The Mexico Trip:
This week
long trip changed my life and opened my eyes to the world and showed me why I
needed to be more grateful for everything, there are many incredible things
that I experienced on the trip. I’ll start at the beginning:
On day one,
we flew to Mexico on an 11 hour or so plane trip. It was very long… I was
looking desperately for differences between here and Mexico because it was my
first time being out of the country. When we arrived I began seeing the
difference but not until we dared the roads of Mexico City did I fully
understand. It is a mad house!! Aside from the speed bumps laid out every 200
feet and the natural bumpiness of the roads I thought I was going to die
because of the recklessness and the daring initiative of their drivers. I was
horrified, but I trusted my driver, a fellow Mexican who knew the roads, to get
our group through safely.
Later on at
the Campus of Benemerito I immediately began to see cultural changes. One funny
difference was the food. While we do have an influence of their food in our
culture a little it was fun to try their cuisine. The rule of thumb was
“Spicy!” I wasn't used to eating beans and Jalapeños for every meal of the day.
The rumors were true; American-Mexican restaurants serve slightly different
food than authentic Mexican ones, however I like the taste of both pretty
evenly.
One of my
highlights was visiting the ruins of Teotihuacan. I was in for the hike of my
life! It was well worth it though to see the sights. I stood on the tallest
one, the Pyramid of the Sun, just envisioning the Book of Mormon taking place
before my eyes with the Title of Liberty whipping in the breeze atop every
other pyramid. One student in our group hiked atop all the pyramids while they
were crippled, but aided fellow AHS students and Benemerito Students. It was
wonderful to see such unity to get together and allow her to see and do what
few people have the opportunity to experience.
The pinnacle
of my trip was the visit to the homeless shelter. Earlier in the week we
prepared blankets to give to the elderly men at the home. I distinctly remember
the terrible smell and the oh so poor living conditions. The real treat was to
reach out to these lonely men, ejected from society, and wrap them in a new
warm blanket and just chat with them. I didn’t know what they were saying
because it was in Spanish, but I remember the wonderful feeling of just being
there. As the scriptures say, “Stand in holy places”. That was one for me that
day.
