Hello again! I know it has been quite a while since my last
post, so I guess it is about time for an update! Since I last wrote about my
Mexican Adventure in the beginning at March- nearly TWO months ago- a lot has
happened.
March 23rd
- 25th: Tuxpan
We had a Rotary trip to Tuxpan the third weekend of March.
Tuxpan is about four or five hours north of Veracruz. The four exchange students from my Rotary Club
were to travel together, leaving Friday morning at 8 a.m. from Veracruz. We
arrived on time, passed through the doors, and started to look for our bus.
Every bus station employee we asked told us our bus had not arrived yet. After
ten minutes, the next person we asked said the bus had left, TEN MINUTES AGO!!
We immediately started telling them how NO ONE had told us, we didn’t hear the
announcements, etc. In the end, we had to change our tickets, and wait three
hours in the bus station. We got to Tuxpan around 4:30 in the afternoon, and we
met up with all the other exchange students from the state of Veracruz at a
pool party. It was awesome to see them all again, just like a family reunion!
We were assigned host families for the weekend, and we went to our new houses
to get ready for the evening. I was staying with Paola, an Outbound to Germany,
with Charlotte (Germany, lives in Veracruz) and Florence (Belgium, lives in
Veracruz). We had a lot of fun chatting
and hanging out. We went out for dinner with all the exchange students, hung
out some more, and then headed back to our houses. The next day, Saturday, we
went to some ruins, called Tajin. I really enjoyed it because they were not
quite as populated by tourists and they were really cool ruins! On Sunday, we
had a pool party/ pot luck at a hotel. It was a great time hanging out with all
the exchange students and Outbounds! Of course, I returned home redder than a
tomato, but besides that it was a lot of fun!
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| With my German friend, Jula! |
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| Charlotte (Germany), Paola (Outbound to Germany), me, Jula (Germany), Florence (Belgium), and Cleo (USA) |
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| Voladores de Papantla: Flyers of Papantla |
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Me, Jula, Kara (Australia), and Amy (USA)
At Tajin |
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| Germans dressed up like Veracruz natives "Jarochos!" |
Semana Santa (Holy
Week): April 1st- 15th:
In Mexico, Holy Week is a nationwide holiday, celebrated
with up to two weeks of vacation from school and work. Some jobs only have a
few days, but most of the elementary and high schools have two full weeks off.
Since my host parents at the time are teachers in a middle school, they had
lots of time off and decided to take the exchange students from our Rotary Club
to a hotel in Tierra Blanca for a couple days. So Monday, April 2nd,
my host parents took Aino (Finland), Edouard (France), and I on a mini
vacation. We spent hours in swimming, playing volleyball and soccer, laying in
the sun, and singing Karaoke! We came
home on Wednesday with lots of stories to tell.
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| Desi, Me, and Aino |
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| Aino and I dressed up dancing in our cabin! |
Thursday, April 5th: My first host family took
Aino (Finland), their current exchange student, and I on a trip to Queretaro.
Queretaro is about 7 hours away from Veracruz, in the center of the country. It
is a really cool colonial town with a lot of history, especially as part of the
Mexican Revolution. As part of our stay, we took a nighttime tour of the old
“Casonas” as our tour guide told the legends associated with them. I tend to be
frightened pretty easily, so I spent the evening constantly making sure there
were no ghosts or any other suspicious creatures following us. Our weekend
ended on Sunday with a long drive back to Veracruz!
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| Aino and I in a park in Queretaro! |
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| Friends! In front of a fountain :) |
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| Host Sisters! Nora, Me, and Aino |
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| Beautiful Church |
Tuesday, April 10th: My friend Elaine Anderson,
fellow Watertownian and Rotary Youth Exchange student living in Villahermosa, came
to visit me in Veracruz for a week! We took her around Veracruz, visiting “famous” places,
spending time at the beach, eating lots of ice cream, walking around the plaza,
and getting caught up after 8 months in Mexico! It was a lot of fun and I am so
glad she came. I’m working on a visit to Villahermosa in the next few weeks!
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| Visit to La Parroquia with Elaine |
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| Lunch on a lazy day |
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| Me, Marcela (Brasil), Aino (Finland), Desi (2nd Host Mom), Elaine, and Florence (Belgium) |
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| Aino's Future Telling Card Game! |
Friday, April 13th: Changed to my last host
family! I had a wonderful time with my second host family so it was a bit
difficult to “say goodbye”, but it is just another phase in my exchange year. I
am now living with my last host family, and I’m back to the other side of Veracruz.
I really enjoy being so much closer to town.
Saturday, April 14th: We had our Rotary Club’s
Anniversary Dinner on Saturday. Here are some pictures!
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| Aino (Finland), Desiree (2nd Host Mom), Marcela (Brasil), Edouard (France), Me, Jorge (2nd Host Dad) |
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| Me, Marcela, Angela Perera (Aspiring Congresswoman for Upcoming Elections), Aino, and Elaine |
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| Marcela, Ely (1st Host Mom), AIno, Me, Edouard |
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| Club President's Wife Lucero and I |
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| Singing Karaoke! |
April 20th-
22nd: Rotary Trip!
We had another scheduled trip with all the exchange
students, this time to nearby Xalapa (the capital of Veracruz) and a camp
called “Mexico Verde”. They piled us all on a bus and we drove the two hours to
Xalapa, where we visited an anthropology museum. Next step was a bit of
shopping at street stands, I bought some adorable homemade earrings. After
that, they took us to “Mexico Verde” for the rest of the weekend. We played
typical camp games, did an obstacle course (in my opinion, taking kids who have
been in a country for 8 or 9 months eating a lot and rarely exercising to a
physically challenging activity is a pretty bad idea), and spent hours talking.
Once again, it was awesome to see all the exchange students. It was the last
trip for several of the students, so there were a few sad goodbyes.
April 29th:
Day Trip
Last Sunday, a Rotary family took me on a trip to some nearby towns. We
visited “La Antigua”, home to the first church of America and Hernán Cortes’ house.
It’s a really neat place to visit because of the rich history. After “La
Antigua” we went to Cempoala to check out some ruins. I didn’t know that all
these archeological sites existed so close to Veracruz! Next, we went to
Chachalacas- to the beach! On one side is the river; on the other is the ocean.
We spent a few hours swimming and laying out in the sun before going to eat a
nice seafood lunch. One of the foods I have been able to enjoy a lot this year
is seafood, and I have found that my favorite is octopus! Yum! By then it was
getting late and they took me back to my house.
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| Tree used to tie up boats back in the 1500s, when the water still reached it! |
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| Me with Rotary family! In Hernan Cortes' bedroom! |
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| Really cool building, trees are intertwined- if they cut down the trees, the walls fall down. Amazing! |
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| Just posing! |
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| Bridge.. |
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| Ruins in Cempoala |
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| Meditating.. |
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| Re- Enacting our 12th Birthdays |
Well, that’s the update! As of May 1st, I
officially only have two months left in Mexico. It seems like just yesterday
when I had just finished two WEEKS here! I am getting excited to see my whole
family once again, especially those who I haven’t been able to talk to very
much throughout the year. Lucky for me, we’ve got a few weddings coming up!!I
plan on enjoying the little time I’ve got left, although the heat may kill me!
May is supposed to be one of the warmest months in Veracruz, and I can already
feel the temperature rising. My dad and I keep joking that I’m going to freeze
when I go back to Watertown, but I think there’s a lot of truth to the
statement!
Thanks for reading!
