Guatemala

Hello everyone,I am in Guatemala today and we are going to see the ruins of Tikal tomorrow. It was an adventure to say the least. It is the Virgen of Guadalupe`s Birthday today so there wer tons of parades and torch runners in the street. We also in routre went to some pyramids that are very unknown. The role sheet said there were only 3 people who visited them the day before. The are in the jungle and still had clear paintings on the wall. It was great being the only ones there. It looks like a part out of the jungle book. We also to get to Guatemala had to take a bus to the river which fords the border and take a 30 minute boat ride to get to another port. We then had to take a 3 hour bus ride to get to the city. It is a lot poorer than Mexico here but it is incredibly beautiful. The city has a stake center and dirt streets but is right next to the river. It is quite an adventure. We meet people who have been travelling for six months and have been all over the world. Travelers are pretty different people. I just wonder how they can do it. It also looks like we are going to be here for three days because of problems with the bus schedule

More Mexico Stories

just wanted to email you and tell you about the latest adventures that Ihave been having. Just to let you know that my emails are my journal for mytime so I hope you enjoy this. This email is going to be a long oneOur friends Deppe, Isaac, Tyler and Chris�s sister katy came over thanksgivingWe picked them up at 11 at night in mexico city (not a good idea to fly in tomexico city at 11at night) but everything was great. they were 45 minutes late, from there wehad a taxi drive us to the hostel where we had reserved to stay the night. Itwas 10 bucks a piece, and an alright place. We had to split up, so katy deppeIke and Chris stayed in a room andTy and I went to a different room. This place is right in the middle ofdowntown mexico city has an awesome view from the roof where they have a freebreakfast. We talked for a long time and decided to go to sleep, but once wewere in bed, we just kept talking. we had to get up early because we weregoing to see these pyrimids just outside of mexico city andwe had to be back in cuernavaca at about 5 in the afternoon, so we left early,rode the metro(subway) for while and got on a bus to the pyrimids. We climbedthe highest one a hung out there for a while, but then we had to jet. It aquite a sight up there though, and my friends had fun time making fun of mebecause I talk to the vendors forever abouttheir pruducts, negotiates prices and everything and makes these poor peoplethink that they have a sale and then I realize that I don�t need the product.They get angry at me. we laughed about it for a while. we rode the bus backto Cuernavacawhere Chris and I had a closing the cemester ceremony where I had to speak.Everyone came and acutally Chris and I sang and danced a song in front ofeveryone with some other classmates. We had learned it in order to learnpronunciation and they asked us to sing it for everyone. I played theharmonica and this other dude played the Jew�s harp and we sang andchoreographed a dance. It was pretty smooth. that night, we just hung out atour house with all our roomates, who were really cool to everyone. we all justsat in the kitchen and told stories for a few hours and laughed out heads off.Our friends told them stories about us and they told them stories about us andjust made fun of us for a while. we were all pretty tired so we the crashed,everyone slept in our room, we got a bunch of extramattresses and stuff and set it all up. it wasn�t too bad at all. Chris and Ihad a tough final the next day that we got up early to study for. everyoneelse slept in and hung out at our house at the pool and stuff. It wasthanksgiving so we went to a lunch and all got these great mexican hawaiinsandwhiches. Our house had planned a party for that night, so we barbecued andwatched everyone get drunk before we went out to the club. Before the clubthough we took the fellas and katy to a Mexican pro-wrestling match!! It isthe funniest thing in the whole world. It is so white trash, it only costs 4bucks to get in, and it is so funny. they are all these old fat men that dontknow how to wrestle at all, they just kind of run around pretend to hit eachother. it is so great. they sell these killer masks there for 5 bucks andeveryone bought one. We laughed pretty hard at them all for a few hours. Itwas the best 4 bucks I have ever spent. after that we met everyone at thedance club where we got jiggy with it for a little while, katy and i sangkaraoke "How sweet it is" by James Taylor and then deppe sang "ice ice baby".After a few hours of serious dancing, we wenthome where we watched our drunk roomates throw up. It was quite the show forthese Utah boys and girls. Deppe even wanted to record it, we wouldn�t let himthough. on friday morning, we left for this city called taxco about 2 hoursfrom here. It is such abeautiful colonial city, where we did some silver shopping, some taco eating,and sight-seeing. This little boy had this plastic crate that he was ridingdown this cobblestone hill on, so I jumped on with him and rode down a fewtimes. It was so fun. We stayed at this little piece of crap hotel where Chrisand I slept on the floor, our view was gorgeous though. wesat out on this balcony for a few hours and talked and I pushed Chris off thisplastic chair because he was making fun of me and the plastic chairshattered. I haven�t laughed like that for a long time. The next morning wewere off to acapulco to the beach where the fellas payed for a sweet hotelroom and once again, Chris and I slept on the floor. We did some beachin, somefake tatooin, some hair-braiden(katy), sun bathin, and some eatin. In thenight, it was deppe�s b-day, so we went to dinner at hooters, which is not thebest food or anything for that matter but it was fun, all the waitresses madedeppe stand on atable and dance and fed him ice cream. it was great. later we went to see thecliff diver show which was really cool!!! at that point we were so tired so wewent back to the hotel and slept. we didn�t get up until about 11 the next dayand then we just went to lunch, all you can eat tacos, deppe and isaac justabout exploded. We hung out at the beach for the rest of the afternoon,. Thenwe came home that night and shipped them out the next morning. It was so muchfun and I loved seeing my sister and the fellas. We had some great times. momsent my cookies and the guys brought plenty of mountain dew. I now have acredit card, which is trouble. I have already made a few purchases, and willuse it to go onour end of the semester tripI cut and pasted the last part from an email from Chris to save time this iswhy it might sound weird.AnywaysLast week we got a bunch of school supplies that our friends brought down fromthe non profit organization that I work with. The bags were very heavy filledwith over 500 toothbrushes, 200 toothpaste, thousands of pens, over 200coloring books and a hundred crayons sets. It was heavy carrying them throughout our trip with them but it was worth it. We also received a $100 to buyschool books for the kids. We went to buy books and when we went to thestores the people were so impressed that they donated extra. There were somany that we only ended up spending $50 and giving $50 to the town mayor tobuy new text books for the Junior High. We also had a clothing drive atschool. There were two garbage bags of clothes. Because we sent most of ourluggage home with our friends, I didn�t have an alarm clock and tried to usemy watch to wake me up which usually does. Except that we had been partyingthe nights before, so instead of waking up at 6, we woke up at 7:30 when wewere supposed to be there. Nevertheless we didn�t get there until 930. Theyhad already left us when we got to the office, so the organization lent us aVW bug to drive to the community. It was a blast and the people were soexcited. The women of the community each took an article of clothing that wasdistributed by one of the ladies. No one chose, and they saved clothes for thefamilies that weren�t there. They didn�t want anyone to be hurt or left out.Also, because they didn�t want to be selfish the took the assignations anddidn�t choose. It was very interesting. I took soil samples that I will beanalyzing in the states to find plants that better suit the community. I alsomet with a girl from Belgium and a Mexican guy that are interested in helpingout with this project. They are going to inspect the irrigation system in thecommunity and we are going to help fix it in May. She is also going tofundraise in Belgium with the boy scouts to get supplies for the project. Wewere planning on going to Puebla to sleep in the streets that day and see thetown, but because we were worn out, and I was sick and still am with a cold,missed our bus and got a ride to Cuernavaca, we never got to see puebla. Wehad problems all year long. So we thought it was destiny. We are going to seeit in May anyways when we bring down the volunteers so everything is good. Ihope everyone got those pictures that I sent you. Anyways we spent Friday athome and saying good by to members and our friends.Because finals are over, we left for our huge vacation on Sat. after our finalwe left for Oaxaca. We thought any ways, because I left my passport back inour house and had to spend 9 bucks on a taxi to get it. We almost lost thebus that we had to take. We slept on the bus that night for the 8 hours ofthe ride, to save time and money. It isn�t very comfortable but it is do able.We explored the city that day. Chris and I are traveling with two girls fromCanada that lived in our house. Any ways, we went to some ruins on top of ahill that the Aztecs had completely leveled to build the city. It was veryimpressive. We then took a bus to see the largest biomass on the worldsupposedly. It was a huge cyprus tree that is estimated to be over 3000 yearsold. I thought Dad would appreciate it. We also saw an old church built inthe 1500 which had a family tree of the Saint in it. It was a good example ofgeneology so I took a picture of it.That night we hopped on a bus going to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas.Chiapas is the state were the famous Zapatistas are and the most poor state inMexico. We got there and we saw some cool caves that were like those inTimpanogas. There were some huge cement slides and tons of school kids onthem. Chris and I had a good time playing with them and slid down on a log.It was a lot of fun. We also saw the city which was very colonial. I alsobought a cool leather suitcase because my back pack broke. We also saw themissionaries. That night we stayed in a hostal for $3.50 a night. The nextday, Chris and I went on a boat ride down a huge and very green canyon without the girls because they didn�t want too. We saw crocodiles, tons of hugewhite cranes, ducks and other birds. You could even hear howler monkeys in thetrees like the ones at Hoogle Zoo. We also had incredible shrimp and octopuscocktails. There was a huge cliff which is over a kilometer high were 15000indians jumped to their death instead of becoming slaves for the Spanish. Icould only think about how Mom and Dad need to come to Chiapas while I havebeen here. It is very montaneous and very indigenous. They have a lot oftourism because of the environmental factors. That night we took a bus toPalenque, another part of Chiapas, and slept over at a hotel that cost only $5a person.This morning we went to the huge ruins in Palenque, which is the rainiestcity in Mexico. The ruins are in a jungle and are incredible. They are hugeand they haven�t excavated the majority of them. The emperor who lived therehad a clubbed foot and deformed head because his parents were brother andsister. They had sewer systems and fake arches which are more efficient thenroman arches because if the middle fell out of arch, the sides collapse toform a new arch. They have withstanded thousands of years of earthquakeswhich proves their importance. We then went to these incredible waterfalls inthe jungle called Misol Ha and Agua azul. We went swimming in them and had agreat time. We separated from the girls and are going to Guatamala tomorrowto see Tical and some other ruins on the border. And then we are off toCancun.This is the experience of a life time for me and I hope that one day Mom andDad especially can at least see Chiapas. I am spending a lot of money, whichis good for a cheap person like me, because I am living life to its fullest. Ihope everything is good at home. I love you and will see you in a week.ScottPS mom and dad thanks for getting my housing situation covered

Sleeping in the streets

Let�s just say that this weekend was an experience. One of the members in ourward invited us to go with him and his family to the birthday party for hisgrandfather in a small village in Guerrero. We left a day earlier becausethey didn�t have room for us in their car. We first went to the bus stationand found out that we missed the first bus. We waited an hour for the secondand went to Chilpancingo. There we were supposed to take a taxi to adifferent village, however, there were only two taxi�s left and about 20people waiting in front of us. Also they wanted us to pay triple because ofthe night time. We figured that we probably missed the bus in the next townthat we had to take so we decided to stay the night in Chilpancingo. We atethere at a taco place, and talked to the missionaries. We then went to thebus station to find a place to sleep. I always bring a blanket on ouradventures luckily and use my back pack as a pillow. We were sleeping in thehallway when the security guard kicked us out. We then tried to find a churchto sleep on the grass. We looked around and finally when we were walking toone, we found a park that was next to a hospital and the red cross. It had anampitheater and we slept on the cement steps. The other parks that we foundsmelled like urine so we were happy about this one even though it was well litand there were a lot of people. It was hard for me to sleep literaly becausethe concrete was a little unforgiving, the lights and because I had slept onthe bus ride before. I also hid my money and my debit card in my shoe andtied my back pack around me just in case someone tried to rob us while we weresleeping. It was around 1:30 when I finally got to sleep, and we woke up at 4to get the first taxi in the morning. We then took the "bus" which was atruck bed with a roof on it to the next town. We then took a taxi to outdestination town.We got there and i crashed. We helped set up for the party. THe house wasincredible. I would like to have one like it one day because it had a hugefamily room where there were no protecting walls to the out side. They can dothat because it doesn�t get that cold. The town was nice too, but there wasgarbage all over the place and the cool river that cut through the rocks wasbrown with sewer. We shot sling shots at the pigs running wild all over theplace. It was good, but we ate so much that Chris and I got sick. We hadterrible gas so Chris suggested that we drank a glass of very concentratedwater with baking soda. I don�t know if you have every done that but it isdisgusting. We had a good time releasing our gases though. That nighthowever, we paid the price for our overeating. He was on the tolietdownstairs and i was on the toliet upstairs all night.The next day, we took it easy. We went to the ranch that the family owned.They rent out thier land to cattle ranchers so there were some cows out andabout. Also, on thier land they found some indian pottery and arrow heads.They had told some archeologists and they came took samples but never cameback. They gave us some shards that we found, nothing big but they areinteresting. I think the people at Mesa Verde would be angry but we didn�twant to offend our hosts.I am glad to be home for that reason. It is fun being a guest, but it feelsgood to be home. I like being able to eat what and when I like and do what Iwant and not feel obligated to anyone. Because I get sick when I am a guest.It was a good time and the parents drove us back in thier mini van. I had agood weekend. I hope you guys did to.

THis week in my life

just wanted to write a quick email telling you what is going on this week.They are having a farewell ceremony for all of the exchange students that isformal. They asked me and one of my friends to speak so we are making aspeach. Also, mom you will be so proud, but I am playing my harmonica toaccompany one of my classes in a song that we are singing for the ceremonytoo. We just got done practicing.I probably will be living with Paul next semester also. My friend Goph and Iare going to buy the contracts of two of his friends so they can go onmissions. However, I have my doubts because I have a 7:30 Organic CHem classevery mon wed and Fri. I then have biology, english, physics and institute.So I won�t be very happy with freshman that keep me up until 2 o�clock. But Ithink it will be good before Paul goes on the mission and I will also be ableto use his car.We didn�t have any cool adventure last weekend other than we went clubbing andon splits with the missionaries. It was quite a contrast. I also went to thebirthday of one of my friends. She is very well off and had a sit down dinnerfor 40 people. It was pretty impressive. Chris and I were the only gringos.Good luck everybody, and Mom if you could proofread that stuff that would begreat. Paul, I am also going to need you to some errands for me for ascholarship that i was nominated for. I send you the details later.Child #6 signing offScott

Day of the Dead

Mom, I am glad that you got my message on the machine. I am also glad thatyour birthday was such an adventure. I hope bubba got my Birthday email too.Well, it is probably about time to email you guys especially what happenedlast weekend. One of our friends from the organization that we work with inthe village invited us to go to his house for the day of the dead. It was inPatzcuaro Michoacan for all of you with Mexican Geography skills. Any ways weleft on Thursday night and we went in his truck. The bed of his truck wasfilled to the brim with flowers that they use to decorate thier houses forthe day of the dead. When we got to the village at about 3:30 in the morning,all of the kids were outside. Because they had to wait until 4 sharp to putup some altars for the dead. We got there and we slept on the floor by thefamily shrine to the dead. It wasn�t too bad. He has 7 kids, one of them ismarried and has a kid. All of them live in the house with them and they havefour rooms. They also had a dry latrine and took pales of water for showers.They had an electric stove but they also used a fire to cook. Nevertheless Ifelt I was camping. It was actually very comfortable. I didn�t shower orchange my clothes for the 4 days we were there though.The next day, Nov 1. we went to the cementary because it was the day peoplebrought bread and food and candels to the graves of the children who had died.They believe that the dead come back to the villages during these times soyou should bring them there favorite food. We also helped put up flowers onstrings that helped show the dead where the offerings in the houses were.We went to a birthday party of another lady from the organization, and shelived in a palace. It was beautiful. It was interesting to see the contrast.We had fish soup and the best fresh tortillas that I have ever had. Theycooked them over a fire that Chris and I made. I was proud of that.For the night of the dead, Nov. 1, we went to the capital of the Perepachaempire, tsintsuntsan, where there were tons of tourists because it is worldknown for its celebrations. We watched these cool traditional dances wherethe children put on masks of old people and wore wooden sandels that were loudagainst the wooden stage. We also went to a play at 11-2 o clock in themorning of Don Juan. It was in a church. We then went to the cementary wherethere were thousands of candels lighting the graves. People brought food forthe dead, Fresca, alcohol, breads, tomales, etc., kind of what we do when webuy the grandparents favorite candy for memorial day. They also sleep andhave parties in the graveyard to celebrate the arrival of their loved ones.They had huge altars of flowers. It was an experience I won�t forget.We also went to a village that is on an island in the middle of a lake. Youhave to take a ferry out. It was great and beautiful. That night we went toa dance with the young people in the village because they get married whenthey are 21 most of the kids were around 13 to 18. It was fun but it was sadto see kids of 13 drinking beer.We discovered another town the next day. There were tons of art shops. Dadyou should be glad mom wasn�t here. Chris and I bought wool sweaters for $10a piece. We bartered him down from $20. We drove home that night with 8people in this small truck. It was pretty uncomfortable, and we got home at 4in the morning on mon. I had to get up at 10 and do homework for my class.But hey, youre only a study abroad once. You have to live it up.Nevertheless my body broke down. I had the double edged sword on Wed. I wasthrowing up and had diarreah at the same time. It was pretty bad., but it wasgood to be able and to have to rest.I also had to register for my classes for next semester. It is going to be anawful opposite to this semester with my biology, organic chemistry, phyisicswith thier labs and recitations and an english class. I had my fun nextsemester is going to be death. However, this experience in Mexico isdefinitely worth it. I might come back very poor in money, but I am rich withlife. That is pretty stupid sounding but hey, that is how it is.I also have found my research project for next semester. I am going toanalyze the soil and environment of one of the villages here to find out whatvegetables will grow better so that they can have more variation in thierdiet. I have a couple of professors at USU that are going to help me. Also Iemailed the Engineering department at USU to find out if they would beinterested in finding a way to irigate this village so that when the raindoesn�t fall at the right times, the people will still be able to have cropsand not have to worry about surviving on the money from their relatives in theUS.

Teotihuacan photos

That is great that Karen is having a baby girl. It sounds like family halloween party was a blast. I went to Teotihucan and these are the pictures.And as they say that a picture says a 1000 words, so I think that I have said enough. They also explain everything. It also looks like for VIDA, Catalyst will be sending me a digital camara. Hopefully this means you will be getting some more pictures. I think that everyone should have one.

Getting buzzed

have to tell you that even though a lot of things didn�t happen this weekendit was interesting. First, we stayed home to finish the book on MedicinalPlants all weekend. We got most of it done. Then we went to a birthday partyat 4 pm and I was excited because they were going to have food. We got theretoo late and all of the food was gone. There was only a lot of Birthday Cake.SO being hungry I went for the cake. A girl at the party told me that it wastoo strong for her. Another person told me that the cake was really strong andthat she couldn�t finish it. I thought that they ment that the chocolate wastoo rich. I pounded the cake. Later I found out that they weren�t talkingabout the chocolate but about the quantitiy of Rum in the cake. The peoplewho told me the cake was too strong for them were big drinkers too. I didn�trealize it when I tasted it but I felt dizzy and light headed. �Because itwas on an empty stomache and there was a lot of it and because I hadn�t tastedalcohol before it gave me a little buzz. Chris did it too. I thought thatalcohol burned out when you cook it but maybe they made this cake different.To think that the first time tasting alcohol was when I was clean shaven!!Beards don�t lead to other things Dad, cakes do.We also finished our book and gave a presentation in the town plaza to thehigh school and the women of the community. It was really great. However,really expensive to print the books. They look really nice and we probablyspent over 50 hours putting it together. But hey it was a good experience.It is interesting what Mexico will do to you. We have conversations with allof the students here about the color, texture and frequency of their bowlmovements. Luckily, I have been pretty good and only get sick when I eatjalepe�os. Also, my clothes are getting worn out from all of the handwashing. I have lost a lot of weight and I am not such a stress case. I thinkthat everyone needs a little mexico in their livesAlso Josh Wilkins who used to live in our ward is serving in the ward I goto. It was funny to see him.I know that this email is a little scattered but that is how my thoughts areright now. Congrats Dave and Michelle on #4. That is great!! I think it isgoing to be good to see all of these women with no belly buttons at christmas.And good luck stink and scott with your move to Oregon.

Another adventure in Mexico

Hello Family, That�s right, it is adventure time. Chris and I and a Finnishgirl named Ulrika went on a wild adventure this weekend. We first took a busto Mexico City where we had to travel to the other side of the city by metro.We ate lunch at this sandwhich place where this crazy lady was scratching herback with the knife that they used to cut the bread. She wouldn�t take ourorder and when a customer asked for a fork she got very defensive asking her,�why do you want a fork?� �did you order a fruit salad?� the customer saidthat it was for her potatoes, (which came with every meal.) The lady thanbegan to yell at her saying that nobody had ordered any potatoes. Thecustomer then tried to explain that it came with every meal. Well, it waspretty funny.We left the Mexico city and went to Queretaro. It was a small but beautifulcolonial city with cobblestone streets and great museums. I was jealous thatI didn�t study there. We stayed in a hostel and went to this club where theyhad all of these remakes of famous paintings and a live band. We sat next toa wall where the candles had dripped wax down the walls and they had thesecool masks. I felt like I was in the pirates of the Caribbean. It wasincredible. We say the table where they signed to take the west like Utahaway from Mexico and make it a part of the US and some cool archeologicalstuff. I took a lot of pictures so I had to buy a new roll of film for thenext city. By the way mom would be very happy. I brought my harmonica andplayed the whole trip. I even have to play it for one of my classes.Our next stop, we went to this huge worldwide Cervantes festival in one of themost beautiful city I have ever seen. It is about 5 hours from here, it iscalled Guanajuato. It is a colonial city that was founded by the Spaniards andit was the richest city in mexico for a long time. They found tons of gold andsilver there and so they decided to make it the most beautiful city. Europehere in Mexico. It looked a lot like the old cities on Spain. Skinny,cobblestone streets, balconies off of every building with geraniums all overthe place. It was really neat this time because of the Cervantes festival.People come from all over the world. There were tons of people all over thestreets singing and dancing. There were these groups of musicians that weredressed like the times of Shakespeare and they would rally people together andparade around the city with these groups of people singing and dancing andtelling stories and jokes and drinking. Mom would have liked it because itreminded me of when we went to Lagoon and she would make us follow themarching bands. This was a lot classier than Lagoon though. We followed a fewof them for a while. I took a lot of pictures but I just want everyone to comesee this place There were groups from Germany, Japan, Brazil, Argentina,Spain, and all over the world. Right when we got off the bus we met thisFrench guy who ended up sleeping in our room and hanging out with us the wholetime. There was no chance at getting a hostel room so a lot of families rentrooms at their houses. We stayed with a really nice family that just had asign on their house. It was cheap and pretty nice. We also met these cutegirls from San Luis Potosi. They had ironically wanted to stay in the sameplace we did, but when they went to go tell their friends about it, we wentand got the room. We ended up meeting them and spending the night and the nextday with them. We went and where the War of independence started in Mexico.It was cool. The Spanish were held up at this fort and it looked like theywere going to be able to withstand the rebel forces, when one of the soldierstied a rock to his back so they couldn�t kill him and lit the fort door onfire. Many of the Spanish died of the smoke and had to give up the fort.Later when the Spanish retook the city, they hung the heads of the rebelleaders, like Hidalgo, on the four corners of the building. It wasinteresting.We got back late Sunday night. IT was a fun trip.

WWF Mexico Style

This is Scott. I know that I just emailed yesterday, but last night we wentto a Mexican Wrestling match. It was just as fake as in the US, but it wasmuch more fun. They wrestlers had their costumes and they taunted each other.They also beat up the ref and the crowd threw food at them. They would fightin the crowd too and throw each other out of the ring. It was so funny.There was a bunch of old men wrestlers too. We bought the cloth masks likethe wrestlers wear here. IT was great. The people yelling at the wrestlers,some of them really believed it, and the little kids screaming and loving it.It only cost $4 so it was worth it.Have a good conference weekend. We are going to listen to it at school on theinternet so we can hear it in English, and so that we don�t have to put on oursunday clothes!!! Well, have fun. I will talk to you mom and dad and spencerand paul on Sun at 7 your time.

Mexico CiTY ADventure

I need to tell you about my latest adventure. We ditched going to service tocelebrate Chris's birthday. We left Tuesday night to stay in Mexico City. Weleft at about 9:30at night, it was spontaneous and actually a pretty stupid idea to be wanderingaround mexico city without a place to stay at 11:00 at night. but anyway, wegotthere and all we had was a travel guide in french that one of our roomies lentus. we rode the metro to the downtown area and started to look for a hostel.We found a sweet one that only had room left, which is like a community hotelroom. It was dirt cheap. so they put is in a room with two other people. wegot in the room and there was some stuffalready there, it looked like some girl stuff, we were a little nervous butsuper hungry, so we locked out stuff up and set out on the street to find arestaurant, it is about 11:30 at night at this point. we found a little randomtaco stand and had some tacos, and went back. the streets were pretty scary.We were pretty nervous the whole time, but it was alot of fun. we got back and met our roomies, they were these two really prettygirls from Spain. It was great to talk with Spanards again and use my accent.I was really nervous though because they were girls that we didn�t know andthat I had to use the vosotros form with them and I didn�t even use that inthe mission. We found out that they were going to be traveling around Mexicofor two weeks. I talked to them for a long time about Spain and then decidedto go to bed. They were wearing some interesting pajamas, if you could callthem that, and we all got in our bunk beds and kept talking until one in themorning. I was nervous all night because Chris and I had the top bunks andthey would squeak everytime me moved.We woke up at nine and decided to spend the next day together so we go upearly and went to these beautiful art museums and to one of the worlds biggestanthropology musuems. It was very cool. the girls were very nice and thehostel gave us free breakfast as well on the roof of this big building thatlooked out over the central palace and cathedral area that is all made ofancient french architecture. We also saw some indian dancers and these ruinsthat were buried under the city center. Also there were these indian guyswho twisted these ropes around a wheel at the top of a 90 foot tower and thenhung upside down with the ropes attached to their stomachs The wheel turnedand slowly let them down . One of the guys just had eaten lunch and you couldtell that he was feeling sick because he held his hand on his mouth to notthrow up. It was pretty funny. We went all over the city and I now know themetro system pretty well so I won�t get stuck going to Brookland again!!!Then when we left Mexico city to got home were my roommates and I planned asurprise party for Chris. It was a great adventure and fun day.

Putting my foot in my mouth

know that you guys have been waiting attentively for my next email so Ithought that I would spare you the nervous anticipation. I just came out of atest so I can only think in sophesticated big words that work in spanish andenglish.Well, I have to tell you that I have been learning to appreciate the wonderfulworld of washers and dryers. There is no laundramat here but there is a womenthat will wash your clothes for $1.50 a kilo. That is OK for me because Iwear my clothes until they are filthy, but for my garments I have to wash themby hand. I don�t know if any of you have had to do that but it takes a lot oftime. Also because I can�t hang them outside, I hang them in my room on anything that I can. Our cieling fan is the best, but it only holds fourarticles of clothing. With Chris and my garments hanging everywhere it ispretty full. We have to lock our door and make sure to avoid the day thecleaning lady comes.I just had my touch football game before my test, but even an hour and a halflater I am still sweaty because it is so humid here.We went to a museum today about medical plants to finish the book that we aremaking for the ladies in the village. It was incredible all of the plantsthat can live here. They have a lot of knowlege of plants because here evenMontczuma had his medicinal garden and hospital of plants close to where I amat.I went to Puebla on Tues and on Wed by myself and taught English for two hoursand then videotapes these ladies talk about the plants. They all then triedto teach me Nahautl, their indian language. I have been learning a little butwhen I pronounced something wrong they all started laughing because the word Isaid meant vagina. I also was trying to say one of the names of the plantswhich is in thier language and I said take out your breast. Everybody hasthier double meanings. We had a good time laughing and then they fed mespicy, spicy mole. This town is famous for thier picante food. Everyoneknows this town because of they have the hottest food. Luckily for me, Idon�t get diarreah anymore and am accoustumed to spicy food.Well, good bye everyone. Congrats on the babies and stuff. Good luck, andcould someone call the parents and tell them to check thier email. I haveemailed them some stuff that I need answers to but they haven�t emailed meback. I don�t think they even know that I got my scholarship.

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

have great news. For all of you who didn�t know, I lost my scholarship atUSU because of I had too many credits because of the Spanish Clep test andbecause of going to two fall semesters in a row. I was going to go to theCommunity college because I have been having too much fun in Mexico and willnot have a lot of $$$ when I come back. I told the professor that I amwriting an article with about the problem and she told me to email the provostabout my problem. I did and she talked to the dean of my college, they pulledstrings and now they gave me a scholarship. In thier words "I am too valuableto loose".Because everything I do they get to put USU�s name on it. It is like having anemployee that they don�t have to pay. I am fine because I get to do everythingI want and now I don�t have to worry about tuition.They want to meet and talk with me when I come back. I feel that I should dosomething to thank them right now. Any suggestions? I think I should sendthem a thank you card or have Paul deliver one to them. I would like to givethe ladies flowers too but I don�t know if that is too much. Tell me what youthink.As for Mexico, I didn�t get to go to the soccer game because it was too farand I had class, but next time. Also because of my good sunburn that i got onthe beach, I am pealing a lot. I am collecting my skin in a jar so that youcan see. Well, it is mostly to gross out the people that I live with. I liketo put it next to the salt and sugar in our cupboards.Sometimes I feel like I am on a mission here. Yesterday, Chris and I gotasked to give a presentation in our phonetics class on poligamy. I taught adiscussion for new members, brought investigator friends to our ward familynight and then went to my home teaching companions house because he isinactive to talk about our visits and Chris and i stayed and talked with themuntil midnight. It is fun, but because Chris and I are always together becauseour schedules are the same, we have the same friends, do the same serviceprojects and the same activities in the church sometimes I feel like we arecompanions.However, I am going to the mexican village today alone to finish my naturalmedicine project and to teach english classes but I am excited to get youremails on thurs.

My last doctors visit here in Mexico

Hello FamI went to the doctors office the other day to find out that now my colon has aviral infection because everything was coming out green. I am learning allabout diseases of the digestive system through my own experience. However, Itold him how I am planning on going into medicine. He got really excited andtold me all about the medical schools here and then asked me if I want to helpwork at the university soccer games. SO today I am going to tape up anklesand put dislocated shoulders and put splints on people. Pray for injuries OK.School is going great. Classes are easy but to be honest if we didn�t havethis attendence policy I wouldn�t go all the time. One of my teachers who ishelping me with going to visits to the customs office and finding a way tobring computers to the community that we are helping made me give apresentation about our organization. He then took us to the school where hisdaughter works so that we could get a good list of things for the schools.The kids were 4 or 5 but they could understand English. They start them younghere. It is such a good idea.Well, It looks like I am going for another adventure this weekend toQueretaro.I have a question though, why dave and michelle are moving to Tulsa? How longare they going to be there? Are they selling their house?Have a good day familyScott

Mexican Indepence Day and other good news

Hello FamiliaWell, I hope you all enjoyed Mexican Independence Day, I sure did. We first went to Mexico City and painted the new center for children with cancer. Then Chris and I went to Acupulco for a couple of hours and waited for our friends to come from Cuernavaca. We went swimming in the Ocean and then ate good food. We then took a ten hour bus trip at night to a beach called Mayunte in Oaxaca. It is close to Puerto Escondido where they have a huge surfing competition and where the waves are some of the largest in the world.There were 14 of us total 9 beautiful girls and 5 guys. We slept every night in hammocks on the beach. They were very comfortable and only $2 a night. And although the first night it rained, we had our palm thatched canopy to protect us. But I slept grate through out the trip They also had fresh seafood and shrimp that was the best I have ever tasted. You would have been in heaven Dad.We also met a German couple who wanted to know everything about the church. I more or less gave them the first discussion They became our good friends and we played volley ball and body surfed with them. The waves were so big that the girls hardly got in the water because they would loose their bikinis. They would have fit in with some of Euro girls that walked around without their tops on anyways.We also went on an adventure hike to see the sunset. I was in heaven and if you can I would definitely tell you to come down here. The beaches are very clean and pretty remote that most of the Mexicans don`t know about them. There was about 50 people on the whole beach and it was a holiday weekend.I am terrible sun burned and pealing, but I am very relaxed and happy. It is great how the ocean can make you forget all of the stresses of life. We spent the holiday weekend with the town. They had the traditional independence yell and a huge dance. We danced with the little kids and with the other people until 2 in the morning. It was funny to see 5 year olds up so late.I also have potentially good news. I told Maria that I wasn`t going to go to USU because of financial problems. She told me to write the provost about my problem and about what I have done at USU. The provost is talking to the Dean of my college to get me a scholarship for Spring, and is giving me lots of advice. So this could be good news. We will have to see. You never know what is going to happen in life, I don`t even know where I will be going to school in the Fall.I love you and hope that you are having a good time. Don`t be afraid to write me. I will write you back,Scott

LENNY KRAVITZ and drinking milk from the cow

Hello FamilyI have to tell you that I have had a great week. We went to a Lenny Kravitz concert on Saturday night in Mexico City. It was in the Aztec Stadium, the second biggest stadium in the world. It fits 120,000 people and there was about 80,000 at the concert. It was incredible. The people at the concert did something that I have never seen before. They would flash their lighters with the beat instead of waving them in the air. It was cool because the stadium is so big that the flash was a big wave because of the speed of sound.Pink opened, but Lenny was awesome and played for over 2 hours. It was the first time he has come to Mexico so this was big. They announced it every day on MTV mexico for the last 3 weeks. Chris and I went with two girls from Finland and a girl from Canada.Also last week, I started officially this project in the village. We slept over in the house of the teacher. They just barely got a high school here about years ago. The problem is that almost all of the people have family in the US and they feel that it is easier to immigrate to the US and work in horrible jobs to save money and build huge houses in their home villages then to continue their education and stay in Mexico. It is kind of strange how there are these huge houses with no body living in them. However, because of the village depends on farming and their has been a drought here and their crop is ruined, the people depend on the money coming in from their family members in the US. We talked to the students and tried to help them understand the importance of education and to make goals. We also will be teaching English classes every Wed for them. They have 2 teachers for 150 students. We also started our project putting together a book about the medicinal plants for the women of the village. We had a meeting with about 20 of them to get the names of the plants in the community. They are going to bring them next week and we are going to take pictures of them.The people of the village fed us so much. They killed two chickens for us and we drank fresh milk taken from the cow. They boiled it though. On our way home, we were driving through a rain storm on these steep dirt roads and they were dynamiting because they are building a new highway. Anyways we missed our bus home and had to sleep in another town and wake up at 5 in the morning to get home.My parasites are gone, but now I have a terrible cold. You can never win. I love you guys and the YSA are going fine. This weekend because it is the Mexican independence day we are going for 5 days on a virgen beach and sleeping in hamacks for 2 dollars a night.Have a good day