México 2018 Mérida y Isla Mujeres Coloma High School Spanish Club Ian, Skylar, Miranda, Leeza, Zach, Rachael, Izy, Lilly, Cassidy, Vanessa, Kylee, Emma, Sra. Marfia, y Sr. Ford
My favorite part of our trip - Vanessa The morning we were walking in the airport I didn t think I was going to make it. It was my first time ever being on a plane and I was terrified. As it got closer and closer to boarding time my stomach was turning and I was super nervous. We finally boarded the plane and I didn t know how to handle being on it. Kylee was sitting next time and she was telling me that it would be okay, but it is scary at first. We finally took off and I was so scared and didn t know how to feel. I was lucky enough to have a window seat so I got to see how pretty everything was. After awhile I felt better and wasn t so scared. I took some pretty good pictures of the sky and I really enjoyed the view. When it was time for landing I didn t really enjoy it but it wasn t terrible. After we landed I was the last one off the plane. Mr. Ford asked and I got my picture taken in the cockpit. I then came to realize that riding in a plane wasn t so bad after all. The two flights after were not that bad and I m ready for the next time I fly. Spring break 2018 was definitely one to remember.
My favorite part of our trip - Rachael My favorite part of the trip would have to be all of Mérida. We all got out of the airport and the rush of heat came our way. It was in the upper 90s. That day was hard to transition from the cold to hot and English to Spanish and the 20 hours of traveling. We got on the bus and went to the hotel, on the way I was wowed by the architecture. When we got there we hopped right into the pool. Later, everyone went to Los Trumpos to have a midday snack and we explored a little of Mérida with the S chairs and the huge S chair. All the little things we did like going to get rolled ice cream, talking to people, experiencing the culture first hand not just from a book was incredible. I would have never thought that I would have been able to have this once in a lifetime opportunity, I would definitely go back!
My favorite part of our trip - Ian Walking through the marketplaces of Mérida I was hit with an immense feeling of deja vu, everything felt familiar from an old memory of haggling and bartering in a familiar place. Walking through the aisles there was all sorts of items catching my eye, blankets, rugs, ponchos, food; they had it all. But the price was a little high. With my sly tongue I was able to drop prices and make deals on almost anything that I was interested in. But before I knew it everyone in the group was becoming great hagglers as well, it was a great feeling just to see everyone else learn these little tricks on how to get better prices.
My favorite part of our trip - Skylar Visiting Uxmal and Chichen Itza was an amazing experience. Uxmal and Chichen Itza are both ancient Mayan cities with remaining Mayan ruins. The ruins were beautiful. They were full of small details that had a lot of historical meaning. Some of them have been around since 400 AD! At Uxmal we were able to climb one of the pyramids. It was a frightening journey to the top. The steps were smaller than my foot and it was very steep. For some of us it didn t take very long to get to the top, but for many including myself it was easier to take our time and crawl up the steps. Once we got to the top I didn t want to get down. It was a once in a lifetime experience, but I hope that one day I am able to go back..
My favorite part of our trip - Miranda
My favorite part of our trip - Miranda On the third day of our trip in Mexico, we headed to a chocolate factory/museum called Choco-Story. It was also a small eco-park. When I was told we were going to a chocolate factory, I expected a huge industrial place in which we d see machines make chocolate. However, we saw nothing close. Contrary to my expectations, we were greeted with an outdoor walk through which we learned the history of chocolate, how it is made, and more. The walk had many stops along the way with history of chocolate in each building. We also had the opportunity to try a chocolate drink, without sugar or anything else added. Now, I LOVE chocolate and HATE mexican food, so I was definitely not expecting to come to Mexico, try these things, and be presented with opposite reactions. However, that is what happened. I was expecting the chocolate drink to taste like hot chocolate, but it tasted extremely bitter. Although I did not like it personally, many others enjoyed it, and I was grateful for the opportunity. There were also many other stops in the factory many included animals. There was a station at which you could feed spider monkeys from the palm of your hand, places to see jaguars, crocodiles, deer, and more. There was also a cage you could walk through with birds inside. These animals are native to the Yucatan Peninsula. Last, but not least, we also attended a typical Mayan ceremony while there. It was rather odd, and I wasn t sure if I had just been sworn into a cult or not, but it was a very unique way to experience their history and culture.
My favorite part of our trip - Leeza There were many great moments on our trip to Mexico. It was a great experience for me and I was able to get out of my comfort zone and get closer to people that I didn t know that well. I was a little worried before the trip because I didn t have any friends going as well but everyone was really nice and we all got along well. My favorite part of the trip was observing how the people in Mexico live their lives and how they treat others. Everytime we walked somewhere there were always people trying to sell us things. There were men, women, the elderly, and little children. Everybody was contributing and I thought that was really cool. They also make a lot of their products by hand. They are really proud of what they do and I was able to really appreciate their culture and respect them even more. I actually bought a little coin bag that was hand-made by a man, and he burned my name on the back of it and burned a little flower as well. It was really amazing. I wasn t treated rudely by anyone I met on the trip. The kind of people I met in Mexico are the ones that I would like to be around all of the time.
My favorite part of our trip - Cassidy My favorite part of the trip was la comida (food).
My favorite part of our trip - Emma My favorite part about the trip was going to the orphanage. I knew before I even got there that I was going to get attached to the kids and be sad when we had to leave and that definitely was the case. I m pretty positive that the kids enjoyed us being there too. When we had to leave they gave us so many hugs and kisses on the cheeks. The children didn't speak English but we managed to communicate with the Spanish we knew and quite a few hand gestures. I made memories here that I will never forget and everybody deserves to experience the things that we did. I am forever grateful that I had to opportunity to go to Mexico.
La familia de Cardenas - Zach - After we hung out with los ninos at the orphanage we went to la casa de Cardenas. They taught us how to make tortillas. Corn tortillas not flour tortillas! We made them in partners and after we created los tacos we ate them outside in their beautiful backyard with their pool. The house itself was really nice especially for a house in the middle of Mérida. It was a great experience.
My favorite part of our trip - Izy I loved the salsa class we took together. While we were walking there, I honestly didn t want to dance or learn it. In my opinion, I m not the dancing type. Turned out, after the class, I was one of the kids who loved the experience most! The moves were hard at first while we watched and tried to warm up with the rest of the class. Later on when we took it step by step things became easier and much more fun!
My favorite part of our trip - Lilly Although it was difficult to pick one favorite part about our trip to Mexico, visiting the cenote, a natural water spring, was definitely in my top 5. One of my biggest fears is swimming in the ocean or somewhere that I can t see what is underneath me so swimming in the cenote was a huge fear of mine to overcome. Luckily, I had Kylee by my side the whole time and I m pretty sure she was just as scared as I was. When we first walked into the cenote., I saw people jumping off the 20 foot high ledge into the water. I immediately said nope, nobody is getting me to do that while Ian ran up and immediately started doing really impressive backflips off of it. Later on, I told Kylee that if I was going to do my writing on the cenote, that I needed to get the full experience and jump off the ledge with the rest of my classmates. When I got up there, I thought to myself I should probably call my family and tell them that I loved them because it was the last time they would see me. It took me a couple seconds to get myself to actually jump but once I did it felt like a whole 5 minutes I was falling. Then all of a sudden I hit the water and the water rushed up my nose. I am so grateful that I got to experience with 13 other amazing people. Spring Break 2018 will be one to remember.
My favorite part of our trip - Kylee My favorite part of the Mexico trip was when we went snorkeling. At first I was hesitant about doing it, only because, I had never done it before and I thought that I wouldn t be able to swim with the flippers on. But while we were snorkeling it was amazing. I loved watching everyone freak out about all the fish around them. Even though it was a struggle and I was a little nervous I loved it. It was a wonderful experience and I am so thankful for going through with it.