Final blog

     So I wrote a final blog entry a while back and I kept forgetting to post it.  Finally I just now got to it (finally).  I hope you enjoy:

           After being home for a week it was hard to make myself write another blog entry, but I figured I had to update my blog one last time after our last trip and coming home.  I’ve had a great Christmas and it’s been great to see family again after being gone for so long, but it’s also fun to look back at the great experience I had in Puebla.

                My last week in Mexico was mostly spent on a “road trip” through the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico with three of my friends from ND.  A lot of our larger group decided to spend most of the time in Playa del Carmen, a popular beach near Cancun, but we decided that we wanted to see some of the other places in that area as well.  So we payed Nicholas, one of our van drivers from previous ND trips, to drive us from Puebla, throughout the Peninsula, and finally to Playa del Carmen.  The first few days were spent seeing the cities Campeche and Merida as well as multiple Mayan ruins (Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Tulum).  After that, we spent a couple days relaxing on the beach in Playa del Carmen.  Overall, it was really a great trip.  We balanced out the “touristy-ness” of Playa del Carmen with ancient ruins and some cities less-traveled by American tourists.  We ate a lot of great food, took a lot of pictures, and really had a great time.

Pyramid at the Mayan ruins of Uxmal

There were lots of iguanas at Uxmal

Add caption

This is a cenote, a sinkhole that filled with rainwater and served as a water source for the Mayans in the Yucatan.

We had dinner on the beach in Progreso

The grand pyramid at Chichen Itza

Ruins at Tulum

Our group with our van driver Nicolas

On the beach at Playa del Carmen

                After that trip, I really only had a day and a half left in Puebla before I had to head home.  I spent the time packing up, buying some last minute gifts, and saying goodbye to some of my favorite people and places.  It was a fun time, as all of my host moms kids were coming into town for Christmas.  Seeing and talking with all of them was great.  Hearing them chat and throw sarcastic remarks at each other was entertaining, and it also made me realize how much better my Spanish had become since I first arrived at the start of the semester, struggling to understand my host mom introduce me to everything. 

                My last night in Puebla was a fun one, although it went a little bit later than it probably should have.  Sam and I had to be ready to load ourselves and our luggage into the vans that were taking us to the airport at 4:00 am.  However, our family was having a combined Christmas and birthday party at our house with lots of extended family and friends.  Sam and I hung out with the family for a while and then decided to head to bed around 9:30 so that we could at last get a little sleep before getting up early.  However, right as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a bunch of trumpets start playing outside my bedroom window.  Sure enough, my family had hired a Mariachi band to play at the party.  After unsuccessfully trying to ignore the music for 15 minutes or so, I threw my clothes back on and went outside to sing and dance with everybody.  It was a great memory for my last night in Mexico. 

The mariachi band that kept me up all night

My host mom singing with the band...

...and dancing with out dog Leo

My last night with Maricela and Luis (my host brother)

                I guess I should finish off my blog with some sort of reflection over the entirety of my study abroad experience.  Probably the best thing I can say is that I learned a lot.  It was such a special experience to live with a family and participate in a different culture for an extended period of time.  I don’t know if I’m entirely fluent in Spanish now, but I can definitely have a good conversation in Spanish.  I’m way beyond where I was 5 months ago.  I also have a much better knowledge of and appreciation for Mexican culture.   I miss the climate, the food, the people, and so much more.  I found a new home in Puebla during my 5 months there and learned a lot during the process.  I’ve had a lot of great experiences in college, but I think this one has been the best yet.

                And that’s the end!  Thanks so much for keeping up with my travels over the course of the semester.  It means a lot that so many people kept following me as I was gone.  I hope you enjoyed the blogs and maybe learned a thing or two from them (I know I enjoyed writing them).  Merry Christmas!