Mexico Mission Trip

June 10-15, 2009

Butch, Gary, & Diane

(Tuesday, June 9th)

Greens, Millers, and Wilsons ate supper together at our house and made last minute preparations, packed medical supplies, and discussed travel plans.

Wednesday, June 10th

9:00 AM- I drove the van over to Gary's and he loaded the luggage. Jessica was all excited while we were packing the suitcases into the van, but when we both got in the van to leave and she realized she wasn't going, she cried a flood of tears. :-/ It was difficult driving away with her crying so hard. (I had already said my good-byes to Tommy Tuesday night, because he was off to work early Wed. morning.)

9:45 AM- At Butch's house waiting for Peggy to take us to the airport in Orlando. Peggy arrived and we loaded her little boxcar with our luggage and accordion. We had a good ride with lots of sharing along the way.

12:00 PM - We checked in, ate lunch at McDonald's in the airport, and talked about our trip. At 1:30 We boarded the plane, had a good flight with a little turbulence, and arrived safely in Cancun. The flight was about 1½ hr. long.

3:45 (U.S.) 2:45 Cancun time)-We had all of our luggage searched. The Attendant questioned us about several of the items we were carrying...toys, translators, electrical plugs, and medical supplies. She wanted her boss to examine the contents, but he just waved us on. We zipped up all the bags quickly and moved on. Pastor Alfredo and his driver, Chito, were waiting for us in the pickup area. He showed us where the Bank was, and we exchanged our US $ for Mexican pesos. The exchange was $1.00/13.7 pesos.

4:50 (US) 3:50 (Cancun)-Our suitcases are loaded into Alfredo's 8 passenger van, and we are headed to a Sam's Club which is on the way home to buy some supplies. Alfredo bought paper goods, large package of toilet paper, and a few food supplies (grated cheese and cream cheese). Butch paid the bill.

6:20 (US) 5:20 (Cancun)- We are back on the road and just passed the 2nd car accident since leaving Cancun. Both vehicles had obviously crossed two lanes of southbound traffic and were in the ditch facing north. There were curbs on both north and southbound lanes with a wide median in the middle. We stopped for gas and bottled water. We shared some of our snacks (peanut planks) with Alfredo and Chito. They had never had them before, but liked them. All of the highways have large speed bumps that are marked with signs. There are also several military checkpoints along the way.

8:10 (US) 6:10 (Carrillo Puerto)- We have arrived in Carrillo Puerto and as we travel through town I see a lot of bicycles and large "tricycles". One of the tricycles has a family of 4 riding on it. (2 wheels with large metal basket in front with wife and kids, and father in the middle with handlebars with 1 wheel in the back), a lot of motor- scooters with several family members, a lot of cars parked along both sides of the street and we weave our way through all the various kinds of traffic. We stopped at a small store for Coke and Fresca to have with our supper. (They are 2.5L size) Mexico consumes more Coke than any other country in the world. We have come to the Town Square (round-about with a statue of the founder) There are small shops lining both sides of the road and a lot of people selling merchandise, other people are walking or sitting along the sidewalks. I don't see any "white people" at all. I have seen 3 city/tourist buses so far. In some places the traffic is one way only. There are corner traffic cops and several policemen. We have passed a small grocery store and a Dominos Pizza which is in a small trailer, and a small hospital/clinic. We have arrived at Pastor Alfredo's home! 8:15 (US) 6:15 C.P.) Domi has supper ready for us. We had roasted chicken, seasoned rice, onions, and tortillas...and Coke! It was all very good! I gave Domi several necklaces that I brought along as thank you gifts. I want Domi to know how much I appreciate them letting us stay in their home and cooking for us.

9:00 (US) 7:00 (C.P.)- Domi goes to Wed. Night Church Service, Alfredo stays home with us and helps us get settled in. Butch, Gary, & I went for a walk around town for an hour or so. A lot of people walking around town.

We see several guards armed with machine guns standing in various locations. We walked home and discussed our sleeping arrangements. I will sleep in Alfredo and Domi's bedroom with Domi. We both will use hammocks. (They have a double bed, but it is too hot to sleep in the bed-hammocks are cooler) Alfredo will sleep in a hammock in the dining area beside our bedroom, and Butch and Gary will have a separate room and bathroom that opens to the outside of the house. I took a cold shower and went to bed. The bathroom has a nice big shower, but no hot water. The sink has both hot and cold water. The toilet has no toilet seat....

There are ceiling fans and large portable fans that help cool off the house.

Bedtime was 12:00 AM (US) 10 PM (C.P.)

Thursday, June 11 (Carrillo Puerto time from now on)

6:00 AM- I woke up to birds singing right outside the window and roosters crowing. It is completely light outside, feels more like 8:00 AM. Butch and Gary are still sleeping. I slept well with the exception of a few leg cramps from extending my legs for long periods of time.

7:30 AM- I went shopping with Alfredo and Domi in their kingcab Toyota pickup truck. I gave them 800 pesos (about $60) to use to buy food. Domi bought chicken, beef (?), potatoes, rice, macaroni, some vegetables, and tortillas. When we got back Domi made breakfast for everybody. We had scrambled eggs with ham mixed in, tortillas, baby bananas, apples, rice milk (which is sweet), instant coffee, and hot sauce. (Gary had a PBJ sandwich with banana)

9:00 - We went to the church to see how much progress had been made since last year. The second story is complete except for doors, windows, and electrical hookups. The estimated cost to complete is $7,000 (US) and to add stairs to the 2nd level would be an additional $2,000 (US).

9:45 - We are back home. Domi is working on lunch, I try to help best I can, but there is definitely a language barrier. Sometimes we just look at each other, shrug, and laugh. We ate slices of beef (?) cooked with vegetables, and of course tortillas, limes, fruit, and hot sauce. We will leave for the villages at noon. The kids have school and won't be out until 1 PM. We will visit 2 villages today. It gets hot quickly inside the house and outside. Butch and Gary take a little siesta until lunch. Alfredo is going to check on lights for the church. Domi and I converse best we can with "sign language". I asked her about reading the scripture references for our skits. The books of the Bible are similar and she could find the scriptures in her Spanish Bible. She marked them with sticky notes. I could not explain what "skits" were to her, so I will wait for an "Interpreter".

12:30 PM - We ate lunch.

1:30 PM - We are on our way to the villages with 2 of their grandchildren (Jenny 15yr, Freddy 9yr), Domi & Alfredo, and Rosie, a friend from Church.(8 people total) Butch is driving. Jenny explains about the skits while we are in the van. We have entered the LaZona Maya district. Alfredo is snoozing, and we missed our turn. We are back on track now. The roads have many small hills. The roads are built with materials on site. The foundation is rock, then they add smaller rocks to level the roads, and add dirt and then asphalt.

We are going through San Andres which has dirt roads, many thatched huts, skinny pigs running loose, and very skinny dogs. We honk the horn through the village to let the residence know we are going to have church. Every bench is filled (8 benches total) and over half of them are children.  Alfredo played the accordion and we sang about 5-6 songs, read some scriptures, and then we did the puppet presentation. We could not see the children's faces, but we could hear them giggling and laugh out loud. Alfredo gave a short message and then we passed out candy to the children. We gave soap, shampoo, lotion, and clothes to the women. There were no men at this service.

On our second stop, we had to walk a long way down a very narrow path to a private home. The house was a very small block house (10'X20') built by the government. Gary carried the accordion for Alfredo because it was so heavy. We did not take the puppets with us for this stop. There was the husband, wife, and son, plus a married daughter, husband, and baby, and 2 other ladies joined us. (16 total) There was one hammock for the 2 ladies to sit on. We sat on stools, logs, or stood. We sang songs, and then Alfredo gave a short message. We prayed for the wife's knee and for blessings on the family and their new home. Next week Alfredo & Domi will have dedication service for this home to dedicate it to the Lord. We passed out candy, soap, and shampoo to everyone. As we walked back to the van, we saw 5 children on their front porch watching us, so I went over and said "Ola" and gave them some candy. Domi followed me over and spoke to the children and the mother. I think she invited them to "church" next week.

We dropped off Rosie and came home. We are going out for supper tonight.

Jenny and Freddy are coming too. Gary and I will call home this evening.

(We had good intentions about calling home, but our phone card would not work in their public phones.)

6 PM - We are getting ready to go out for supper. Gary is updating Facebook about our trip so far. We all sat around and visited for awhile.

8 PM - We are going out to a nice restaurant. There are 7 of us in all- Alfredo, Domi, Jenny, Freddy, Butch, Gary, & Diane. (We had a mis- communication with Jenny about where to meet, and she ended up taking a taxi to Alfredo's house after we had already left to go to the restaurant, so we all went back to the house to pick her up.) I ordered quesadillas, everyone else ordered fayitas with beef or chicken. All of the food was very good. The prices on the menu were $40-85 pesos ($3-7 US). The restaurant had a proxima that projected a large picture on the wall for entertainment.

We watched a Spanish Concert, then someone switched it to TV Wrestling.

We came home after supper and went to bed.

Friday, June 12

6 AM - Up and took a cold shower. I slept well, no leg cramps at all. I washed my hair today. (It's odd that they have hot water for the sink, but not for the shower.) I read my Bible and prayed. Domi always has her devotions first thing in the morning and before going to bed. Sometimes we pray together, although we speak different languages. Butch was also having his devotional time. Gary is up and showering. Alfredo was up early and went to his bee farm to harvest the honey. He brought back about 10-12 gal of strained honey. He showed me his gloves where the bees tried to sting him and left the stingers in the gloves. He uses a smoker to calm the bees and wears a bee hat. He said that they had little rainfall, so fewer flowers, therefore not as much honey. The bees get pollen from the jungle flowers. Alfredo had taken another person with him to help and it takes them 3 hours to harvest and strain the honey.

9 AM - Butch, Gary, and I went for a walk downtown looking for a phone card to call home. We tried many stores. Finally found one and purchased the card. Gary called home, but got no answer so he left a message that we were all doing well. I bought 3 leather purses for Rachel, Mandy, & Angie.

(450 pesos/$33 US) Butch and I walked home and Gary went shopping for flipflops. I was surprised to see a definite military presence in the town and along the roads. Military trucks driving through town, with 3 German Shepherd dogs in cages, and 6-8 soldiers in camouflage in the back or along the sides of the truck with machine guns. Soldiers are also located around highly populated areas with machine guns also. We had cornflakes for breakfast and some unusual fruit that was dark red (maya?), bananas, and instant coffee. We took a siesta until 11:30. Domi cooked tortillas with cheese and ham. We also ate mangoes, and drank limeade. They were very filling.

12:00-1:30 PM - We all visited on the front patio. Gary called home again and talked to Mandy this time. There was bad news from home about Gary's Captain passing away very unexpectedly. It was very hot at home and they had not had rain.

1:30 PM - We are on our way to the villages. Alfredo and Domi always have prayer in the van before we go anywhere. There are 8 of us again. (Alfredo, Domi, Jenny, Freddy, Rosie, Butch, Gary, & Diane) We are heading a different direction today. We are passing through Chinhaus. We pass many high piles of stones by the side of the road which means there are dwellings close by. This is for the local public transportation system's benefit, so they can watch for residents wanting a ride to town. The roads are narrow and there are a lot of speed bumps. We are going through Betania now. The speed limit is 185km/hr. (Approx.85mph)

2:10 - We have turned onto a gravel road with no middle line. The church we are going to now already has a local pastor. A motorcycle just passed us with a super-wide cooler on the back. The cooler was bringing tortillas to the village people. This is a small community with very few cars but a lot of bicycles. There is a man with a guitar sitting beside a house. There is a "fresh" meat market with 3 different kinds of meat laying on a small table in the front yard. (looks like chicken and pork, maybe some venison) Want some??? Dogs are laying in huts looking out open doorways. We continue driving...road narrows to one wide lane. It is winding and bumpy....The road narrows more to one narrow lane. Much of the land has been burnt off to reduce underbrush, possibly for farming. There are too many rocks to clear so they poke holes with a pole in what soil they can find and plant seeds or seedlings in the hole. We have finally arrived! Butch is driving today and he is honking the horn as we go through the village to let them know we will be having a church service. The villagers have electricity, many banana trees, a park/playground, and an unfinished Catholic church.

We drop off Rosie at a small hut. She teaches the women how to sew. We will pick her up on our way back. We are at Alfredo's church now. Alfredo played 5-6 songs on the accordion and everybody sings. (I recognized one song and one hymn) Domi and Alfredo read some scriptures, and then we do the puppet presentation. Domi took the children out behind the church and carried 2 benches with them and taught the children a short lesson. Alfredo gave a short message and we prayed for 4-5 children for salvation and one lady for healing. We passed out candy and some vitamins. Alfredo and Domi passed out Bibles written in Mayan.

3:30 - We are back on the road again...going further back into the woods.

The road is very rough and only a dirt lane now. (Butch is still driving)

3:45 - Butch is honking his horn through another smaller village. There are no cars, several bicycles, a few very skinny dogs, a park and small school built by the government, all homes are thatched huts (poles tied together vertically) I turned around and saw 4 children laughing and running as fast as they can behind the van...then there were 6...then 10....they just keep coming! There were about 16-20 children in all, and included some teenagers. I took the parrot puppet out and played with the children before the service started. They each took a turn playing with the puppet. They are very happy children and very friendly. They all sat up front and were not afraid of strangers, in fact they sat very close to me. Alfredo played several songs on the accordion and then we did the puppet presentation. We could hear the children laughing. After the song, Domi told them that God loved All children, of every skin color. Alfredo gave a short message and then they passed out Bibles written in Mayan. Butch and I prayed for 4-5 ladies for rededication and 1 for healing. Alfredo and Domi prayed for the children and other needs. There were 2 men present at this service. After the service Jenny and Freddy took the puppets and played with the children. They would tell them in Mayan that God loved them and kissed them with the puppet. (Several of the boys and teenage boys talked to Jenny and wanted her to be their girlfriend.) Jenny is not feeling well this trip. She has a sore throat; Butch prayed for her. We passed out candy, shampoo, and soap to everyone. We load up and start heading back home. Jenny lays down in the back of the van. Gary is driving now. We stopped at the home of an 82yr. old pastor. Some men and boys were playing volleyball in the street with the net extending across the entire lane. Alfredo and Butch went inside to visit the pastor. Butch left him some money and Domi gave him some food. When we got ready to leave, Alfredo asked the men to stop their volleyball game so we could turn the van around. Gary drove us home, watching out for speed bumps along the way, and Diane was his " backseat driver". (You can't see the speed bumps in the road, you have to watch for the signs.) Alfredo asked Gary to stop along the side of the road, and he bought 3 fresh pineapples to take home. We stopped by a bakery on the way home for some rolls and fresh bread. We had lentil soup with some meat and squash in it. It was very good. We had fresh bread, tortillas, pineapple, and limeade. After supper, Butch, Gary, and Diane went for a walk to the town square looking for souvenirs and a beach towel for Butch, because we are going to the beach tomorrow. Diane looked at leather belts for Tommy and Mike, but couldn't find the right size and design she liked. (Butch & Gary were very helpful to try the belts on to determine what size they really were.) Diane looked for shirts for Rachel, Mandy, & Angie, but didn't buy anything because they are about the same style and price as in US. Butch looked and looked for a beach towel. We tried to explain to the clerks what a beach towel was, but there was definitely a language barrier. We finally found a store with a whole stack of beach towels, but there was only one problem...they were all Barbie Doll towels, and we just couldn't talk Butch into buying a Barbie Doll and taking it to the beach tomorrow! We stopped by the ice cream parlor on the way home and each bought an ice cream bar.

Diane took a shower and went to bed around 10 PM.

Saturday, June 13th

5:05 AM I woke up (It's light outside and the birds are singing and roosters are crowing.) But decided to stay in the hammock until 6:15 so I wouldn't disturb anyone else. (Alfredo slept in a hammock right outside the bedroom door.) At 6:15 I'm up and dressed and have my devotions and prayer time. We ate breakfast. (sweet rolls, muffins, and hot chocolate) Gary always eats a PB and honey sandwich for breakfast every morning.

7:30 AM - We pick up Freddy, Sr. & Jr. and little brother Abram. (3 yr. old) Domi stayed home this time. She is cooking a big meal for Sunday Dinner. Freddy, Sr. is driving us to look at a piece of property close to the beach and take us swimming. 8:20 - We just passed through Chochoben; 8:30- Mahamual. There are rock walls everywhere, even in the middle of nowhere! The van always has toilet paper in it in case someone has to stop by the side of the road to go to the bathroom. It also serves the purpose for Kleenex, napkins, etc. 60 miles to Xcalak. We just went through a military checkpoint. They use large ropes across the road for speed bumps. There were 6-8 soldiers with machine guns. They looked in the van and waved us on. There are no other cars on the road besides us. We have not seen any houses for a long time. There is a large power line parallel to the road. Two iguanas have run across the road in front of us and there are yellow butterflies everywhere! (Kind of like our lovebugs) The landscape is similar to south Florida (Orlando-W. Palm Bch)

9:35 AM - We are at Xcalak, where the property is located. It is at the extreme southeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. You can see Belize from the beach. The property is a small lot with a lagoon located through some trees and brush on the backside. It is about ¼ mile from the beach. The price is $5500 (US) Alfredo wants to purchase the lot and build a retreat center for his ministry. We drove down to the beach. The water is a beautiful greenish-blue color and is warm. There is a long fishing pier. We saw barracuda, needle fish, and a large stingray without a tail. (Barracuda probably had it for lunch one day!) There were crab or conch traps out from the beach a ways. Freddy, Sr. found a place for me to change into my bathing suit. The toilet in the bathroom did not have a toilet seat either. 

It also had a sign that said, "This is very old plumbing. Do not flush anything down this toilet that you have not eaten first...including toilet paper. Dispose toilet paper in the trash can." When I came out of the bathroom, the clerk said I owed 5 pesos. I didn't have any money with me, so the man said I could pay upstairs. I told Butch who was upstairs with the rest of the crew having sodas. I also noticed there was a nicer bathroom upstairs than the one I just used. Oh, well... The village here also has a soccer field and water tower. The water is for washing only. Everybody drinks and cooks with bottled water. We saw a marine boat patrolling the coastline...probably for drugs. We also saw 6-8 soldiers walking the beach with machine guns. There are not many people around. It is mostly for weekenders or vacationers. There are 2 small primitive hotels.

11:00 We are back on the road. 11:20 - another military checkpoint. They are searching a little red car thoroughly. They motioned us through.

11:25 We are at Malecon. The ocean is beautiful and there is a lighthouse. We went swimming at Marahual Beach, then drove around the town.

12:30 We are looking for a restaurant and start heading back to Carrillo Puerto for lunch (1 ½ hr. drive away) At 1:15 we were stopped by Military Guards along the highway. They surrounded the van and looked in all the windows and asked about our destination. They waved us on through. We are 64 miles from Carrillo Puerto and there are banana trees everywhere! We are going through the town of Limones. We stopped at a small outdoor café for lunch. There are about 5 tables, and our group used 2 of them.

Alfredo ordered for all of us, since we couldn't read the menu. We had shredded venison, chopped tomatoes, onion, and cilantro on 2 corn tortillas,

and a bowl of black bean soup. Freddy, Sr. helped Gary and me finish our plates. 2:45 - We dropped off Freddy, Sr. and family and returned to Alfredo's home. Siesta Time! Bible and Prayer time, too. Domi asked me to prayer with her about a friend's marriage.

6:00 PM - Jenny is here to polish Domi's nails. 6:30 PM - I attended the Youth Group at their church with Jenny, Alfredo, and Domi. The youth take the leadership role for their meeting. Everyone was very friendly and spoke more English than the older people. There were about 14 youth present. A

young man led the service. Alfredo played the keyboard and several youth led singing and played tambourines, others read scriptures, and others prayed. Freddy, Jr. took up the offering. They sang about 5 songs, one of which I recognized. Alfredo gave the message from Col. 4 about putting off the old man and putting on. the new man. He also read from Daniel 1. After the service, all of the youth spoke to me and I found out that several of them attend the university in Carrillo Puerto. Jenny is studying to be a psychologist and another young man is studying computer data processing.

Alfredo's son, Benjamin, also came to the church and sat in the back. After

the service, we took a lady home and went back to pick up Butch and Gary and take them to a special little outdoor diner that Alfredo likes. Alfredo ordered for us again. We had fried tortillas with shredded chicken and chopped tomatoes. (very similar to what we had for lunch) You fold the tortilla and eat it like a taco. Alfredo insisted on paying for the meal, but Gary later reimbursed him with 200 pesos. After supper we took a tour of the city. We saw several schools, vocational schools, and the university.

We also saw Chito (who drove us from Cancun) on duty as a guard for one of the schools. We came back home and I took a shower and went to bed.

Sunday, June 14th

6 AM- I slept well. I read my Bible and had my prayer time. We had oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. (Gary had a PB& honey sandwich)

I prayed with Domi about Benjamin's situation and gave her the scripture Daniel 4:34-37 about Nebuchadnezzar when his reasoning returned to him and he gave praise and honor to God. She prayed for me also. Domi is a very precious and dedicated sister in the Lord. Alfredo and Domi are both hardworking and committed Christians. The Proclaimers/translators that Butch brought are charged and working. Alfredo can take them with him and leave them in the villages next time he goes.

9:30 Alfredo has left for church. 9:40 Domi has taken the truck to church.

9:45 We walk to church and carry the puppets with us. (about 1 block) Church starts at 10:00. Alfredo plays the keyboard and someone leads the singing. Several people play the tambourines. Scriptures are read and prayers prayed. We do the puppet presentation and Alfredo gave the message. It was from Ezekiel and Matthew 24 about the Battle of Armageddon and the 2nd coming of Christ. He spoke about how the US supports and protects Israel and how important it is to pray for Israel. There are about 25 people present. 11:30 Church is over and we ride home in the truck. Domi prepares a big meal for all of us and extended family members- 12 total. (I help as best I can) We eat outside under the garage awning. They have 2 long tables set up with a hammock and fan for the baby. Freddy's wife gives the baby a bottle and puts him in the hammock and he falls asleep. He can't fall out because the sides wrap up around him. We ate chicken with vegetables, refried rice, guacamole, tortillas, pineapple juice and Coke. After dinner we helped clean up and then Gary & I went souvenir shopping for the last time. I bought 3 more leather purses (for Heather, Alicia, & Jessica) at the same place and 2 belts for Mike and Tommy. We also took more pictures of the town. We saw a regular bicycle with a cart behind it with 4 family members in it. We finished our shopping and went back home. Alfredo showed us a power point presentation and song dedicated to his son Abraham who was killed in a car accident. It was very touching. He also shared a poem written by Abraham which he gave to his father, Alfredo. Some people are taking siestas, Butch is preparing his message for tonight, and Gary & I are practicing the skits. Jenny and Freddy are going to help Gary do the "DO NOT TOUCH" skit. Jenny made a poster in Spanish for the skit. She will pretend to flirt with Gary and try to persuade him to follow her. Freddy will come in bouncing a basketball and try to persuade Gary to come play with him. Gary and I practiced the "Satan's Web" skit. We are almost ready to leave for church and I need to use the restroom, but the one in the house is occupied, so I asked Butch & Gary if I could use theirs...and guess what!...it had a toilet seat!!! If I had only known.......! Gary is missing Mandy and Jessica. He says, "Tomorrow night I won't be sleeping alone." Butch says, "Well, Gary, if I'd only known I could have helped you out brother..." We all laughed. 

7:00 PM - Church service. There are about 40 people present. Alfredo plays the keyboard and his daughter-in-law leads the singing. There are scriptures, testimonies, and prayers, then we do our skits. Jenny has given out several scriptures that go along with our skits to be read by some of the youth in Spanish. Butch made comments regarding the skits about making godly choices. God gives us the choice to choose life or death, God exhorts us to choose life! Butch gives the message for the evening and it is translated by David, Alfredo's grandson. After the message, he closes the service. We took Alfredo and Domi out for supper at Domino's Pizza after Church. There were 8 of us. (Alfredo & Domi, Butch, Gary, Me, Jenny, Samantha, and a lady from church) Domi orders for us 3 large crispy pizzas, 2 meat lovers & 1 pineapple & ham...and of course we have Coke.

I took a shower and went to bed. Domi couldn't sleep...too much Coke (caffeine). She was up and down all night long.

Monday, June 15th

6 AM- I am up and dressed. I packed my suitcase, had my Bible and prayer time. 8 AM - We have breakfast. Domi spent part of the night preparing a big breakfast for us. We had quesadillas with shredded beef, salsa, mangoes, and hot chocolate. I wrote a thank you card for Alfredo and Domi and Gary added a note too...he said I didn't leave him much room to write. I laid the card on the dining table. Alfredo and Domi saw it and picked it up and opened it. I read it to them in English and Alfredo caught part of the message. I told them maybe Jenny could read it to them in Spanish. They seemed very touched by the card and Alfredo held it to his heart and said it was "special". Butch gave Alfredo all the pesos and US $ we had left and thanked them both for their hospitality. We left everything we thought they could use with Alfredo and Domi...extra clothes, batteries, soap, etc. I gave Domi a couple of extra new T-shirts that I had brought along, and she went in her closet and came out with a beautiful white dress and gave it to me. I gave the CD player to Jenny, the Hannah Montana wig to her younger sister Samantha, and hand-held fans to Freddy, Jr. and Abram. I invited them to come and stay with us anytime they were in Florida and to bring their family with them, and I promised to do all the cooking. Domi laughed.  We took some pictures of Alfredo & Domi holding their wedding picture and 25th Anniversary picture. They will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

9 AM- We have the van packed and we are ready to go. Freddy, Sr. is going to drive us back to Cancun and all of his family are going with us, Jenny & Samantha, Alfredo & Domi are going too! There are 12 of us in all...in an 8 passenger van, along with all of our luggage! Freddy, Sr., the baby, & Domi in the front seats, Diane, Butch, Freddy's wife in the second seat,

Jenny, Gary, Alfredo in the 3rd seat, Freddy, Jr., Samantha, and Abram in the back with the luggage. Almost everyone slept most of the way there. The baby kept staring at Butch and me. We would smile at him, but it took him a little while to warm up to us. He began playing footsies with Butch and then the smiles began. It was a 2 ½-3 hr. ride. Alfredo's head kept falling on Gary's shoulder and Gary would laugh. We stopped one time for a Banyo (bathroom) break and to buy Coke. When we got to the airport, they let us out with our luggage, then went and parked. We had to go through a medical checkpoint where they took our temperature and filled out a health questionnaire. Then we had to go through customs. When we got to the baggage check in, there they all were to give hugs & kisses & say farewells. I didn't realize I had become so attached to this loving family, but especially to Domi. As we moved on through the check in process and the metal detectors, I glanced back through all the crowd of people and caught a glimpse of her face still watching us and I waved a big goodbye and she waved back. That was the last time I saw her because of all the people.

It is lunchtime and we are hungry. We ate at a Burger King inside the airport. I ate a salad. Butch and Gary went souvenir shopping and I stayed with the luggage. 3:30 PM We board the plane to go home.

We have arrived in Orlando and we get our luggage. We called Tommy on the cell phone and they are waiting for us at Terminal A instead of B, so we have to walk a ways to find them. We saw Mandy with the stroller, but no Jessica. She said Tommy and Jessica were playing on the escalator. A few minutes later we saw them across the room coming toward us. When Jessica sees us, she started running as fast as she could to get to us. She was all smiles as she gave Gary hugs and kisses...and Grandma too. Butch tried to call home several times, but didn't get an answer. We walked to the parking garage and headed for home. We stopped at the Taco Bell in Belleview for supper, then took Butch home. Dottie and the kids had been waiting on their front porch for Butch to come home, that's why they didn't answer the phone. They were very glad to see him! We took Gary, Mandy, & Jessica home, then finally I was home, too! I really enjoyed a warm tub bath and having my husband with me again.