final sentiments...

well, the trip is over! i am back in the united states. i sure miss mexico though, and it has only been a day. things are definitely different back in the united states. my outlook on life has changed too... mostly i am a lot more grateful for everything i have and all the people in my life. it is definitely shocking to come back from a country where people don't have very much of anything- like the basics of food and clothes, let alone ipods and cool cameras, to a country where everyone has everything. everything is taken for granted in the united states. i sure hope that i don't think like that anymore. also, i am grateful for all of the opportunities i have... like to study in a foreign country. girls in mexico wouldn't have been able to do that. most families think that girls shouldn't even go to college. i am grateful for my family and friends. being away for two months was hard because i couldn't talk to anyone. i am glad to be home and back with everyone! one thing i learned from mexicans- everyone is amazing. mexicans take the time to get to know you. they want to be your friend, and most importantly, they want you to be happy. all of the people we ran into down there LOVED talking to us and getting to know us. they wanted us to be safe and comfortable and to have the best experiences possible. i hope i can apply that to other people where ever i go.

on a lighter note... a few random questions that i have been getting since i've been home...
1) what was the best thing i did in mexico? that would have to be missionary splits. i absolutely loved it. =)
2) what will you miss the most? my friends i made down there, horchata, and constantly getting new experiences.
3) what will i not miss? straight avocado, the heat, and the busses.

that's basically it...
also, i started up a blog about my life back in the US if you guys are ever interested in reading it. i loved writing this blog while i was in mexico... so i figured i'd keep it going! i am only updating it on sundays... but it'll be good! love you all! thanks for everything!!!

http://jessicaannbarton.blogspot.com/

sadness, customs, and in-n-out

Today is my last day. aka, the saddest day ever. I got up and had breakfast for the last time with Ash... we had hot cakes, oh so delicious. Then I helped Ash get her bags down the stairs, she had to leave first (the taxi was almost there). Then she had to say goodbye to Gerardo and Marcela. It was literally heartbreaking to see Gerardo cry and tell us that we didn't have to leave. We all cried... just writing it makes me sad again. After I said goodbye to Ash, I went upstairs to finish getting all of my stuff together. I listened to my Mexican music that I had accumulated over the past few months... and said goodbye to my room and the cricket under the plunger. I waited downstairs for Marcela to come back and pick me up. (she said she would take me to the university to catch the bus with the rest of our group). We left... and the car ride was sad. I am not really good at the goodbye situation, especially in Spanish. I took my last picture with Marcela, and waved goodbye. =( We waited for the rest of our group to get to the bus, and then we got all loaded on. I sat by Becky for the last time... we partied. We listened to all of the best music, and took pictures on my macbook. Also, the seat in front of me had a hole in it... and the bus didn't have air conditioning. I wouldn't have it any other way... =) We got to the airport and soon learned that the security would go through our bags with us watching. My initial fear was about how they would shut my bags again... I mean, I had to sit on it the first time... my second fear was for my three lovely pirated movies that I was positively BENT on getting back into the states. I'm pretty sure they could sense the fear in my voice... but they didn't find my movies. Why? Well, because I am a pro-hider (gracias a my mexican blanket). =) Then I exchanged all my pesos for American money... that was sad too. We waited for a bit, and then we said goodbye to about half of the group and boarded our plane. Rachel was on the same row as me, and Kaela sat right behind me. I got off for my small layover in Phoenix, where they inspected our bags. (shocking, they didn't find any weed). I had a few minutes to say goodbye to the rest of the group, and then I got onto my second flight to Sacramento. This last part of the flight was sad and happy. I was so excited to see my family, but at the same time... I was sad that my trip was officially over. Now none of the girls were even with me... that pretty much sealed the deal. I got off the plane... and walked down to meet my family. I was so happy to accomplish my two month long goal of going down the escalator with my Mexican guitar and Mexican hat on my head. I wish I had a picture to show you guys, but it was pretty much epic. My family was laughing... and a lot of people were staring. Just as I planned... haha. So I was officially in the United States... every building had air conditioning, there was fast food everywhere, and I figured my stomach would stop hurting (no way- read later). I got in-n-out burger, and it was AMAZING!!! How I love California... and Mexico!!!
Glad to be home, pero yo extrano Mexico MUCHISIMO!!!

mi mama mexicana

hermana stallings and i...

from the airplane...

sweet home california...

sweet home bed!!!

coconut milk, no tums, y pirated movies

today was our last day in guadalajara, mexico. aka, one of the most exciting and one of the saddest days ever. i got up kind of early to pack. it was a pain to get everything back into those two suitcases. i even had to sit on one to make it shut. i did find my tums bottle though... notice how empty it is. after i packed... i showered. i felt that this is a special moment because there was a cricket in my shower. how cute! my last cricket... =) after i finished showering, i went with ashley alberts, jessica, becky, and cristy to get pedicures. the thing about pedicures in mexico is that you get the whole treatment for about 18 bucks. it was pretty awesome. i felt kind of bad for those ladies though, my feet have been through a lot in the past year. after our pedicures, we went to the centro to san juan de dios (a big market full of really cheap things... it's pretty sketchy). while were in san juan de dios, i bought 3 pirated movies, an atlas jersey, and some horchata. we ran into ashley and jessica later, and they bought some coconut milk. they told us to try some, and it was so so so nasty. as good as it sounds, just... don't. after the centro, we went to get some tacos with a small group by the churro stand. it was fun... and our last main mexican meal out on the town. after we got tacos, we met up with the rest of our group at the churro stand... and said our goodbyes. =( i don't want to leave mexico...

also, i have been practicing my mexican snaps... thanks to shawn and cristy. ESO!

pedicure with becky! woot!

becky and i after the pedicure!

tums... aka life-savers.
this is the container. yes, it is pretty much empty. =)

coconut milk... vale the pena? probably not.


our last night...
the boys...

the girls!

cousins. fer life.

shawn, christy and i... ESO.

becky and i...

snapping our fingers, mexican style... ESO!

el mar, leaving, & yummy food

today was our last day in puerto vallarta. becky and i got up at 8:30 and walked around to find sea shells or cool rocks. i think we found about 4 total... and they were little mini ones. it's ok though, it was gorgeous outside. =) after we walked around, we ate our last meal in nuevo vallarta... and boogie boarded for about an hour and a half more. it was a perfect day... and we refused to go in to pack unless we ended with the perfect wave. we showered, packed, and got all cleaned up to go back to guadalajara. we had a long bus ride... full of sleep, the office, and talking. it was sad because we knew that our trip was almost over. when we got back into guadalajara, we decided to go out to dinner as a group one last time. we went to an americanized mexican restaurant... and the food was really good. we even ordered this delicious brownie and banana sundae situation. definitely a good time. haha. after we ate our dessert, ashley alberts and i went to the store to get some dang expensive aloe vera... and then we went home. we were pretty tired, so we went to bed early. love you all! see you in a few days!

my group! our hotel! bella!!!

jellies, horse poop, & hannah montana

today we woke up and got ready to go to puerto vallarta as a group! we went on a smaller boat that took us snorkeling, gave us food, and took us to a part of puerto vallarta that you can't get to by car! we all got on the boat, and most of us went to the front where we could dangle our feet over the edge. sometimes the waves would make the boat bounce up and down, and we would get our feet wet. =) it was quite nice. what did we see when we were sitting in the front? well, i saw millions of jelly fish, dolphins, a sea turtle, and beautiful puerto vallarta! after about a 30 minute ride, we got to the part of the ocean where we were supposed to snorkel! as we were getting off the boat, you could see little, tiny jelly fish EVERYWHERE. slightly traumatizing, but the little ones don't hurt very much... so it wasn't that bad. the water wasn't that clear, so we didn't see very much. i did see a little blue and yellow fish. that was cool!!! we got back on the boat, and they took us a little bit farther. the first drop off was for the people that wanted to stay on the beach for the rest of the day. if you didn't want to stay on the beach, you could keep going... and hike up to a waterfall! i picked that, and so did a lot more of us... we got off the boat. the little town that they dropped us off in was so legit. it seemed pretty poor, but it was so beautiful! we hiked (wearing flip flops, might i add) behind all the tourists on horses. that was maybe not the best set up... horses... smell. just being honest. we finally got to our final destination drenched in sweat. it was really pretty though! there was a waterfall that went into a really cold (and really refreshing) pool (i guess you would call it that). i went swimming for a few minutes, mostly just to get cold. a few of the girls from our group insisted on being suicidal and jumping from the cliff by the waterfall. now, i would have done that... however, the mexicans told us not to because it was dangerous. you know that's bad... also, the cliff slanted out, so you would have to clear all of the rocks if you wanted to make into the water. it was just too sketchy for me to handle. after a little bit, we hiked back down and got back on the boat. they dropped us off where the first group was so we could get some lunch (at 4:30). i ate some burritos... they were delicious. also, it was really funny to me that dogs and cats were roaming around our feet while we ate. kinda sketch... but what can you do, huh? after we ate, we played in the water for a bit. the water was SO clear. the sand was SO white. and it was SO beautiful. we met these two little african boys who spoke french, english, and chinese. they were way cool. we played marco polo with them for a bit. our adventures in puerto vallarta had to come to an end, so we got back on the boat. the servers started up with the alcohol, and a bunch of people got drunk. it was very fun to watch. us BYU kids had a great time completely sober though. you see, i remember what happened... we danced to the macarena, the cha-cha slide, and some gwen steffani! it was a fabulous day. after we partied on the boat, we went back to the hotel... and becky and i watched hannah montana for the rest of the night. i know, it doesn't get much better than that. =) love you all! see you soon!!!


view from the boat!!! (it's puerto vallarta)

just riding on our boat!!!


de repente... the water turned brown...

pero, not for long!!!

we hiked this...


with these...

to get to this!!!

after we hiked... we swam. oh yeah...

hair wraps, burned to the core, and statues

This morning we woke up and went straight to breakfast. we ate really fast so we could go out and boogie board. i put some sunscreen on my face, but i didn't put any else on because i figured it was overcast and nothing would happen (HUGE mistake). we boogie boarded, it was way fun! also, shawn taught us about foam in the ocean. apparently there are two types of foam... one is from shark pee and the other is from whale pee. haha. anyways, after we swam for a while, a huge group of us went to puerto vallarta for the rest of the day. we caught a bus to go out there, and then split up. becky and i stuck together the whole day. we started off by getting a hair wrap for 8 bucks... which pretty much owns. it was really fun getting our hair wrapped because we talked to the lady in spanish. it's situations like that where i know my spanish is improving. we then walked on the boardwalk for the rest of the time. we found some sand statues... (see the pictures below). then we wandered through stores looking for clothes to buy... fun times. i didn't find anything, but i did find a lovely mexican hat for sparky. haha. when we got back to nuevo vallarta, i decided that i was really, really sunburned. i had the chills really bad, and even some blisters... which was a delight. i was pretty tired too, and so were lots of the other kids. a bunch of us watched the office in our room until about midnight, and then we all split and went to bed. it was a great day!

steph, becky, and i in puerto vallarta...

pirate ship!

Palmas!!!

our hair! we got it wrapped!!! woohoo!

bam. it doesn't get much better than that, eh?

hmmm. mexican sun? ...my bad.

sand sculptures in puerto vallarta!

iggy and i on the beach... yep. it's a big iggy... made of SAND!!!

ashley's boy, catching birds, & slaves

Today was a great day. We got up kind of early (we as in about half the group) to go to church at 9:00. Story behind why we went early- Ash (my roomie) knows a boy servince in Puerto. She found out which ward he was in, and we went to go watch. Anyways, we took a few caro buses to the chapel, and waited anxiously for the boy (whose name slips my mind-sorry Ash) to get there. Finally, he walked in. I wish I had a video of his facial expression, it was utter shock. And it was so fun to watch. But he's a good missionary and he went straight to the front of the chapel and took his seat. He didn't budge or turn around during all of sacrament. Ash met up with him after, and it was so fun to see. It made me miss all my missionary friends. So I didn't interrupt that story, I left this one until now... In the middle of sacrament meeting, this cute little Mexican boy ran by us, screaming and carrying something. You could barely see the bird's head sticking out of his cupped hands. Also, the church was like a greenhouse. The humidity is HORRIBLE in Puerto Vallarta. I can't even begin to describe to you how suffocating it is. I don't know how they live without air conditioning. After church, we went home and changed into our swim suits and went down to the buffet to eat another hamburger. After lunch, I went and laid out on the beach. It was so incredibly relaxing and beautiful. I called my Dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day. It was nice talking to him, and I sure am excited to see him and the rest of my family. =) We learned about the free drinks deal at the bar, and quickly tried all the different kinds (por ejemplo- pink panther, strawberry daiquiri, & pina colada- all sin alcohol of course). My favorite is pink panther, which is a pina colada with some kind of pink fruit juice in it. In short, best news of our lives. We built a wicked cool sandcastle. At first, we planned on having slaves quarters and a huge castle, but it turned into a sports arena for slaves. Look closely, you might be able to see the little holes by the futbol field (that's where the slaves live!) After we built our castle, we had a dance party up in my room. I taught some of my best dancing (gracias a bethany) and then we listened to disney... which was quite ideal. =) After a long day, I finally fell asleep!!! love you all!!!

where we went to church!!!

a view out another hotel window... pretty posh, no?

JUMP! (this is our sports arenas for the slaves...)

demonstrating the different activities to do in said sports arena...

the beach!!!

jelly fish, hamburgers, and humidity

YAY YAY YAY! Today is Puerto Vallarta! Well, actually, it's Nuevo Vallarta (which is about 30 minutes out of Puerto Vallarta and it's all hotels and resorts). We got up, were way tired still, but so excited! We got to the school, and took our fancy bus to Puerto Vallarta! After about 30 minutes, I was all curled up listening to Beach Boys and falling asleep. When I woke up, the movie was over, and we were pretty much in the straight up jungle of Mexico. Also, the roads were crazy windy. I was glad when we got to stop and go to the bathroom because I was pretty car sick. I got some cookies and a soda and I felt much better. We talked for the last few hours, and then we finally got there! I was worried that it was going to be stormy when we got here, but it was actually really hot- and incredibly humid. We got our roommate assignments-and I'm with Ashley, Maggie, and Nat. Basically, a party group. Our room is amazing, and it has the best view ever. We went upstairs, got dressed really fast, then went down to the buffet for lunch (it was about 2:30). We ate HAMBURGERS really fast, and then went to the beach and boogie boarded all the rest of the day! Ashley Alberts got stung by a jelly fish, which is pretty scary. The waves were crazy random... When I caught some, I'd get to the top of the wave and try to get inside of it... but I'd usually end up flipping around under the water. We decided it's because the waves are pretty abrupt and just crash. After we swam and such, I put some clothes over my suit and ate! We had tacos, and they were quite good. After that, we walked around on the beach and took pictures until it was way late. I went to bed around 12. Love you all! Good night!!!
=)


sand + salt water + board shorts = the worst of times.

einstein, bubbles, & mariachi bands.

This morning we woke up early so we could get ready, study, and finish our projects. It was pretty painful. This whole NO sleep thing is definitely catching up to me. We went to school and took our final exam. It was pretty hard for me, and I’m not sure how I did. For the second half, we did our presentations. I thought it would be a good idea if I volunteered to go in the end so we wouldn’t have enough time. My fool-proof plan worked, and I went at 11:50 (when class gets out). I was still scared, I still read it word for word, and I still stuttered, BUT it’s ok! It’s over!
teresa y yo (she's mah teacher!!!)

After, we went to our end of school party… and ate lots of delicious tacos, horchatta, and tres leches (good cake). We got our diplomas, so I am legit now.
we gradumated!

becky y yo...

We did our Thriller dance for the last time! WOOHOO! There were piñatas for the moms first, Marcela was crazy insane with that stick. Slightly scary, and really funny. Then there was a piñata for us. There was a TON of candy and Danny was out there getting it all. =)
gerardo y yo en frente de la pinata!

la pinata!

There were also bars there, so all of us were pulling out our third grade gymnastics tricks.
just hanging around. ha. haha. haaa.

After the party, we all went home and got packed for Puerto Vallarta! I can’t believe it’s almost here! It still doesn’t seem quite real… and it kinda feels like we’re going to be in Guadalajara forever. At 7:30 we met at Gallerias so we (as in Marc, Becky, and I) could go to the centro to meet the rest of the group later. We took some pictures in the main square and we took a really funny video of me going on a tour of the centro. We got these really divine chocolate pastries. I liked it so much, I think I will use it as lipstick from now on… haha. We met Abraham and Chuey up there. Abraham bought bubbles… and I spilled them. I feel bad about it still, even though Abraham thought it was hilarious because we got it all on video. Also, the square at night is so BEAUTIFUL! The weather was perfect, there was music playing and it was so fun! It kind of reminded me of Disneyland. After we went to a Mariachi plaza. What you do is go to the plaza and pay the Mariachi per song. Chuey got them to lower the price, so that was a plus. Basically, Mariachi bands are bomb.com. It was so cool, and I got videos of their songs. We danced, and it was so fun. After they played their songs, I got to take pictures with the band. So, so cool. After the Mariachi bands, we went home. I was so tired (due to basically no sleep…) and showered… and went to sleep. Happy day! Tomorrow is PUERTO VALLARTA!!! DAAAH!!!

triste, high heels, & folklore dancing

This morning we woke up, and thought we were going to die. It definitely didn’t help that we had tests to study for and presentations to prep for. But we got up and went to school. After school, we went home and laid down to work on our projects. We ate, and then went to service. Today was our last day and it was so sad. Hermana Stalling’s family was all there with their instruments.

We sang old songs and hymns to them, and they loved it. We even sang the Star Spangled Banner to Lorainne. Also, here is a picture of me with Sofia (a worker's daughter)...

We played loteria for the last time, and then we had to say our goodbyes. They were really sad to see us leave, but they were all really happy that we came. One of the sons visiting his mom even asked us what church we were from. Lots of ladies were crying. It mostly broke my heart knowing that Lorainne wouldn’t have anyone to talk to anymore. I promised I would write her letters. One lady kept saying “You don’t have to go!” Today was a really big eye opening experience for me, and so was the whole service. I am so glad that I got to work with them. At first I thought that I would be sad that I didn’t get to work with the little kids, but I know that los abuelitos needed us to be there. I’m glad we got that experience. This is us on our last day...

Right after service Gerardo played with my outside... =)

After service, Ash and I went home to get ready for the folklore dance. I really wanted to wear something besides flip flops, so I asked Marcela if I could borrow her high heels. Basically, Ash egged me on until I did it- and then Marcela was pretty much scarred that I would ask. I’m sad that she still hasn’t gotten my shoes. =( It’s ok, I guess, as long as I get them back before we go home. Anyways, we went to the dance, and it was the coolest thing ever. They had different dances from each state in Mexico. It was really legit and fun.

After, we got a taxi home and tried to finish up our projects, but our internet didn’t work. DUMB. So we went to bed so we could get up early. I’ll see you all in about a week. LOVE YOU!!!