Blogging is harder than I thought it would be. Actually, I figured it would be pretty hard. I highly doubt I'll ever be like those crazies that blog every day or two. I'm good with just doing it when I have time and the time feels right. Like...right now.
Spanish is coming along pretty well. I've had to catch up a lot to get to the level that my classes are at since I haven't taken Spanish since freshman year of high school. I've been doing a LOT of work on my own with vocabulary and grammar, and I ask my expert roommates a LOT of questions. I'm grateful that I live with three returned missionaries that all served Spanish-speaking missions. It is hard sometimes when we're all sitting around the dinner table and they're telling jokes and stuff with our family, laughing their heads off while I sit silently trying to figure out what the joke was. But any negative experiences have been overshadowed by the enormous blessing it is to be able to ask them questions and to have them correct me when I say something wrong. Things are great. Here are some pics of my roommates and I.
Ryan Hill and I on the bus. He's from Washington D.C. Ryan served his mission in Chile. He is amazing at Spanish. He is amazing at soccer. He has an amazing moustache. El es el jefe.
On the left is Ethan Lynn. He is from Ohio and almost every time I look at him,
he is stroking his moustache. On the right is Ryan Egbert from Utah. Ryan loves talking with Mexicans and he does it everywhere, all the time. Ethan and Ryan served together in the Long Beach mission.
Sadly, our little brother and sister left this week. Their dad lives in Veracruz and they went to live with him for about a month. If we're lucky we should be able to see them before we head back to the states. I miss them terribly. I also miss my real family terribly, of course.
José and I. He's amazing at soccer and he's super funny. Bunch of good kid.
Hannia and our inside joke that no one else can know.
We've gone on two excursions so far. The first weekend here we went to Dzibichaltún, which name is a Mayan word meaning "the place where there is writing on the stones". It was pretty darn cool. Here are some pictures, courtesy of Ryan Hill.
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| We had a lucha libre wrestling match on top of this temple |
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| Most of the group in front of the Temple of the Seven Dolls, named for seven human figurines found underneath the temple. |
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| Cenote Xlakah. A cenote is a deep, natural pit that results from a collapse of limestone. After sacrifice rituals, the Mayans would throw the mutilated bodies into this cenote. Strangely, it was also the source of their drinking water. We swam in it and it was real nice. So, that was our trip to Dzibichaltún. Afterwards, we drove ten minutes to the coastal city of Progreso to go to the beach. The water was perfect, we had catered tacos al pastor, I got really sunburned, and... I loved it.   We celebrated the 4th of July here by going to Burger King. You can't get much more patriotic than that. There are Burger Kings all over the place here. We also walked around singing American songs and luckily, we did not get shot. The whole day, we were telling Mexicans about Independence Day because none of them knew that it was on July 4th and a lot of them didn't know what it was. Sad. Okay, lastly, here are some pictures from our excursion to Uxmal this past Saturday. We got there, had a guided tour by this archeologist guy, ate a buffet lunch at a hotel, swam in the pool, and then went back into the ruins for Luz y Sonido (Light and Sound), a show thing they do with speakers and lights in the ruins. Basically, they tell a legend about the Mayans and their rain god Chaac and they have all the lights and sounds going. Pretty cool. 
Cody road trip tradition: Play ukulele until I fall asleep, sleep until we get there.
For Dad: One of the literally hundreds of iguanas that I've seen
 
I don't think I've ever been truly ready for a picture.
The Pyramid of the Sorcerer. I can't get over how cool of a name that is.
The Mayans were famous for their lighting and electrical skills.
All right. Now you know what's going on with me. I have about five weeks left down here. It's been an awesome experience and I am working on making the most of it. Have a great week, even though you probably all have jobs and responsibilities and worries and stuff that weigh you down constantly.
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