Be prepared, this one is going to be a long one. So many things happened in my fifth months and I can't wait to tell you about them. I don't think any months will stand a chance against this one to be honest.
Feelings
The feeling that dominated my 5th month was definetly happiness. I can't remember when I felt this content over such a long span of time in the past or if I ever have. Bad news didn't affect me too much because I was happy inside.
I was also very thankful for lots of things especially for my host family. I love them so much already and I don't want to think that my time with them is limited. I had a great Christmas time with them and just spending time with them doing nothing extraordinary already makes me happy.
I can also tell you that I've really fallen in love in Mexico by now and that only thinking about leaving at some point makes me feel ill all over. I would love to stay another year and if it wasn't for the great university place waiting for me in Germany, I would totally do it.
I can't exactly tell you what I love so much about Mexico, it's just a general feeling that I belong here. In the beginning I couldn't really grasp this country but now nearly half a year into my stay here, I think I understand lots of things about the culture (but of course not everything!) and really feel at home here even if there are certainly facts that bother me.
Experiences
Ok so this part is really going to be long.
My fifth month started by getting to know my host brother and my host mother's parents which stayed with us until the end of December.
The first big event was a traditional Mexican Posada in which I participated. Posadas are a really big thing here and I must admit I find them a little crazy. Posadas are events which traditionally take place in the nine days before Christmas as a symbol for the nine month long pregnancy of Maria. Usually every day someone else (for example from one residential area) has to host this event however some companies also celebrate a Posada but only on one day. This year there wasn't a Posada at my work so I was really happy having the chance to participate in another one.
In my case it took place in a house close to my home where some of my host family's relatives live. The preparations began early in the evening because lots of food had to be arranged.
The real event begins with a bunch of people arriving at the house. They
have to wait in front of the closed door and they and the hosts inside of the
house begin to sing in turns. After pretending to reject the people outside two
times, they can finally enter. This part is a symbol for the rejection Maria
and Joseph experienced when looking for a harborage in Bethlehem.After this someone holds a speech and all together chant songs before food is dealt out.
The important part for the children is when the piñatas appear and they can all try to break them to set the sweets inside free. After that they receive even more sweets before going home.
On the 23rd of December I took part in another Posada and it was nearly the same only that the first time we stayed until later on because there was even more food for all the families' relatives.
I hope you understood more or less what a Posada is because I find it a little hard to explain in English but if not I can recommend reading this article.
Even before Christmas Eve the parties didn't want to end for me because both of my grandfathers' birthdays were on the 22nd and 23rd of December respectively.
I really liked this time with all of my host families relatives and I really started to feel at home in this time. There was also lots of delicious food and especially cakes involved which I really appreciated.
My Christmas Eve started with eating "elotes" (corn cobs) in front of Santo Domingo where we participated in the church service afterwards. It was really magical even though I didn't understand everything the priest talked about.
Arriving at home there was a lot of amazing food waiting for us because my host grandmother had prepared it all day. So we spent time together having dinner and my host brother tried to teach me dancing (as his feet are still alive so I think we can say it was a success). After midnight we went to my other grandparent's house and spent some time with the family there. I just felt happy all night which might also have something to do with the mezcal we put into the punch.
The rest of the week was relaxed and on the 30th my whole host family (except my host brother) and I drove to Mexico City where I spent some hours before taking a flight to Mérida early on the 31st of December. I stayed at a friend's house in Mérida until the 6th of January and I really enjoyed the time in Yucatán.
On the 31st we went to the city center for a while before helping to inflate nearly 500 balloons and getting ready for the big party.
It was a great night even though it was a party with all her family and I knew nobody except for the friend I stayed with. It was a really chic atmosphere and I felt like in a movie most of the time which was a great experience.
New Year's Eve isn't celebrated with as many fireworks as in Germany as they
are allowed all year here and therefore aren't something special. We also only
had dinner after midnight, a big difference from all I ever experienced back at
home.As the party lasted until 4am which meant I was awake for 24 hours already, we didn't do much on the first of January except eating leftover from the night before.
The next day we went to Progreso for lunch but unfortunately the weather wasn't too good all week and this day was especially windy and cloudy, so I couldn't enjoy the beach as much as I would have loved to.
In the evening we parted a "roscón", but more about this topic later on.
On Wednesday we had to get up early and after a really yummy breakfast at Waffle's Boutique we went to Chichen Itzá, a famous pyramid here in Mexico. When we arrived the line in front of the entry was really long but fortunately it moved quickly and we didn't have to wait for too long.
The place itself is stunning and it didn't matter that there were lots of visitors because the whole locations is quite big and there are lots of ruins to look at. This day I was relieved that it wasn't very hot in Yucatán the week I was there because I can't imagine walking around this place in the heat.
For lunch we went to Valladolid and we ate in a restaurant next to the cenote. A cenote is "a deep natural well or sinkhole... formed by the collapse of surface limestone that exposes ground water underneath" (from dictonary.com) and this one is especially beautiful. We didn't come prepared to swim but I also imagine the water was a little chilly and due to the temperatures it might not have been the best idea to go for a swim this day anyway.
The next day we went to Sisal, a little village on the beach, where my friend's family owned a house on the beach. It's a really beautiful place and I really hope I find time to go there when it's hotter again to enjoy the beach and the ocean even more. We also ate there and I must say that I liked the food in Yucatán a lot especially the fresh fish.
Friday was my last whole day in Mérida and so we went to see some more Maya ruins which are closer to the city and there I used my chance to go for a swim in a cenote. The water was surprisingly really warm and I enjoyed it even though the outside temperatures weren't too warm. The place itself was really quite and I loved the atmosphere there.
In the afternoon we went to a shopping mall and I bought some new clothes and I must admit I had to refrain myself from buying even more because there were so many things I liked. I feel a little bad that I like European clothing brands so much...
After that we went to the city center again because there was some festival going on but it was quite full so we didn't stay for too long and decided to order some pizza instead.
On Saturday I went back to Oaxaca and I was a bit sad because I really liked Mérida. When I first arrived there, I felt like I was back in Europe because it looks so much like a city in Spain or Portugal. The city is quite different from Oaxaca and there's a reason they call it "white city" because it's so clean. It's easy to see that mostly people with lots of money live there as the houses are big and there are expensive cars in front of nearly every home. The traffic in Mérida is so quiet and organized in comparison with Oaxaca, so it was a bit of a shock arriving here again.
I could really imagine living in Mérida someday even though I enjoy staying in Oaxaca for my voluntary service a lot.
The 6th of January is a really important day here in Mexico because children get presents by the three Magi on this day and there's the traditions of parting the "roscón", a special ring shaped cake that has little puppets inside and the ones who have them in their piece of cake have to buy tamales on the 2nd of February. I already took part in an event to share a roscón in Mérida in which I was lucky to not receive a puppet but this day I did get one. And it wasn't my last one because we also had two of these cakes at work where I got another puppet.
Work
I didn't work too much in my 5th month as I was on vacation the majority of the time and the days I did work weren't really special as I did the same things as always: monitoring chosen themes and traduce things when needed. After the holidays I had lots of newspapers and online articles to go through as you can imagine.
I also only worked one week after my vacation because the next one we had a seminar at the beach in Chiapas about which I'm going to tell you in the next post. And two days of the first work week of the year were reserved for planning activities and team building, so I didn't work for real.
Language
I really like speaking Spanish by know which I wouldn't have imagined when I first arrived. It also means that Portuguese sounds a bit rare to me now and I don't know which I prefer to be honest. I can't think of anything else to tell you about this topic and I don't know if I'll keep this category or dump it when nothing special happens regarding this topic.
Contact to Germany
I still have regular contact to my family and friends in Germany which I'm really thankful for. On the 25th of December I skyped with my whole family while still being really tired because the party on Christmas Eve lasted until the early hours of the 25th. Some thought that I was homesick because I looked a little bad however I was great and the looks were only due to my tiredness.
I also videocalled one of my best friends in Germany for the first time since being in Mexico and it felt really good talking to her again apart from messages.
So even though I don't really want to go back to Germany in summer I also have quite a few people there I'm going to be really happy seeing again and which I do miss even though I'm loving my time here.
So I think I didn't promise too much when saying this post was going to be long :D I hoped you enjoyed reading it because I'm quite sure its length was an exception and I usually don't take this many photos (about 200) in one month as well.
Have a good time and see you soon,
Sandra
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