{"id":1826,"date":"2015-03-05T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=1826"},"modified":"2015-03-05T09:00:08","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T14:00:08","slug":"hanging-in-those-hammocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2015\/03\/05\/hanging-in-those-hammocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanging in those hammocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By NICOLE POTTINGER – STAFF WRITER<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

In sunny M\u00e9rida, Mexico, students studying abroad are getting the hang of a new trend\u2014hammocks.<\/p>\n

Hammocks are typically large pieces of material and\/or rope that are tied to either two sides of a wall or two trees. Due to their hanging nature, hammocks allow you to rock freely back and forth or to simply be carried away by the wind. While it is not uncommon to see people relaxing and napping on hammocks during the late spring and summer at Centre, the students in M\u00e9rida use them for much more practical purposes.<\/p>\n

\"Pictured:<\/a>
ALLYSON SCOTT | THE CENTO Those students who have studied in Merida, Mexico have brought back a trend from the Yucatan–resting and hanging in hammocks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the cooler months of February, the weather in M\u00e9rida becomes cooler as well. Junior Ashley Merkin tended to sleep in her bed, utilizing the covers to the fullest extent. However, when it began to get warmer, Merkin changed her sleeping arrangements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI slept in my hammock every night because it allowed air to flow and didn’t trap heat like the bed did,\u201d she said. \u201c[In Mexico] it is way too hot to sleep in a bed most of the time. So in my opinion the hammock was a life-saver.<\/p>\n

Senior Patrick Casey absolutely loves hammocks. Casey would frequently sleep in a hammock tied across the walls of his bedroom not only during his semester in M\u00e9rida in the spring of 2014, but also when he returned to Merida for CentreTerm 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cA hammock was perfect [to use] during the spring, certainly better than a bed because of the heat,\u201d Casey said.<\/p>\n

In terms of how to properly sleep in a hammock, Casey can offer some words of advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can lie flat if you arrange yourself diagonally in it and that is how they are most-comfortable to sleep in,\u201d Casey said. \u201cThey take a few nights to get used to, but after that it\u2019s no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merkin stresses the importance of sleeping on your back. If you try to sleep on your stomach, \u201cyour body will be bending the wrong way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammocks are definitely not only used for sleeping. Merkin used hers for a variety of other activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would always take naps in my hammock or even if I was just relaxing and watching a movie,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI definitely preferred my hammock to my bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes down to it, hammocks are comfortable for health reasons as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey way [hammocks] are made in Mexico really forms to your body and goes with the natural curve of your spine,\u201d Merkin said. \u201cIt’s harder to sleep in funny ways [in hammocks] that can make your back or neck hurt because it forces you to keep your body in a natural shape. Due to this, the body is more at ease and therefore more comfortable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merkin provided interesting insight into the \u201cculture\u201d of hammock usage among Centre students while she was abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people fell out at first,\u201d Merkin said. \u201cI didn’t, but some people couldn’t exactly get in or out of it gracefully and it was pretty entertaining to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, not everyone had access to the joy of hammocks, even when temperatures reached over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am jealous I didn’t get a hammock,\u201d junior Caty Herd said. \u201cI really wish I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Herd, however, the reason as to why she wishes she would have bought a hammock goes beyond having a comfortable place to take a nap. She believes that having a hammock would have added to her study abroad trip as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cHammocks are kind of like an indicator of social class and ethnicity in M\u00e9rida because all the Mayans still sleep in hammocks and the richer mestizo people don’t,\u201d Herd said. \u201cThe Mayans are like the maids and nannies of all the upper-class mestizos. They still speak their own Mayan language in addition to Spanish and they still sleep in hammocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammocks are undoubtedly a cozy and unique place to nap, whether you\u2019re studying in Mexico or at Centre. The next time you are thinking about hanging a hammock, remember not only the best way to sleep in one but also the culture behind such a lovely invention.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By NICOLE POTTINGER – STAFF WRITER In sunny M\u00e9rida, Mexico, students studying abroad are getting the hang of a new trend\u2014hammocks. Hammocks are typically large pieces of material and\/or rope that are tied to either two sides of a wall or two trees. Due to their hanging nature, hammocks allow you to rock freely back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}