Monday, February 20th
School on Monday actually went really well. As I said in my journal, "My afternoon classes didn't make me want to cry!". It really ebbs and flows every day. The kids were really attentive and really great learners on Monday. The kids loved our activity. We made cinnamon toast bread. Basically, we spread butter on a piece of white bread, mixed together cinnamon and sugar, then sprinkled that on top of the bread. One of my really good English speakers, Karim, said "10/10, would try again." It made me laugh super hard. Christina used her nail to draw a face into her bread, and sweet Dulce gave me her princess crown. It was one of those days when I just fell in love with teaching all over again.
That night, us roommates got together and hung out in my room. We decided to book our flights for Cancun and go there for our four day weekend. We were all very excited!!! I got a random burst of energy and inspiration as soon as we were getting in bed, but I needed to do something about it. Cue my own personal choreography rehearsal at midnight. That is always when inspiration hits me. I am in charge of the teachers big dance performance, and I really want it to be good. I had been stumped on what to do, and somehow my midnight energy burst flooded me with inspiration...I just need to find time to teach everyone else now. I don't know why, but my most creative time is always late into the night. Even when I was little. Anyways, nothing crazy. just a pretty normal teaching day.
Tuesday, February 21st
Classes on Tuesday also went very well. We were even down an additional teacher due to a family emergency, but the kids behaved pretty decently, and we had a fun class. The rest of my day was spent working on my goals. I had a really productive day, and it felt good to get back to improving myself. Everyone else went out to eat, but I stayed home to get the house to myself. That has been the hardest thing in thise trip. We are always with eachother. Back at home, my alone time is VERY valuable to me, but here, it has only increased. I need my space, and I need time to just exist with myself. It has been hard on all of us to be around people 24/7 with no way of getting away. At home, I would go on long walks, drives, hikes, etc. Here, I have to be with at least 1 other person if I want to do any of those things, and we all share rooms. It can be difficult at times, but I am lucky to have such good roomates. We have gotten really good at noticing eachothers needs and cues for when they need alone time. Anyways, I was very happy to have had that time to myself to re generate. That night, as I was writing my blog, the power went out! Fun Ivie fact...I LOVE it when the power goes out. I don't know...our family always made it fun. Hode and go seek in the dark, reading/eating by candle light, Telling stories, and so on. It just floods me with happy memories. Cailey and I ran up to the roof to get a view of the city in the dark. We got just a glimpse, then we watched as the whole city lit back up. It was pretty awesome.
Wednesday, February 22nd
Happy Birthday, Allie!!! Allie's 20th birthday was on Wednesday. I started the day making a yummy birthday breakfast of scones and honey potatoes to celebrate! Thankfully, I only had 1 class that was really mis behaving on Wednesday. They ate all their ingredients before we could finish, so they all wanted more, but I told them no. They weren't happy, but it taught them to listen! After school, we had cake. Seriously, the cakes here are unreal. SO GOOD. I need to find someone to teach me the Mexico secret to cakes. Here in Mexico, the person who's birthday it is actually serves everyone a slice of cake before taking one for themself. For some reason, I really love that tradition.
After school, about half the group went to Quaretaro, but I decided to stay and have some time to myself again. Poetry, uke, dance and self reflection. I had been super stressed all week (Not sure why), so I decided to just take a breather and do some stuff to refill my cup again. I sat and watched the sunset from the rooftop as I played uke, and just felt so grateful for moments of peace. Life is crazy and busy and noisy. The older I get, the more grateful I become for the small, quiet moments.
That night, we all packed our vacation bags, and we were giddy! Honestly, we were kind of crazy. It was great. We got to bed pretty late because we were up messing around so late. All I'm saying is that Josh better keep all the selfies I took when I stole his phone.
Thursday, February 23rd
Honestly, the walk to school was the only peaceful thing about Thursday. I won't even go into what a crazy mess school was. It was wild, and stressful and there were lots of tantrums and changed expectations for everybody. There was a puppeteer there that was performing, and that was part of the drama (from what I saw of his performance, he was awesome though!!!). All things considered; I am VERY glad to leave school that day. We were all DRAINED and very much over it.
Friday, February 24th
We stuffed our bags full, and hopped on the plane. We ate our breakfasts of pastries, fruit cups, juice and sandwiches, then landed in CanCun! We got out of the airport really quick and checked into our hotel. It is a really simple place, but super pretty. Each wall had artwork on it, and the rooms had great AC. We quickly got into our swim suits, then got on a bus for the beach! Like I said, I LOVE the bus, so I was having the time of my life. The Cancun buses are 12 pesos per ride, and they are bright red! We got to the beach, and I was in heaven. I forget how much I love and miss the beach until I am there again. There is something so other worldly and magical about it. All my stresses and worries disappeared as I swam in the water, collected sea shells, laid in the sun. It was perfect. There weren't too many people there. and there were so many gulls calling out to eachother. It was a soul enriching few hours. I couldn't help but sing songs from 'Mara' to myself the whole time I was there. I missed my fairy godmother while I stood on the beach. I wish I could've brought her! Anyways, I was perfectly happy during those few hours. Nature is truly where people belong. I heard once that we are in a nature famine, and I think that is true. I think that a lot of people (including myself), would be much happier and healthier if we, as a society spent more time in the natural world. It has a lot to teach us, and it is, I think, what our souls call for.
After the beach, we got cleaned up, went to the store, then got dinner at this fun little festival market. I got some vegetarian gringas, and they were amazing! On our bus ride home from the beach, we got a random rapping performance on the middle of our bus ride. It was pretty cool. It takes guts to get on a bus and start performing for a bunch of people. I got a pair of pants at the market, and we walked around for a while. Allie finally got a traditional dress to match with the rest of us, and we were all tempted to get a full body paint job done, but alas, we didn't. We just hung out at the hotel for the rest of the evening and made plans for the following days.
Saturday, February 25th
On Saturday we went to Isle Mujeres! It was beautiful. The ferry ride over was amazing. I think in another life I could've been a pirate. Something about speeding over the ocean, watching the waves, seeing the sun glinting off the water, the lull of the ship below me. AGH! I love it. It makes me giddy. If anyone knows a captain who needs an extra crew hand, let me know ;) I am the only one in our group that doesn't get any sort of motion sickness, so I have a lovely time on buses and ships. I seriously would love to perform on a Disney Cruise or something. There is just something about being on the ocean that really speaks to me.
When we got on the island, we decided to go snorkeling! I had never been before, and it was amazing! I NEED to go diving sometime. I felt like a mermaid the whole time. Swimming right next to the fish had me grinning ear to ear! I did lose my hair clip, so that is a bit sad, bit hopefully in 300 years, it'll be found and put into a museum or something. Hopefully I will be able to go snorkeling on my next trip to California. We then got dropped at a smaller Island farther out, and Kayla and I went and swam with a shark! It was only 20 pesos (about one US dollar), and it was AWESOME! As I walked down the stairs into the water, I was trying to peer into the water and see where the shark was. That is when it moved from directly under my foot. I might've yelped a little, but the shark was a cutie. We got to actually hold it, and it felt much different from what I expected. I thought it would be much smoother, but it was more leathery. It was an amazing experience. We swung on some swings, then we went back to the main island.
On the main island we did some shopping, walked around the island, then we watched the sunset on the beach. It was a perfect vacation day. On our way back to the ferry, randomly we saw all the Miss Universe ladies in full evening dress, makeup and sash. It was so random. I wish I would've thought to take a picture. Trying to get a bus from the ferry station to the hotel was not easy. We finally found the right bus, but he wouldn't let us get on until the next stop. He made us RUN all the way. Everyone on the bus was laughing their heads off as we got on. We got home, cleaned up and relaxed.
Sunday, February 26th.
On Sunday, we slept in until noon, then we got a beach recommendation from the hotel owner. He is super awesome. He is from Poland, speaks like 6 languages, and was super helpful during our whole trip. We all kind of forgot that people our age usually vacation in Cancun to party and drink, so we didn't think twice about the beach he recommended. It was party/nightlife central. Honestly, it made me sad. The beach was so littered, and the music from the clubs was so loud that it nearly drowned out the sound of the ocean. I wish there was a way to preserve beautiful, natural places while still letting people go and see them. I had that thought the whole trip. I couldn't help but wonder what each place was like before we came in and made it touristy and built over the landscape. I pretty much just read on the beach all day. It was awesome. The bus ride TO the beach was it' own adventure. That thing was PACKED, and we were all dripping sweat by the time we shoved our way out.
We got dinner at that market again, and I got the best nachos I have ever eaten, and a Horchata. Back at the house, we packed, showered and overall just got ready to leave. We had a 3 am flight, so non of us got much sleep. Around 10, one of the other people in the hotel came and asked us to be quiet, bit it was really weird. He stayed and talked in the hallway for like 10 minutes, and he tried to tell us how much sound carries by saying "I don't know if you're from Montreal, but I heard everything you were saying about it." The best part is, we never mentioned Montreal. He was being so loud in the hallway that the person next door came out and told him that he was keeping them awake. It was just weird. A simple "Hey, could you keep it down" would've been much more effective. I only got about 30 minutes of sleep before our taxi came for us. The vacation was exactly what I needed. Relaxing beach days. I am actually glad that we stayed away from the tourist spots and that we just kept it calm.
From your Finding Nemo loving siren,
Ivie Noelle <3
