Day 9: Returning Home and Final Thoughts

Around 6 AM Monday morning, we piled into our van for the final time to go to the airport in Merida. It was a busy day of traveling, going from Merida to Mexico City to Atlanta and finally landing at our final destination slightly ahead of schedule, making it to Philadelphia just after midnight.

I think I speak for all of us when I say this trip was an incredible blessing for the junior and senior classes. As I sit here writing this, the time is just after noon, and I personally just woke up about fifteen minutes ago. So needless to say, we're all very tired, but we cannot wait to share more with you all in person.

It seemed we were always a day behind when it came to getting our posts live and published. Perhaps this was a good thing though; it proved that we were quite busy and having a lot of fun! If you have kept up with our blog, thank you.

As Grace Baumann said to close out last year's Scotland blog, "we will see you soon..."

Benjamin

Day 8: Our Second Sunday and Fond Farewells

Yesterday was our last full day in Mexico. We woke up at around 8:30 AM and had a nice, light breakfast before heading to church.

Calvin and Brandan play a card game with some of our Mexican friends

This Sunday provided a different experience for us. This time, not only did we know the people with whom we were worshipping, but we also had had a week to refamiliarize ourselves with the Spanish language, which made the service easier to follow. During the service, we got a chance to sing for the congregation, singing a piece entitled "Él es Digno" ("He is Worthy") which we sang in English as the congregation sang in Spanish. We also performed two of our favorite psalms: 40E and 148.

Rebekah and Willy in the midst of a cake fight

Kana vs. Calvin in the volleyball game

Ben and Trevor with Willy, their host family's son

We spent the rest of the afternoon with our new friends, eating lunch together and playing some volleyball. We were then gifted group t-shirts commemorating our missions trip before saying our final goodbyes.

Kana and Lezlie with Camila and Joana, their host family's children

Day 7: Carriage Rides and the Market

On Saturday morning, we "slept in" until 8:00, put on what we judged to be our cutest outfits (or at least the girls did so), enjoyed fresh hotcakes for breakfast, and left on an adventure through downtown Merida. After successfully flagging down four picturesque horse-drawn carriages, we climbed in and got to experience a tour of downtown Merida and its historic buildings. Much to the girls' delight (and the guys' dismay), the carriages were bedecked with gorgeous flower arrangements.

The senior girls on a carriage ride

After disembarking from the carriages, we made our way through streets lined with beautiful pastel-colored facades to the historic Merida market, a faded pink two-story complex bustling with vendors selling everything from handcrafted jewelry and sombreros to various fresh meats, fruits, and spices. Some made purchases for themselves, friends, or family, while others preferred to simply take in the sights and sounds of the crowded, colorful market.

Jessie and Lezlie in the carriage

Later, we went out for dinner as a group to a restaurant at which dinner choices included enchiladas verdes, cochinita pibil, and enchiladas con mole, and all agreed that their meals were delicious. After-dinner activities involved more shopping and exploration of the city, and ultimately, we all returned to our hotel rooms to collapse in our beds and rest in preparation for church the next day. 

Day 6: Hacienda Sotuta de Peon

Lydia, Tori, and a former hacienda worker who greets all the visitors

Calvin tries his hand at manually separating the henequen fibers

Friday was our first full day in downtown Merida. Once we woke up, we had a breakfast of eggs and bacon made by Mr. Davison.  After that, we left for a hacienda that was about forty kilometers to the south of our hotel.  Upon leaving the welcome center and after a short walk, we were shown to a little wooden train car that was pulled by a mule. We rode the cart through the henequen fields, the crop of many haciendas, to a little Mayan hut.  When we disembarked from the cart, we met an older Mayan gentleman who greeted us with "all his heart."  He told us about the history of the hacienda and the planting and care of the henequen. After a reluctant goodbye, we got on the cart and went to the underground cenote, where we spent an hour swimming and diving.

The junior class (and two seniors) in the underground cenote

After leaving the cenote, we went to the restaurant at the hacienda, where we all enjoyed various delicious traditional dishes.  We then visited the chapel on the grounds of the hacienda, where we sang three psalms: 40E, 119X, and 148. After leaving the hacienda, we returned to town, where we split up into several groups to shop and enjoy the sights of a downtown Merida sunset.

Lezlie and Jessie in the cenote

The group listens to the tour guide at the hacienda

Day 5: Yard Work and Downtown Merida

Jessie cleans some of the toys at the church

Kana and her machetes

The group rakes leaves around the fence line of the church

Thursday was our last day with our host families. In the morning, we packed up our belongings, ate breakfast, and said our farewells. We then headed to the church for another day of work. When we arrived, we saw we had very little left to do, or so we thought. Some of us were tasked with raking up the debris by the fence line of the church, which proved to be a daunting task as the fence line was laced with rocks. We finished the task, though, in time to eat a delicious lunch prepared for us by the ladies of the church. After that, we all piled into the van and headed to the hotel where we would be staying for the rest of the trip.

Trevor and Calvin go for a drive

Tori and Lydia bag leaves around the church property

When we arrived, we were thoroughly impressed by the aesthetic of the hotel. Everyone scattered to their own rooms and changed out of their work clothes to go out for dinner, at which we had tacos al pastor (REAL tacos) and quesos fundidos. The meal, like every other meal we have experienced in Mexico, was delicious. After that, we attended a exhibition of Mexican music and dance, which was very entertaining; plus, there was a gelato stand nearby, and eating gelato made the whole experience wonderful. At around 9:30, the juniors and seniors split off into two separate groups  to explore downtown Merida and window shop. By eleven o'clock, we had all retired to our bedrooms and collapsed after another great day.

Lezlie and some of the dancers from the exhibition

Day 4: Dzibilchaltun

We arrived at church around 9 in the morning for the start of our fourth day in Mexico and headed off to the ruins of the Mayan city of Dzibilchaltun, which was built around 300 B. C. We climbed pyramids and explored the museum to learn more about the ancient Mayan culture. Dzibilchaltun also has an outdoor cenote, a natural pool created by the collapse of bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. The water was so clear that even though the cavern reaches a depth of about 140 feet, we could see all the way to the bottom as we jumped off the surrounding ledges and swam around.

The outdoor cenote at Dzibilchaltun

Luke jumps into the deep end of the cenote

Lydia and Kana enjoy the cool water in the cenote

Right before we left Dzibilchaltun, the skies opened up and started pouring buckets, causing us to get soaked as we ran to the van parked outside so we could head back to church. Once we arrived, we ate some delicious chorizo sausage, potato, and lettuce sandwiches inside the building and listened to the rain pouring down outside. Some of our group then left to purchase hand-woven hammocks while the rest completed what work was left to do inside the church. Because we had completed so much work on Monday and Tuesday, the only projects we needed to finish were putting the final touches on the paint on the inside walls of the church and cleaning up the muddy mess our feet had made all through the church and bathroom because of the rain. After completing these tasks, we left for various activities with our host families. Some returned home for dinner while others traveled to the mall and discovered en route that our Mexican friends love to sing Disney songs at the top of their lungs on car trips as well. We closed out the evening with a pizza party at the home of one of the host families and returned home to pack our bags in preparation for moving to the hotel on Thursday afternoon.

Calvin rakes still more leaves from the edges of the church property

Rebekah tries out a hand-woven hammock

Day 3: Yucalpaten

We wrapped up Day 3 of our Mexico trip! The night before, we all set our alarms excitedly, because in the morning, we would embark on an adventure full of sun and sand.

The next morning, we grabbed our sunscreen and beach towels, and headed off to Costa Club, a popular beach area near Progresso, Yucalpaten. The area was beautiful, complete with luscious palm trees, crystal-clear pools, and, best of all, the beach, which leads into the Gulf of Mexico. We spent all morning taking selfies on the sand, splashing around in the ocean, chicken-fighting in the pool, and sunbathing by the poolside. At around 1 PM, we headed into the beach-side restaurant for lunch, the choices of which ranged from fajitas, to grilled fish, to shrimp alfredo, to actual shark meat. Oh, and obligatory ice cream afterward.

Calvin and Kana chicken-fighting at Costa Club

Calvin emerging victorious from the chicken-fight

Once lunch was over, we headed to Dzitya, a small town which is known for its woodworking crafts. We browsed through the small, dark shops, admiring the various trinkets and talking with the shop owners about their creations. However, after bumping into a few sickly-looking stray dogs, we figured it was time to head back to the church before some of the more humanitarian members of our group attempted to smuggle them back through U.S. customs.

Woodworking crafts in Dzitya

Upon arriving back to La Roca, we were put to work almost immediately. Though we found it hard to focus on our tasks after such a leisurely day (especially since many of us were sporting some serious sunburns), we managed to rake leaves, tape windows, and paint walls in record time. Needless to say, we were very hungry by dinnertime, during which we devoured tamales smothered with tomato salsa. Aside from an incident involving a hot chili pepper and a few daring stomachs, the dinner was very enjoyable.

Husking corn for meal prep

By 10 PM, we were all back in the church van and dropped off at our host homes. We washed the salt from our skin, rubbed our sunburns with aloe vera, and climbed into bed, contentedly exhausted from our day a la playa.