Centre College's Demi Landstedt journals about travels in Merida, Mexico

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Demi Landstedt is currently spending the spring semester in Merida, Mexico, and through her travel journals, she can share her experiences with the world.

DANVILLE, KY (03/02/2012)(readMedia)-- Demi Landstedt of El Cajon, a sophomore at Centre College in Danville, Ky., is currently spending the spring semester in Merida, Mexico, with the Centre-in-Yucatan study abroad program, and is giving everyone the chance to read about her experiences through her travel journal on Centre's website.

Some eighty-five percent of Centre students study abroad at some point during their college career - and many of them consider the experience among the most transformative of their lives. Landstedt and her fellow Centre students in Merida have not only begun classes, but have also visited other cities in the Yucatan Peninsula, toured the ruins of Mayan temples and tried new foods. Every student who studies in Merida lives with a homestay family, giving them the opportunity to speak and learn Spanish continually, not solely in the classroom.

"Conversations with my host mama and papa happen mostly during meals and afterward, and I cannot express how dear they are to me," Landstedt says in her second journal entry. "My Spanish, in only four days, has improved profoundly thanks to the amazing patience of Mama Rocio and her husband."

For Landstedt, the reality that she is living in Merida for three months is still settling in.

"My expectations have been wildly met. This is not a dream. This remarkable opportunity has transcended from my imagination into reality and I'm still pinching myself to make sure I'm not really just bundled tight in my bed during a snowstorm in the States," Landstedt writes. "The moments I stop to remember what I am actually in the middle of, I'm dumbfounded, and all I am able to mutter is 'Wow!'"

Demi Landstedt is the daughter of Jim Landstedt of Alpine and Kim Dorroh of El Cajon. Landstedt is a graduate of Granite Hills High School. 

Centre College, founded in 1819 and chosen to host its second Vice Presidential Debate in 2012, is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges, at 42nd in the nation, and ranks 27th for best value among national liberal arts colleges. Forbes magazine ranks Centre 34th among all the nation's colleges and universities and has named Centre in the top five among all institutions of higher education in the South for three years in a row. Centre is also ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News for its study abroad program.