En México, Me Llaman Ana

  When I found out that there was a manatee sanctuary in Chetumal, about 30 minutes from where I was staying in Bacalar, I was understandably excited. It turns out that, even though I never made it to the sanctuary, the experience was better than I could have imagined. Let me explain. My first day in Bacalar, I had a lot of back and neck pain so I got a massage. My massage therapist turned out to be a lovely Salvadorian woman who had lived in Mexico for the last ten years or so and we had a ton in common. We had so much fun chatting that we decide to get breakfast the next day. When I told her I wanted to go to Chetumal the following day to see the manatees, she offered to go with me. Well. It turns out that the sanctuary was not for manatees. It was for MANATEE. One. Un solo manatí. More on that later. His name, the internet said, was Danny, and he may or may not come out to see you. For some reason, this was even better. A trip to a sanctuary with ONE manatee, and only a 50% cha...

 My name is Bronwyn. I'd like to think that, had my parents known how much time I would spend in Spanish-speaking countries, they would have given me a first name that was actually possible for Spanish speakers to pronounce. But they didn't. So, about 90% of the time I spend in Latin America, I go by the Spanish version of my middle name. So, in Mexico, they call me Ana. Hence the title of the blog. I should write a long thoughtful explanation here of how I fell in love with Mexico, why I keep going back, and the purpose of this blog. But I'll do that another time because I want to get all my thoughts from this last trip out. So for now, I'll say this. I love Mexico; I love the country with my whole heart. I am not Latina and I am not a native Spanish speaker. I have struggled to learn Spanish since I was eight years old and am now to the point where I am almost fluent most of the time and fluent after a week of immersion when my brain finally switches over into Spanish...