ELC Spanish Students travel to Mexico

By ERIK JENSEN

This past August students from the Estherville Lincon Central High School Spanish III and IV classes embarked on a journey to Mexico.

Seventeen students and three chaperones departed from Minneapolis on August 6 and landed in Cancun, Mexico.

From there, they took a tour bus to Merida. Then the group checked into the Hotel Pan Americana where they stayed for four nights.

Junior Kristen Thornburg commented, "The whole thing was so exciting and showed me a whole different way of life and a different culture."

One of the first major adjustments that had to be made was how to deal with the heat. Each day the heat index climbed into the high 90's and lower 100's, with high humidity. The students lugged bottles of water everywhere, and swam frequently.

Merida had much to offer the students, as they filled their days by bargaining in the huge market area of the city.

Using the Spanish they knew, the students were able to pick up some pretty cheap items from onyx chess sets to Tommy Hilfiger shirts.

They also took in a movie, went to many artisan shops and visited a wild life refuge filled with flamingos.

In groups of seven on separate boats, the students were ferried about an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico where the flamingoes ran wild. They stopped to check out some the shoreline, and a few took a quick swim in the natural spring area.

Once the boat trip was finished, the group boarded their luxurious tour bus and went for a dip in the Gulf of Mexico. They replenished themselves with lunch at a Tiki style restaurant.

In addition to all this, the group spent an entire day at Uxmal, an ancient Mayan city. They climbed the huge central pyramid and other ancient ruins.

That night the group returned to Uxmal to view a spectacular light and sound show telling of the history of the city.

The next day was spent at another ruins site, Chichen Itza, the most famous of all Mayan cities. Once again students climbed the large pyramid. They also explored the observatory, one of the only round Mayan buildings.

"The trip was a great opportunity to see the 'real' Mexico, brush up on my spanish, and learn more about Chac," stated senior Ted Duitsman. Chac is Chac Mool the mayan god of rain, and a very important part of the Mayan culture.

Next on the agenda was the trek to Cancun for the second half of the trip. Cancun is a resort island filled with hotels, shopping centers, resturants and long streches of white beaches along the Caribbean sea.

Cancun had a more "closer to home" feeling than Merida. Nights were filled with visits to discos, and of course the Hard Rock Cafe', and Planet Hollywood.

Day time was generally spent on their own. Some groups of people went to a huge mall complex while others checked out the world famous Senor Frogs disco and eatery. One group even took a bus to the heart of Cancun City located right off the seven mile resort island.

One of the most memorable experiences of the trip was the snorkeling excursion to view a natural live coral reef environment.

A large group of students signed up at the hotel. The next day they headed to the base dock of You Drive You Snorkel. From there in groups of two, they headed out on wave runners to a spot of the Caribbean Sea an hour away.

Once there, the wave runners were tied together, and the guide passed out goggles and snorkels.

The next hour the group spent exploring the wonderful sea biome of the coral reef. Colorful fish and beautiful coral formations lined the sea floor, only about 12 feet deep.

From there, it was an hour waverunning back to the dock and the hotel.

"I was really impressed at the level of excitement and interest in the students everywhere we went," Group leader Mr. David Finley complimented of the group.

With the trip drawing to a close, the students began scrambling for last minute gift ideas for friends and family throughout the Hotel and island.

It was a sad moment departing for the airport, but the time to return had come.

Boarding the plane and heading home, the group told and retold of their adventures to one another, displayed souvenirs and laughed at times remembered.

"It was a neat experience to see the way other people lived, to try out a different money system, and to meet new people. It was an unforgettable experience." Nicole Hermanson recalled.

The students who partook in the trip were Amanda L'Heureux, Grant Hickman, Ted Duitsman, Angie Frerichs, Katie Kabe, Nicole Hermanson, Thea Molacek, Erik Jensen, Taylor Moore, Kristen Thornburg, Ryan Swalve, Aaron Birkland, Jessica Bebo, Lindsay Swanson, Monica Hanson, Melissa Bebo and Brooke Strenge.