IUHPFL Mérida 2015: Week 6

Hola a todos! Welcome back to the Merida 2015 Blog! We are now in our last week of the program if you can believe it! This will be the last blog for us as well! Here is what went on this week for us all here in Mérida...

Monday some of us went to the local cinema to watch "Minions"

Afterwards we headed to dine at Chili’s for a little change in cuisine, a it closer to home :)

Wednesday before heading to play sports the students came early to the school to help out with prop design for the musical that we will have this Wednesday at the farewell show.

Thursday evening many of us gathered in St. Lucia Park in the downtown area for a“serenata” which normally consists of mariachi and other traditional music. Unfortunately while the performers were warming up it began to rain, and the show was cancelled. Although we were disappointed, we can't say we were surprised, as we have grown accustomed to rain here in Mérida!

Friday afternoon we had an intense 4 hour rehearsal for the musical. Dance, choir and theater all joined forces to begin to work everything in to one final masterpiece. We will have 3 or 4 more rehearsals this week before the big day on Wednesday. We can’t wait, as the musical is coming together very nicely. We are hoping to be able to video record it and send the files or a copy to everyone upon their return to the U.S.

A few of the songs the dancers have been working on all summer, working to polish this week, and will exhibit Wednesday evening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFIR9sMSFbg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKufD9HswPo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QNmFzfrIEQ

Friday evening we were NOT rained out and were able to attend “El Juego de la Pelota” downtown, which occurs every Friday. Juego de la Pelota is a traditional Maya game which each team tries to score as many points as possible passing the ball (with a weight of 3-4 kilograms!) back and forth using only the hip, knee or elbow! Quite a challenge…but perhaps not as difficult and incredible as when the ball was set on fire and the two teams passed it back and forth! (See video below!) We all enjoyed the game and it was great to finally get to see in action something we have heard and learned about the past several weeks. The intersection of Maya culture and traditions here in Mérida has made our trip very unique!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjaN_p2rIAo

https://youtu.be/CSsMqp98Fsc

Saturday afternoon many of us visited El Gran Museo del Mundo Maya. We took a 2.5 hour tour through the galleries and exhibitions and learned even more about Maya history, culture, traditions and their impact here in Mérida.

Our week together came to a close Saturday night at La Noche Mexicana, a festival that takes place every Saturday evening close to downtown where there is traditional song, dance, shopping and eating of course!