as I graduate (because I wish to travel more and get my Master's in Spanish), I decided that I wanted an experience that focused more on my Spanish.
My university shared 2 partnerships with Spanish speaking countries: one in Mexico City and one in San Juan, PR. My friend Jenn and I signed right up for Mexico since it was the cheaper option. We e-mailed with excited teachers, talked with our home-stay teacher and even learned about our classroom placements. Our magic carpet was pleasantly ripped out from under our feet when the study abroad office informed us that it would be a liability to send us to Mexico with the increase in crime there. They had shared that this had been the policy for a few semesters, but why should the College of Education keep tabs on that when they can let their students' hearts be crushed in a more personal way?
Anyways, our sights turned towards Puerto Rico, our only other hope of skipping January and February in Ohio and practicing our Spanish. I'm beyond excited for this experience! Jenn and I will be living in on-campus housing at the University of Puerto Rico in their capital, San Juan. We will be teaching 6th grade Spanish literature at the university's lab school. Our teacher sounds very nice and let us know we will be teaching grammar, then the book "The boy in the Striped Pajamas," and "The Color of my Words." (Both of which will be in Spanish, of course).
Being the lazy person I am, I am much more excited to spend hours on the beach and taking millions of pictures. However, this is going to look awesome on my resume and give me a teaching experience that will be much different than here in the States. I will learn more in these next 2 months than any of my college classes could ever teach me, and that makes it worth all of the money I have spent and plan on spending (mostly on cute dresses).
Anyways, if you can bear all this sarcasm that I can't seem to get rid of, stay tuned, and I will let you know if all this work is worth the mini vacations I plan on taking at any spare moment on the island.
Adios Amigos!
Birthday in Cancún
I haven't posted on here in a while, but figured I should start back up again considering I will be spending the next 2 months in Puerto Rico.
Anyways, all the way back in July, my older sister Jessica took me to Cancún to celebrate my birthday. We spent 4 days in the Zona Hotelera at the Flamingo Resort. It was all inclusive and our cheapest option and actually really nice.
When we arrived, our room wasn't ready so the hotel watched our bags while we got a few things to eat in the restaurant, which had a Spain theme that day, and headed to the bathrooms to change into our swim suits. Packed deeper into our suitcases was our sunscreen, which we decided to do without as we headed to the beach. The water was beautiful and the sand was white and floating through the waves seemed surreal because it was sooo nice. We were able to see all the hotels down the strip and other vacationers doing water sports. We then visited the pool where we played bingo and Jessica won a shirt.
The next day, my birthday, I wanted to visit the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, so we signed up for that trip. We took a bus from our hotel and were unaware that this trip would take all day and the site was 3 hours away. On the way, we stopped at a small Mayan village where you could buy all sorts of hand-crafted souvenirs. Then, we went to the pyramids. It was so cool to see all of the old ruins. There was their old ball field, platforms for sacrifice, and of course the pyramid of Kulkulkan. It had a total of 365 stairs and faces in a way that respects the equinox. Once upon a time, tourists were allowed to climb the stairs and go to the top, but this has changed to preserve the pyramid. It started to rain while we were there and there was a huge dark cloud over the pyramid, which is kind of creepy considering it was constructed for sacrifice. There is a hotel built near the property where we had a buffet lunch with traditional Mexican food. My favorite thing were the tacos with hand-made tortillas and pork with good salsas. We also walked around the hotel a bit. When we got on the bus, we were taken to Valladolid, a colonial city nearby. I was particularly excited because I had actually lived in a city called Valladolid in Spain when I studied there. It was very cute, but they just had us look around from the bus and we were on our way to the Senote which is a water source under ground filled with minerals and blind fish. Since we decided not to use sunscreen the first day, I really wanted to go into the water because it is said to have healing properties. The water was really cold but I still went in. There was a group performing on a small platform in the middle, like tribal dancers. There was also a farm-like setting with peacocks, chickens, goats and a horse. We were driven back to the hotel for the night and tried relaxing in the hot tub, but the hot tub wasn't up to our "hot standards" so we just watched Finding Nemo in Spanish and went to bed.
We spent the last day swimming some more and enjoying the beach and decided to go shopping afterwards. We wanted to get some souvenirs and go to the famous flea market so we hopped on the bus to go into the city. We had to get on the right one and pay a dollar and then find our way to the market. This was confusing because there were a few places falsely labeled because tourists usually don't know where they are going. Some people helped us to the market, and everything was so much cheaper than at the shopping center in the tourist area. We were able to get something for everybody. On the way back, we weren't sure where the bus stop was so we had to ask for some more help. It was so packed on the bus and so hot.
Well, that's most of what I remember about the trip. One night we had dinner on the beach as well, but I forget when that was.
Anyways, all the way back in July, my older sister Jessica took me to Cancún to celebrate my birthday. We spent 4 days in the Zona Hotelera at the Flamingo Resort. It was all inclusive and our cheapest option and actually really nice.
When we arrived, our room wasn't ready so the hotel watched our bags while we got a few things to eat in the restaurant, which had a Spain theme that day, and headed to the bathrooms to change into our swim suits. Packed deeper into our suitcases was our sunscreen, which we decided to do without as we headed to the beach. The water was beautiful and the sand was white and floating through the waves seemed surreal because it was sooo nice. We were able to see all the hotels down the strip and other vacationers doing water sports. We then visited the pool where we played bingo and Jessica won a shirt.
The next day, my birthday, I wanted to visit the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, so we signed up for that trip. We took a bus from our hotel and were unaware that this trip would take all day and the site was 3 hours away. On the way, we stopped at a small Mayan village where you could buy all sorts of hand-crafted souvenirs. Then, we went to the pyramids. It was so cool to see all of the old ruins. There was their old ball field, platforms for sacrifice, and of course the pyramid of Kulkulkan. It had a total of 365 stairs and faces in a way that respects the equinox. Once upon a time, tourists were allowed to climb the stairs and go to the top, but this has changed to preserve the pyramid. It started to rain while we were there and there was a huge dark cloud over the pyramid, which is kind of creepy considering it was constructed for sacrifice. There is a hotel built near the property where we had a buffet lunch with traditional Mexican food. My favorite thing were the tacos with hand-made tortillas and pork with good salsas. We also walked around the hotel a bit. When we got on the bus, we were taken to Valladolid, a colonial city nearby. I was particularly excited because I had actually lived in a city called Valladolid in Spain when I studied there. It was very cute, but they just had us look around from the bus and we were on our way to the Senote which is a water source under ground filled with minerals and blind fish. Since we decided not to use sunscreen the first day, I really wanted to go into the water because it is said to have healing properties. The water was really cold but I still went in. There was a group performing on a small platform in the middle, like tribal dancers. There was also a farm-like setting with peacocks, chickens, goats and a horse. We were driven back to the hotel for the night and tried relaxing in the hot tub, but the hot tub wasn't up to our "hot standards" so we just watched Finding Nemo in Spanish and went to bed.
We spent the last day swimming some more and enjoying the beach and decided to go shopping afterwards. We wanted to get some souvenirs and go to the famous flea market so we hopped on the bus to go into the city. We had to get on the right one and pay a dollar and then find our way to the market. This was confusing because there were a few places falsely labeled because tourists usually don't know where they are going. Some people helped us to the market, and everything was so much cheaper than at the shopping center in the tourist area. We were able to get something for everybody. On the way back, we weren't sure where the bus stop was so we had to ask for some more help. It was so packed on the bus and so hot.
Well, that's most of what I remember about the trip. One night we had dinner on the beach as well, but I forget when that was.
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