Writing a quick note to let you all know our group landed safely in Buffalo after 3 flights today! After gathering our checked luggage and the other 3 Gannon groups were traveling with, we will hit the road for Erie on the last leg of our journey home!

Thank you all for keeping up with our journey and for the prayers, support, and donations you have to help us have this experience. We had a blessed time in Merida with our Mission of Friendship community! We are all so grateful for this experience and know the impact on our lives is a great one.

Thursday at Neuva Vida

Today we returned to Nueva Vida to work on various projects. We spent hours painting, continuing some landscaping and finishing up other miscellaneous projects. We continued to enjoy visiting with the young girls of the after school program. We had the opportunity to eat lunch with them and talk more, learning more Spanish and teaching them some new English words.

In the afternoon, we played tag with all the girls which was a lot of fun. The sun was shining and everyone was so happy to be together. We spent time getting to know each other’s names and all the girls continued to love hugging us and taking as many pictures as possible. 

In the evening, we went shopping downtown and had Mexican cuisine for dinner. Kevin happily finished everyone’s plate! After dinner, we enjoyed some delicious helado (ice cream) and went to Santa Lucía Parque in downtown Mérida to watch a traditional, cultural Yucatecan dance. 

Es Su Casa, Continued

Hola!

This is our delayed post about our day Tuesday!

We woke up in Uayma to a beautiful breakfast buffet made by our friends from the parish. During breakfast, we received a gift of traditional Yucatecan candies that the mayor sent for us to try! Afterwards we toured the rest of the church, including a climb to the top of the roof to look over the village! The church itself is gorgeous and is uniquely inspired by Arab culture - the only one around here designed in this way.

After the tour of the church, we had to say our goodbyes to Padre Felix. His joy and kindness will remain with us long after we are home! I’m talking with one of the local parishioners after dinner last night, Tricia found out that the man she was talking to had a friend named Don Emilio who makes pottery and invited us to visit him! When we arrived, we got to see the kilns he had built in his backyard and he did a full demonstration for us on his potters wheel! He talked about the materials he uses to make his items and the process they go through until they’re ready to be sold. It was a truly memorable experience!

The last part of our journey was a visit to a cenote nearby. A cenote is a natural sinkhole that is formed by collapsing limestone which reveals underground water. The cenote was beautiful and we were able to go for a swim! We hit a little snag in our day when our van broke down in the cenote parking lot, but the staff at the cenote were so friendly and helped bring a village mechanic to us. We were on the road after a few hours and arrived back at the mission house to find that Sylvia, the lovely woman who coordinates the family sponsorship program for the mission, had made us a delicious meal complete with dessert! We were overwhelmed with the kindness of Padre Felix, the cenote staff, and Sylvia all day and are deeply grateful! As many people have told us since we arrived in Yucatan, we truly felt like “Es Su Casa” (like this is our home).

Misión de Amistad

¡Hola los amigos y familia! 

We have passed the middle marker of our trip which is bittersweet. We have returned from the villages of Uayma / Tinum and started our work at the Mission of Friendship. Wednesday was full of hugs, dancing, and building relationships with the mission’s programs. Our amazing translator/friend José took us on a tour of all of the Mission programs Wednesday morning, which included the daycare, medical dispensary, and the Nuevo Vida after school enrichment program. After learning so much about all the help la Mission de Amistad has to offer, we spent most of our day with the school age girls. Hours on end were spent playing tag, helping the girls learn english, and teaching them dances. A few helpful group members (Kevin, Conner, and Caroline) started a landscaping project to help beautify the daycare. Dorian, Julie, and Marie got worn out quickly after a hard days work of Just Dance games. Kevin earned the nickname “un monstro” (monster) for his 6 ft stature and spent the afternoon being chased by 16 little girls. We all learned so much from the English lesson, and this program truly is trying to help enrich the lives of these young ladies as much as possible. 

Es Su Casa: This is Your Home

This morning we journeyed to the village of Tinum (tee-noom) - approximately 2 hours outside Merida. When we arrived we met Padre Felix and some of his parishioners. Padre showed us the church in Tinum and arranged for us to take motorcycle-cart rides around town on a tour. We saw many important sites in Tinum, but most notably were invited into a family’s home to see how tortillas are made! Of course, our favorite part was tasting the tortillas!! Afterwards we were welcomed for lunch prepared by parish families and later went back to the church to help paint the back wall of the building. 

 

In the evening we travelled to the nearby village of Uayma (why-mah) where we would be staying inside the church overnight. After settling into the beautiful church with our hammocks and cleaning up from the day, we were able to rest a bit before we were hosted for a lovely dinner in one of the main hallways of the church. 

 

The parish prepared delicious panuchos for us - refried tortillas stuffed with refried beans and other toppings. The mayor of Uayma joined us for dinner and a few parishioners even showed us some traditional dances after dinner! At one point, a couple group members jumped in to learn a dance. The joy of the parishioners in sharing their culture with us was absolutely contagious! We went to sleep that night feeling totally welcomed, loved, and at home. 

We can’t thank Padre Felix and his parishioners enough for our day today - especially for welcoming us just 1 week after  Padre Felix moves to this area of Yucatan.

Buenos Dias from Merida!

Buenos dias to our family, friends, and ABST alumni! Below are our summaries from the past few days now that we’re back in the city and can post them! 

Day 1 - Sunday 3/3 - Merida en Domingo 

As mentioned, today started with attending mass at the cathedral in Merida, which sits right in the heart of the city. After mass, we went on an adventure to purchase hand-wrapped ‘hamacas’ for our overnight stay in a village Monday night. Hammocks are thought to be invented over 1000 years ago, potentially by the Mayan culture, and quickly spread to many areas in Central and South America as a traditional way of sleeping in warm weather. 

We spent the afternoon shopping in the city where Kevin and Conner purchased (much-awaited) sombreros. We visited museums where we saw exhibits displaying Mayan art and had the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of Yucatan. To top it off, we enjoyed lunch in a restaurant/museum that taught about ancient Mayan cooking methods and foods. We ended the day resting at the mission house and cooking dinner together.

Arrival and Immersion!

Our Merida ABST arrived safely Saturday afternoon and were welcomed at the airport by our mission partner Tricia! They had a great day in Merida on Sunday - mission partners Valentina and José showed the group around town after mass at the cathedral. The group is headed out into a village to spend time there and will be largely out of communication for the next two days. We'll keep you posted!