September 10, 2010

Not soon enough!

Hello all!!

Welcome to my Blog.  I have 20 days until I depart for Mexico.  I am extremely excited to start my journey but the days seem to be crawling by.  As of right now I am in Chicago hanging out with my parents and friends.  Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah and my parents and I decided to go to the "hippie services"  which was very interesting.  Lots of clapping and singing along, barefoot dancing, deep breathing and yoga stretches.  Although I think my favorite part of the service was when the Rabbi told everyone to "take a deep breath and release all your oy's".  And so a group of around 150 people all let out one huge OY together.  It was pretty funny, I even suggest trying it ..... go ahead, just let it out!!  Its nice to be home, my parents are spoiling me with delicious meals and helping me get ready for my journeys.  But I miss Bloomington so much every day.  I love my friends there and will think about them constantly.
Here is a little information on where I will be going and what I will be doing over the next 6 months.
On September 30th I will fly out of Chicago and arrive in Cancun, Mexico.  From there I will take a bus to Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo.  I will spend one night in a hotel or hostel there and then head to my base camp the next morning.  It is a 4.5 hour bus ride from Playa del Carmen to my location which is 25 miles outside of the village of Majahual.  I will be very very close to the Belize border, if you go on google maps and type in Chetumal to Majahual  you can see roughly where I will be.  It is not a town or a village, it is just a camp site.  log cabins with bunk beds right on the shore, hammocks galore, and beautiful sunrises.  Although I am sure I will go into more detail once I actually experience it.   http://www.gviusa.com/life-in-the-field/media-library/scuba-dive-academy-course/best-photos#/5763/  this is a link to pictures and videos of what I will be doing .... but don't worry I will post plenty of my own!
Oktober fest is coming up on wednesday and the following weekend here in chicago, so that should be a great time!!!  There are also some amazing free shows at the millenium park outdoor venue, one of my favorites!!  Not to mention its about a 10 min walk from my place. (hint hint .... come visit me!!!!)  Well I hope you all enjoy reading my blog and please keep in touch while I am gone, I will be on skype here and there so keep it open!!  You can also email me at anytime to let me know what is going on in your life too!!! and please leave comments on things you like to heard about or don't like to hear about.  I will miss everyone soo much but I am very very excited to make new friends from across the world!
Much love to you all!!!
~Maura