Finally!

Buenas noches.  This is Dan Carr, one of the ABST Mexico students.  Sorry for not being able to post anything earlier than this - we were kept out of our account because we were logging in from Mexico.  I guess all of those security options preventing hackers from accessing accounts have a downside.  Thanks to our help at Gannon for helping us to get in and allowing us to share our adventures with you.

It's Monday night here, and wow have we done a lot since arriving here.

By the way, it's been sunny and hot.  A far cry from our Northeastern United States weather.  Jealous much?

Saturday was our travel day, and it couldn't have gone smoother.  We got to the mission house, began to get settled in, and rested up for our first big day in Merida.

On Sunday, we went into downtown Merida, where we attended Mass in the Cathedral.  We then had lunch and walked around at various stands in the park vending their wares.  We spent most of the afternoon trying to speak Spanish and marveling at the culture.

Later that night, some Meridians named Silvia and Gladys, who work for the mission, came to visit us and serve us dinner.  They cooked traditional Yucatechan food, which was absolutely delicious.

Patricia and Ron are the two main people who have been showing us around, driving us places, and making sure we don't get lost.  Both are from the United States.  Patricia works in the mission and Ron is a volunteer.  They have been most excellent hosts.  Ron is featured in this picture and Patricia will definitely make it into more later on.

On Monday we got to work painting a room in Nueva Vida, a school for young girls from 1st - 6th grades.  We sanded, washed, and primed the walls.  We'll be back to finish up painting on Thursday.  Spoilers: the room will be orange and blue.

Later in the evening, we got to enjoy the festivities of Carneval.  This is a week-long celebration in Merida much like Mardi Gras (but without the beads thing).  Our first event was a fun, less well known part of Carneval's activities at the Nueva Vida Day Care, where attendees (all younger than 3 years old) participated in a king and queen crowning and in various dances.  It was absolutely adorable!  No pictures can do these children justice.  Their costumes and mannerisms were precious.

Then later we attended the daily Carneval parade.  This was a cultural parade and all sorts of cultural groups put on outfits and marched in the parade.  It was another great opportunity to experience the culture.

As a part of our trip, we reflect as a group on what we have seen and how the trip has affected us.  This is one of our reflection activities led by Jackie.

We originally hoped to blog every night, but that's turning out to be unrealistic.  We don't have much time in the schedule to dedicate to it, so you might see new pictures and information every couple of days.

But just to give you a spoiler, by Thursday morning you might be seeing pictures of Mayan ruins and hammocks!

Hasta luego!

Dan