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In the end, I feel disappointed. Looking back I could have put more effort forward towards asking questions on a consistent basis and being more bold and straightforward at the start. I also regret after my other I-Pal never connected with me, not asking for another I-Pal because only having one gave me an all or nothing option. I do feel frustrated with my I-Pal experience because I did have a great opportunity to talk to someone from Cancun though, in the end, I didn't get to learn much about her culture. I have found her family size is similar to mine and that in their culture pets are normal and are also named. The I-Pal Meet and Greet I did halfway through this challenge were nice though and I had the opportunity to meet a few wonderful ladies from different cultural backgrounds both of their stories have stuck and have been informational. Overall, this challenge had unexpected ups and downs but in the end, didn't necessarily give me the experience an anthropologist may have been looking to find.

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After waiting potentially too long to reach out again I sent another message through Instagram. I was trying to wait thinking maybe they were super busy or having family troubles. Although, after seeing a few Instagram posts I begin to realize this may not be the case and my I-Pal may just be tired of corresponding. This partially frustrated me and also has made me feel a little stuck. The message I sent on the 24th reminded my I-Pal my assignment was coming to a close. I asked them a few questions about spring break and seasons changing because those are relevant in my life right now and I thought they would be simple questions to answer. 8 hours later I have still yet heard a answer.

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I reached out again this day just to gently remind my I-Pal that I had asked question that they said they would be willing to answer after class. In this message I asked how they were doing and if they had anything that they were looking forward to coming up. I did not receive a response.

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I'm feeling a little lost on where to go if I don't get answers to my past questions. It's been 4 days since I sent out questions but again, I understand how busy she is, also without a lack of benefit on her end, answering my questions is probably low on her priorities. I do feel hopeful though that I will get a response. Going forward I'm going to try to answer faster because when she is messaging me it's clear that she is free or at least not as busy making her potentially more inclined to answer my messages.

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I texted back some more broad questions to continue the conversation and again learn easy background information, while also gearing some questions towards her previous response. "So you told me about your family, did you live with both your Mom and Dad growing up? What did your house look like?" Following this I got a response saying she was currently in class and would answer my questions that night. Because of this I decided to list a few more out of when the time came and she has a chance to answer them. "What were some of your favorite hobbies/activities growing up or now. What is your favorite color, book, song, and food that come to mind?"

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Sensing some potential unwanted or nervousness for a phone call I asked if it would be okay to just ask questions through text. We agreed on this and a short Q&A began. I began with a very open question, "To start off would you want to send me a little paragraph about your family either now or growing up?" This question allowed me to learn a general understanding of her family dynamic too, later on, be able to go back and asked more detailed questions. I learned from this
-While she is attending The University of Cancun her parents are actually from the center of Mexico
-She has a younger sister, Sarah, who is 11
-She also has a schnauzer named Mila, who is 14

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If I summed up my pre-thoughts in one word it would be, apprehensive. In the past experiences with strangers can be very awkward. Especially on Zoom, I can imagine the silence and the off-camera's just thinking about it. Although, I am excited. The opportunity to talk to people with the purpose of just getting to know them and what makes them, them, is a really unique experience. Looking at times in my life when I have met people of different backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences, it has always been a positive or at least informative experience. I see this I-Pal event being the exact same, we may have to break through some barriers of time conflicts and awkwardness but I have a great feeling about I-Pals and getting to step into some new peoples shows.

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I was nervously waiting for my first online meeting with my I-Pals when I realized I had scheduling conflicts for the date listed on the form. Because of this, I had to transfer to a February 2nd meeting but then was never sent the link. Because of this, my first interactions between my two I-Pals will be through email. The two people I will be talking to are a student at Mott college and another student from a university in Cancun! Being able to talk to two people, one from a background that is located a little closer to me and another person from a background much farther away from me will be an informative study opportunity.

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I sent out emails to Taylor Ostwald and Rebecca Bonilla, in this email I detailed my phone number, Instagram, and what I was hoping to gain from this experience, which was simply to learn more about them. I only heard back from Rebeca and on February 8th began our correspondence.

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After little to no talk between the first few messages and this point I decided to reach out again. A Zoom call was scheduled for this night but no farther information as given so I was left to wait. (this experience was a little frustrating but the language barrier and busy schedule of a college student did make me revaluate the situation.)

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This day a phone call was ready and scheduled for 3:10 Eastern Standard time. (I made sure to express the time zone because I'm unaware of what time zone she is on and didn't wan to cause confusion.) Although, disappointedly, a unexpected power outage at her Grandmas house caused this phone call to not happen.