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
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
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.
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.
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.
Calvin and Brandan play a card game with some of our Mexican friends |
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 |
Kana and Lezlie with Camila and Joana, their host family's children |
Monday, April 24, 2017
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.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Day 6: Hacienda Sotuta de Peon
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Calvin tries his hand at manually separating the henequen fibers |
The junior class (and two seniors) in the underground cenote |
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 |
Trevor and Calvin go for a drive |
Tori and Lydia bag leaves around the church property |
Lezlie and some of the dancers from the exhibition |
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
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 |
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.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Day 2: Painting, Yard Work, and Uxmal
Around 8am yesterday morning, our entire group arrived at church to paint, clean up the yard, and clear brush from around the fences. Some of us covered all of the sliding glass doors and windows with newspaper in preparation for painting, while others picked up the trash that cluttered the piles of leaves around the edge of the property. Then, we were ready to paint the walls of the church, rake the leaves, and mow the lawn. Trevor even used a machete to cut down some trees and successfully avoided self-dismemberment. With help from some of our new friends, we managed to complete a lot of work during those four hours.
After cleaning up and eating lunch, we traveled to the pyramids at Uxmal. These structures were built around the sixth century AD by the pagan Mayan civilization as temples to some of their most important gods. We toured the ruins, took lots of pictures, and then ate some delicious Mexican tacos at the home of a family who attends La Roca. We returned to Uxmal after dusk to conclude the day with a light show that told the story of the Mayans who built the pyramids and worshiped there.
Tori, Rebekah, and Sylvia use newspaper to cover the windows and doors |
Brandan paints the exterior of the church |
Trevor and a machete vs. the trees |
Jessie and Lezlie after clearing some brush |
Trevor and Luke showing off their style |
One of several iguanas seen at Uxmal |
Day 1: Arrival and Easter Sunday
Firstly, our apologies for the later start to getting this blog up and running. We have been very busy and have had limited Internet access, but we already have so much to share!
Kana with her hosts' children, Camila (left) and Joana (right) |
Tori and Eli |
Lezlie playing pick-up sticks with Joana |
We arrived in Merida very late Saturday night. Our host families got us settled in for the night before we attended a lovely Easter Sunday church service together at La Roca the next morning. After the service, we got to make new friends, eating lunch together and getting to know one another. (For the record, most of us generally agree that the tortillas are far better here than they are back home in the States.) Later that afternoon, we drove to a local mall to get some relief from the heat. Some of our number encountered, to their delight, a pet store with puppies that roam around and greet the customers.
Lezlie, Luke, and Jessie with some of the puppies |
Trevor and Ben attempt to hit the volleyball over the net...and miss |
When we returned to the church, we spent time together playing volleyball and discovered that our new friends possessed far better volleyball skills than most of us students. We then ate empanadas for dinner before heading back home around 10pm for the end of our first day.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Greetings all!
For the next week or so, a team of fourteen Tall Oaks juniors and seniors (chaperoned by Mr. and Mrs. Davison) will be touring in Mexico and doing missions work.
We are incredibly blessed to have this opportunity to spend our spring break here. We will be sharing some of our experiences here on this blog, so stay tuned for further updates throughout the week. For now, I ask that you continue to pray for us while we are traveling.
Blessings on behalf of the entire junior and senior classes,
Benjamin Schneider
We are incredibly blessed to have this opportunity to spend our spring break here. We will be sharing some of our experiences here on this blog, so stay tuned for further updates throughout the week. For now, I ask that you continue to pray for us while we are traveling.
Blessings on behalf of the entire junior and senior classes,
Benjamin Schneider
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