First Blog in Merida

Hello everyone!

This is our first blog in Merida and we're so excited to finally have internet connection.
We're happy to have you all following us on our journey here in Merida! My name is Alison and I'll be writing the first blog, but a lot of us will take turns joting down our thoughts. So here we go!

(Saturday)
From Atlanta, we flew to Houston then to Merida. But when we were trying to get on the plane to go to Merida, there was something wrong with Laurie's ticket and she didn't have a seat on the plane because the airline overbooked. It got pretty intense for a little bit with Laurie in her "boarding jail" and not knowing if she was able to get on the plane. Thankfully, a couple decided to take the airline's offer and get off the plane so we all could go together. Thank God! She was almost whisked away by a friendly (but still dangerous situation) who offered to take her on the next flight. But of course, we wouldn't let that happen =)

Gabby and Israel met us at the airport in Merida and entertained us the whole way to our hotel.
As I was passing by the houses and streets at night, I was so excited to see these colorful scenes during the day. Hotel Del Gobernado is such a great place for us! It has a beautiful pool, which we try to enjoy in between our breaks, and the rooms are great and comfortable. Unfortunately, Odessa and Bonnie had a room with a broken air conditioner so it was uncomfortably hot for them that night. Oh! The weather is great here (around mid 70's) and not much humidity.

(Sunday)
We woke up and had breakfast at 8 (delicious eggs, salsa, cereal, etc...) and went to Shalom Church for our Sunday service. Although we didn't understand a lot of the message because it was in Spanish (duh), it was great to experience a different kind of service. Surprisingly, the praise songs were familiar (All because of Jesus, I am a friend of God, etc...) and we participated in Communion: We got in a line and took a piece of bread and a sip of wine "grape juice" and went back to our seats. It was awesome to be in a place of believers who didn't speak the same language or have the same culture but still God was being worshipped even in Merida.

After church, we had fellowship time with the church members and everyone was very nice and helpful by introducing themselves and seeing if we needed anything. Jenny(pronounced Yhenny), our fabulous cook, showed us around the city and we also went to the anthropology museum. It was cool to learn about the mayans and see their culture through the remains of skulls, bones, stones, and other neat discoveries.

When we came back to the hotel, a lot of us went to take a nap and some went to the pool to read/meditate.

Around 7pm, Gabby took us out to dinner. This amazing, open-aired, place had the greatest taco I've ever eaten! It was so simple but so good! So here it is: Tortilla (mine was flour) with meat on top, and you could spice it up with onion, cilantro, lime, guacomole, and salsa. so good =) Later, we came back and enjoyed the rest of our night by hanging out and practicing Spanish with Philipe (our bellman). Fortunately, Bonnie and Odessa also got new rooms with air condition.

(Monday)
Our first day of work!
The mission today was to paint the gym at Shalom Church. I'm going to let the pictures explain that to you, but it was a lot of fun and a lot of labor. We painted for a couple of hours and had snacks, then painted some more and had dinner. Carlos, Gabby, and some students were assisting us so it went by pretty quickly. We were surprised at how much we were able to do. But we had to get everything cleaned up before 3, because there was supposed to be basketball practice there at 4. Tomorrow we'll be continuing our painting project...

Now, we are back at the hotel and resting for a little bit. In an hour or so, we're going to the orphanage to meet and hang out with the children there. This is a major part of our trip here and we're so excited to meet with them, give them gifts, and just share our time with them. And have fun!

Well, my group and I want to thank everyone for supporting us through your finances and prayers that made this trip possible. And thank you so much for following us via our blog. Hopefully, we'll be able to update often and keep you guys tuned in what we're doing. Enjoy the pictures, We miss you all and we'll talk to you soon =)

God Bless!