Journal Entries from the Group

Claire:  

Everything here is super awesome! When we first got here we were in Mexico City.  Mexico City looks very much like any other city, but in a way very different.  When you get into Tepoztlan, it is a totally different picture: colorful buildings, cobblestone roads, and a lot of other amazing things.  The next day we walked around the pouring rain and got soaking wet.  We were mostly in the market that day.  We had aguas en bolsas...they were delicious.  We also had amazing Mexican food!  Yesterday was probably the most adventure I've had.  We started at Shanti's cousin's house and went through a mountain.  We went to a waterfall in the mountain.  The whole experience was hard to even describe.  Over all, our trip has been super awesome .  I'm sure there is more awesomeness to come.

Matthew:

On Thursday at 3:30am, Sarita, Maggie, Ethan, Matthew, Jonah, Avi, Claire and Kaya got on a shuttle leaving from the Hilton Hotel.  When we arrived, we checked our bags and the woman who was helping  us thought that Avi's passport picture made him look 16.  She said to call her when he was 18!

When we were on the plane, Jonah went to the bathroom and when he came back, he walked right by his seat and almost walked through to first class.

 When we landed, we got on a new plane.  We were on the plane for about two hours.  When we landed, we had to go through immigration.  They had to check Avi's bag because he had a big bag of fresh fruit.

Then we took a big bus and went home :)

Jonah

Yesterday we went on an epic hike through a cactus field, a mountain jungle, and a waterfall and me and Ethan went NINJA!  On Friday, I decided to eat a cricket and I barfed all over the market.  At first, I thought that it was good, but then I...well...never mind.


Ethan:

"Being Ninja"

Today, our small group of 9 people went on a hike from Sarita's ex-brother-in-laws house to our house (that we rented for the trip).    This hike involved a trip to a waterfall, long conversation with Shanti's cousins: Ianxul, Adais, and Ilai.  We also took amazing photos with the help of Suki, Shanti's Dad, and Ivan, (Sarita's ex-brother-in law).

Once we reached the waterfall, about halfway through the hike, everyone except Jonah and I went to frolic through the water, but Jonah & I went to explore the path.  We didn't go out of the eye-sight of the group until Johnny came with us and we walked down the mountain.  On the way, we all told jokes and Jonah and I went ninja climbing slippery rocks and taking the more dangerous routes.  When we reached the bottom, we retold our adventures from the past hour an waited for the others to catch up.

Avi:

Today we went to the market to take pictures and buy cool souvenirs.  For the first hour we took really cool pictures of the cooks, vendors and everything else that we thought was interesting.  For the second hour we bought little chachkies.

Kaya:

Yesterday, we went on the coolest adventure.  We hiked up the mountains, then we found a waterfall.  We all got really wet (but it was so worth it).  The water felt really magical.  Then we went back to the house and talked and ate American food (lol).  All in all, yesterday was the best day in Mexico so far.

Maggie:

Once we got to Mexico, we decided our names were pretty American and didn't fit our surroundings, so we changed them:  Maggie to Maria, Avi to Alfonzo,  Ethan to Jorge, Kaya to Carmen, Matthew to Mateo and Clairey to Claire...

Shanti:

If I could describe yesterday with one word it would be MAGICAL.  The long hike we took led us to the most amazing waterfall ever.  I can not describe the feeling of laying down in the water and looking up at the dripping of the huge rocks.  As all of us got soaking wet, I looked around at my cousins from two different families and all of my best friends together in one place and I realized that this was an experience I would never forget.