Remember Yanill in the USA? She’s now Penpal of the Week!

Please tell us about you!

Hi! My name is Yanill. It’s pronounced YA-NEL. Many people tend to spell it incorrectly and pronounce it wrong so I just ask most people to call me Yani. I am 22 years old and live in Miami, Florida in the USA. I am the oldest of 6 siblings. I have 4 sisters and 1 brother. Including me, we make a total of 6. Many people call us the Brady bunch.

Hi! This is my face! This is me about 2 weeks ago. (:

A little over a year ago I married the love of my life. He is just the most wonderful person you could ever know. Together we play guitar and sing. He is the best thing that ever happened to me. After meeting him something amazing stirred up in me, something almost magical. Without him my life is incomplete.

This is a photo taken of us on our wedding day.

I am a stay at home wife & once my financial aid kicks in I want to finish up my AA degree and go straight into obtaining my psychology degree.

Every chance that I get, I travel! I’ve been to every state in the USA and have visited Mexico (over fifty time, YES, 50 times!), Colombia (twice), Cuba (three times) and Dominican Republic (once). I have a strong case of wanderlove (my word for wanderlust). I’d like to visit every country throughout my lifetime. Though I find myself dreaming a lot of traveling to all South American Countries (besides the ones I have already visited) and Europe. Especially Spain, France, and Italy.

I go to the beach often since I do live in Miami. Here is a quick photo my husband took

recently while adjusting his camera settings. (No, I don’t know the people in the water.)

Even though I was born in the USA, I grew up speaking Spanish. Once I started school I was forced to learn English. Once I got to 6th grade I took interest in French and took French until I graduated High School. From then on I always made it a habit to read French articles online (since books in French are rare, to not say nonexistent here), write in French, watch anything I can, practice anyway I can in French! Of course Miami has primarily Spanish speaking people and then of course English speaking. The French speakers are practically nonexistent here so it is really up to me to keep myself “fluent”. Which by the way, I feel I am!

Part of my infatuation with all things French!

I’m a Christian. HOWEVER, this does NOT mean I judge others because of who they are, what their interest are, their sexual orientation, or in any other way, shape, or form! I am not perfect. I screw things up sometimes. Who am I to judge? (DO NOT let this stop you from asking to be pen pals.)

I love snail mail. But I suppose that is obvious! Besides the art of letter writing, I enjoy dancing, ballet, reading, cuddling, psychology, the beach, jet skiing, road trips, loving, vintage or vintage looking things, anything airmail, anything paper, pretty stationery, fashion, heels, dresses, womanly things, sophisticated things, classiness, nail polish, cameos, bracelets, artesanias from all different countries, photography, cooking, children, my baby niece, journaling, laughing, listening, exploring, organizing, Smash Books (check them up on youtube here – they are AMAZING!), all things romance, all things French, all things pertaining to love.

My slightly Chinese looking niece & I. I love her so much.

At times I feel like she’s my own daughter. Maybe it’s all that babysitting!

Describe your personality in 10 words!

Lovely. Sophisticated. Mature. Silly. Smiley. Happy. Loving. Caring. Genuine. Deep.

How long have you been penpalling? How did you first start? Tell us about your first pen pal!

UFFF, I’ve been pen palling since I was in 6th grade. I remember my friend and I loved the idea of getting mail and we use to write letters to each other anyway on our own time at home. So we figured why not write the letters and send them in the mail? We wrote each other letters for years after that. Once we stopped I began looking for online websites and started to find a few pen pals that way. I now get pen pals from Tumblr, Interpals and of course Penpal of the Week.

A few packs of my post card collection.  

How many penpals do you have now and where are they from?

I have about 5 SOLID pen pals right now. I’ve had up to 40 pen pals at once but I noticed many just wrote quick sloppy notes and didn’t have much quality in the content of their letters. They soon stopped writing. In a way I preferred it that way as 40 was just way too much.

Me trying on heels. I’m obsessed!

What are your favorite topics to discuss in letters?

Deep conversation. Everything from life to love to your values. I also love to attempt making others laugh / smile. ( Read more in the next question for more answers to this question. They go hand in hand. Almost the same.)

My grandfather and I dancing Salsa at Christmas!

Although you can’t see my face I think this photo is cool!

What are you looking for in a penpal?

I’ve noticed that I rather have quality over quantity. Yeah it’s cool if you get 10 letters in a week but what is the point if when you open the letter it has a brief overview of what they are doing that very moment. Not that I don’t care to know what you did but I like to discuss deep things. Secrets. Desires. Emotions. Goals. Views. Opinions. Values.  I like to feel as if I am building a friendship. I want a glimpse of their minds, thoughts, views, lives. I like to get to know my pen pals heart. Their personality. Their character. Their life. What makes them happy / laugh / sad / cry.  I also always love a good laugh. Laughter burns calories and I  can definitely use some of that! Oh and if you’ve got something clever to say (in this case write) even better!

This is a section of my notecards, note blocks, labels and stamps. Mind you

I have a whole dresser full of stationery sheets, envelopes, labels, stamps,

note cards, stickers and all things mail! I hoard all things paper and stationery.

What do you like the most about penpalling?

Besides the joy of receiving a hand written letter, I like to see the pretty stamps and stationery people use. It truly does make the receiving mail experience a million times greater.

In what language(s) do you correspond?

English, Spanish and French! :)

This is a sample of my handwriting. Hopefully it’s somewhat appealing to you!

What are some of your habits in regards to letter writing?

I usually enjoy writing letters sitting on the porch on a breezy day or at the beach (which I do often). Of course when it’s scorching hot I just opt in on my writing desk. :) It usually takes me a week to respond. Although I tend to write as soon as possible, sometimes it can take me a little longer than a week. My letters tend to be at the very minimum 5 pages long. Of course I tend to write much more, that’s just a minimum. I suppose it depends on my level of inspiration, the person, and what’s on my mind that particular day. Once I wrote a 40 page letter. How? I don’t know! Insane or what???

A few of my recent stationery findings!

As you can see they are all still in their packaging.

Has anything strange/funny ever happened to you since you’ve been penpalling?

I am anti men in regards to pen pals and I do get many men requesting to write to me but of course I always say ABSOLUTELY NOT. This might not sound strange but I think the way most ask is almost DESPERATE and that really freaks me out. I have a husband, that’s more man than I can handle. hehehe.

Have you met any of your penpals?

Unfortunately, I have not. I would love to meet the ones who I establish real friendships with someday though.

My husband and I on a date. (:

Are you currently looking for more penpals?

Yes. As long as you feel like you fit what I look for in a pen pal (look at my answer for question #6) I am open to receive and write with a few more people! (:

You can email me at yanill.mejia@gmail.com or even message me on Interpals  or shoot me an ask message on Tumblr.

PS: I will eventually get my snail mail blog up and running. If you’d like to follow it once it’s up you can follow my personal blog on Tumblr and I’ll announce it there or email me or message me on Interpals in a few weeks. (:

Stay Classy! (;

<3 Yanill

Thank you Yanill!

Good luck with your upcoming blog!