I know it's been a while since I've kept you all up to date on my travels, so I'm going to try to back track on my 5 months in Mexico through a series of posts. Here it goes....
 My trip got off to a little bit of a rough start when I got a some kind of bug or food poisoning or something the night before my 6:30AM flight. A 24-hour bug had been making the rounds through my family, so I am assuming that is what it was, but thank god it didn't last a full 24 hours. It stared around 7PM and cleared after about 5-6 hours. The thing that sucked was that I wasn't completely done packing, so I had to finish pulling myself together between vomiting my guts up. It was not pretty. But, by 6:30 the next morning I was on my way to the airport, feeling a little wobbly, but with the worst of it behind me.
I flew into Cancun airport where I received a 180 day tourist Visa, even though I didn't have my return flight booked. The customs agent gave me a little bit of a hard time about that, but I just told her that I would be backbacking around and then flying home from Belize and she finally let me through. Phew! From there I took a bus directly to Playa del Carmen where I was to meet GVI, Global Vision International, who would be hosting me for my internship/volunteership. But first, I had 3 days to spend around Playa.

I stayed in a little hotel, several blocks from the very touristy 5th Ave, called Hotel Casa de las Flores. It was gorgeous and authentic, and the shower was heaven, which is exactly what I wanted before I went to a place with no running water.

Staying off of 5th Ave, I explored around the city, and to tell you the truth, I don't have much to say about Playa. I mean, it's an okay city, but nowhere I would want to stay for any length of time.

I did however find a few awesome local eats that you should definitely check out if you are ever in Playa del Carmen. One is a killer pizza spot called L'Osteria di Playa. I know, it sounds strange to be touting a pizza restaurant in Mexico, but this place had some of the best pizza I've ever had, and is very inexpensive.  I actually never would have gone there, except I was walking by and this fat, tan Canadian guy flagged me down and insisted I try it.  My thoughts: why the heck not. This guy looks like he knows good food. So, on my first night I enjoyed an amazing pizza and a couple of beers with my new Canadian expat friend, and it was definitely worth it.  The next place is a Venezuelan restaurant called Kaxapa Factory, that you would probably pass right by if you happened to walk past it at all.  The empanadas were incredible at this place, and so were the kaxapas, which are basically empanadas with a sweet corn breading shell. The drinks were also awesome and the server was really friendly.  The woman who owns the place serves the tables and she took the time to explain the whole menu to me. I went back to the place a few times during my time in Mexico, and even after a few weeks away, the woman still remembered me. There is also a German restaurant called Manne's Biergarten, run by expats that has really great food, but the best part is the beer garden in the back, and the giant mojitos for only 70 pesos, or $4 dollars. And next to that a hole-in-the-wall Falafel place with excellent food as well.

I know what you're thinking....Kristen, you are in Mexico, what about the Mexican food! Well, there was a bit of that too, like a place where I was served an entire roasted chicken, rice and about 20 tortias for about $3, but the best Mexican food I ate was definitely not from Playa. Playa is not really authentic Mexico at its finest.  It's more of a party town, filled with expats and Mexicans all trying to make a buck off of the gullible tourists.  Fine for a few days, but I was very happy to be moving on. I did return a few times over my 5 month stay, but I;ll get to that later. 

Well that's it for now, but I'll definitely be updating you with many many more stories soon!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of preparations for my next great adventure.  This time I will not be going quite so far, or for quite so long as my past travels, but what this trip will hopefully do is get me closer to the career of my dreams! By this point, if you have followed my adventures, you know that I am in love with everything scuba.  From the moment I descended below the surface of the water on my first dive in 2013, I felt a serene calm and have seen some otherworldly, incredible sights. I have also developed a deep appreciation for ocean conservation, and that is what this next trip will be about.  

On Tuesday, March 29th, I will leaving for the Southern Yucatan to participate in a marine conservation project on the Mesoamerican Reef, the 2nd largest reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. I researched all kinds of conservation volunteerships when I came home from Thailand, and landed with a company called GVI - Global Vision International.  They have similar projects all over the world, both marine and land-based.  For me, I wanted to be a little closer to home this time.  Also, this project allows me to gain experience in research diving, and get my instructor certification all in one, opening up many more job opportunities for me in the future.  

The base camp, where I will be spending most of my time, is in the middle of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere, a natural reserve in the Southern Yucatan.  It is small and very basic accommodation, as in no electric, wifi or running water. This may scare some, but I'm excited to live a simpler life for while, even the showering in rain water! My days will be filled with diving and studying, my concentration being coral. I have already be tasked with identifying and learning the scientific name of about 47 coral species....I have about 12 down. The base is run by the volunteers, everyone sharing in the cooking, cleaning and dive maintenance duties.  After my conservation volunteership comes to an end I will be traveling even further south, to a town called Xalack, on the boarder of Belize for my instructor training and IDC.  I'll be a little bit more connected at that point, but not much. Then I will be finishing off my time there, or they will send me back to the base.   

My schedule  will look a little like this:
March 29: Fly into Cancun and take a bus directly to Playa del Carmen
March 29-April 1: Relaxing on the beach in Playa del Carmen
April 1: Meet up with my group and drive another 2 hours or so to the base camp, Pez Maya
Next 10 weeks: at Pez Maya diving and gathering data with weekends off to travel around the area or head to the city for a real shower or wifi :)
Next 6 weeks: In Xalack training and taking the IDC and MSDT Course
Next 2 weeks: I will either be staying in Xalack or going back to Pez Maya
August 6th - Program ends and I will either head home, or continue traveling for a few weeks more, we'll see!

I'm actually hoping to get a job out of this experience, so fingers-crossed for that.  So, that's it....this is my next adventure and I could not be more excited!  I'll be honest and say I am not sure I will be posting to my blog much while I am away this time.  The only time I will be able to do it is if I travel into the city on the weekends.  I'm sure I'll do it every once in a while, but there will be so much to see and do in and around the Yucatan I will not be spending every weekend in the city :)  The best way to keep in touch with me and what I am doing is to follow GVI Mexico Yucatan on Facebook, or to follow me/message me on Facebook, because it will be easier when I do have internet access to do a quick update on Facebook than posting here.  

I will promise though to take plenty of pictures and post when I can, and for sure when I get home.  

So, that is all for now...Adios por ahora!