I Can't Believe I'm Here!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 11:05 PM

I can’t believe I’m here. That is exactly what I said a few minutes ago when I was left in my bedroom to unpack and go to bed.

OK. I’ll start from the beginning. Mom and Dad and Kyle dropped me off the airport with all of Kyle’s college stuff. I have been thinking about Kyle and even am right now as he’s probably getting ready for bed in his first night in his dorm. Haha. Unless he’s going out on the town! Haha. IDK.

Anyways, when I got to the gate, I recognized a kid, Joe, from the other meetings, so I sat next to him and that was good. At least I knew that I was at the right place. So we sat for a couple hours and then we saw other people start to show up, including one of the professors, Allan Burns.

So then there was the plane ride to Houston! When we got there, we met up with pretty much everyone else. I feel like I’ve gotten to everyone besides the “Lombards.” The Lombards is this group of new freshman who are very important apparently and got some scholarship and they all know each other and they keep to themselves while the rest of us normal UF kids have to meet people for ourselves. But the people I’ve met seem cool! And the professors too.

Then was the flight to Merida. I got a jump start on my Spanish language talking to the lady next to me. Just a little warm up for the real thing.

By the time we got to the airport, everyone was pretty anxious about meeting their families and being in someone’s Mexican house alone, in a place we’ve never been, alone, in a language we don’t speak all too well. Even though we had only spent a couple hours together, we didn’t want to leave each other just for the fear of being alone with someone, not with another student who related with everything.

So we went through customs and there was my Mom, holding a sign with my name! She gave me a huge hug and welcomed me! She was with her daughter-in-law and we took her daughter in law’s van to the house. As we drove tthough the city they were talking and I was half trying to catch a few words and half staring out the windows. Kyle- It does not look like Redemption or that other place. It actually looks kind of like Lakeland, except for not. But driving through the street looked similar to South Florida near Southgate or downtown, but different. I attempted to carriy conversation with the two women. We discussed a few things, the weather, Lakeland, Merida, High School Musical. Haha. The daughter-in-law’s six year old daughter loves high school musical so maybe she can be my friend. Haha. So we got out of the minivan (nicer than ours, with automatic doors and everything) and were at the house. It’s two story with a gate in front. I guess similar to the nicer houses in the DR- the place we go the first night (you know). There was another woman there. I do not know how she is related to my mom, but she lives here, and she is nice.

So they brought me up to my room, and I gave them their gift. Mom and Dad- they thought the Mickey thing was cute. Kyle- my Mom said you were “guapo” in the picture, and mom- she said you looked really young. And they brought me to my room. Tile floors, double bed, TV, windows. I can see the hooks where a hammock would go! ☺ Oh, and another highlight…. NO air conditioning!! I saw in the car the it was between 27 and 30 degrees celcius on the way here so you can translate that to F. Yeah, no AC. Sweaty. I took a shower. Unpacked all my stuff in the drawers, set up a few pictures of some of my lovely favorites by my mirror. I need to sleep now. I’m getting up at 7.

Kyle would love the lovely fan to attempt to keep me cool. I’ve heard word that there is a possibility of swimming with whale sharks, for real. I may not survive that. Haha. But I’ll try. Alrighty. Good Night! I can’t believe I’m here.

Thursday June 25, 2009 2:53 PM

I feel like so much has happened since I got here! Definitely thrown into constant Spanish, at least at home. I will for sure get a ton of practice and they say you come back a lot more fluent. I can feel like I already improved!

I’ll start with last night. Sleep was a little rough. It was one of those nights where you lay there, sweating, look at the clock and 5 minutes pass, look at the clock 30 minutes pass, look at the clock an hour passes. I just kept telling myself that it was like camping, but at least I have a bed!

I got up at 7:30. I found out that the other lady that lives here works for my “mother.” I’ll just call my mother the Señora because that is what I call her. The Señora is tall, with really thick makeup. Reminicent to that of Mrs. Fite of Lakeland, if that helps you get a mental picture. Mrs. Fite, but Mexican. The maid is what you could imagine as this typical, short and sweet lady. Kind of reminds me of Lisa Gilbert, but Mexican, and even shorter. The second lady doesn’t say too, too much, but she and the Señora seem to have a good relationship. I really don’t think they speak a lick of English. Someone told me that all the host families know English, but aren’t allowed to use it unless there is an emergency or something, then these ladies must be really good actors! I really don’t think they know any English at all.

So, I walk down the stairs and at the table is toast, and my favorite food in the whole wide world, watermelon! They taught me what it is called in Spanish- Sitria or something, I cannot even remember. After that la Señora helped me take the bus to the school. I was trying to pay attention as much as I could, and wrote down every street, because I’m so scared that I’ll get lost!

We made it to the school, and met up with everyone else. It was great to see the other students. Even though we all just met yesterday, I think that we feel really comfortable around each other since it’s all we have besides the host families and teachers and all. Don’t get me wrong, the teachers from UF and the teachers here are all really nice, and I feel like they genuinely want to help us, but it’s great to talk to the people our age.

So, at the University we all got our pictures taken for our school ID, which is so cool! Besides the fact that my names is spelled Julie Champean. But still, being able to whip it out and show off will be cool and Kyle will hate me for it.

Then I traded some dollars for some pesos and we all got into these vans to go to the other campus to take our Spanish exam and have the orientation. There were already too many of us squeezed into this bus, and we got about half way there and the clutch of the van broke. We all just sat in the van for a while, not knowing what to do since it was just us and the driver, who didn’t speak English. Eventually, we got out of the van, and squeezed into another one and got to the other campus.

The Spanish exam wasn’t too bad. At the orientation, we got a lot of papers and a schedule of everything we will do and hats and stuff. Plus they taught us all about washing our hands every five seconds to prevent swine flu and other sicknesses and just general stuff about the program and just living in Merida.

After that la Señora was there and we took the bus back to the house. The little lady had made lunch. Fried chicken, beans and rice, tortillas, some juice that I have no clue what it was, and salad. It was good, but a ton! And I felt bad when I couldn’t finish my plate, but the ladies were nice about it.

My biggest concern today is directions and location. I am just scared I’ll get lost! La Señora wrote down directions on what bus to take and how to get to the bus stops and where to get off and stuff, but I just really wanted a map so I could get a mental picture of everything. The Stephens gave me one right before I left, but I am so dumb, I forgot it at home! I remembered another paper they gave me, but I forgot the map. Perfect. Haha. So the little lady walked with me down to a little store, where I was going to buy a map and a phone card. They had neither! So I guess I’ll try to get one later. Some people are getting a cell phone here, but I didn’t want to spend the money.

La Señora told me that there is free internet at a park I can walk to, and I was hoping to go right now, but instead opted for siesta. It’s so hot out! Hopefully, I’ll learn where it is, or else sometime when there’s free time I can use the computers at the school or something.

So at 6 we are all meeting for a tour of downtown I think. And tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM is our first excursion! We are going tomorrow and Saturday, but it’s not over night because we are going to two different places. I don’t really know much, but if you want to google, they are called sierrita de Ticul, Uaymitún, Progreso, and Celesún. The anthropology kids are going to the Carribean for two days, lucky! But we will have our time. I heard that tomorrow and Saturday we will need our bathing suits and bug spray. And that we will see flamingos. But that’s all I know.

Much love.