Spring Break '05!
This was one of the greatest Spring Breaks I have had. I ended up going to Cancun on a mission trip with my Discipleship group. It was me, Sage, Paul, Zak, and our leader Everett. Now, I know what your thinking... Cancun and mission trip? They don't seem to mix right? Well, I assure you this was legit. There was no drinking/partying on this trip, but we did have a good amount of time to chill on the beach and check out other sites. We ended up staying at the famous Flamingo Hotel and it was excellent!
It all started at 4AM on Friday morning. I decided just not to goto bed seeing as how I would not have much time to sleep. It ended up working well because I just slept on the flight over. The reason our flight was so early was that our original direct flight was changed to a flight to Denver with about a one hour layover, then our flight to Cancun. When we arrived at the Mexican airport (which was pretty small and un-airport-like) one of the guys found out how much people in Mexico LOVE TIPS. The guy in the bathroom wanted a tip for squirting some soap in his hand and handing him a towel...
Up until Sunday, we just hung out on the beach and checked out all the surrounding mall and such. On Sunday morning we went to a small English church service that was held in a theater. The sermon was really good and it was just cool to be there with other visitors of Cancun. That night we went to the church that we would be working at (Iglesia Baptista de Antioch) and stood in front of the congregation (not very big) to give our testimonies. It was a little different because we would say a sentence or two, and then the pastor would translate it so the locals could understand it. This helped to give you time to think, but God still gave us all a lot of strength to be able to share our testimonies that way.
While walking around in the malls, we happened to walk by what I thought was a statue. It turned out to be a guy painted all in silver wearing a silver speedo and sunglasses. Whenever someone would put some coinage in his tip jar he would do this funny little robotic dance and then finish it off by pointing at the person who put the money in. A little crowd gathered around him to watch. It was... different...
Three of the days that we stayed there we painted 3 different rooms in the church that had been recently added. A man who painted professionally and went to the church came and gave us all the tricks of the trade. It was really fun and I'm thinking I might be able to tell his tips to my workers over the summer. Anyway, one of the days that we worked at the church, a woman who also goes to the church, Mrs. Magoly, cooked for us. Oh Man! It was soooooo good! Real Mexican food. And her dessert was some excellent Flan! (As Everett put it, “mejor en mi vida” (for those of you who don't habla espanol, it is Spanish for... “the best in my life”))
While chilling on the beach one day, we were all throwing the frisby back and forth. One of the throws was a little bit too high and the wind took it away to someone's balcony at our hotel. The people sitting out on it tried to throw it back to us, but it ended up going to another balcony further down. The guy on the balcony threw it once, it came back. He threw it a second time and the wind took it to the roof of the restaurant that is part of the hotel. So, we all go up there to try and get it because there is a pool that is right by the roof. So we found one of those pool cleaning tools and tried to use it to get it off the roof, but it didn't work. About an hour later I went and got a security guy to get it for me. It was really cool because he walked on the roof (which was one of those hay roofs) to get it down. I felt like I should give him a tip, but I just didn't for some reason.
One day me and Paul played ping pong with some Russians and other people. We played doubles and were undefeated. (Take that Russia!)
One of the most fun things that we did was making deals with the different vendors in the market. One of the coolest guys called himself “Cheapo-Philipo” hahaha. Below I have listed some of the lines and comebacks that they gave to us:
Sales lines:
The boss isn't here.
This is my day off. If you come back later, you get a different price.
Name a price, but be nice... don't be Mexican.
Come on, this is quality!
I'll split the difference with you.
[Burns fiber] Smell... It is real Bahhh [Sheep sound]
For you my friend, I maka deal.
[Puts in bag and walks towards counter] Give me 50 pasos.
Insults / Comebacks:
Cheapskate... That is you!
You maka fun of me, I no maka the deal for you...
For you... one free look.
I can't sell for 90 percent off.
Dealer: For you, you give me 5... You: 5 pesos? Dealer: No, you give me 5! [Sticks out hand for hi-five]
Then on Thursday we went to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum. They were beautiful! There were some cool lizards walking around in various places, and we even got to swim on the beach behind it. A lady and her husband were caught walking around in one of the ruins and a tour guide sharply corrected them. He stopped talking to his tour group and yelled, “GET OUT OF THERE! THERE ARE ROPES... RESPECT THEM!” It was pretty funny. Lots of people there checking out these cool ruins.
Then we came back (to our surprise) on a direct flight to Austin. I got back on Friday and have just been chilling here in Austin since. I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip as much as I enjoyed being there. (Sorry it was so long, but hey, I didn't make you read it or anything =0) ) I really think this was an experience of a lifetime.
It all started at 4AM on Friday morning. I decided just not to goto bed seeing as how I would not have much time to sleep. It ended up working well because I just slept on the flight over. The reason our flight was so early was that our original direct flight was changed to a flight to Denver with about a one hour layover, then our flight to Cancun. When we arrived at the Mexican airport (which was pretty small and un-airport-like) one of the guys found out how much people in Mexico LOVE TIPS. The guy in the bathroom wanted a tip for squirting some soap in his hand and handing him a towel...
Up until Sunday, we just hung out on the beach and checked out all the surrounding mall and such. On Sunday morning we went to a small English church service that was held in a theater. The sermon was really good and it was just cool to be there with other visitors of Cancun. That night we went to the church that we would be working at (Iglesia Baptista de Antioch) and stood in front of the congregation (not very big) to give our testimonies. It was a little different because we would say a sentence or two, and then the pastor would translate it so the locals could understand it. This helped to give you time to think, but God still gave us all a lot of strength to be able to share our testimonies that way.
While walking around in the malls, we happened to walk by what I thought was a statue. It turned out to be a guy painted all in silver wearing a silver speedo and sunglasses. Whenever someone would put some coinage in his tip jar he would do this funny little robotic dance and then finish it off by pointing at the person who put the money in. A little crowd gathered around him to watch. It was... different...
Three of the days that we stayed there we painted 3 different rooms in the church that had been recently added. A man who painted professionally and went to the church came and gave us all the tricks of the trade. It was really fun and I'm thinking I might be able to tell his tips to my workers over the summer. Anyway, one of the days that we worked at the church, a woman who also goes to the church, Mrs. Magoly, cooked for us. Oh Man! It was soooooo good! Real Mexican food. And her dessert was some excellent Flan! (As Everett put it, “mejor en mi vida” (for those of you who don't habla espanol, it is Spanish for... “the best in my life”))
While chilling on the beach one day, we were all throwing the frisby back and forth. One of the throws was a little bit too high and the wind took it away to someone's balcony at our hotel. The people sitting out on it tried to throw it back to us, but it ended up going to another balcony further down. The guy on the balcony threw it once, it came back. He threw it a second time and the wind took it to the roof of the restaurant that is part of the hotel. So, we all go up there to try and get it because there is a pool that is right by the roof. So we found one of those pool cleaning tools and tried to use it to get it off the roof, but it didn't work. About an hour later I went and got a security guy to get it for me. It was really cool because he walked on the roof (which was one of those hay roofs) to get it down. I felt like I should give him a tip, but I just didn't for some reason.
One day me and Paul played ping pong with some Russians and other people. We played doubles and were undefeated. (Take that Russia!)
One of the most fun things that we did was making deals with the different vendors in the market. One of the coolest guys called himself “Cheapo-Philipo” hahaha. Below I have listed some of the lines and comebacks that they gave to us:
Sales lines:
The boss isn't here.
This is my day off. If you come back later, you get a different price.
Name a price, but be nice... don't be Mexican.
Come on, this is quality!
I'll split the difference with you.
[Burns fiber] Smell... It is real Bahhh [Sheep sound]
For you my friend, I maka deal.
[Puts in bag and walks towards counter] Give me 50 pasos.
Insults / Comebacks:
Cheapskate... That is you!
You maka fun of me, I no maka the deal for you...
For you... one free look.
I can't sell for 90 percent off.
Dealer: For you, you give me 5... You: 5 pesos? Dealer: No, you give me 5! [Sticks out hand for hi-five]
Then on Thursday we went to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum. They were beautiful! There were some cool lizards walking around in various places, and we even got to swim on the beach behind it. A lady and her husband were caught walking around in one of the ruins and a tour guide sharply corrected them. He stopped talking to his tour group and yelled, “GET OUT OF THERE! THERE ARE ROPES... RESPECT THEM!” It was pretty funny. Lots of people there checking out these cool ruins.
Then we came back (to our surprise) on a direct flight to Austin. I got back on Friday and have just been chilling here in Austin since. I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip as much as I enjoyed being there. (Sorry it was so long, but hey, I didn't make you read it or anything =0) ) I really think this was an experience of a lifetime.