The first week in Mérida has been a big success! We will not lie, the overnight flight from Chicago to Ciudad de México was tough, and we were exhausted when we made it to Mérida. But! The students are in good spirits and the host mothers were very excited to see them! Unfortunately, the airport happened too fast for us to take pictures, but the host mothers were waiting for the students beyond the baggage claim and whisked them away for their first breakfast in Mérida and a rest day.
Thursday, we had our on-site orientation and reception. The host mothers all pitched in to prepare tamales, green spaguetti, beans, guacamoles, and agua de jamaica (a common local drink).
Spencer and Malachi
Ariel, Aaron, Kaleigh, Katie and Cassidy
¡Las mamás! (Feat. Odalys)
Niara, Piper, Emma, and Ainsley
Claire, Olivia, Jaigh, Devin, and Cecilia
Sandra, Diana, and Tania
As you might remember from our orientation in April, we work with IFSA-Butler to host the Mérida program, and Diana (center) is our onsite coordinator. She's outdone herself this year with arrangements for our program, and it wouldn't be possible without her amazing assistants, Sandra and Tania.
Doña Diana with Devin and Ariel
Doña Amira with Piper and Claire
Doña Magda with Cecilia and Olivia
Doña Irene with Cassidy and Jaigh
Doña Angélica with Malachi and Spencer
Doña Blanca with Ainsley and Katie
Doña Fabiola with Aaron
Doña Leonor with Niara
On Friday, the students settled in (resigned themselves?) to relearning how to use the "dumb phones".
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| (You can tell, they're *thrilled*) |
We also had a short visit from the US Consulate (no pictures for security concerns), where the students recieved a short overview of the consulate and the services it could offer if necessary (they surely won't be necessary with such a great group!!). Afterwards, the students took the langauge exam that we'll use to give them an idea of their (linguistic) progress this summer.
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Working hard on remembering Spanish conjugations.
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| Selfie courtesy of Odalys and her long arms |
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| In the corner store, Farmacia Piladora |
We ended the day explaining some of the details of the program and with some vocabulary/ice breaking games.
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| ¿Qué tengo en el coco? What do I have on my head? |
Students wrote a famous person, were randomy given one to tape to their heads, and then had to work together to describe who the person was.
On Saturday, we had the City Tour. We met downtown and all loaded up to go on an hour and a half tour around Mérida, getting to learn about the different architectural styles and the history of the city. The students had a blast, and got to see some truly amazing buildings and monuments.
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| The students with the giant "confidentes"--Two person chairs set up so the two people can look at each other--great for gossiping! |
Not quite the tour we did, but it gives you a good idea of what Mérida really looks like!
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| Loading up onto the guagua (bus) |
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| Ready to go! |
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| I'm not always the best at getting smiles. I'll get better. |
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| This one is much better! |
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| All set! |
Monumento a la patria--Photos and videos courtesy of Odalys!
Afterwords, we took the kids to the main plaza in Mérida, and set them loose on a Scavenger Hunt that had them looking for the most important aspects of Mérida's historical downtown and talking to the local yucatecos to learn more about the Yucatán's history and culture.
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| Team Mérida! |
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| They're all there, we promise. |
Waiting for pickup in the Parque de Santa Lucía!
After a few hours break, we were back at it, in downtown Mérida again, this time for the Mayan Ball Game. You can read more about the game here. We had to get there an hour early, but it gave us a great chance to catch up with everyone (it had been so long!) and see some of our host moms in action. They're so great with their students! They really make sure they take advantage of everything Mérida has to offer.
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A video really can't do this justice.
The Mayan Ballgame has three parts. In the first part, they pass the ball back and forth, using only their hips, and try to score a goal by putting it through a vertical hoop.
In the second part, they line up and take turns trying to score points.
In the third part, they set the ball on fire and, using their hands, try to keep it from touching the ground and get it through the hoop. (Doña Rebeca asked afterwards, they don't put anything on their hands to keep from getting burned! The students are pumped to try this at deportes this week!) (Just kidding!)
The closing remarks!
Tomorrow, the students and their host families with be visiting the local zoo (Zoológico Centenario) with their host families. They were scheduled to go to Mérida en Domingo (Sundays in Mérida), but the zoo is having a special event this week about environmental awareness, and doña Fabiola suggested switching the order of events. Be sure to ask your students about it!
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