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