Saturday May 18th/ Our return

We would all like to thank everyone that made this trip possible, from the donators, to the parents, Pati, the mission, Father Felix and everyone in between; words can’t describe how grateful we are for all of your help. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience and we all benefitted greatly from it. 

All of our flights went smoothly today, and parents, you’ll be seeing your daughter/son very soon as we are on the bus to Erie, PA right now. 

My name is Alex Stoj. I have been making the posts for the week, and I hope you enjoyed them and learned a lot. Please share this blog with your friends and family and share the stories that impacted our lives so greatly. Thank you! 

Friday May 17th

Hey everyone! We woke up at the mission house ready to make the most out of the day...

We started by going to a Mayan archaeological site with tons of ruins waiting to be explored! There was also a cenote there that some of us swam in (it didn’t look like the one from yesterday, this one looked more like a pond). There was also a very interesting museum showing how the Mayans lived when they were on the land.

From the archeological site we went to Nueva Vida to have lunch with the girls and spent time dancing, singing, playing bingo, and hardest of all, saying goodbye. The girls made a lasting impression on all of us and the memories made with them will not be forgotten anytime soon. 

We returned to the mission house and ordered Mexican style pizza, which we were all loved! We ended the night with a final reflection with Pati about our experiences and overall takeaways from the trip. 

Thursday May 16th

We woke up in Uayma and had breakfast with Father Felix which consisted of various fruits, pancakes, and a cheese/turkey dish. We then were given a tour of the church we stayed in and went onto the roof to see the village from a slightly different view.

We departed for cenote X-cajum. A cenote is a large hole filled with water that has an input and output so it is not still water. There are thousands of cenotes scattered across Yucatán and many connect underground. The cenote was very beautiful, and was very refreshing. We had a buffet right after for lunch.

We then returned to the mission house to unpack and recharge for our next adventure

Our next adventure was to go downtown to shop more and get authentic Mexican quisine for dinner. 

We ended the night with a reflection focused on our time here in and around Mérida.

Tuesday May 14th!!

Hello friends and family! It is our second day in Mexico and we are hot! Today we departed the mission at 9:00 and completed various work projects as a team at the daycare.

Some of us cleaned and swept the roof while others prepared and painted a swimming pool, as well as painted a bathroom for the daycare. The employees of the daycare were very gracious for our service.

As we finished our projects we visited a local medical dispensary; an affordable place for people who can’t afford prescriptions. The dispensary allowed us to ask several questions for the health majors on our trip to experience a different country’s medical professions.

To wrap up our morning into the afternoon we had lunch at Nueva Vida with our favorite girls. We sang a few songs and headed back to the mission to prepare for our trip to the village.

 All packed up we decided to go down town and shop for all of you at the near by shops and venders. We also went to a museum depicting the history of the region on Yucatán. We visited a small palace in the main square of downtown Merida. We had a delicious traditional Yucatán dinner at one of the restaurants and topped it off with our favorite ice cream shop polo.

Over all it was a beautiful day of service and experiencing the down town hustle and bustle.