I went on a legitimate roller coaster.

As most of you probably know, I'm back in the States now, but I'm going to write one last blog to kind of wrap things up.

To answer the most common question, YES! I AM ECSTATIC TO BE BACK IN THE UNITED STATES!!! I loved Mexico, and I will definitely return, but I missed home. I do miss my Potosi family, but I am not worried about seeing them. I know I will see them again. =)

I really appreciate Martinsville, my family, my house, my bed, etc., now. I appreciate my life so much more! It's absolutely incredible. I've been bubbly and bouncy ever since I returned because I'm happy and proud to be an American in my hometown. I love this city. It was also perfect that the fair was this week because I have a chance to see everyone and catch up all in one week. Lol.

I'm going to work backwards this time, so stay with me. When I returned, I was close to the last one off the plane, but I was the first one out the gate to see my family. Man, that was an experience in itself... I was expecting to see a few people waiting for me. I was WRONG about that one! I should have known better. My mom, dad, sisters, boyfriend, best friend, (2 of my) aunts, and my mamaw were standing there with a HUGE poster of a picture of me, a root beer, and a package of double stuff oreos!! I LOVE MY FAMILY!! They are the best that anyone could ask for. I love them so much. I just cannot say it enough. I LOVE MY FAMILY!! All of it!! They are all so caring, and polite, and, well, I'm getting off the topic. They're great. That's all you need to know. I gave everyone there hugs and then I started to recount some adventures from Mexico. It was soooooooooooo hard to do in English. I was confused for the first couple of days.. Lol. I was thinking in Spanish, speaking in English, sometimes in Spanish, trying to speak in English. I'm pretty sure smoke was coming out of my ears my brain was so confused...

I also want to say that I feel sorry for everyone here with this weather. The weather in San Luis Potosi was (almost) PERFECT! There was 0% humidity, it was between 75 and 85 degrees every day, and there was always a nice breeze. The only downer was that it rained a lot. I mean, I pretty much wore jeans all summer. Then I came here and I felt like I was in an OVEN! I'm still waiting for some nice weather. It's just so HOT here.

The flight before all of that was really LONG! I sat with my friend Melanie, and we were both EXTREMELY excited to come home. Everyone else was blubbering about leaving Mexico and their families, but not us!! I mean, do not get me wrong. I miss my Potosi family. They were wonderful to and for me. I almost cried when I hugged my sister Andrea the last time, but once I was on that plane, I was ready for the family that God gave me. It was such a long flight though... It seemed like it took FOREVER!

Before that, my last couple of weeks in Mexico were pretty laid-back and fun. I spent time with my family. I went to my last dance classes. I went to my last classes in school. We had our farewell performance with theater, choir, and dance works. That was super fun. I loved it. We sang 3 songs, in Spanish, had 3 theater works (everyone was in one of them), and 2 dances (the traditional one and the Arabic one). It was a hit, and the families absolutely loved it.
We went to an "amusement park" as a group too.

QUIQUELAND!

That was the scariest fun park that I have ever been too. The "rollercoaster" had a 2 person seat that hang from a bar and moved. The whole structure moved every time the cart went around the track. It was SCARY LOOKING! So, Melanie dragged me through the line and I TRIED THE ROLLERCOASTER! It was so much fun. I loved it. Everyone said it would hurt around one corner, so I flexed every muscle in my body, and I was FINE! Hahaa. Then we went and saw all of the other sketchy rides and rode most of them. Lol.

Afterward we went to the other side of the park, across the street, and there was a neatly manicured lawn with a volleyball court, soccer field, in-house inground pool, gazebo, and kayaks. It was REALLY NICE! I was slightly confused to be honest. It was wonderful though. Lol.

All-in-all, it was a great trip and I am extremely glad that I went. It was hard, and I don't know if I can ever do something exactly like that again, but I feel like I've grown up and loosened up a lot. I'm not afraid to have fun now, and I'm not afraid to be a kid. It's so weird. At this moment, if I'm confused, I feel normal. It's a normal occurance. I love it. Haha. I'll be back 100% soon, but I'm so glad that I learned everything that I did.

1. I learned how to speak spanish better.
2. I learned how to be a kid and not to be so uptight.
3. I learned some new dance moves.
4. I grew up a little.
5. I learned a lot about myself as a person.
6. I learned to appreciate my life in the U.S.

Those are just a few of the things that I learned. I cannot possibly say everything, or I would be here for days. I strongly reccomend that every person that has an opportunity to travel abroad and learn, DO IT! It is really hard at first, but you will emerge a better and completely different person. It is such a wonderful experience.

Thank you, for the last time, to EVERY SINGLE PERSON, that kept up with my blog throughout my trip.

Also thank you to everyone that made it possible for me.

I SERIOUSLY APPRECIATE IT AND I COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!!

Paz!!
Peace!!

Love,
Maggie Rose Paul

Ciudad de México, México, o D.F.

Since I´m a photographer, this story is much easier to tell via pictures. Here is my experience in Mexico City. =)



First we went to Teotihuacán. It was amazing. The whole group climbed the Pirámide del Sol, and this is me taking a short break. This pyramid was huge!




Yay!! I have proof that I made it to the top. I stayed on top of this grand pyramid for a while. Lol.




Afterward, we were free to roam and explore for a couple of hours. I was dumb enough to choose to climb the other huge pyramid. I made it though. The pyramid that I climbed first is behind my head.




It really is absolutely beautiful here. It´s amazing that someone could build this using only their hands and a lot of people. I can´t even begin to imagine. After we descended the pyramid that this was taken from we did a little bit of shopping in the mini mercado. There are also TONS of people here walking around trying to sell you their crafts. We got so annoyed that we started singing Waka Waka and Cuidado con el Fuego every time one approached. It was great. Lol.




The second pyramid is the one that killed. It was so hard that we almost didn´t make it. We were the only ones who decided to climb the second one.




After Teotihuacán, we arrived in Mexico City and went to the Basilica. It is a HUGE church, and this is the original picture of the Virgen de Guadalupe.




This is the beginning of Saturday. We saw a GIGANTIC Cathedral. It was pretty. I think someone said it was the 3rd largest in Mexico or in the world. I can´t remember.




Outside that day it was really gloomy and rainy. Stephen forgot his umbrella, and before we got off the bus he asked our masculine, macho bus driver if he could borrow one. The bus driver grabbed this pink umbrella with ballet slippers and bows on it, and he handed it to Stephen. I don´t know what was funnier, the fact that Stephen was walking around with a little girl´s umbrella, or that the bus driver had it. Hahaha.




This is a picture of the Zócalo. It is the main plaza of Mexico City. We went to several places around the plaza including the Cathedral, the Museum of the Templo Mayor, and the Palacio Nacional.




In front of the Templo Mayor Museum, there is a replica of one of the sculptures inside. I believe we have some Aztec blood in our veins because not just anyone can pull of this magnificent pose.




This is the Templo Mayor, or the Main Temple of the Aztecs. It is all that is left of their grand city and capital, Tenochtítlan. The Spanish conquistadors destroyed the rest. This was also really cool to see because it is living evidence of the magnificence and power of the Aztec Empire. I am such a nerd. =)




Some of my friends and I after our tour of the museum went out into the ruins of the Templo Mayor. It was just amazing.




After our visit to the Templo Mayor, we walked to the Palacio Nacional. It is a really important building, but I´m still not sure why. I asked a few people, and no one gave me a straight answer, lol. Diego Rivera painted LOTS of murals here though. He pretty much painted the entire history of the indians of Mexico. He painted their splendor, their conquering, and their suffering. I really liked these murals.




Desi and I =)




Sarah and I =)




Afterward, we walked to the House of Tiles. In route, I looked back and saw a hilarous sight. There is a kid here that is a head taller than everyone in our group. Apparently, he is a head taller than everyone in Mexico as well. Hahaha.




The Casa de Azulejos (House of Tiles) is cool, but nothing spectacular in my opinion. By this point in the day, everyone was tired, hot, and hungry. There was a restaurant, some gift shops and such inside this building, and we ate here.




After lunch and a break for about an hour, we walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. It´s another old, important, pretty building in Mexico City. We went inside and saw some more murals and another art exhibit. It was pretty, but I didn´t enjoy it because I was so tired. The morale of the group at this point was pretty low.




Afterward we got another break and rode the bus to the Castillo de Chapultepec. It´s ANOTHER old, big, pretty building that used to be someone´s house but now is a museum. We got about 2 hours here to "explore." Everyone looked for about 20 minutes then rested for the rest of the time. While exploring, we saw this historic figure of Mexico´s history. I don´t have any idea who it really is, but we thought we found Harry Potter. Hahahaa.




The view from El Castillo was REALLY good. Mexico City is HUGE! I could not believe it. This is about one hundredth of what I saw.




The Castillo de Chapultepec is pretty impressive I have to admit. It is huge. I could never imagine living in a place like this.




After the Castillo, we went to the Museum of Anthropology. This is the famous Piedra del Sol. It was used as a calendar by the Aztecs, and it weighs some two tons. It´s huge, and totally awesome.




There were a lot of different rooms in this museum. I went to the Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmecs. This is a giant Olmec head. Haha. It´s really big.




After our freedom in the museum, we went to the ballet in the museum that night. It was a mixture of traditional indian dance and old, european dance. Overall it was really, really cool.




This was the first place we went Sunday morning. It was a nice little place. We ate breakfast here in a quaint little restaurant that was really good with HORRIBLE service. That´s weird here because service in restaurants is usually excellent. I don´t know what happened.




Jill and I =)




These are a couple of my angelic friends. Hahaha.




This is a view of the beautiful Coyoacán. It´s a quaint little place in Mexico City where you can see little shops and Frida Kahlo´s house.




This is the "jardín" of Frida Kahlo´s house. AJ is a HUGE fan of Frida, and this is a replica of a picture of Frida and Diego Rivera that we saw in one of the rooms here. She is standing exactly where Frida stood.




After we saw Frida´s house, we went to Xochimilco. It was my FAVORITE place of all the places we went. These are big boats that you can ride and relax, and other people come up in their mini boats to sell you their crafts or food. It´s soooooo cool and relaxing.




The first thing I did when we got in the boat was lay here. Haha. Others followed soon after.




Jill, Me, AJ, and Sarah =) (and Estefan in the background)




Margaret, Briana, Desi, Melanie, and Mason =)




I called Dulce before we even knew we were taking a ride in the boats. lol




AJ and I, Guava Boing and Coke (with real sugar!!)




Xochimilco




Self-Explanatory =)

I think I am going to go to Cedar Point when I get back.

Hola otra vez!!

Wow.. I really haven´t written in a while... I´m very sorry, but I have been VERY busy. It´s incredible. I can´t believe I only have 13 days left!! It´s happy and sad all at the same time. I can´t wait to come home to Martinsville, but I don´t want to leave the relaxed life here. Ugh, why is life so difficult? I think I´m just going to buy a private jet or a jetpack and fly here whenever I need a break. If you can´t tell, I´m feeling magnificent. I have had two WONDERFUL weeks. Let´s recount...

I TURNED 18 JULY 6th!

I am now legally an adult in the U.S. It´s weird to think about, and I still don´t want to grow up. I like being a kid, so I´m probably still going to enjoy kid-hood. Haha.
Anyway, my birthday was incredible. I woke up to a boquet of pink roses, a card, and a balloon from my family, and they all hugged me and told me Happy Birthday. They sang too. Lol. I also always wondered what it would be like to go to school on my birthday...now I know! I don´t like it. Lol. I feel bad for all of those people with birthdays August through May... Oh well. School wasn´t all bad. My classmates sang to me ¨Las Mañanitas¨ which is the song for happy birthday down here. It was great. I had two dance classes that day too. My teacher of arabic let me wear her jingly hip scarf!! It was sooooo cool!! It was actually so cool that I bought a pink one for myself today... Lol. I also got to pick the song that we danced to in my hip hop class with Oscar, AJ, Hailey, and Jilly that day. It was RAD!

The next day was my FIESTA!! There were more than 40 people in my house. I invited my cousins, my friends from here, and my friends from school. It was great! My cousins and sisters helped my mom and I make the snacks beforehand. Then, everyone else showed up, and we all talked and danced and had a blast! And Lasho shoved my face in my cake because apparently that´s a tradition here. I think we should observe the tradition in the U.S. too because it was funny. Haha. All-in-all, it was a great two days.

I would also like to thank my family and friends for the multitudes of birthday cards i have received. I have loved every single one. :-)

My sister, Euge, finally came home for good 2 days before my birthday too!! She is wonderful, and I love her. She´s young and loca like me. Hahaha. We´re perfect for each other. I´m pretty sure I have a friend for life there. =)

Hm... We learned an EXTREMELY cool dance in my hiphop/reggaeton class. It was really demanding, but by far the best one yet. It was a combination of hiphop, reggaeton, and crumping. Oh my gosh. As they say here, it was FREGON! Fregon is really really extremely awesome to the max. I can´t wait to find out what´s going to happen tomorrow.
We also went to Mexico City this past weekend, and it was long, but awesome. I´m going to write a separate entry about that trip.

Today, I was visiting the hippies here, and I heard someone talking in Spanish. Normal, right? Yes, but this was said with the accent of a student who doesn´t have much practice and has just been thrown into a city full of Spanish-speakers. It was someone from Iowa who is here in San Luis for a mission trip. I talked to him and his dad (in Spanish) for a while. It wasn´t anything huge, but it made me realize how much I have improved. This boy had studied Spanish for 4 years, and I had to speak really slowly so that he could understand me. I asked my sister afterward if it was because my grammar was incorrect, and she said no. There were no problems with my grammar. I just about jumped in the air I was so happy. I can see progress. There is cold-hard evidence!! I have to say thank you again, to everyone in the Martinsville High School Spanish Department. Thank you Mr. Maxwell, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Uebel. If I did not have you guys, I would not still be here. THANK YOU!!!

I don´t have ANY mosquito bites at the moment. The Raid plug-in and screen are working wonders.

I tried enchiladas potosinas. Those are enchiladas that were created in and native to San Luis Potosí. They are surprisingly delicious. They are made with a small, orange tortilla, cheese, various chiles, and usually eaten with aguacate. I don´t really like aguacate, but with these, it´s perfect.

For now, that´s all I have because I don´t want to use up too much of my hour right now. I need to save some for my Mexico City excursion.

Thanks again to all of you who have supported me and are continuing to support and pray for me. I really appreciate it.

Overall, I love it here. It´s great. My speaking has improved, my mood has improved and stabilized, and I´m just in love with this place. I haven´t had a bad day in a long time.

This is my dance (arabic/traditional polka/salsa) teacher, Michelle. On my birthday, she let me wear her jingly scarf. I was sooooo excited. Lol.

On our walk from one dance class to the other, we saw HERBIE! He was just chillin in the street! It was totally awesome. lol

This is my hip-hop/reggaeton dance class and one of our teachers, Oscar. AJ and Hailey are on the right. I had to wear the wizard´s hat because it was my birthday. I think. Lol. I´m actually not sure what the hat had to do with my birthday. Lol

This is what usually happens during a class... It´s kinda wild. Lol.

Once again, this is a glimpse into a normal class for us. Haha.

18 years old and chocolate cake!! Muy Mexican, no? Haha. All of the other birthdays had traditional Mexican cakes, tres leches, etc. But my family loves me sooo much that I got CHOCOLATE!! Hehehe. Thanks Maru!!

My WONDERFUL sister, Euge, and I were finally together on my birthday!

My wonderful chocolate cake was in my nose on my birthday. This is a tradition I think we should start in the States. =)

Self-explanatory. Haha.

Maybe I´ll try a roller coaster when I get back...

Buenas Noches!

Sorry I haven´t written in a while... I have been really busy. If I´m not home, I´m at school. If I´m not at home or school, I´m with my friends. If I´m at home, I´m talking with my family, doing homework, or writing in my journal. It´s hard to find time for anything!! It´s alright though. :)

I can't believe how much I have learned already. I'm beginning to be able to understand conversations and discussions between people here. It's really crazy to think about. I keep seeing things that are different. The birds here sing different songs. I think it's because they sing songs in Spanish here. I've also began noticing very obscure and minute differences. Everything smells different here. I swear even the air has a different scent to it. I smell new odors all the time. Some of them are incredible, and others not so much. For example, I can take a deep breath and it's air, but it has a minutely different tambre. I miss the songs and smells of Indiana. That is honestly something that I thought I would never hear myself say. Like I said before, I have a new appreciation for home. Yeah, I may have said in the past that I can't wait to leave home. Woohoo! I'll be gone from Martinsville in a year! But now... I'm not so sure. I never realized how important my home is to me. I have my parents, my house, my family, my memories, my roots... In Martinsville. I grew up there. Home. Words cannot explain how important that is. I miss it so much. It's strange though. The clearest memory that I revisit in some form on an almost daily basis, is the last hour that I spent with Ian and my family in the airport. The day I left keeps coming back and visiting me. I have yet to figure out why. It's intense here.
Now onto more interesting things...

Cosas buenas:

1. I went to Guanajuato Friday. It was beautiful. The houses there are all built into hills and painted different colors. It was a good, but long, day.
2. I tried ice cream of crazy flavors in the city, Delores Hidalgo. I tried the flavors corn, cheese, tequila (non-alcoholic), roses, kiss of an angel, butter, and some others. Corn was REALLY good. And i felt like someone sprayed rose-scented perfume in my mouth when i tried the rose. It was baaaad.
3. I saw and climbed the balcony of Callejón del Beso. It's the balcony from a legend here. When two forbidden lovers were about to unite on two balconies, the father of the girl killed her because she disobeyed him. Then the boy kissed her even though she wasn't alive. Very sad... But I have a picture.
4. I can see improvements in my Spanish! I had a whole 5-minute conversation with my 15-year-old brother who has a very heavy accent! I was sooooo proud.
5. I'm in an arabic/hiphop dance class with a group from my school now. Its SUPER fun. I'm also in a class with my friends AJ and Hailey of hiphop Tuesdays and reggaeton Thursdays. I love it.
6. I finally met my 16-year-old sister! She has been at a summer camp this whole time. She left again until the 5th right after I met her, though.
7. I saw Toy Story 3 in the theater in Spanish and loved it!
8. My friend Jill is much better now. She was a vegeterian in the U.S. because her stomach couldn´t handle meat, but now she´s on medication that allows her to eat anything! She´s very excited.
9. I FOUND DR:PEPPER! And, it only costs around 50 cents for a bottle a little smaller than you would get from a vending machine. Yeaaah!
10. I rented Hairspray! and The Proposal with my sister in Spanish!!! I was so happy. They were just as good in Spanish as in English. Lol.

Cosas malas:

1. My mosquito bite count is up to 32.. But i have a screen in my window now and a Raid wall plugin thing. Things should get better.
2. I still have a bad day every once in a while when I wanna come home, but who doesn't?
3. My shin splints are gone, but my muscles hurt now because of my new dance classes. It's all good though because I love my classes.
4. It's hot. Lol.

Cosas interesantes:

1. I thought I would need Pepto while I was here because the food is so different, but no. I haven't opened it yet. Ibuprofen on the other hand, I have taken one at least half of the days that I've been here.
2. I never realized how important soccer is here. When Mexico won a game in FIFA, the whole CITY had a party! People were driving around with flags, honking horns, etc. It was crazy.
3. I FOUND ROOT BEER! But, it´s not root beer like I´m used to. I´m still searching for Barq´s or some A&W action.
4. I want to give Sra. Uebel a big hug when I return. My grammar class isn´t exactly the best in the world, but I understand everything perfectly because of the things that she has drilled into my head for the past 2 years. So thank you Sra. Uebel!!

Other than that, not much happens. I miss my family, home, boyfriend, friends, city, etc. I have good days and bad days. I keep trying new and exciting things.
1. Tomybolys - a snowcone in a bag with much more flavor, yum
2. Taxi with 2 of my friends - easy and nicer than any taxi I´ve ever been in, good
3. Churrizo (i think) with potatoes - meat and potatoes, delicious

I am really starting to love this place. It´s awesome. It´s different, and awesome. I really appreciate my family here. They are absolutely wonderful. My mom and dad both talk to me every day about different things. My brothers and sister are brothers and sister. Lol. And overall, I´m happy.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me get here and is still supporting me. I could not begin to do this without you.

P.S. Four weeks from this moment, I´m going to be back in Indiana. :)

This is me reaching for my forbidden love on the balcony of Callejon del Beso. No worries, my dad is safely 1000 miles away in Indiana. :)

My friends and I bought crazy-flavored ice cream in Dolores Hidalgo. I have elote (corn) and tequila.

Guanajuato is absolutely gorgeous.

I took this from a bus window. I LOVE the way the cloud and the shadow cover the landscape.

AJ, Oscar, and I were in the middle of a hip-hop number I think. This is my dance studio here that I attend twice a week.