El Centro

Yesterday was a very interesting day. After a delicious breakfast, we had our first bus ride. Buses in Merida are always 5 pesos, no matter where you go or how far, which works out to be less than 50 cents. Great deal! Anyways, we got on a bus and headed to El Centro, which is the downtown area. We were lucky and ended up on an bus which took a direct route, so it was only like 10 minutes. We got off and started walking to the Gran Plaza, which is the main square in Merida. It's beautiful. It's bordered by all sorts of trees, and beautiful building line the square. Some of the buildings were built in the 1500s, so it's very historical and humbling to see.

After we wandered around the square, looking like tourists, we got on a tour bus. We took a 1-1/2 to 2 hour tour of Merida. Since the weather was only in the 70s and the bus had open sides, it was chilly! I only had on a tee shirt, and some of the group only had on shorts and tanks. The local people were wearing sweatshirts! I suppose it is January, so cold weather is to be expected!

The tour stopped at a little mall on the Paseo (I think...) Inside were a few restaurants and several shops where I plan to go to find some souvenirs. On our way out, one of the shop workers came out to talk to Myra and me. I was happy that I was able to communicate with him without a problem. We talked about the program and his merchandise (shot glasses- not my choice of a gift!) Then we had to get on the bus. It's nice to have so many chances to talk Spanish, and that the people don't judge or laugh when we mess up!

In the afternoon we had more orientation stuff. We talked a lot about the layout of Merida and where things are. Since Merida has over 1 million people, it's a pretty large city, and there's certainly a lot to see! After that, we set up meetings with Valerie to finalize our classes and talk about internships and service learning projects. I'm very happy because I got an internship working with Valerie. I'm really excited because I'll be helping her with all sorts of projects and learning how to work in a professional manner.

I have to say that I'm getting very used to the amazing food served by the house staff. A lot of our food is made with cream and other such unhealthy things, so we definitely have to worry about portions! But it all tastes so good! I honestly don't know if I'll be able to readjust to processed American food and the cafeteria food...