Honduras-July 26th

I could not believe today was our last day. We woke up at 8:45, packed our bags, and headed down from breakfast. Today's breakfast was interesting because we split a strawberry cheesecake we had bought at the Swiss bakery the day before and today the kitchen ran out of cheese, so instead we got cream... or crema. So our breakfast included cheesecake, beans, eggs, toast, and cream... yum. Our friend Darwin arrived to pick us up and drive us to the airport, and to our surprise he had brought his whole family to meet us! On the car ride over I practiced my spanish with his son and daughter, while my mom talked to Darwin.



At the airport, there were lines that were miles long, so we decided to look in the gift shops. In one Honduran gift shop we entered, everything was in dollars and extremely expensive. My mom ended up buying aztec pottery and an ornament and I was going to buy a bracelet, but it was $4; 4 dollars is too much for a string bracelet. After we made it through the check in line, we got a "Dunkin Donut" and it was kind of terrible, haha. We put our bags down and sat at a table in this little shop near our terminal so we could get wifi. We sat there for a while, and when our flight number was called, we headed over to our gate.

On the plane ride to Houston, I read much of my book: Persuasion and ate a  yummy chicken veggie wrap. My mom, being the social person that she is, made friends with a man next to her and as a result of their friendship, the man gave us cookies and candied walnuts; thank you Mom!

Before I knew it, we landed in Houston then continued our trip home. I will admit, the culture shock was severe and I often experienced withdrawal about the incredible experience and journey through Central America.

Honduras- July 25th

Today we woke up in our nice hotel in Tegucigalpa and went down to a delicious breakfast. The breakfast was like ever other breakfast: bread, eggs, beans, cheese; but, the bread at this hotel was incredible! After breakfast, our friend/ taxi driver took us to a famous park in Tegucigalpa famous for the view and see "El Cristo del Picacho." After taking many pictures of the masterpiece, we contuned through the park and took pictures in a house of mirrors.






After our experience in the park, we drove to the church which held "El Virgin de Suyapa." Suyapa has sentimentality in our family because 15 years ago my mom was on a trip in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She had gone to the same church that we visited today and prayed to be pregnant. The next day, her doctor called her, and brought her glorious news that she was pregnant. She almost thought of making my middle name Suyapa, but she didn't, thank God.





After our visit with Suyapa we bought some souvenirs, water, and platanos! The platanos were legendary. With snacks in hand, we drove through el centro and stopped at a pupuseria for lunch... When I say this I am not exagerating: these pupusas were the best pupusas I have ever tasted, EVER. After our lunch we drove to a swiss bakery to buy sweets and then took them back to the hotel.







We relaxed in the hotel and I enjoyed reading my book until it was time for dinner. We decided to go to this very nice Italian restaurant down the block. The food was incredible, however the portion sizes were enormous; my pasta could feed 7 people! We went home extremely full and satisfied





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Honduras-July 24th

This morning we woke up went down for breakfast at 9:30am, and my mom graciously let me go back to the room to the while so I could talk with my friends I had met in Cancun.

-went back upstairs for wifi; texted nick, Alex, and pearl. After breakfast we drove to another school  and enjoyed watching the school mom volunteers make lunches or "meriendas" for the schoolchildren. We talked to the moms and learned about the system they had organized so that each mother knew when they were needed to come cook at school. After our incredible visist, we started driving back to Tegucigalpa.


On the way back we grabbed a quick bite to eat then continued driving until we reached the home of Cardinal Rodriguez. We had barely any time, so we ran in, changed in the bathroom (into nice clothing), and went up to his room. We were so lucky that he took the time to sit down with us for a great amount of time telling us about his role and asking US questions. The experience was unforgettable.

After our wonderful meeting, we drove to the CRS hotel to meet the staff, then proceeded to our hotel. We relaxed in the hotel for a while due to our constant travel and I even got to speak once again with my friends from Cancun!

Around 7pm, we decided to leave the house and ended up going to a delicious Thai restaurant next door. The food was incredible and I personally thought even better than the Thai in Los Angeles!

Honduras-July 23rd

This morning was a little rushed because my mom and I had to wake up at 7am and meet Rony, who works with CRS, so we could drive to la Esperanza. It took me 10 minutes to fall asleep, and once I was asleep, I stayed sleeping in the back of his car for 3 hours. 

We arrived at the CRS office in la Esperanza, then met Marlon, who drove us to the heart of La Esperanza. Upon our arrival, we went to lunch with him and a man named Elmer, who also works with CRS. For lunch, I tried traditional Honduran food, Baleadas. They were tortillas folded in half with eggs, beans, and creamed butter inside. It was interesting and I am glad I tried it, but I would not try it again. 

After lunch, we drove to our first school called "La Liberdad." When we arrived, we walked into every classroom and greeted the kids who were very well mannered and energetic. When my mom and I would leave a classroom, they would all say in unison, "Gracias!" After visiting the kids, my mom and I sat down in an empty classroom with staff members, CRS employees, and mothers of the school. We discussed how CRS' project was effecting the school, improvements, etc. 

After our little conference, we walked across the road to their secondary school and looked at this pond they had filled with tilapia. They were raising 2,000 fish to eventually feed to the kids. We walked towards the school buildings as school was let out and watched two kids in the mango tree shaking the branches to knock down fresh mango. We talked to two secondary teachers who taught science and English.

Afterward, we visited their school garden and learned about the plants they are growing. A man approached us to offer us fresh mango that had fallen from the tree; it was kind of him. We then loaded back into the truck and drove to a house, home to friends of CRS. They had a little shop on their front porch, and we found nice earrings in their store. The family that lived there had many sons and one daughter, with whom I had the privilege of playing with. We got back in the truck and drove to our hotel in la Esperanza. 

We relaxed for a couple hours, then met Marlon at 6pm for dinner. We drove to a little local restaurant with free wifi! I ordered chicken with herbs, and my mom got chicken skewers with so much vegetables! The dinner was a great experience for me because it was all in Spanish!

Belize-July 22nd

This morning we woke up early yet again, and this time went to breakfast a little earlier. The night before, I had done my research on Trip Advisor for good breakfast places, and I found a highly rated place called Amor y Café. We walked there, and realized it was farther than most of the other restaurants. We sat down at a table on the patio with a nice view. It was extremely hot, so the waiters brought out fans, which my mom was very grateful for. We both ordered scrambled eggs and toast, and it tasted delicious. 

Happily full, we walked to the hand-painted t-shirt shop to pick up my shirt. On our way back to our hotel, we passed a vender with very nice jewelry, and bought a necklace for my friend back home. 

Satisfied with our purchase, we walked back to the hotel to enjoy our last bit of air conditioning, then checked out. We walked to a coffee shop called Ice and Beans across the street, which was definitely my favorite shop/restaurant in Caye Caulker because the owner is so nice. We went inside and my mom got an iced coffee and I got an extra sweet vanilla mocha. We took our drinks outside and sat at a picnic table on the beach. 

We enjoyed our drinks, then walked to the water taxi dock. It began to rain very heavily, henceforth everyone because moving towards the center of the covered area and my mom went under the roof of a candy shop to talk to the owner.  A man probably in his late 20s approached me and began telling me about all his travels. He was from northern Canada and had been traveling for a month in Central America, and had so far travelled to Guatemala, Belize, and was headed for Honduras. It was quite an interesting conversation because he told me all his macho stories of getting in fights, etc. A water taxi worker interrupted our conversation to tag my bags, and I was grateful. Unfortunately, after my bags were tagged, the guy moved to my other side and introduced himself and kept talking. 

Soon the boat arrived and I returned to my mothers side. We got in line to board, and my mom noticed a mother and two daughters who just walked up to the front of the line. My mom reminded the lady that there was a line, and the lady seriously said, "I know. I own this boat." My mom and I had to suppress our laughter at the mothers response and got onto the boat. 

On the boat my mom and I met a family of four who were on a cruise in Belize and had just snorkeled that day with a different snorkeling company. They showed us all their pictures of snorkeling, and we told them about our trip in Cancun, and I showed them pictures. We talked to them for the majority of the ride, which definitely helped to pass the time. 

We arrived in Belize city at 12:15 and got a taxi that offered to take us to lunch prior to the airport. We are at a restaurant called Nerie's and we both got curry chicken. It was very delicious, but we had lots of leftovers. Back in the taxi, we talked to our driver, Armando Medina for a long while in Spanish. I hadn't used my Spanish in a while, so it wasn't perfect, but I communicated well. 

At the airport we walked around only for a while then we were off to San Salvador. When we arrived, we walked to a candy and snack shop called Diana's which is a very traditional food brand in San Salvador. We bought some snacks traditional to San Salvador and saved them for later. We walked to a restaurant called "Delight;" it reminded us of "Enjoy." We both got pupusas and a cabbage salad, which was pretty okay. For dessert, we split an apple, and soon everyone else was too. It was very cool as well, because during dinner, there was a huge window in front of us, and a big lighting storm was occurring, which we had the chance to watch from inside. 

We boarded our plane to Honduras and arrived at 9pm. When we arrived, we were absolutely exhausted from such a long day, and to top it off, we had to wait in the line at customs for an hour. Once through customs we took a taxi to our hotel.

Belize- July 21st

In the morning we woke up pretty early and relaxed in the hotel room. When we got hungry, we walked to a restaurant/ house called M&T's for waffles. We got chocolate chip banana waffles, and they were amazing. After indulging ourselves, we walked to a snorkeling company's shack. We had previously signed up for a full day, but they only had a half day available, so we agreed and got our snorkel gear. We waited outside for 20 minutes before our group walked over to the boat. 

Once in the boat, my mom and I introduced ourselves to the other people, and particularly bonded with a couple from England named James and Charlie. I talked to Charlie and found out she had met James in China while teaching. The greatest surprise I found out, was that she is from Yorkshire, England, which is where nick, Alex, and Sam are from. 

We rode for about 10 minutes, then stopped to enjoy the first excursion. We all jumped out including the guide and got situated. Our guide told us that the deepest it got was 15 ft, and this is where we would see the most sea life. I took off my life jacket at the beginning and swim down to the sea floor to touch the sand. I really enjoyed diving because I had just learned how to in Cancun. As we followed the guide, James pointed out a jellyfish right next to me, and I narrowly dodged it, then pointed it out to the people behind me. I swam next to Charlie and she pointed to a turtle in the distance. The turtle was huge and very graceful. 

We swam through the coral reefs and my favorite fish was called the queen of paradise fish, and we saw one that was rainbow! Towards the end, I began swimming towards the front with the guys, and we were lucky enough to see a barracuda. 

After 40 minutes, we all swam back to the boat and rode to the next stop, home of the sharks and rays. When we arrived, our tour guide threw sardines into the water and two nurse shark, and a bunch of fish and rays came to the boat. I was really nervous about jumping out of the boat, but once I did, it was incredible. They were everywhere and came so near to me. I stayed in the water for a while chasing the rays until I realized everyone else on the boat was waiting for me. 

On the third and final stop, we got to swim wherever we wanted without the guide. My mom and I went out for a while, but didn't see many fish or other sea life. I decided to dive and swim with my chest really close to the sand, not using my arms, and kick my feet together like a dolphin. Surprisingly I went remarkably faster. 

We swam towards the boat and saw James and Charlie. James told me they had seen a giant dormant stingray, and he told me he could show it to me. He took me to see the massive stingray, and when we got to the place he had seen it, the stingray got up and began swimming away. The stingray was really big, and it's tail was incredibly long. 

We swam back to the boat, and James got on the boat while my mom and I talked to Charlie for a while. Once we got on the boat, we got to enjoy delicious fresh fruit our guide had cut up. The pineapple was delicious because the acid in it cut the salt water taste in our mouths.  enjoyed fresh fruit

We arrived back at the island, and James and Charlie were so considerate as to take our gear back to the shack. We changed our clothes in the room, then walked to pizza caulker for lunch. The restaurant was in the center of the island, and when we arrived, there was only one tourist sitting there. 

My mom and I decided to sit at the bar, and we ordered drinks while the pizza was being prepared. As we drank our beverages, a worker and his girlfriend were standing on the other side of the bar giggling and making out. It was a little strange, and we decided to change our seats when he started popping zits on her back, with her complaining. 

We moved to the same table as the tourist and found out he is from Montanna and was in Belize to fish. When he left, locals came in smoking and talking really loud. The pizza had arrived and my mom and I started to taste the smoke in our pizza, so I asked for a box to take the pizza to go. 

We walked back towards the coast, and bought two waters at a restaurant, then sat outside with our pizza. The pizza was really good, but the environment was terrible. As we sat eating, a couple sat down next to us and we began talking. They were from Seattle, Washington, so we talked about the difference of weather. 

After we finished our pizza, we went and sat on two beach recliners in front of our hotel until 6pm. We then walked towards the split, and along the way met a woman who sold hand painted shirts that looked really cool. My mom and I bought a tshirt that said "go slow," and she told us that it would be really tomorrow. We continued towards the split, and when we arrived, there were people everywhere. To the right were all the tourists in the bar and sitting on the ledge by the water. To the left were locals walking around and chilling on this cool looking boat. We sat by the water and took some pictures. 

When the sun had gone down, we walked to a restaurant called "Enjoy" which had swings for bar stools. We sat at a table on the sand, and felt our legs being bitten from mesquites. We moved to a different table, and a waiter was kind enough to bring us a mosquito candle. We ordered lobster and coconut curry chicken. Both were really delicious, but the curry chicken was the winner :)

After dinner we walked to an ice cream shop we had previously seen and walked inside. I asked to try the chocolate chip cookie dough, and it honestly didn't taste like anything,  so we continued walking. We found another ice cream place that didn't do tastes, so we ordered two Oreo cookie ice cream, and they were even worse!

We walked to the end of the island, then walked back to the hotel and sat on the beach chairs until 8pm. When we went upstairs to our room, it was such an exhausting day that I went to sleep almost immediately.

Belize- July 20th

At 3am, our bus pulled over and got out and paid to exit Cancun. An hour later we got out again to go through customs.

We finally arrived in Belize at 7:08am, and immediately took a taxi to the water taxi dock. We walked around the dock before boarding and bought some cough drops because I had no voice. Once we boarded, it was interesting to watch them pack everyone in. The ride was 45 minutes and I slept for probably 30 minutes. 

When we arrived, we walked along the coast to reach our hotel called "The Rainbow Hotel." Following checking in, we walked to a restaurant nearby to eat brunch. After our meal we were exhausted, so we slept in the hotel room until 6pm. We then went out and walked somewhere called the split which is a place where tourists and locals hang out together, also where the sun goes down. When we arrived it was dark and a little sketch, so we walked to a restaurant called Aladin with delicious food. I had chicken fajitas with pita and my mom had chicken skewers with pita. 

After dinner we walked up and down the island, then returned to the hotel and fell asleep at 10pm!

Check out the crab we saw:

Cancun- July 19th

This morning we went wake boarding again and I didn't fall down once. I went again and got a jump! Afterward, I walked to tennis with Alex to meet up with Sam and Nick. We saw them and they were exhausted from their lesson. Alex and I laid on the beach until it started to rain, and we ran into the water. Sam, Alex, Nick and I swam through the seaweed in the pouring rain and were screaming and laughing. We then walked to the kayaks and kayaked for 30 minutes. On the kayaks we tried tying our boats together and paddling but we went absolutely no where; I think we traveled farther backwards than forwards. As we approached the shore, Sam and I raced and unfortunately, he won. 

Nick chasing the car

We began walking around searching for Pearl because she was not anywhere near Las Cazuelas. We walked by the pool and finally saw her. We regrouped and walked to the bar to get drinks. I ordered Pearl a mojito because she had never had one before, the usual for Nick, and a Miami vice for me. We walked to the beach, put our drinks down, then ran into the ocean. We swam out to the buoy again and relaxed. I love swimming with Pearl and the guys because we have the most interesting conversations. As I was getting out Nick pulled me back down into the water, and we splashed around for a bit. When he tried to get out, he got karma because I pulled him back in. 

After getting soaked, we walked to reception where we saw a a buggy. A family of three was already waiting for it, so they got in, then Pearl, Alex and I got in. Sam and Nick started running alongside the cart, but eventually we passed them both. When the family got out, Sam was in eyesight, so we called him over to hop on. When we arrived at Las Cazuelas, Alex, Sam, and Pearl went inside and I waited outside for Nick. We then got lunch and sat down inside, sad to be having our last meal together. Lunch was delicious and dessert was even better. Nick and I got up to get ice cream twice, but somehow he managed to eat five vanilla ice cream cones. 

Selfie w/ Ice Cream

Pearl and I used the restroom before we left and on the way back got into a playful fight over nothing other than a loaf of white chocolate bread. The triplets looked at us with curiosity, but just ignored it and we left. 

On the way back, Alex, Nick and I dipped our feet in the fountains in the hallway by my room and it was so nice. We then dropped Pearl off at the locker room with her mom, and the boys and I walked to the computer room. Once we were inside the room, we saw all four computers were in use. Nick dared me to be loud so they would leave, and I said really loudly, "OMG! No way!" A lady looked at me with a death stare and said "shhhh!" We left laughing extremely hard and sat at a table outside. We saw though the window a girl getting up, and as she opened the door, I yelled, "hey!" Nick started laughing so hard, and continued to laugh when we sat down at a computer. Nick and I began laughing and crying hysterically because the lady next to me looked so angry with me. She got so fed up, that she and her husband left us with all of the computers. We thought to ourselves, "mission accomplished!" We loved to the back computer and watched Glozell for so long laughing and laughing. 

The BEAUTIFUL Pearl

Next, Pearl walked in and we went over to the theater. I felt the urge to dance on the stage, so I got up there and began singing and dancing. Many people walked by wondering what I was doing, but I ignored them. I invited Pearl up, and when I twirled her I fell into a set piece behind the curtain. I ran backstage, and to my surprise I saw a man holding up the set piece. Nick told me later that I almost crushed the man, but everything worked out fine. We danced some more, then realized we should go say goodbye to pearl. We walked to the door to watch her get on the bus. Before she did, I gave her the longest hug and she waved goodbye to the guys. As she was waiting to get on I took some very attractive photos of her and my favorite was one of my mom and Debbie photo bombing. Once she was on the bus, we communicated through the window. We did our I side joke which is "mua, mua, wub u" through the window and the guys were laughing at us. We started doing one of the crazy signs dances and we laughed so hard. Nick told me later our goodbye was one of his favorite memories. Once she drove off, Nick, Alex, and I walked to waterskiing. 

Our Gossip Circle

We arrived and saw the list was an hour long, so we changed our mind and walked to trapeze. I sat in line and looked around for Nick. Alex then told me he was in line, and I looked down to see Nick about to go up. He told me the rip (blister) on his hand no longer hurt and his shoulder felt better. 

Love these guys

He went up and did really well. It was my turn to go, and as I stood at the bottom of the ladder, Vitor and I looked at each other and both yawned. I climbed the ladder and when I got to the top I told him I was doing penny role. As I jumped off the platform everything went fine until it was time to grab the cables. I reached up like I always did, but this time I didn't grab high enough. My hands slipped down and on the next swing back it happened again. The lady told me to bring my legs down and let go. I landed awkwardly on the net. I pushed myself up and walked over to the edge on the net. No one said anything. After I flipped down, I looked at my hands and gasped. My pinky finger was entirely covered in blood and my right had spots of blood dispersed. As soon as I saw the blood, pain followed. Ashley gave me gauze to hold on it, then told me to wash it off. Alex walked with me to get ice from the ice machine. My fingers hurt so much, but I didn't dare cry in front of anyone. 

I returned to trapeze and put bandages on my fingers. I got back in line for the splits, because I didn't want my last go to be so terrible. When it was my turn, I did the splits pretty well and they said I could catch. 

Watch Capusine attempt the double:

This is how we chill...

Neither nick, nor Sam did the catch, but Nick waited for me to finish. When I went up to catch, I did the splits perfectly, but unfortunately, I let go before the "hep" and Vitor did not catch me. I was satisfied with my comeback, and I sat down. Nick, Alex, Sam, and I walked back to their room to get ready for dinner. 

Nick and Alex went to the room, but Sam walked back to watch trapeze with me while the others got ready. Sam and I sat on the bleachers to watch and had a really great conversation. I had never had an honest conversation with him, because we were constantly chasing each other or having ice cube fights. When Nick had changed and showered, he swapped with Sam, and we went to sit on a hammock. We laid in the hammock talking about all things under the sun, and shared the pictures we had taken from the trip. We both showed the other pictures from home, and we commented on how different we look now. When Alex came, he tried to sit, but it wasn't working, so he sat in the hammock next to us. Eventually I took a different position so Alex could join us, and we talked together for another hour. 

When it was time for dinner, the boys and I walked to Hacienda, and I went to eat with my mom and they with their parents. My mom and I got up for dessert and bumped into my friends' mom. We talked to her about all of their other club med experiences, etc. 

After dinner, I went to find the guys in our special cabana. When I met them, we sat and chatted for a bit, then got up and walked to ping pong to establish who was the master of ping pong; Nick or me? I played all of the boys twice, and none of them beat me. Master established :)

After our game, we ran to the forest next to La Estancia and took a quick hike barefoot, which was a terrible idea. We went through the forest on the sand path, but on the way back we used no torches, and Nick led the way over the jagged rocks. 

Our LAST selfie

When we made our way out of the forest, we all linked arms and walked to the reception. I changed into my glasses, and we had our last conversation. We stood by the door and I got all sentimental. Sam almost made me cry because he expressed how much he wanted me to stay because he hated saying goodbye. The taxi arrived and the farewells began. I hugged all three of them, an extra one for Alex, a chest bump with Sam, and Nick and I did our special hand shake. As I sat in the taxi, I looked through the window to see them. As we drove away, they started running after the cab until we turned the corner and were out of sight. As we approached the exit, my eyes watered, but I kept composed. 

We arrived 30 minutes later at the bus station. We waited for our bus, then we boarded.

Cancun- July 18th

Today was the most incredible, terrible, and longest day ever. In the morning, Pearl and I went to wakeboarding yet again. I had no desire to wakeboard for some reason, so I sat waiting for Pearl to finish her run. I talked to Tyler while I waited, and he took his name off the list because the wait looked too long. Nick came to say hi, then he walked to tennis. Tyler, Alex, and I walked to the beach because a guy at water skiing said it would be 40 minutes till Pearl's turn.

We swam in the water talking about everything, from school, to favorite foods, to our social lives. We also talked about names we strongly like and dislike in the pool afterward. When we had run out of things to say, we went back to retrieve pearl. On our way to sailing, we stopped for drinks where we happened to bump into Sam and Nick. We walked all together to sailing and rented two boats. We took them out with the usual teams, but this time, Wells was with us. Nick and I jumped around to different boats, and I almost fell in. We walked to Las Cazuelas, and before we went inside, we playing catchphrase. We split into teams, Nick + Grace vs. Sam + Pearl. Obviously Nick and I won :p Pearl and I ate lunch with our SMC group because we were given the privilege to eat dinner with the guys.

Lunch was delicious and I even got soft serve ice cream. After lunch was when the madness began... I agreed to sail a few moms from SMC, and also promised to say goodbye to Tyler. I ended up sailing the parents really well, but I missed saying goodbye to Tyler. I walked all over the resort looking for Pearl, but I could not find her anywhere. I waited for her at water skiing and she eventually showed up with Alex. Pearl and I both got up on the wake boards and went around the whole area without falling!

We then dried off and walked to trapeze where we learned a move called the penny role where you sit on top of the bar. I got up on my first try, and when I was sitting on the bar, I turned toward Nick and Alex and did the "Hope laugh." When I came down, Nick, Alex, and I played "Go Fish" till pearl was done with her catches. We then went back to the room to our separate rooms get ready for dinner. We both dressed in shorts and T-shirts with our bathing suits underneath. 

We met with the guys at a card table outside of Hacienda, and made our way upstairs. Alex asked for a table in French, and we were placed in the nicest part of Hacienda; Nice work Alex! As we sat down, Sam and Pearl got food and Nick, Alex, and I remained in our chairs to converse. As we talked, Nick placed his fingers on his water glass thinking it was empty and tipped it so that it spilt all over him. I began laughing so hard.

Dinner was delicious, especially because it was Asian food, which includes lettuce wraps, beef and broccoli, caramel pork, and more. Nick and I got up together to get asian dessert and I ran into an adult man walking through the doorway. He was trying to go one way or the other, but we kept bumping into each other. Nick and I laughed so hard because of the man's serious and annoyed face. 

After dinner, Nick began talking about Glozell Green (a youtuber) and we all sat on a pool chair to watch her YouTube videos. We laughed so hard at her squid video that we started crying. Once we calmed down, we walked to the forest to play hide and go seek. The first round Alex was the seeker. I hid with Nick, but unfortunately, Nick was farther into the bush than I, so Alex found me first. The three of us walked around and eventually found Sam, but we could not find pearl. We walked for seriously 5 minutes looking for her and screaming that she had won. Alex began shouting "PEARL! Come out!" We were so terrified and I thought something terrible had happened. We finally saw her walking towards us, and we found out she had been on the other side of the forest.

I was the next seeker and I found Alex first, and Pearl last again. We forced pearl to seek the third time because she was so good. Nick and I went off again, but this time we split up. I found a nice hiding place on a rock and stayed there for 10 minutes. Pearl was finding no one, but she pulled her torch (which broke the rules) and found me. We next found Alex, but after that no one was to be seen. We randomly heard a monkey shriek and looked up at a palm tree and saw Sam straddling it. We were laughing so hard and took so many pictures. We later found Nick deep in a bush. 

Next we headed to the trapeze area. On the way there we found our favorite ice machine and played ice chubby bunny. I started with 5 ice cubes, and it was the strangest sensation. My mouth burned and my gums couldn't bear the cold. Nick currently holds the "Ice Chubby Bunny" first place prize for 7 ice cubes. After our game, we walked to the hammocks by the trapeze and fit all of us in one hammock. Nick and I sat on one together, and Pearl and Sam wrestled each other on the other hammock. I saw the trapeze and got very eager. They had put a board up so we couldn't climb it, but somehow, I made it up, and without bruises. No one else joined me because they were chicken, so we walked back to the pool to complete our next item on the scavenger hunt list. 

4 of the 5 of us sat down on one pool recliner to start our next challenge. We started with the first challenge which was eating 3 Splenda packets each. Sam went to the bar and brought back 15 packets of Splenda for all of us. Sam downed them so quickly, Alex suffered a little, Nick winced the whole way, and Pearl looked like she was going to puke. I did not enjoy the before taste, but afterward it was quite enjoyable. We then did the next challenge which involved us downing 2 piña coladas each. Alex and Pearl went to the bar and asked for 10 piña coladas to bring back to the pool. We sat around the planter and began the challenge. Halfway through the first cup, weird sounds and reactions were coming from everyone around me. By the time I finished my first cup, I heard Alex wincing at the frozen feeling in his head, Pearl wincing at the frozen feeling in her chest, and Nick feeling that sensation in the back of his eye? I drank quickly and felt the coldness in my lower back. I kept going although I felt like all of it was going to come out. I stuck it out and finished my second piña colada before anyone. Alex was second, but Nick and Pearl could not finish. Once I finished my drinks, I got super pumped up and started taking off my clothes to jump into the pool. I jumped in, but Pearl did not... at first. With more persuasion, Pearl was thrown into the pool. We stayed in for hardly two minutes and soon longed for towels. We walked over to the towel shack and Nick sneaked inside to grab 2 towels. 

We walked back to our pool recliner and began talking about more potential night activities and Nick jokingly said, "eat fire." When he said that, Alex ran to La Estancia and got a cup of chili flakes. He dared me to eat the chili, and I did. I didn't find it surprisingly spicy, but Alex did. We then had the brilliant idea to pour it into an extra piña colada. Once done, I drank that as well and my lips were on fire. 

On the beach we did a very physical piggy back race, which was very fun.  First we started with Pearl on my back and Alex on Nick's back. At that point, Pearl and I did not know we could play dirty and trip people, so the boys won. The next round, we switched, so Pearl carried me and Alex carried Nick. Pearl walked about two feet and fell because she became top heavy. The most fun round by far was as follows; me carrying Nick and Pearl carrying Alex.  Nick even video taped it on my shoulders! While we were going Alex almost pushed me once, and when we crossed the line, Nick wrapped his legs around my knees and we face planted as seen in the video.

Watch the piggy back view:

Once our piggy back races ended, a band nearby started playing, so we began dancing with the music. I briefly danced with Alex and danced with Sam for a great amount of time. Alex and I waltzed and Sam and I did an assortment of dances. I was really impressed by Sam's dance moves. Sam stole my phone and started taking selfies. Pearl is officially the worlds best photo bomber because she made the strangest faces in Sam's selfies. 

When we came back from the pool we went to the stage area. I got on stage, which still had lights on, and danced my little heart out. Nick unfortunately videotaped the while thing. We then bumped into Wells on our way to the pool for the pool party. Pearl and I jumped in first again, and the triplets jumped in with their cargo shorts because they had forgotten to wear a bathing suit. Wells left us to go change, so we had some fun in the meantime. I mostly swam with Nick and Alex. We all went underwater and I did the "Hope laugh" and phrase the best I could. While I was doing the laugh I kind of inhaled a lot of water. In the pool, there was a water polo game going on and Sam played. Alex and I were on the side practicing our circus act. I would stand on his thighs, stand, do the Vitor wave, and the hopeful laugh. We got out of the pool wet and cold, so Alex and I ran to the towel hut and got more towels. We then ran to a central cabana and cuddled. This was definitely a peak moment of our friendship. We took up every inch of the cabana with Alex on my feet, Nick laying next to me, Pearl's chest under me, and Sam next to pearl; I couldn't see. We also felt bad because we couldn't fit Wells into the cabana. 

Once we were dry, we decided to walk to the club. We went inside and walked past everyone to our usual corner. Nick owed me a dance because he didn't earlier and boy was our dance something. We got our serious face on with a white mans overbite and began to shoulder shimmy. We were laughing so hard with all the fun we were having. I finally convinced him to dance honestly, and so he did. We did many styles of dancing, yet it was always the overbite and shoulder shimmies that dominated the floor. I danced again with Sam and it was very fun. I did the next dare which was to ask the DJ if I could DJ, but all he did was say no. We continued dancing and Nick's favorite song came on,"My Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira. I was impressed/shocked that he knew all of the words. The club was so fun, and we left around 12:20am. We walked back to the room talking about the incredible night we had just had. I gave hugs to all of them and said goodnight.

Cancun- July 17th

This morning we met up with the guys at water skiing, and they cheered me on as I got up on a wakeboard. Afterward, we walked to the sailing area to check out boats. Tyler and Wells took one out, but Pearl, Alex, Nick, and I were stranded at shore because there was not an available boat. We swam around in our life vests to entertain ourselves. I saw my mom and Bess, our family friend, and took a sailing lesson with them. We soon returned back to shore, and Pearl, Alex, Nick, and I took out a boat. We tried so hard to capsize the boat with no success. Nick and I laid on the front and put our hands in the water as we sailed quickly. We acted like we were dolphins because we moved our hands like a dolphin's fin. We were laughing so hard in the front of the boat, we almost fell in. 

Soon as we passed Wells and Tyler, we jumped onto their boat and I almost fell in but I luckily grabbed the rudder. We landed and Tyler let me drive the boat. We sailed around, then when we docked, we walked to this kiddy playground nearby to play miniature golf. I was on Wells and Alex's team, and we won! We played around on these toys in the kiddy area, then walked to a table outside of Las Cazuelas to play catch phrase. We said that whoever got three points had to take a dare later that night, and Alex and Sam both got dares. 

When it was time for lunch, 1pm, we enjoyed Mexican food inside. After we finished our lunch, Nick and I enjoyed soft serve ice cream. Nick ate a total of 6 ice cream cones :p When we were full we began walking. 

We walked to the snorkeling cove and got suited up. We went out all together and had so much fun. Tyler saw a barracuda and Nick and I found this incredible hole with a giant blue fish in it. We popped our heads out and realized we were too far, so we headed in. We thought we lost pearl for a sec, and I freaked out, but then we found her far away and swam out to get her. On the way back to the shore, I gave Nick this weird leaf I found in the water, and he returned the favor by giving me a very nice piece of seaweed.

We walked back to the pool where we played chicken and did hand standing, breath holding, and somersault contests. We then walked over to water skiing where Pearl and I wake boarded again, without Nick. We dried off the best we could and went on the trapeze. I did another weird split, but after that I got the catch! We then walked back and played cards till it was time to get ready for the show.

Here's me on the trapeze:

I got all ready in my white elegant dress, then went to the sports award show with my mom. I was very grateful to receive an award for waterskiing and trapeze along with Pearl. We then ate dinner, which was delicious; especially the dessert. After dinner we ran downstairs to watch Joy perform, and she was fantastic. We walked to a cabana on the beach, and eventually Nick came and found us. We hung out with him for a while, then picked up Alex, Tyler, and Sam. We walked around and found ourself in the forest. We explored and it had so much fun. Sam scared me so bad, and everyone kept screaming. We made it through the forest walking barefoot, meanwhile the rocks became very jagged. Nick offered me a piggy back ride, and I cautioned him, but said yes. He picked me up, and realized he had a bad ankle he dropped me barefoot on the rocks.

We left the forest and sat on the beach for the majority of the night. We walked into the club, but it didn't seem fun, so we came back out and sat by the pool. When it was 11:50, I told them we should start going, but then Pearl and I realized we left our shoes somewhere, so we had to run to get them. I ran home with Pearl and Alex and went to sleep around 12:30am.

Cancun- July 16th

This morning we woke up at 7am and went to breakfast at 7:30am. We packed baked goods to go, then headed off on our excursion. We drove for an hour and thirty minutes to get to the Mayan ruin we were visiting. We passed the time by eating and playing catch phrase in the back of the bus. We toured the ruin for an hour and it was blazing hot. Everyone had sweat dripping down their backs. Pearl and Debbie went down to the beach to check it out, and the rest of us took pictures along the coast. 

We got back in the car and drove to the site of the Cenote for lunch. Before we got to lunch, we checked in at the reception and met a friendly monkey named Samuel. For lunch, most of the kids, including me, got quesadillas, and we really enjoyed them.

Check out Samuel here:

After our meal, we got back in the van and were driven to zip lining. This was my first time, so I was very excited. We got all equipped up, then we listened to the instructions. We started up the first set of stairs and on my first run, I was so exhilarated. We continued to ride the lines in different positions, such as "boca Abajo," meaning upside down. 

Once done with zip lining we came down exhausted and rode to el cenote. We all changed in the changing rooms then rinsed off before entering the water. We walked down and I continually debated whether or not to jump in. My friends little sister pushed me in and I immediately swam out. I was very scared because it was dark and I hate fish. My mom took her time to go in with me step by step. *Thanks mom

The snorkel tour through the cenote was incredible; cooler than snorkeling I have done in the past. Once cooler and refreshed, we took the bus back to the beach resort. We quickly got dressed for dinner, then walked to La Hacienda. After dinner I met up with Sam, Pearl, and Joy on one of the couches in the mini club show. Sam said he didn't enjoy it, even though I LOVED it, so we got up.

We left the show to look for people, and we met up with Sam and Nick at our cabana on the beach. We talked to them for a while, then we dipped our feet in the pool. We watched the tennis show, which was terrible, but hilarious. My favorite part was when one guy pretended to beat up another guy with a racket and broke the racket. He came off stage and handed me the racket only to later take it back. 

Following the show we walked to the trapeze show to cheer on Sam and Capusine. We got there and chilled in the hammocks for a while before the show. The boys tried flipping me 360 degrees in the hammock and we ended up breaking it. We also fit 5 people into the hammock, which had beat our previous record of 4. 

Sam did really well in the show, therefore, we decided to go to the bar by the pool to get celebratory drinks, and at that point it was already 11:55pm. Our curfew was 12am. We then walked to the forest and gave each other dares that were very spontaneous. Soon it was time to go home, so the boys walked us to our rooms.

Cancun- July 15th

Photography by Nick Atkin

Today was my favorite day so far! In the morning pearl and I went to breakfast in the adult section of Hacienda, and it was very fun; no kids around. We also ordered Mexican hot chocolates for the first time and they were amazing. Following breakfast, we walked to waterskiing to meet up with Nick, Alex, and Tyler. We talked to one another while we waited for our turns. Tyler was the first to go, and he wake boarded. He did a really great job and even got some jumps in, but on one jump, it was so high that he landed with a splat. When he came back, it was Nick's turn, soon followed by Alex. It was their first time, so they got up and fell quite a good amount of times. They got back soaked, but much improved from where they started. Their brother, Ben, tried and could hardly get up once. We cheered him on, but unfortunately, he never got the hang of it because he was too strong. Next was Pearl, and she was almost perfect, except one fall. I followed Pearl, and I went around without falling once! I even went back and forth over the waves. I was congratulated at the dock and it felt amazing. I was also grateful to Nick because he took pictures of me water skiing.

Following that adventure, we walked to the sailing area and checked out two boats. Alex, Tyler, and Pearl knew how to sail, leaving Nick and I to be dead weight. Nick, Alex, and I started on one boat with Pearl and Tyler on the other. Pearl started sailing out while Tyler put on a rash guard and had to swim out dramatically to catch up with Pearl. We passed each other and Nick jumped onto their boat, so it was just me and Alex talking. We all had so much fun, just sailing about and jumping to each other's boats whenever we pleased. Tyler even jumped from his boat and swam to mine by pulling himself up from underneath the net. Once Tyler was on ours, the three of us talked. As we passed Pearl and Nick, Nick said," Can I have your sunglasses?" I tried to toss the glasses to him, but they hit the side of the boat and began to sink. Nick dived off the boat into the water to grab them, and in the process knocked off pearl as well. They both fell in the water and Alex, Tyler and I were laughing so hard. Nick somehow got the glasses and I jumped to their boat. I was so grateful to Nick, and continued to laugh thinking back to that moment. We pulled into the shore and walked to Hacienda for lunch. The food was okay, but for dessert they had churros, so Nick and I were extremely happy! We chatted for a while then decided to go to the beach. On our way out we saw cow tongue, so all of us tried it. It was slimy, but not bad tasting. Also, I forgot my glasses on the table and Nick kept telling me how hard he worked to save them. Pearl saw our friend Amanda as we left and told her we were going to the beach. We got to the beach and put down all our stuff. We ran into the ocean, and just bobbed with the waves. Nick got the brilliant idea to swim to the furthest out buoy (or as the British say it, "boy"), so we all went out. Once out there, we honestly treaded water for an hour. While swimming back, Nick offered me his sunglasses and I accepted. He tossed then and they began to sink. I had been told earlier not to open your eyes underwater, especially with contacts, but I wanted to save his glasses so bad. I dived deeper into the water, eyes open, reaching for his glasses. I luckily grabbed then and got to wear them for the rest of the time. 

When Amanda arrived we were in the shallow water, squatting and throwing seaweed at each other; mostly me, but I forgave them. We played in the seaweed for so long, and I was bullied by constantly being thrown at. 

We swam out against to the buoy to chill some more and I had so much fun. When we dried off, we walked to the bar and got drinks. Sam got a virgin margarita, but it tasted extremely sour. He dared me to take a big gulp, and once I did, they laughed at my sour face. With our drinks, we sat in a booth by the pool to chat before we walked to water skiing. 

At water skiing, we put our names up, but the line was super long. We went to the practice rope and Tyler taught Nick and I how to wakeboard. While we waited for our turn, the guys and I walked to hammocks nearby and fit four of us on nicks hammock! Once it was our turn, we went back. We saw Pearl going around on the wakeboard like she had been doing it for years and we were impressed. I went first, and as I laid in the water, the instructor gave me great instructions. I held on to the rope as I came up, but I stood up too quickly, so I fell down. I fell 5 different times, and I realized Nick was in the water falling just like me. Once our instructors had both told us we were done, we looked at each other in the water and laughed. He have me a thumbs up, and said," does it make you feel any better that I am failing too?" He swam to meet up with me and we continued to shore. He let me take the ladder up first, then Tyler grabbed my water board from me. We dried off and walked to the trapeze. 

Pearl, Alex, Sam, and I were in line, Nick went to his room to change, and Amanda and Tyler watched on the sidelines. When Nick came back, he sat next to me and we talked till I went up. When it was my turn I went up and failed on my splits. My leg turned into a noodle and I took too long to hit my final position. When I came down nick was smiling and the rest of the guys were smirking. I looked at them and told them that my last run never never happened and we all pretended I did really well. We kept going through the line, and I did a successful knee hang catch. Pearl was so graceful in her whip position that everyone was in awe. 

Watch Pearl Here:

Afterward, we walked to the Atkins room and dropped the guys off. Pearl and I ate at a barbecue on the beach, then went back to the room to get ready for dinner. We went to the steak house and had a very yummy meal. 

After dinner we met Sam, Alex, and Tyler at the show, then walked to a cabana on the beach to meet up with Nick. We hung out over there for a bit, then we walked to the forest by La Estancia. We hiked through the forest and it was super dark. We found a smoothish area with rocks to sit down, and we decided to play truth or dare. We first dared Sam to go over to the ledge and drink from the ocean. He couldn't pick up the water, so he gave up. We decided to walk to these wooden tables by La Estancia to continue the game, but as I was moving the stool, I dropped it and it almost smashed my foot. Nick pulled me almost out of the way, but it skinned my leg and hit my big toe. 

I went to the bathroom to wash my cuts, and when I came out, I saw Nick with everyone walking behind him coming towards me. I was condemned and told I had ruined the dare because Nick was supposed to come to the bathroom and say, "need any help?" We walked Pearl back home, and on the way we dared Nick to sit in a pit by the beach until we came back. We cut through the bushes and retrieved Nick followed by us walking to a card table to keep playing. We asked each other lots of truth questions, then finally we dared Sam to go up to a teenage girl and hold her hand then walk away. We split up, then finally when Sam gave up, he came up to me and held my hand. I laughed at him telling him he was cheating, but he found a loop hole. 

Sam, Tyler, and I chilled in a cabana waiting for Alex and Nick, but they never found us. We decided to get drinks, and on the way we bumped into Alex. Tyler and I ordered drinks, and I got the usual for Nick. We all went back to the cabana and talked for a while about summer time girl friends, dream girl friends, etc. we continued the game, and dared Alex to bite a cactus. He bit it and we moved on. While walking home, we dared Sam to go in between two girls walking and put his arms around them

. To our surprise he actually did it and we laughed at him. When we reached my room, Tyler was dared to walk me to my door and knock. I went inside and said goodnight.

Cancun- July 14th

Today Pearl and I went water skiing in the morning again, but my turn went terribly. My water skis were too big and the guy was driving too slow, so I continued to fall. He didn't help me, he just kept screaming at me. After falling 4 times, he said, " this is your last chance." I got up and I was doing fine until he got even slower and I fell back into the water. My water skiis flew off and one smacked me on the left cheek bone. He kept yelling and said, "calm down, let's go again," but I was sobbing and inhaling water trying to say, "I want to go back." I got in his boat, and when I arrived back at the hut, I was in so much pain. Pearl and Debbie walked me back to the room to see my mom afterward. I iced my face and changed into a new bathing suit because we were planning on going on the trapeze with car wash, but today was special because they had a parade and the trapeze was closed.

Following the parade, we did water aerobics and a gladiator fight in the pool. We went to lunch with a girl named Amanda (16), then we went water skiing with her afterward, followed by kayaking. 

After kayaking, we changed into dry clothes, then we walked to the trapeze. When we arrived, we got in line before these boys from England. I was sitting two girls away from a guy named Nick, and we struggled to talk over the girls, so we ended up standing up so we could talk to each other. I met one of nick's triplet brothers named Sam. I talked to them the whole time, and loved their company because they were so funny. I told them I go to an all girls catholic high school, and Sam said, "so like a nunnery?" When he said that, their friend Tyler thought he was serious that I actually wanted to be a nun and he called me Sr. Grace. When I went up to do the knee hang catch, they kept shouting, "Go Sr. Grace!" :p Pearl did really well on all of her catches, and I was thoroughly impressed by Nick and Sam's catches. The boys had been doing trapeze since they arrived, so they developed rips on their hands, which are open blisters. After Nick's go, I high fived him, but he grimaced because I hit the blister on his hand. That was the beginning of our secret handshake :)

After all the catches, we walked back with them and Pearl. Pearl and I went to the beach to have a girl talk, then we returned to our rooms afterward to get ready for dinner. 

The show tonight was by the pool and we were planning to sit with the guys, but our families wanted us. The show was really enjoyable and it was especially fun to watch the trapeze GOs doing the tricks. Afterward we watched a fireworks show with the guys, then walked to the ping pong tables. 

Watch part of the show here:

I played all the guys and beat everyone. :p Nick challenged me, and beat me the second time around, but I did well the first round. After that, we walked around and went into the night club. The singer asked for a volunteer and Nick dared me to go up and sing, so I did. It was the song "Jump", so it was really fun.

When we got sick of the club, we walked outside and sat on the beach together. We sat there for an hour talking, then the guys walked us back home. I mostly talked to Nick and Sam on the way home. 

Cancun- July 13th

This morning pearl and I went to breakfast followed by water skiing. It was great to get back into the swing of things. At water skiing pearl and I both got up and stayed up the majority of the time. Afterward we went to kayak with joy. We walked over, and kayaked for about an hour. After the hour passed, we had lunch at Las Cazuelas. I had pollo asado with pico de gallo and it was delicious. During lunch we got to sit next to Lucciana, a driver from waterskiing. 

Next we walked to water skiing to meet the car wash. At waterskiing pearl and I met some guys named Wells and Bryce, 15 and 13 years old. We all went skiing, but after we were done, we walked to the theater to watch the World Cup final with Wells and Bryce. We sat on the couches, and Pearl and I were back to back; I talked to Wells and she talked to Bryce. When they took a break before extra time, we went out to the beach and went swimming. We also got some drinks, then went back inside to watch Germany score and win the game. 

After the game, we headed to the pool and swam for a bit. We then walked over to nearby tables and playing different card games with Wells and Bryce for hours on end. 

At 6:30, Pearl and I said goodbye to the guys and went to our rooms to get ready for dinner at Hacienda. After dinner, Pearl, Joy, and I met up with Wells and Bryce and we walked along the beach. We sat down on some beach chairs and talked for an hour. We had a very fun time, and even saw this humongous turtle come up on the shore! After we went to the beach, Wells, Pearl and I walked to La Estancia for a late night snack. He got two focaccia sandwiches and Pearl and I got fruit plates!

Joy, Pearl, Wells, and I walked to the club, but when we got there it was empty. Wells and Joy went to their rooms, but Pearl and I stayed until the party started and it was super fun.

Check out my waterskiing skills: