Things continue to be incredible for Tim and me here in Merida.

This past Saturday we were blessed with the opportunity to go on one of the 5 mission sites our church has in the state. Each week a group from our church goes to each mission, and we are going to try out all the missions before committing to which we want to serve at. The first one we went to was in both the cities of Tizimín and San Felipe. We left at 7am and drove the 2.5hrs to Tizimín where we painted the outside of the building that is being readied to become a new branch of our church. Then after 2 hrs of work, we spent the next 4 hr sitting in the shade drinking Coke, chatting, and then ate lunch before driving 30mins to San Felipe.

San Felipe is a small fishing town, the whole town is about a mile square. The only industry there is fishing.

We arrived and sat around in the shade, eating and drinking for about 3 hrs before going to the beach for a swim. On the short boat ride to the beach we saw about 60 pink flamingos! Though it was at a distance it was still very cool! After swimming we came back, took showers and hung around before the event at 8pm. San Felipe is a small town with only 1 church (previous to our church having a branch there that within the last year started). The main church there is Catholic and there has been lots of conflict since we put a branch in San Felipe, we are not welcomed there and we’re having difficulty gaining members. So, they had an event in the main square (which happens to be right across the street from the catholic church). There were Christian clowns who were wonderful and used humor to talk about Christ. And there were some other dramas and short talks.

It was a great event and drew more than 200 people. Again, timing here is so different than the US, the kids program wasn’t over till 9:45 and the town was hopping. People come out much later to avoid the heat. We then drove 3 hours home and arrived at 1:30am.

The mission trip was much different than we’d expecting seeing as we only truly worked for 2 hrs out of our 19hr trip. However, it was wonderful! Their purpose in these towns is to build relationships and trust and through that welcome new people into the church and be able to share their faith. It was so much fun getting to see more of the Yucatan – the landscape is 100% flat with low bushes everywhere and random palm trees. And it was great really having time to get to know people from our church – all of whom are so welcoming and kind! We had a great time talking to Daniel and Ceasar, the two younger guys who drove us to and from. And Tim went to men’s night at church with those two guys where they pray together and play sports.

Sunday we went to evening church at 7pm because Tim was playing trumpet in the worship band for the first time.

He did a great job!! And with no music! After church a couple of families invited us to go out to dinner with them. It was so much fun getting to know more people from our church. And at the end of dinner they just said that they really want us to feel welcomed and at home in our church and in Merida and if there is anything we ever need to call anytime. Me and Tim still are in awe of the generosity and kindness of everyone we’ve met here! We love love love everything about our church, the people, and Merida so far!! (besides the heat- 98 to 101 everyday so far!)

Today we had our first day of orientation for teachers and it went well! It made us very excited to start teaching the 31st! All of our fellow teachers seem great! Tim has 1 class of 25, and one of 15…. I have one of 18 and the other with 19!

Okay, some quick fun facts:
1. People come around in trucks of bikes with baskets selling water (because we can’t drink the water from the pipes here)
2. We went to the mall close to us (45min walk) and saw “The Hangover” the theatre was high class, and the biggest screen I’ve ever seen- better than Lenox and was only $8.50 for 2 tickets and we found out there is another cheaper one for 1.50 a ticket for new movies! Movies are a good way to escape reality and heat for awhile!
3. We commonly have to chase geckos out of our house
4. We’ll be getting internet at our house in 2 weeks! Wahoo!
5. We start orientation for school this Wednesday. Tim is going to teach 4th, I’m going to teach 3rd.
6. Its hot here. Has been between 98 and 101 everyday!
7. In San Felipe, it is octopus season for fishing. Ick
8. We ate SNAIL. Yikes! It was really chewy but the flavor wasn’t bad. The Yucatan is the only place in the world where giant sea snails live – their shells are bigger than your head. Sick.
9. There is a church activity nearly everyday of the week if we want to go – which is great so we can continue getting to know people, and to keep us busy.
10. Downtown Merida was so much fun to explore – it is a VERY busy city with people walking everywhere, but has some beautiful parks and is a well-kept city.