Meanwhile in Merida: Cursos de Verano

Cursos de Verano

Friday was a blast. It was probably my favorite work day thus far. It was three straight hours of playing/watching kids, laughing, running and just having an unforgettable experience. The community center put on a little superhero rally for the kids so many of them came dressed with a costume or shirt or hat that was superhero themed. The kids were then divided into 10 different groups and dispersed among five different games. We were manning the tug-o-war station and it was great! The kids would get tired pretty fast though because it was so hot outside! So we would have to do a couple rounds then take a water break then come back together and do another couple rounds. We as volunteers/leaders would jump in and help from time to time if one team was losing really bad. After the events, we all met under the shade in the back and awaited as they announced the scores of each team and the winners. I just had an amazing time playing with and helping kids. I made some cute little friends during the events! Little Miriam started the day kicking and hitting my legs for attention and we ended up as best friends as I would pick her up and swing her around. Then there was Adali, who from the start of the day would search me out and ask me to hold her. I just love working with kids and being able to interact with them. They are such simple and sweet spirits... Friday evening was a fun yet pretty relaxed night as a group of us went and saw "The Lion King" in English! It was honestly pretty great and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if they haven't watched the original in a while.

Saturday was a good day, though it didn't exactly turned out as expected. The original plan was to go to a water park just outside of the city and spend the morning there. However, we ended up taking the wrong bus (which was definitely my fault) and wound up at Progeso, the little beach town about 45 minutes north of Merida. Instead of figuring out a way back to the water park, we decided to spend the morning at the beach, which I think ended up being the better decision anyway. We rode on a little banana boat for a bit then just relaxed on the beach and in the water. A couple of us left a little early to go to a wedding reception while the rest stayed for lunch in Progreso. The wedding reception was in a little event house that even had a pool for the kids!! They served a couple different varieties of tacos and Coca-Cola for lunch so that was very satisfying. About halfway through the reception, a mariachi band arrived and started playing! I don't listen to a whole lot of mariachi music but I feel like that is a must at any wedding reception in Mexico. As we were about to leave, a lady from the hospital offered us a ride then as many amazing Mexicans would, she offered to take for ice cream. We gladly accepted (well maybe mostly I did, because I love ice cream hahaha). It was some very delicious and very fresh sherbet! The lady, Karla, then proceeded to give us a small tour of the close-by streets and we ended up in a beautiful park called Parque de las Americas. It had stone pillars with the names of countries from Canada to Chile carved into them. They also had a huge amphitheater (as seen below) where concerts and shows are often put on. We didn't walk around for too long before we were overtaken by some rain. Once back at the hostel, we met up with the rest of the group and just left to walk around Merida at night. Once the sun goes down, it really isn't that bad.

Sunday ended up being a pretty relaxing day. We went to the 9 a.m. services at the church and they even had a Young Single Adult class for us. The teachers were really inspiring and touched a few different topics. What really hit me was their analogy of turning on an old stove, the ones that use to use a little pilot flame. They made the point that on a mission, we feel the flame (of the spirit) super strong and feel invincible. But it is common to have that flame shrink, sometimes to the size of even that little pilot flame. It is important that we do all that we can to keep our flame bright and not just as a pilot flame. Church was followed by some card games and a nice little (actually quite long) nap. We left in the evening to a mall where we had previously found an ice skating rink. Upon arriving to the mall, we were actually pretty hungry so we got some sushi. Sushi isn't typically my go-to meal but this was some dang good sushi! By the time we finished, the mall wasn't going to be open for much longer so we walked through a few stores before heading home instead of ice skating.