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I was born in Mesa and lived in both Arizona and Utah. I attended four different high schools and moved back to Mesa my senior year. I love to travel and explore; I studied abroad in England, Scotland and France and had a blast. Music and writing drive me. I am a hard worker, when I am motivated to be. I am a passionate girl who loves people. I love friends but I also love my quiet time. Most importantly, I love to Love. I am a writer, an educator, a learner, an explorer and yes, a Mormon. I am blessed and I love my life. I am currently serving a mission for the Lord through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Italy until January of 2016.

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Love and Be Loved

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

STEMSS CRUISE EL, Mexican Riviera Cruise- Puerto Vallarta


 Day Five Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Today was a great day. An enlightening day. We booked an excursion for today going to the Yelapa and Majahuitas beaches and snorkeling, where I expected thoroughly to see more wildlife, like birds, sea turtles and whales (my two biggest hopes!) and so on. We saw a whale briefly, and fish and jellyfish while snorkeling. We also saw lot's of iguanas about, and we did, in fact, see a couple blue-footed booby birds on an island in passing. But the tour just really focused on entertainment and fun. They fed us lunch on the boat but not any local food. The tour guide named Pablo was from Mexico and was so familiar with the area, which was a nice touch.

As we walked through the small village up to the waterfall, we passed a kid running down the path carrying a list. He stopped the kid and read what the list said- a drink and just a list of a few items to buy from the store. He read it to us, gave the list back to the kid, and the kid ran back on his way. It was like a movie! So casual and the kid thought nothing of it. We also passed some little kids with shells set up selling with a cute little song for $1. Culture. So very cool to see. It was a good mix reminder of Ghana and Italy for the both of us. You used to be able to climb up past the waterfall, but several years ago there was a huge rock slide and it is closed off beyond the falls.
As for snorkeling, we had to jump in the water from the boat and it was absolutely freezing! It shocked me and kind of took a while for me to calm down and actually breathe. We did see some jellyfish, and cool colored fish swimming around. We couldn't go too far out as the water got thicker and foggier. (Also- the pollution in the bay was awful. There was a distinct ring around the whole sky.) I enjoyed the snorkeling but I wanted to see more. We got to kayak for several minutes and then decided to go back to the catamaran (our boat) and eat lunch. Shortly after we moved on anyway. On the way home, we saw some fins in the water so it was either dolphins or like manta rays. We did see a school of fish swim by. And lot's of birds. On the way to snorkel in our spot, we did see a few Blue Footed Booby birds on the islands!!!

I think that if you are going to visit a place, you need to immerse yourself in that culture/lifestyle and leave your own behind temporarily. If you are going to live there, then there definitely needs to be a merge that takes place. On the tour, they were really focused on having fun and partying with music and drinks on the boat, but I really, really had hoped to focus more on the wildlife. Still, it was a worthwhile adventure today. After looking in dozens of shops looking for the perfect dress i wanted, we ended up buying a shirt from a lady and as we got chatting we asked for the best food to eat, and she called a friend to deliver food and we ate outside. A quesadilla with chorizo, al pastor, and carne asada, and beans. Absolutely delicious. Weston loved it. By the way, it was his birthday! Then we asked about taxi prices and she gave us what it should be. They bought us a coke and gave it to us before we left. Sandra and Gilbert (Berto). Nice people! Weston told them he would find them on Facebook. Perhaps we'll come back to visit them. It was just great to mingle with the locals and see how friendly they were to us.  That was a lot of fun for us and I think Weston loved it. We got to check out some of the Malecon and El Isla Cuale. An 11 hour day... we came home at 7:15 to the ship, showered, and were supposed to go to the shark tank activity but did not as we were late... instead to went to get a Clue and a free art show thing, showing Salvador Dali's art film.

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