Tuesday, June 30, 2009

el primer martes

hola mi familia!

hoy teniamos clases otra vez. me gusta mas las clases hoy que ayer. y after clases we had a meeting about our excursions and what not and appartanly because our group is so small we only get to go on two outing, pero the universidad y everyone is excited that we're here so they are going to let us use a bus and get other discounts so we are going to go on 5 o 6 otros excursiones and we only will have to pay about 75 dollars, (american not pesos) which i thought was a good deal looking at all the stuff we are going to do... anyways, hoy comimos watermelon para el desayuno and a fried egg which was really delicious actually. and for lunch i had carne con arroz y platanos. it was sooooo goooood. she cooked the rice with chicken stock i think? idk it was muy rico! y fuimos a la tortilleria(?) so we had these fresh warm corn tortillas that were sooo goooood tambien. also i had this weird popsicle thing that was in plastic like an ottor pop but it was fat and it was creamy and when i was almost done, the melted part was like jello... entonces, mis compeneras de clase querian ir al "centro" which is basically downtown merida i think, so nuestra madre yucateca put us on a bus and we walked around the centro. i felt like everyyonnne was staring at us (because they were) las solitas chicas rubias alli! then after awhile it started raining... and raining... and raining. so much lluvia! seriously, the rain drops were falling harder than the water in thier shower. we were soaked in casi UN minuto! it was glorious, the rain was warm and the air was warm too, so being soaking wet was una temperatura perfecta! entonces we were just walking around in the rain and we found some other girls from our programa so we walked around with them. and then we ran into this old man that started talking to us about how he used to live in the united states forty years ago and how he tutors rich kids in english and italian and french and german and he speaks mayan! entonces the other girls we were with started talking about how they wanted to buy una hamaca (hammock) because apparantly the best hamacas are made here and so the guy told us the best place to get them, pero las chicas were un poquito confused, so this sketch old man with a limp escorted us to the hammack shop where the only people inside were like 6 otro hombres that were also a little sketchy and they took us to this back room with hammocks and tried to get us to buy them... it was a little creepy... entonces regresamos en el camion and the bus driver just kept laughing at us because we were sopping wet. and our bus almost got hit by lighting! and then when we got off the bus, there was literally 2 feet of water in the street and we had to wade our way home. (don't worry, it was still raining) what an aventura, no? i survived my first monsoon! :) bueno, i had a lot of fun today and i'm excited for all of the stuff we have to come! el viernes vamos a la playa y a algos ruinas y vamos a tener una fiesta for the fourth of july! tambien, el novio de carmita, que se llama sergio, told me that he is in a church choir/band thing and i told him me gusta cantar and so he got all excited and wanted me to sing with them on thursday night when they come over for practice... pero no se... we'll see!

anyways, i'm still having so much fun and i am learing a ton! mi accento ya esta mejorando and i get less and less afraid to talk to people.


love/miss you!
love,rochelle

hilary y yo despues de la lluvia!

my first day and a halllffff

querida familia,

llego a mexico ayer a las 3. the flight was 100% full. i sat next to the cutest little couple from espana. there was a bunch of turbulance landing-- fun! and it was raining when we landed. then we had to fill out a questionaire about whether we had the swine flu symptoms and i got a stamp in my passport! and we went through customs & i had to open up my bag because i had a big box of batteries... it really freaked me out. and as soon as we stepped off the plane my hair frizzed out beyond anyone's control. then i switched mi dinera a pesos y compro un boleto to take a bus from the airport to the bus terminal. and then we took another bus from cancun to merida. the bus ride was sooo long it seemed, but i could look out the window the first 2 hours before it got pitch black! its weird how dark it gets without all the light pollution. we drove past une monton of really ghetto/awesome city y muchos muchos really cool arboles. i was still so excited and the trees were so cool that it felt like i was on a ride at disneylandia haha! then we got to merida around 10 and our cute little host familia picked us up. seriously though, the mom is probaly like 4 feet tall. and everyone here is TINY! i feel like an amazon woman ALL THE TIME. carly, you would even feel tall here ;). and it doesn't help that i have a big bush of blonde curly hair on the top of my head/ am the whitest person i've seen yet. anyways our family is so cute! they brought us back and fed us "hot cakes" haha and we just chatted for a couple of hours. and then i took a shower. a cold shower has never felt better in my entire life. then hoy fuimos a la universidad modelo and we had three classes from 8-3:30 ALL in spanish. the first class we uber-boring and i honestly could not even focus enough to care what he was saying. its 395, a culture class about the yucatan, but all the profesor did was read the syllabus and repeat everything to take up the whole TWO HOURS. entonces, los otros clases son muy divertidos! i was nervous that i wouldn't be good enough at spanish, but honestly i think i am more comfortable than most of our group. for lunch tenemos enchiladas de pollo con mole... muy rico! yummm. they were sooo good! it made me think about grandpa turley because he always tries to make us eat mole. haha. anddd i just took a siesta which was glorious because i barely slept the night before and last night we only slept about cinco horas. anyways... i really like it here. a veces i get a little tired of speaking spanish and my brain turns off for un minuto, pero hay mucho tiempos cuando siento como la gente estan hablando en ingles porque entiendo todo que estan diciendo. es muy interesante. y other times, i feel like i can't understand anything. but i am definitely learning! i really like the way the city feels too (not the humidity, or the heat) but i like the kind of run down feeling. and all the houses are gated in and a lot of them are bright colors. idk, i love it!


si tienen preguntas por favor preguntanme! i feel like this email does nothing justice, pero i'm honestly loving everything!


i love you all!


i wish you guys could be here and see all the crazy stuff i have even in one day! haha also, when i tell people that my family is as tall or taller than me (menos uno) their eyes get really big like its the freakiest thing they've ever heard!


hasta luego,
love,
rochelle

p.s. haha no one can say rochelle. carmita wants to call me rosh. lol
p.p.s. aqui son dos picturas de mi cuarto. the one with me is a picture of the beds and the other picture is my roommate and the shelves where our clothes are. there's also a desk and a no se... coffee table thing? pero, es mas largo de mi cuarto en nuestra casa! haha

Monday, June 22, 2009

pre-mexico fun

dear blog,

so this weekend was super fun.

wht did i do?

friday:
visit with grandpa/kelli and her kids.
maddie came home.
adventures with lisie, ho ho, carly hyatt and my new friend matt vickery.
we drove around provo.
concert at sammy's.
free icecream cones.
almost vegas.
the y lookout.
sonic.
17 agian.

saturday:
family time.
olive garden.
costco.
kohl's
rain.
then...
more harriet and elise time plus their new roommate sarah.
not country dancing.
not american idol.
the end of the pursuit of happyness.
driving around doing nothing.
still fun.
not sleeping.

sunday:
chris harmer's farewell.
bountiful=beautiful.
rainy, greeeen, gorgeous.
chris's house. awkward.
pictures at the bountiful temple.
sean c young. ew.
bob bodily's farewell.
ogden=beautiful.
flat, rustic, homey.
grandpa's house with my family.
salsa y enchiladas. yum.
temple square with carly and harriet.
crazy crazy crazy wind.
homeless man.
home.
uno.
provo.
levi's new house.

sleeeeeeeeeeep.


i guess it wasn't too too crazy, but after a week of pretty much nothing, it was glorious.
sigh.

love,
rochelle

p.s. pictures to come... probably.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

two things...

dear blog,

so, two things.

one: my entire family is gone this week, minus my dad and myself. the last of them left this morning, and i already feel so lonely in this house all by my lonesome. mom and rich are in california, maddie's at basketball camp in st. george, and nickie and carly are at girl's camp. and dad doesn't usually get home from work until 7 or later. sigh. oh well.

two: in twelve days, i will be in mexico!!! i can NOT even wait. except i really can. i'm kind of nervous about all of the spanish speaking and taking classes and such. but otherwise, i am UBER excited. my study abroad to guadalajara got cancelled for spring term, but they rescheduled for summer!!! instead of guadalajara we are going to merida (accent on the e) which is a hundred times better (minus the fact that it is more expensive.) guadalajara is a huge city with normal things to do, but merida is a smaller city with ruins around, its closer to the beach and our group will be more than half as small as before! plus, because i didn't go before, i got to say goodbye to my grandma and such. also, it is cheaper to fly in and out of cancun and then take a bus, so me and a bunch of other kids are staying in cancun for 3 or 4 days after to just play on the beach and such! it is so perfect. 12 days though, i have so much to prepare! i guess its a good thing no one is here to get in my way.

sigh.

funny how life goes on, huh?

love,
rochelle

Thursday, June 11, 2009

betty jean

Dear grandma,

you died.
last week.

you had been sick for quite a long time with just about every ailment you could think of. last summer when you almost died, and it was so dreadful! but this time, it was not really dreadful at all. it was so interesting. the whole time we were with her in the hospital with you, and even after you passed, i have never really felt anxious. obviously, i have felt sad that you won't be around for the rest of my mortal life, but i feel like this has been an opportunity to grow closer to my family more than anything. there were so many tender moments in the hospital of husband comforting wife, sibling comforting sibling, child comforting parent. it was so special! i honestly wouldn't trade the experience of being there for that for anything.

anyways, grandma you are a magnificent woman. i love how you would always tell us stories and tell us how wonderful we are and you always made me feel so good!

grandma, just know that i am so grateful for your wonderful example and i hope that one day i can be as virtuous and worthy as you were in your earthly life.

i love you grandma!

love,
your favorite granddaughter
rochelle
p.s. grandma, i miss you already!