Orientation I

Orientation I

Finally I am posting from Mérida. We have been here less than 36 hours, but so much has happened already! At this point I can’t do more than give a quick bullet list of what we have seen/heard/learned/done.

 

·       Jasmin and I met up with 11 other Central College students in the Houston airport, just before boarding our flight to Mérida. Tristan, Taylor, Alex, Bailey, Hailey, Nicole, Debora, Katie, Stephanie, Regan, and Lauren.

·       We landed in Mérida just after 9 PM, a little ahead of schedule. We stayed together as a group, chatting and getting to know each other. We waited in line to go through the first checkpoint, where the agent checked and stamped our passports and the tourist visas we had filled out on the plane. Then we claimed our checked baggage and waited in line to go through customs. Our bags went through an x-ray machine, the customs agent checked the customs form we had filled out on the plane, and we had to push The Button. If the light turned green, we were free to go through the big glass doors into the airport terminal. If it turned red, our bags were searched. It seemed to be a random search, and I was thankful my light turned green!

·       We met Val, our program director, and Ángel, the driver who took us to Central House, or Casa Central. We dragged all of our luggage upstairs to our comfortable rooms. If I had thought about the stairs, I might have packed a little lighter…

This is my room for the next week. My bed is the one in the far corner...look, Mom, it's the only one that is actually made! And I did it myself!

 

·       We had a light supper around 10:30. PB&J sandwiches, fresh fruit cups, and chips with salsa, guacamole, and pico de gallo. Yum!

·       We met Danni and Kayla, who had flown into Cancun and taken the bus to Mérida. Kayla told her story of being dumped on the curb by her taxi driver, who didn’t know how to find the address of the Central House here. She was crying on her suitcase (literally) when she heard, “Do you speak English? Do you need help?” A Mexican family took pity on her, picked her up, called Val, and dropped Kayla off at the Central House. Kayla laughs about it now, but she is annoyed that she still had to pay 80 pesos for that cab ride!

·       Val started our orientation process by talking briefly about the following things:

o   Mexican time: everything is much more relaxed. Although we will operate on somewhat of a schedule, in general México is much more relaxed than the U.S.

o   our schedules and what to expect from our classes: I will talk about that much more in later posts.

o   the water situation in Mérida: we need to drink bottled water while we are here.

o   the toilet situation: toilet paper doesn’t get flushed. There are wastepaper baskets beside most toilets. Val challenged us not to forget: she said we will be surprised how automatic it is to drop the toilet paper into the toilet. The reason for this is houses here are built on a septic tank; there is no public sewer system.

o   what to do when we get diarrhea (not if): do you want to hear about that?

o   and too many other things to list here! She gave us our phones which we will use to keep in contact with each other and any new friends that we make. My U.S. phone has received a few messages, but it is really slow. I think I will have to be satisfied with email while I am here.

·       After supper, I used Val’s phone to call my family and let them know I arrived. I had sent a text when we landed, but I wanted them to know that we got to Central House safely.

·       We settled into our rooms, showered, unpacked a little, and crawled into bed. A few adventuresome individuals went out and walked around a little! Kayla, Katie, and I finally turned our light out at 1:00 AM, and I think we fell asleep almost immediately.

·       Sunday morning:

I set my alarm, but I turned it off without realizing it (I am good at that). I woke up with a start at 7:15. Immediately I realized that I really was waking up in México; at that point, there was no going back to sleep! Outside our open windows, we heard a cacophony of birds, breeze, and traffic. We face right onto a busy street, so we hear traffic going at all times. Some of the other girls took a shower, but I took advantage of the quiet hour before breakfast to read my Bible and pray. I knew it would be a busy day, but I wanted to keep my Sunday as normal as possible. At 8:30 we met in the dining room for a delicious breakfast including fresh fruit, yogurt, and sandwiches. Then we had a few free minutes again, and we met in the outdoor classroom, or palapa, at 9:30 for Orientation II.

 

Please leave a comment or a question if I can explain something in more detail for you! I found out that I really can't text to the U.S., so I will be checking my email and my blog comments frequently. Calling the U.S. is also very expensive, but Skype is free. So Skype me! :)