The rest of the story

So it amazes me how much I can learn in a four month block and how much I can build myself up and think that I am indeed a much wiser woman than I used to be, and then how easily I can be brought down again. Maybe it's a self-esteem thing, but I think it's a God thing.

I can't tell you how many times I've been hurt by someone who I thought was a friend or I lost someone who I thought was a really good friend unexpectedly. Well, I guess I can, because I'm going to.

In grade school, it was my friend Danielle. Half-way through sixth grade I wasn't allowed to be her friend anymore, and it was probably explained in rational reasoning in her 3 page long note that she stuffed in my locker, but all I can remember is being so hurt that I didn't finish it, threw it in the garbage, and went into the bathroom and cried for a while. It's really hard to not have any friends at all when your graduating 8th grade class is 8 people most of whom you grew up with from the time you were born. That's 3 years without friends...
it kinda hurt.

Which is what made high school so important to me, because there I found truly amazing friends and I tried to do my best to show them that I appreciated them. Sometimes I would spiral out of control and blow up and have a fit and be a drama queen, but friendship is truly remarkable in that it takes so much more than that to break it apart, at least in my friendships it did, and it still does. Those men and women that I am still friends with are such a blessing to me I can't even describe it. Senior year, I found out what it felt like to be replaced. Mrs. Kearney once told me that some friendships are not meant to last... as true as it may be, it doesn't make it hurt any less even after you come to that realization... I love Shelly and I love Krista, but Shell and I were never the same after we graduated... and it was hard to deal with at the time.

Then came college, where I learned even more about friendship, because I helped to cause the demise of a friendship that could have been even better than it was for Hannah and I when we were at our very best. We could have matured together and helped to build each other up, but we both made decisions that prevented that from happening and here we both are, on different life paths, both relatively happy I believe. But it hurt so deeply to lose something we both thought would last a lifetime, or at least I did. I never want to put words in Hannah's mouth again... I learned that lesson the hard way.

Those are three instances in my life that I am still healing from, friendships can leave deep wounds even as they can give infinite comfort.

Here in Mexico, I accidentally hurt someone that I admire and care about very very very much. Her name is Sarah and in the past few weeks she has become part big sister, part best friend, and part mentor to me. It's scary because the first thing that came to mind was, "Oh God, please don't let me mess up again. Don't let me lose another friend". And while that may not happen, our relationship will change because of conflict or challenges, that's the natural development of friendship, that's how it becomes stronger. I used to say when I was younger that I didn't like change, I guess in some ways that's still true.

The point of all of this is that now, even though I'm scared and disappointed in myself and praying that I didn't set myself up for another failure, I know that in each one of my examples God was working and still is working to teach me more about the capacity to love one another and myself, about human character, and about strength. If I have learned anything this semester, it is that God is present in every part of my life all the time. My pain has a purpose, for each tear that I have cried here I have had a thousand hours of sunshine and laughter and insight into the world, others, and myself.

I want all of you to know that as well. That God is working in your life every second of every day of every week of every month of every year. That in your pain there is purpose. Especially when you can't see or feel Him, He's there working with you to help you fulfill His goal for you.

I have a request. I am going to ask each of you to pray for strength, focus, and peace for me because this next week is very full of a lot of emotional and stressful things: projects, papers, finals, good-byes, conflict resolution, building of friendships, and endings of so many good things here, in anticipation of the good things to come this summer and next semester. I am not ready to face half of the things that are coming up, but the world does not work on my schedule, so I have to be ready and willing no matter what. I pray for peace for each of you in your daily battles with the world around you and with yourself. Thank you for your constant encouragement. I love all of you very very much.

*sighs* Maybe now I can sleep.
<3s

So we’ll see how much I can get down in the rest of my compy’s battery. I know I haven’t written in forever, but there’s gotten to be a routine about my life here. And it rarely involves sitting in front of my computer anymore, as well it shouldn’t. There’s a lot of life to be lived and culture to be seen, even if it involves lying by the pool daily...

There’s a cast of characters that needs to be shared with you all. The people who play a big part of my life or the people that you should know about. This involves names and actual characteristics, which once blew up in my face, but I feel it’s important to give dimension to this setting in my life. I’ll start by going around the bus in which I’m currently riding.
The Valpo Crew
Enrique – Sally, my director’s husband. He’s the father figure, protector, and endless fountain of interesting colloquial stories. Where Sally knows facts, Enrique knows jokes or legends. He’s one of the sweetest old men I’ve met, he always has a smile on his face and I can see my dad turning into him when he gets older, at least in some ways.

Sally – Our program director. She’s just a fountain of knowledge in general. I love her candid way of speaking in general and the way that she mixes the best and worst parts of both the American culture and Mexican culture. I hope that I can some day I can be as knowledgeable about any topic let alone the topics that she covers which is Mexican culture and pre-hispanic culture. I’m trying to glean as much wisdom from her as possible.

Jessica – I didn’t know Jess until coming to Mexico, but she’s a sweetheart. I’m very glad to be getting to know her still. She almost always has a smile on her face, and that’ll brighten your day. It has been interesting watching her grow since being here, but who hasn’t?

Daisy – She is with our group from Ithaca College in New York, and in some ways is one of the reasons why east coast people get their bad name. She is honestly one of the least positive people I have ever met, and I can’t help but wonder why. It seems like she’s gotten everything that she ever wanted her entire life. But that could just be the illusion that she puts forward, along with being world, and knowing everything. She can make valid points in discussion and her perspective on world events is very informative and interesting, but sometimes I listen to her talk about things and I am reminded that I never want to be that kind of person ever: selfish, self-obsessed, materialistic, etc. Suffice it to say I’m having a hard time loving her.

Patrick – the ONE guy from Valpo, he has been a huge support for me in a lot of ways and I am very thankful for his friendship. He never fails to make me laugh and has been a mixture of big brother, friend, and now boyfriend (?). There never fails to be male drama in my life.

Mel – Melissa Ford is my favorite girlfriend, I’m so glad that she and I are getting as close as we are. I easily consider her one of my best if not my best friend on this trip. I don’t know what I would have done without her in February when I was making one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make yet in my young life, a decision that caused me to grow in so many ways that I am still discovering. She always has a word of encouragement, no matter how her day is going. In short: She makes me smile.lots.

Anni – It’s no wonder that three separate people each (so that’s six) recommended us to each other before we left for Mexico. She’s a peach, a doll, and all other sorts of old-fashioned terms of endearment. There are some things that she and I share instant understanding about and I admire her adventurous spirit, one thing I want to do is help her learn how to love the beautiful person that she is more….

Liz – I really don’t spend a lot of time with her, but I probably should make more of an effort to get to know her. I’m having trouble reaching out to those people who do not want to be reached out to right now…

Leah – Yay for meeting people in CORE class! Leah and I knew each other last year and have had the pleasure of getting to know each other even more now. She is fantastic and a bundle of surprises. I like seeing new aspects of people a lot!

Courtney - I had no idea who Courtney was except that she was a junior… She’s been really awesome to get to know so far and kinda like a mom in that she’ll take care of me because I don’t need to be taken care of all the time. I feel like we have an equal friendship, which is nice… balanced = perfect.

Kelly – The only way I had heard of Kelly before is when she and Tom had been dating because I knew Tom. Thankfully though, I have had an opportunity to get to know Kelly by being here with her and she is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. It’s nice to know that I share a goal of growth with so many people being down here, and she’s one of those people. I’m excited to see how our friendship will grow once we get back to Valpo as well.

Krista – I want to be Krista Proctor. I have no other way of putting it. She is one of the strongest people that I’ve met and that is just one of the thousands of reasons I look up to her. I remember meeting her before Mexico happened, because I was thinking of tutoring at this mission place near Valpo, and being really intimidated by her. She’s just a wonderful, wise, beautiful woman of God and with out her advice in a lot of situations I would have been a little lost sometimes. Our discussions, goals, and dreams coming out of Mexico are things that I will carry with me for a long time.

Mallory – Oh Mallory… she is possibly one of the most naturally funny people I have ever met, EVER. That’s probably why I like it so much and her so much, because she is natural, she never tries to hard, you never want to ask her for an explanation of her actions, she’s just who she is. I admire that so much and I’m very glad that she and I have had the opportunity to spend time together and make each other laugh and build each other up.

Miss Brenda – Unfortunately, my friend Brenda had to return home due to prolonged illness in Mexico. That’s a loss we’re still all lamenting because Brenda is a beautiful human being that always brings spark to any conversation or group in general. Someone always seems like they are missing at every class we have and every group trip we go on. And even though I (and everyone else) know that it was for the best that Brenda went home to get better, we still all wish she could be here with us, enjoying the daily adventures that we have.

Casa Verde People…(I’ll try to explain Casa Verde a little later on)
Wess – Singer and guitarist for the praise band that Casa Verde has for Tuesday worship and one of the staff interns. I have a huge crush on him and I shouldn’t because he is in a relationship and a huge flirt on top of that. He’s a great, funny guy full of encouragement and support for anything you want to do. He was one of the first people that made Casa Verde such an enticing place for me to go learn about God’s love and fellowship.

Juan – My fake husband who convinced me to marry him at the Casa Verde Valentine’s Day party, and a good friend who is also filled with kind words and encouragement every time I see him. I guess I consider him my first date here in Mexico which could be wrong and was definitely awkward, but I have learned so much from his patience, friendship, and attitude. We share a mutual passion for music and he loves Canada (because he studied there). I know that I will miss him when I go back to the States, but I’m sure we will keep in touch.

Chris – He is one of the Casa Verde student interns from Auburn. He was super friendly and around all the time until he became a part of the routine around here. I vaguely remember meeting him once, and then again and again and again until I just kind of expected to see him every day. He lives in my dorms and is just hilarious. He’s another part of what makes Casa Verde so inviting, intentional investment in friendship. That’s important.

Jonathon – He’s another one of the student interns at CV. He’s tall and out-going and hilariously southern. I’m a big fan of him, other than the fact that he and I disagree about Harry Potter…. Which is a big point of contention for me, if you know me very well at all you’ll wonder how we’re still friends. He’s one of the hardest working people I’ve met, at just about every aspect of his life that I’ve seen, whether it’s speaking in Spanish or doing dishes or making new friends. He’s just great.

Farid – Mel’s fake husband who we met at the CV V-day party as well, he is just the epitome of a Mexican guy. Always polite, always curious about how you are, always wanting to make sure that you are happy or comfortable. He’s a sweetheart and hilarious to boot. We’ve been learning a lot from each other language wise and culture wise too. He’s one of the most candid people I’ve ever met, honestly stating whatever comes into his head at whatever moment. It’s really nice and I’m going to miss it.

Cody – He runs sound and other technical aspects at the CV house… he’s one of the staff interns. He’s hilarious as well and deliberate about getting to know you. All of the people on staff and not on staff at CV have this intentionality about them that makes you feel special. Cody’s a great guy and I’m really glad to have met him.

Mikell – Yet another staff person from CV who is hilarious. He’s just silly and knows it so he embraces that about himself. He once sat down and started having a conversation with Mel and I and playing with plastic tools like it was the most natural thing in the world. It’s just nice to be accepted constantly.

Alex – Drummer for the CV praise band and Defensive Specialist for the Aztec (UDLA) volleyball team. This kid is NUTS. And awesome. Watching him play makes me miss what I loved about volleyball so much, the intensity, the idea of putting yourself out there for the ball. He’s a real sweet kid too, and someone I can’t wait to get to know more of, who has an AMAZING bike.

Nate – The head guy, the one in charge, the one that makes it all happen. He is from Georgia Tech and he and his wife with some other people came through an organization called Globalscope to make Casa Verde happen. He gives a lot of the short messages on Tuesdays and is always around acting like a big southern kid. He’s very nice and very welcoming just like all the rest of the CV folks… 

Erin – Nate’s wife and one of the kindest people I have ever met. She is patient and funny and quietly demure. She has the gentle touch where Nate is a little bit rougher and puts on some great women’s ministry at CV.

Sarah – AWESOME! She’s just hilarious and for some reason I really want to get to know her better and hear her story. She has full faith in God with a sense of humor and a twist. She’s on staff at CV and I kinda want to be her when I grow up as well. She gives great talks at CV on Tuesdays and sometimes Wednesdays too, and is part of the reason that I’m wondering if a place like Casa Verde might be someplace I end up for a few years before I start teaching. She and I have a date for coffee this week!

Elsa – One of the Mexican staff interns and a huge sweetheart. I love her very much and had the pleasure to find out more about her at the CV women’s retreat a few weeks ago. She is such a strong growing Christian and is putting herself out there even more by going to Africa this summer!

Kami – She is another student intern at CV. She’s a very unique child of God who wants to be Fergie and makes me laugh, but she and I butt heads under the surface for some unknown reason. I hope that we resolve this issue before I leave for the semester.

Elizabeth – Amazing woman of God, Elizabeth reminds me of Emily Adas. She runs the bible study that I go to here about the topic of Love. She’s a sweetheart and hardworking at trying to improve her faith life and herself in general. I admire her a lot and hope that she and I can become closer before I leave as well.

Hannah – I met Hannah at CV and realized that I have some classes with her here at UDLA. She’s a very unique person and I love that about her. She’s one of those people that grew on me since being here and I am very glad that she and I are friends.

Jen – She goes to Grand Valley! Yay for another one of the thousands of Michigan people that I’ve met since being here. She’s a sweetheart and a very talented vocalist. I hope that she and I can continue our friendship back in the States!

Liz – Wow. I have almost no words for this student staff member at CV. She’s absolutely one of the most positive people I have ever met in my entire life. Everything comes back to God’s goodness when you have a conversation with her. I am so very glad that I met her and really want to intentionally invest some time in getting to know her better so that I can keep an eye on where she goes in life.

Molly – Another Michigan person that I kinda feel like will be me in a couple of years, she’s 22 and is still trying to figure out what and who she wants to be, or so it seems to me. She’s always got a smile and a bit of small talk for you every time you see her, she’s a beautiful woman and I hope that I can see what she turns out to be one day.

Other random characters

Kate – She’s my breakfast buddy!! She and I have an 8 am Lit class together and then go get coffee and donuts afterwards about three times a week. She’s my ally in that class as well, and she goes to Notre Dame so I know I’ll be seeing her once I get back to the states. She works in a TV studio in Chicago and has some of the best stories I’ve heard in a long time. She’s been a support through a lot of things for me and I’ve tried to do the same for her. She’s neat!

Liam – This guy is one of the genuinely nicest guys I’ve met in a long time. He’s from Australia and like most other Australians that I’ve met, he’s hilarious. I got to see his first caffeine high and his first caffeine crash within the space of a few hours. He went around Puebla with me looking for a book for one of my classes when he definitely could have done other things, he’s just fantastic. Very easy to talk to and very interesting, I hope that he and I can remain friends once we both leave as well.

Andrea – Krista’s Mexican roommate, a fantastic funny silly girl. She likes to stay in and eat candy from Oxxo (the 7-11 of Mexico) and smoke. She’s a huge Pumas soccer fan and likes to tickle anyone who’s ticklish. She’s invited a bunch of us to go home with her this upcoming weekend to Mexico City, I’m super pumped!

Malu – One of Krista and Anni’s suitemates someone that I am learning a lot of cultural and language aspects as well. She’s really nice and really generous as well.

Yunuen – One of my suitemate’s who is half Mexican and half Spanish. No matter what my treatment of her is, she always always tells me, “Cualquier cosa, me dices” which means whatever you need, you tell me and I’ll help you out. I love her for that.

Vero – Another one of my suitemates. She is from England, but grew up in Mexico City, so she’s fluent in both languages. It’s been such a blessing to have her around the suite because she always checks up on me and takes care of me even when I don’t know that I need it. She has a juicer and makes the best fresh juice I’ve ever tasted. She’s a fountain of knowledge about Mexico and has great recommendations about things to do. She’s a sweetheart and I hope that I can repay her generosity someday before I leave.

Chris – One of the guys that we’ve met down here who has adopted our group. He’s funny and very stoic. One face of the typical Mexican guy. We always go to watch his soccer games and things like that. He’s very polite and very concerned as well. I can’t tell you how many facebook messages I’ve gotten from him asking me how I’m doing or if I need anything.

Luis – Attached at to Chris’ hip. These two are best friends but very different. Luis is more laid-back and much less formal than Chris, but he still shows that he is concerned and interested. He has an uncanny memory for details that is very Mexican because small talk and remembering details is a part of the culture down here.

Dan – One of three Minnesota boys who’ve become a part of our group. Dan is so hilarious and like a little kid. You’d never know he was 22 but he is. He’s always so filled with joy that you can’t help but smiling at him, or laughing when he laughs.

Eric – Another one of the Minnesota guys, Eric thinks he’s so macho but he’s really just goofy. He likes to be a man in all situations, but sometimes comes off as a tool… in general anyway. He has his funny moments, but mostly you just shake your head and laugh at him.

Sam – Another one of the naturally funniest people I’ve ever met, he completes the set of Minnesota boys. He’s 27 and acts like he’s about 20. He and Mallory together is a lethal combo of Minnesota humor. I cannot eat a meal with him around for fear I will choke on my food or drink and die. He’s a really good guy just like Eric and Dan. I’m very glad we met and adopted them.

My pronunciation prof – She’s absolutely amazing, except that she studied at Michigan State… She’s adorable and pregnant and completely understanding. I want to recreate the laid-back atmosphere of her classroom in my own.

My Grammar prof – Belinda is a good witch, I think. She’s very severe but she knows her stuff and I want take that idea of expertise and re-create it in myself.

My Lit prof – Completely passionate and completely aware of herself in the classroom and what her students are like and expect from her. I love her and hope that I can prove myself to her by the end of the semester.

Wow. That took a long time. But it’s worth it so that you guys know who these people that are in my life right now are.

Every day I fall more in love with this country as I learn more about it. I’m going to miss it when I leave, but right now, because I’m sick I know it’s for the best that I’m leaving. I keep thinking ahead to this summer and what that’s going to be like. I am blessed to have received an opportunity to participate in the Chicago Urban Program internship that I wanted this summer. I will be living in urban Chicago for 8 weeks in the summer helping to run a summer camp with a church where we will be doing other ministries as well. I also get to live in an intentional Christian community with some people that I know and love and others that I haven’t met yet. I know that I will grow as much there as I have here and I can’t wait to help make the world a better place. Social justice is a new topic that’s on my radar and I can’t wait to learn more about it and God’s heart for it in the US.

The internship program costs $1700 and if you feel moved to help me reach that goal in fundraising I would really appreciate it. If that’s not possible please keep that and me in your prayers as I watch God provide for me in every endeavor.

Speaking of endeavors of God: Casa Verde. I am so glad that I found this strong community of Christians that have demonstrated God’s goodness to me on every level of human interaction. They have become a part of my life that I will never forget and I hope that I can come back and see how they have grown. I know that I will always be welcome there. It’s my IVCF fix for now… until I can return to Valpo and that community of Christians that I miss so much.

As for me right now, I’m sick and out of it which is no fun. I’m trying my hardest to get better, and against my better judgment I went to Oaxaca this weekend. I’m glad I went, and I took it as easy as possible. There is something about archeological sites that will always be enticing to me. I found a bunch more obsidian at the first site we went to on Saturday. Which is cool because I want to make some sort of jewelry with the chips of obsidian I find at all the sites we went to. They made weapons out of the razor sharp semi-precious stone obsidian, clubs edged with it, knives, spear heads were all made out of obsidian which is incredible because we have no idea how they shaped it.

This is a little disconnected I know, and I’m sorry. But I’m foggy and out of it because of this illness that I’m battling against. If there’s anything you want me to expand on, please let me know. I will answer any questions and those questions may lead me to remember all the stories that I’m storing up to tell you in person. I’m going to go ahead and list the links to all of my albums of pictures that are up on facebook. I realized that I remember things more through pictures than by writing them down, which is kind of unexpected, but really true. So I hope you enjoy all the albums and I love and miss you all!


These are in chronological order from least recent to most recent.
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017934&l=b49da&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017945&l=dae3c&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017952&l=ac15d&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019114&l=aad11&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019116&l=68894&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019131&l=35d61&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019730&l=aa840&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019731&l=42e7d&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019732&l=69e06&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019733&l=7cd77&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019735&l=85e9d&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019736&l=5ecf8&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019738&l=3070d&id=40803107
http://valpo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019739&l=be558&id=40803107

True story. These words are all for you people who I miss so much and want to understand the intensity and surreality of my experience here.

This past weekend we went to Teotihuacan and the town of Tula and that area of Mexico. It was so many dreams come true at once. There are barely words to describe the feeling of climbing up two of the most famous pyramids/ruins in the world, or at least two of the most significant: the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Not to mention exploring the history and stories behind the other ruins on the site of Teotihuacan. There simple buildings that all look the same that they are in the middle of restoring but it is crazy to think of what those “simple” buildings looked as they did in their glory days. A few of the Valpo kids were discussing the ancient civilizations with our director’s husband Enrique and the point he brought up really struck me because he was commenting on the impressiveness of the flourishing culture in such desert-like conditions. These civilizations created something that may last beyond anything that we have yet to create in our own culture. Or lack there-of? That’s something that I am appreciating and becoming more and more intrigued by as each day here passes. There is such a rich history and past here, we don’t have that back home. We are a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl” whichever you prefer, but because of that we don’t have any real traditions of our own or past like that past that occurs in other cultures. It makes me feel like maybe we’re missing out on something… I definitely respect this culture already, more than I have ever in my entire life, that only makes sense because the more I am here the more I am able to understand it.
Everyone who knows that I do not ever picture myself getting married, please raise your hand. Ok, now that you’ve done your arm exercise for the day read this: I am actually beginning to think that I could get married some day, but not to an American. I just like the idea that if I ever have kids (which is also starting to seem BARELY possible) that those kids would have a true culture that they can learn about and become invested in. I also wouldn’t mind adopting a culture either… Not that I’m not proud to be an American and all that, I just think that we can learn so much from others.
Also, I thought of something for future lesson plans that I want to remember: Insult wars. I know, I know. It sounds crazy and negative, but if it’s executed the right way, with the right ground rules I think it’d be a fun way to practice vocab and verb tense. 1) No swear words (especially if I’m teaching native speakers). 2) They cannot be personal or negative 3) The first person who makes an offensive remark stops the entire process for the class 4) The verb tense used (ser in the indicative, preterite, imperfect, etc) and vocab must be from the unit we are studying. I. E. Tu eres un semaforo (You are a stoplight). Neat huh? I like a lot! If I’ll ever actually be allowed to do it in any classroom I have, is iffy. But I do want the idea to be preserved forever and ever. Just in case. I think that’s all the things I wanted to get down for myself. Back to Teotihuacan.
We got there early and of course were confronted with a ridiculous amount of vendors. It happens everywhere, which is not really annoying other than the fact that I feel guilty turning down 20 million people trying to make a living. I swore to myself I would not by anything out of pity. So far so good. Sidenote: Right now as I am riding in the bus back from Mexico City, I have the most beautiful view of the sunset behind the clouds and mountains. Too bad my camera battery is dead. I promise you will have a pic of the sunset against Popo soon. I found a great view of it from one of the academic buildings. I am so blessed to be here. End sidenote. The first thing that we did when we got from Puebla to Teotihuacan? Use the restrooms… that have no paper products, that’s actually quite normal here. Neat huh? No toilet paper or paper towel… oh well. It was worth it. We climbed a small pyramid that had been built over another one and saw some sweet stone faces. Then we made our way past other structures and got to go underground to see some chambers before we tackled the Pyramid of the Sun. It’s huge and steep and slightly dangerous. I tripped several times. But I never fell! Go me! A bunch of us decided that someone should market the Teotihuacan workout plan: climb all the stairs there once and you’ll be fit as a fiddle My legs are so sore. I used my Ipod to motivate myself, Ludo at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun… “steps of a mayan temple…” too bad it was the wrong indigenous tribe! The view was fantastic and people were obsessed with the “energy spot” on top. It was like a shiny stone or piece of metal that if you touched while facing the four cardinal directions would give you energy to climb down the steps. The strenuous thing about the stairs was their height and width. They were super tall and narrow, taller than your leg, or at least a normal persons leg. After we all climbed down and rested slightly. We continued on to the Pyramid of the Moon. It is a slightly smaller pyramid but just as cool. I got great shots from the top of that one as well. I really wanted to meditate from the top of the pyramid but we were pressed for time, there are only so many hours in a day to follow Sally’s itinerary. Oh! I should mention that I would like to spend my summers learning about either archeology or learning different languages: ie, German, French, Italian, and some dead languages too. I think that would be so gratifying. If I have money to take classes in the state of Michigan and I’m not using it, why shouldn’t I start? I used to want to be an archeologist and I love the idea of being more than just bilingual..
From there we moved on to a couple of museums with pieces of murals that were reconstructed and then the original pieces as well. We got to see the mural of the Ball Players which was really cool because it’s a piece of culture that is very interesting and important because not only does it shed light on the game and how it was played but it also sheds light on some of their rituals as well. Even though a lot of what we “know” is guess work anyway. Oh! I’ve also decided that my favorite deity here is Tlaloc, he’s the god of Water/Rain. Anyone surprised? You’re going to see a lot of pictures of him whenever he’s at a sight in a mural or a relief or a statue… I love him… kinda, ya know not in a sacrilegious way.
For lunch, we ate in a cave. It was beautiful with colorful (in the Mexican way) tables, chairs, napkins, etc. The food was alright, good of course, but overpriced. I will say that part of the reason we went was for the folk ballet that they put on during your meal at certain times. It was absolutely inspiring. They did dances that were indigenous and then traditional Mexican dances as well, such as the hat dance. What was so incredible about it is that they were so happy and passionate while up on stage. That is what reaches an audience, when it jumps right off the stage and touches them because they cannot help but remember the glow about a dancer when he or she finishes a difficult piece successfully.
After lunch, we went to some other small sites and saw murals of my favorite deity here, Tlaloc and also one of a guy getting his teeth filed. Apparently that was attractive… I wonder what will seem odd from our time that is attractive to us. These murals are originals that are 100s of years old that are still quite vibrant, how cool!! After that we were done after a long hard day and went back to the hotel where we crashed, after going to the Panaderia next door for some fresh sweet bread for breakfast!!! Mmmmm, I love the fresh markets they have in Mexico.
We did not do much on Sunday, comparably anyway. We went to Tula, a near by city, and saw the pyramids and ball courts there. It was so cool to walk down into this place where people played to either be sacrificed or not be!! We pretended we were playing a game and took lots of pictures. Pretty much we’re super touristy Americans!! There were two smaller pyramids to climb this time, but instead of doing both, I decided to do one and THEN meditate at the top of Toltec ruins with mountains all around and the refreshing breeze blowing while surrounded by ancient history. It was an incredible experience. A definite dream come true. We had a brief stop at a museum with some pieces that had been found on the archeological site, braziers, reliefs, ceremonial things like that and then we headed back to the bus. On the way, Enrique (Sally, our director’s husband) taught us how to hunt for obsidian, he found one piece for my two friends and I and then we found our own. I would like to find enough small pieces while I am here to take to a jeweler’s back home and have them create something out of it… earrings, a bracelet, etc. These pieces are ones that were used as arrowheads and things like that. If it rains, a few of us are going hunting, because that’s when it’s easiest to see! After that we went to a Convent which was beautiful and toured around the chapels and saw the paintings and artifacts from back in the day, there is a beautiful sculpture of Jesus with the cross, LIFESIZE, that I took a picture of. Those depictions of him during the Passion always seem to touch me the most for some reason. Maybe it’s the reality of what He did for us being right in front of my face… I don’t know. After that we went to the market out in front of the Cathedral and I got my first gift for ME from Mexico… a pair of real silver guitar earrings, that are about two inches long and gorgeous. How much you ask? 50 pesos = Five DOLLARS. Ridiculous, I know? After that we were all very absorbed in our pizza and trying to figure out the score of the Bears game as well as hoping that we could make it back in time for the Colts game. Football is still an important part of our lives down here… Once we got back it was all homework and watching games… which was nice, because we seem to have this balance between these new exciting experiences and the normal lives of college students. I like it. That’s all for now, if you want to know anything else, like I always say JUST ASK!! As always, I feel so blessed to have all these dreams come true in such a short amount of time. I love and miss you guys very much!
Con la paz de Dios (With the Peace of God),
Amanda

It's so difficult to believe that it has only been about two days since I got up at 3:45 in the morning and went to Metro City Airport to say goodbye to my parents for four whole months. And of course it was different this time because I am not simply in Valpo by a really expensive route. I'm in Cholula, Mexico. Going to the University of the Americas. I am a student at an absolutely beautiful campus with the best weather I could have ever imagined.
I won't say that I wasn't apprehensive coming here. Near the end it was one of the hardest things to accept. It was even harder because I had all these amazing people in my life telling me that I would be fine and that I should be excited and of course they were right. But it's so much different than I thought it would be. I'll have pictures up soon on my flickr site. I promise!
The plane ride to Chicago was short and just about long enough for me to have a bad cup of airline coffee and try to figure out a proper strategy for getting my luggage to the international terminal and rechecking it alone. The best part was that my flight was early, so it gave me even more time to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5. My suitcases fell over a lot to say the least, but I got them to check in and I got to my gate with time to spare. It was so great to walk into my gate and see all the people that I loved and all the people that I will come to love and be able to discuss the exciting and scary aspects of the huge of the step that we were all taking together. The plane ride to Mexico City was long. They showed an old movie that had the Rock in it and I tried to sleep but couldn't. As we started our descent into Mexico City we all kept repeating, "We're in Mexico! We're in freaking Mexico!" over and over again.
It really was terrifying to think about getting off the plane and stepping into Mexico and getting our luggage and going through customs and we all weren't sure which forms to fill out and we were all pretty rusty with our Spanish, which wasn't helpful. What was really cool is that almost immediately as soon as we made a friend! There was a guy named Jerome on our flight who was also going to UDLA. He is originally from France and was studying abroad at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, of all places! Now he is studying abroad through GVSU here at UDLA. He was super nice and continues to be a great guy whenever we see him around on campus. The poor guy lost one of his bags but got it back today! Also, a couple of us made our first bathroom run and because we are females we had to stand in line (also there were only two stalls) so we started talking about meeting Sally (the director of our program and our link to Valpo) and the girl in front of us turned around and asked if we were from Valpo. After we said yes, she launched into this story of how she was an alumnae who had done the Puebla program and she had come back the same day we had to go back to work at this orphanage and it was so cool! We had been there all of 20 minutes and had two new friends!
We all got through customs ok which was an adventure in filling out forms, but it was good. We got through the gates to the airport (after giving up the sweet FREE luggage carts, please take notes DTW) and met up with Sally and Enrique who gave us our 1000 pesos = 100 dollars. We grabbed some food from the 7-11 (yes the first food i ate in Mexico was cold pizza from 7-11) and were on our way to the realllllly nice bus after these incredible porters put more luggage than was humanly possible on two carts. We're talking about half the luggage of 13 people. It was ridiculous, but so nice. It was about two hours from Mexico City to Puebla/Cholula. The two towns are so close that they are almost like one. At first we were all mesmerized at fact that everything we were looking at was Mexican, but eventually we crashed. I attempted to, but not before taking pictures of Popocateptl, the active volcano that's near campus. We went to the Cholula house first, to pick up the shady bedding provided for us. It's actually quite nice that we didn't have to pack any bedding, but it's still not like home. We got a set of sheets, two full size towels, a hand towel, a wash cloth, 10 hangers, 2 blankets, and a pillow. The name of the dorm that I live in is Cain-Murray. I have no other word for campus other than Gorgeous. I have a few pictures of campus right now and I'm working on taking more of it and my dorm. I think so far the best part of campus is the landscaping, it's gorgeous, other than the grass.
That night we got here we all went out to dinner at this nice little place right by campus called "La Suprema Salsa". They had great food, I got one taco (because i wanted to be cautious of my stomach) and it was just the meat of the house (which was cooked Arabic style, i'll explain mroe later) and pinapple in a tortilla, but it was delicious. The way they cook the meet is they put a HUGE chunk of it on it's side and cook it by rotating it and then shave off the meat as it's cooked. It was amazing. Then we all just crashed after our first bonding experience as a group in our half unpacked rooms on our SUPER HARD beds where it was really cold. Yay for layers! I think that's all for now guys. I've got plenty more to share though! I love you all and miss you!
<3s pantalones