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When most people think of Cancun, they think of a small area called the Hotel Zone (there are actually signs in the real Cancun pointing to the Hotel Zone… which is totally different and a fake sort of touristy area). While I did get to see some of the Hotel Zone, I spent most of my time in the REAL Cancun, working in some of the very poor communities there. I got to stay in and see the real Cancun, which I feel is such an honor.
While there, we worked in 4 different communities, doing construction and spending time with the kids each afternoon (we had songs, skits, games, lessons, and crafts we did with them). I had a REALLY really wonderful time. I actually really love mixing cement (I think I talked about my first time mixing cement when I talked about my favorite spring break), so I was so happy to be spending time in the sunshine doing that.
I didn’t so much love the time I spent doing that with scorpions around me. That was definitely a new experience that had me on edge a bit.
little hand games are a favorite for kids there.
One of the most difficult and best days of the trip was on Wednesday (almost two weeks ago now). We poured a cement floor for a woman who hadn’t had anything but a dirt floor. She and her sons were out in the sun helping us, and it was a really beautiful moment to work side by side with her. After that I walked around with a group of people to see the town and meet some of the people, and they were SO sweet and friendly. These were houses that were a small room, often with no bed (no room and too expensive), and no plumbing… it was really hard to see and interact with. There are actually no words to describe the feelings as people hugged us, gave us food, and interacted with us throughout our time in that community. I felt humbled, overwhelmed with everything I have in my life, and struggling to comprehend the living conditions I was seeing. I’m honestly still struggling with it a bit. I look at the things I own and feel a mix of gratitude and guilt, which is a strange tension. I feel almost a bit of culture shock coming back, and it’s honestly been fairly difficult to drop straight into work again after all that I experienced.
There were so many beautiful moments on the trip. I loved the people I interacted with there, and I loved being side by side with the 18 students I had with me as they processed “healthy helping”, community development, and poverty that they were interacting with while there. I especially enjoyed seeing Cancun as it really is, and not just the manufactured and created Hotel Zone there. It’s funny because most people think of Cancun as beautiful beaches and oceans (that is true- they are beautiful!), but I’ll always think of Cancun as the beautiful people that I met in some of the surrounding communities.
We had a few days at the end of the trip to relax and debrief a bit, which included a beach day on Easter, a day in Chichen Itza (Mayan Ruins), and some crazy experiences running around the city. I’ll share some of that in a later post.
For now, I’ll leave you with a few final food pictures (I LOVED the food there). They also had delicious apple soda there, which I’ve managed to find back in the US as well!
Mostly, words feel utterly insufficient to describe the 10 days I had in Cancun, and I’m sorry I can’t do a better job at capturing everything that fit into the trip. These are days I’ll treasure dearly throughout life, and I’m so thankful for the experience to travel and lead a trip there.
at the ocean in Cancun (nails, nunn, the waves, and my tattoo 😀 )
indoor lighting
I LOVE the color… Sorry for the chips- I painted my nails in Mexico and it took a few days to take a picture of it once I got home. It has texture in it, just like sand was in the nail polish. I love it 🙂
Here are some random facts for the week:
1. I’ve been loving this pomegranate candle recently! Pomegranate is a flavor I really love, but rarely do I find it in candle form. It’s delicious!
2. Before I went to Mexico, I had 21 posts scheduled for my blog and another 3 mostly typed up. Some of these posts I had typed up back in January for the sole purpose of posting them this past week, so I’ve been preparing for a few months. I’m glad to know that craziness is over.
3. I’m having a surprisingly difficult time adjusting back to “real life” here after being in Mexico. I’ve traveled quite a bit, and have never had quite this much difficulty. My heart and my mind are still there, and it’s definitely taking a bit of effort to force myself back to being present here.
4. I’ve been trying to limit my screen time a bit since I’ve been home. I didn’t turn on a computer, TV, movie, or anything like that for 11 days, and it’s feeling a bit overwhelming to me… I’m not sure why. I’m giving myself a bit of time on the computer and a bit of TV time, but otherwise I’m just listening to things or sitting in silence, which feels much better.
5. I’m SO sun burned on my shoulders and back. I got burned on Sunday and I’m still bright red and it still burns and itches. If I could get one of those massage chairs that they use in malls so that I didn’t have to have things touching my back, I definitely would do that!
6. I have so much to tell you about my trip! From mixing concrete to walking in some of the most impoverished areas I’ve seen, playing with kids in the community, swimming in the ocean, killing scorpions, and going to Chichen Itza, it was certainly an incredibly full 10 days. I wish I could sit down with each of you and tell you all about it 🙂
From dinner one night…
Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me one random fact from your week? Have you ever dealt with a bit of culture shock before?
I’m thankful for a great time in Mexico! I’ve been looking forward to this trip for the better part of a year, and I’m so thankful for the great experience I had. I can’t wait to share a bit more of it with you 🙂
I’m thankful for palm trees. They are so beautiful!! I’ve enjoyed getting to look at palm trees for the past 10 days and listening to them blow gently in the breeze. I wish I could have palm trees in my yard 🙂
I’m thankful for safety in travel. Safety was the biggest thing that was looming over me as I prepared for the trip, so having everyone arrive home safe and sound was a relief to me!
I’m thankful for the convenience of fresh water. There’s nothing that makes me more thankful for the convenience of water here than traveling and not being able to get water to drink at any faucet I pass. I’m thankful for the ease in getting fresh water here in my daily life.
I’m thankful for fun and laughter. There was so much laughter in my life over the last 10 days, and I’m thankful for that!
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
First things first: what is yoga? A lot of people associate with the asanas, or postures, that you practice during a class at a yoga studio, like downward facing dog or tree pose. But asana is just one part of yoga, one of eight limbs that are equally important to practice if you’re really going to follow yoga. Luckily it’s pretty easy to incorporate some of the key concepts of yoga into your routine. Here are some little things that you can do to bring yoga into your everyday life.
Do mini-meditations. Stuck in traffic? Waiting at the doctor’s office? Hit the mental pause button and practice turning off your thoughts while you focus on your breath. Feel any sensations your body might be experiencing—is sunlight falling on your face, warming your skin? Maybe your muscles are sore from a workout. Take time to notice these sensations, but don’t assign any emotion to them.
Focus on your breath. When you’re in a stressful situation, sometimes things can feel out of control. To feel like you’re back in control again, focus on your breath.Take long, slow inhales and exhales, focusing on lengthening your breath and trying to make each inhale the same length as the exhale. Your breath can take you to that meditative space where you can find a little feeling of peace in the middle of chaos.
Be gentle with yourself. One of those limbs I mentioned earlier is the yamas, or restraints, that yogis practice. One of my favorite yamas is ahimsa, which means nonviolence. I think about this yama a lot in respect to being nonviolent to yourself. First, we’re a lot harder on ourselves than we are on each other. It’s okay to make mistakes and to not be perfect. Sometimes we need to be gentle with ourselves physically, too. Maybe you don’t need to push yourself so hard on your run or in your yoga class. Maybe your body needs a little bit of a break. Be sure to honor where you are in each moment.
Have questions about this article? Feel free to contact Beth via her blog, Running with the Sunrise, where she writes about yoga, running, and healthy living.
Now it’s your turn to share! How would you like to (or how do you) incorporate yoga into your every day life?
- 14 Minutes: A Running Legend’s Life and Death and Life: This book, by Alberto Salazar, is about his life as one of the greatest runner’s in American history. I finished this book on January 2nd (it was a quick read), and it was a great way to kick off the year!
- Outliers: The Story of Success: This book was really interesting to listen to (I downloaded the audiobook via my library’s website), and one I would absolutely suggest. The author asks the question “What makes high-achievers different?” and takes the reader through a variety of different scenarios (professional athletes, CEOs in Silicon Valley, etc…). What’s interesting is he starts to pick up on patterns that show that success isn’t purely based on hard work and motivation (although that certainly plays a big part).
- The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look At a Shallow Year: This book, by Andy Cohen (TV Producer and host of Watch What Happens Live on Bravo) chronicles a year in his life. There was nothing particularly exciting or intellectual about this book, but it gave me something to listen to as I drove around town and cleaned over a weekend.
- A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey: This autobiography, by Chrissie Wellington, is about her journey from undergrad student to Ironman (I won’t spoil it by saying how many times) and World Triathlon Champion. This book was inspiring, and I wrote a post about it here.
- Marathon Man: my 26.2 mile journey from unknown grad student to the top of the running world: This was another autobiography by Bill Rodgers about his quest to become one of the greatest runners of his time. He trained at points with Alberto Salazar (the review of his book is above), in the 70s. The book was interesting- I wrote a review of Marathon Man here if you’re interested.
- The Book Thief: I had been looking forward to reading this book for over a year, and I have to say, I was a little disappointed. I was intrigued at the beginning, was fairly uninterested in the middle, and got interested again at the end. I’m not sure why, because I’ve heard so many great things about the book.
- Looking For Alaska. This book was written by John Green, who also wrote The Fault In Our Stars. I wrote a review of Looking For Alaska here if you are interested!
- When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself.
- Eat, Pray, Love. I’d watched the movie a few years ago, and thought that listening to the book would help pass the time.
- Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder: This book was by Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post. I wrote an entire post to review of “Thrive” here.
- Seal Team Six: This book was a memoir by a Navy Seal Sniper. I originally thought this book was about the Bin Laden raid (No Easy Day, which I listed below), so I was a little disappointed when I started listening to it. The book was somewhat interesting, but really I felt pretty “meh” about it.
- Paper Towns: LOVED this book by John Green as well! I wrote a review of Paper Towns here.
- No Easy Day: This book, by a Seal Team Six member, is about the mission that ended with Bin Laden’s death. While plenty of things in the book I already knew about, there were some pretty interesting facts, and it was interesting to hear a first hand account. I can’t imagine actually being there that day…
- I Didn’t Come Here To Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain. Yeah- I’m a little embarrassed about this one. Sometimes I like to read stupid books before bed, and this book was nothing but that. I did enjoy some of the “behind the scenes” stuff about the Bachelor though.
- The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It: Overall I enjoyed this book, although there were plenty of moments that dragged by. This book was about the journey to break the 4 minute mile barrier, which I found pretty fascinating. I couldn’t a mile in twice that amount of time!
- An Abundance Of Katherines: This was the first book I’ve read by John Green that I didn’t love, which I’m sad about. I wrote a review of the book here.
- Lean In: I hadn’t really intended to read this book, but then I wanted a new book to listen to in the car, and this one was available, so I listened. There were plenty of moments that dragged along, but there were some really thought provoking parts as well.
- Silent No More: Victim 1’s Fight For Justice Against Jerry Sandusky: This book was SO interesting, and I’m so glad that Victim 1 chose to stand up and share his story. The book was also written by his mom and his therapist, so I appreciated these perspectives as well. This was a quick read.
- The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: I thought I would enjoy this book a lot more than I did. There was only a small part of the book that was about his time in Auschwitz, which surprised me because of the title. The story is fairly interesting.
- Me Before You: This was the first book I’ve read by Jojo Moyes, and I have to say that I really loved it! I actually read this book because I had seen it on someone else’s blog and immediately added it to my “to-read” shelf on Good Reads.
- Waiting to Be Heard: This is Amanda Knox’s story of her experiences in Italy, along with her time in prison/the court system there as she was accused of murdering her roommate. I listened to this on audiobook, which was a great choice. Knox read the book, and I loved hearing her experiences in her own words. This book was definitely interesting.
- Girl Interrupted: This book has been on my radar since it is in the mental health area. This is a memoir of one young woman’s time in a mental hospital in the 1960’s. This was a really quick read, and I found it quite interesting.
So there’s my book list for this quarter! I’ve tried to get a good mix of running, health/wellness, lighthearted fun, history, and just random books.
Now it’s your turn to share! Have you read any of these books? Are there any books I should add to my list for the second quarter of 2015? What’s on your book list?
“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyways. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyways. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” -Mother Teresa
I LOVE this. It’s simple, short, and completely stuffed full of fantastic advice. I wonder how we would act if we started our day reading this and thinking on it for a bit. This quote reminds me of boundaries– not letting others’ define me, but being totally responsible for my OWN thoughts, feelings, and actions. The fact is that for most of us, we let others’ thoughts of us get in the way of what we do- and what a waste of time and energy that is!
“It was never between you and them anyways.” What an epic ending, right? I’ve been trying to sit in that idea a bit recently, and I love it! Do It Anyway.
Easter is full of happy memories growing up, as we made jello eggs and had a fun easter egg hunt. I’ve spent some Easters with family members, some on the beach at sunrise services, and some on vacation. You can read more about my fun Easter traditions here.
Today I’ll be heading to church in the morning, and then I’ll have a big lunch with friends before hanging out and relaxing the rest of the day!
But most of all, once again I’m focusing on the HOPE and the GRACE that today is all about.
Have a wonderful Easter.
Here’s some random facts for the week:
1. I just recently watched the final episode of Friends (I watched straight through the 10th season), and it definitely took me down a bit. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, I tear up or actually cry almost every time. I genuinely love that show.
2. Speaking of TV shows, Netflix released a new show called “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” staring Ellie Kemper (from “the Office” and “bridesmaids”) and Jane Krakowski (from “30 Rock”). Tina Fey is one of the creators, so I KNEW that with those names it had to be good. I’ve watched a couple episodes now, and I really like it. Season 1 is up on Netflix, so check it out!
3. Sometimes I take my clothes off each night and fold them and then leave them on the floor and deal with them on the weekend. Two weeks ago I went to go put my clothes away, and I realized that I wore the same sweater in 4 different colors for the week. Apparently I was in a mood.
4. As I was driving down the road a few weeks ago I saw one gas station that had gas for $1.99 while every other station was $2.39. That gas station was packed, but I still sat and waited. I wonder why that one was so low?
Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me one random fact from your week? What’s one new(er) show that you’re watching right now?
Happy Thursday! Let’s get right to it- here’s what I’m thankful for today:
I’m thankful that I’m “just a phone call away” from all the people I love. Once upon a time my world felt very centralized, with everyone I loved close by. I now have friends and family spread across the world, but I’m thankful that I’m just a mere phone call (or “viber” call or “skype conversation”) away from each of those people.
I’m thankful for books to read. I LOVE reading, and have been trying to end my day with a bit of it. The daily habit of reading was something that I did growing up, but with college and grad school I definitely got away from reading for fun. It took a few years, but I’m definitely back to enjoying it 🙂
I’m thankful for the days of sunshine. We seem to be having more and more days with at least some sunshine, and I just want to soak it up. I absolutely love the sunshine.
I’m thankful for chips and salsa. What a delicious snack, right? One of the little things I really enjoy in life.
I’m thankful for my refrigerator. I can hardly imagine what life would be like without a big refrigerator to keep things cold. I love being able to make food and keep it throughout the week.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
all, New York is suppose to be this place where anything is possible!
At the time, it seemed so dirty and crowded and unsafe to me and all
I was craving was something familiar.
to battle homesickness.
that’s finding your way in a new city, or just exploring the
university library, approaching the unknown with a sense of wonder
and curiosity will make your new home feel less intimidating and more like an
adventure.
and look at the little things.
Haagen-dazs, make sure there is always some place you can go where you feel safe and happy. Whether you feel anxious or alone return to it mentally and let yourself be anchored by the space.
for. You might share these things with your partner, in prayer, or quietly to yourself, but you’ll be amazed how this little exercise will brighten your day.
When I go back and look at turbulent times in my life I can see that the pain and helpless feeling I have experience are invariably resolved within just a few entries– even things that feel impossible. Journaling is not only cathartic, it is also way gives
you a way to look at your life with more objectivity.
Jessica now utilizes these tips as an expat in London where she and her husband write on their blog Young Rubbish. She enjoys traveling, Jane Austen films and uncovering all the many little secrets that her new city has tucked away.
Now it’s your turn to share! For those of you who have made a major move at some point in life, how have you managed your homesickness or loneliness?
