Off to Mexico City...soon!

We're off to Mexico City after lunch, so this might be the last post.

This morning we did a final reflection and wrap-up. I was delighted by how deeply our young people were affected by this Mexico experience and how they were passionate about bringing their new found knowledge and experience to their lives in Alberta.

The staff here was wonderful in helping us integrate and process what happened over the past week and a half.

This has been a very valuable trip. One that should be repeated for our young people as they try to engage the world's suffering, joys, and challenges with their tremendous faithfulness.

Update: We closed with Holy Communion using a tortilla and local wine. Many folks here associate the tortilla, the basis of the Mexican diet, with daily eucharist. We talked together about how God is asking us to be a healing, compassionate, community. The bible reading was about how the disciples healed people and shared good news with them, walking two-by-two carrying nothing but a walking stick and the power of God. I read a passage from a book about the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the type of temple or home she wants Juan Diego and the bishop to build:

The Mother of God wants a home where all will be welcomed, where all who come receive her recognition, love, and affection. Here, everyone will be heard; all will be free to speak in their own way. Her very eyes show that she recognizes the presence of the one who comes to her. Her very gaze lets those who are looking at her know she is ready and willing to listen to them. She is not cold, distant, and haughty, but tender, close, and friendly. She does not want her children threatened, she wants them protected. She does not want them humbled and dehumanized; she wants them self-confident and joyful.

Her house is to become what every church should be: a center of recognition, listening, love, compassion, healing, and protection. This will not be a center of rules and regulations, but of flowers and songs. It will not be a sad church, but a festive one wherein the joy of God will uplift the downtrodden of the earth. The humanizing and liberating beauty of the divine experience will draw people into it freely and joyfully. Here everyone will be someone special, experiencing their inner dignity, infinite worth, and personal mission of building the temple of the new and truly egalitarian society. This is what every church should be. So her temple is to be a model of what every Christian temple should be, a model, that few, even today, emulate.

This passage encapsulates what we learned and who we feel God is asking us to be. may God give us strength and mercy to live as people of compassion, joy, and healing.

Last Night in Cuernavaca

Today was pretty low-key. We spent a big part of the day at a water park, which was originally farmland , and the folks who owned it turned it into a co-operative business. The sun was hot, the water was cold, the perfect combination.

Later, we went to a bible study at a Base Christian Community, a small group of eight people who have been meeting together for 15 years. We looked at the passages from last Sunday´s bible readings and reflected upon what it means to be a ¨prophet¨ in today’s world. One fellow read from martyred El Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero where he said that ¨the people had been a prophet¨ to him. A fascinating concept endowed with great humility.

This evening a group of us went back to the artisan’s market in downtown Cuernavaca. I bought the obligatory t´shirt.

Tomorrow we head back to Mexico City where we are staying at the Hotel Canada, very close to the zocalo. Apparently there is a protest being organized by supporters of AMLO, the possibly defeated presidential candidate. On Monday 250 000 people packed the zocalo and we hear it was pretty tense. Who knows what tomorrow will be like.

We might not be able to update the blog while in Mexico City, but will try.

Homestay experience

We had an amazing experience in a small rural community called Amatlan. Our first impressions were very different from anywhere else that we had visited so far. All of the streets were cobblestone and we were surrounded by mountains covered in green trees. However, the mountains are very different from the Rockies that we are used to. The tops are almost all like plateaus and all of the mountains have Indigenous names. Each of us spent the weekend with a family from the city…two to a home. We were actually all rather nervous about this experience. What were we going to do for two days with families that we did not know and whose language we did not speak? It turns out that there are many other ways to communicate and that, through a lot of pseudo sign language and a lot of laughter, we were able to form bonds with our families. One of the highlights for everyone was when we took a hike to a sacred place in the mountains. There, we were involved in a ceremony that reminded us of our connections with others, with nature, and with God. A wonderful experience….hope to share with you all when we get back.

Keep us in your prayers
Hannah and Sarah
P.S Check out the new pics

Back In Cuernavaca

By far, the home stays were the highlight of the trip. I was deeply moved by the peoples´ experience, their culture, their rituals, and their customs.

Sunday morning we took a trip through the woods to visit a site sacred to indigenous people, and then he led us through an ancient religious ritual. It was a profoundly affecting experience. I was struck by how similar the indigenous spirituality and many rituals are to traditional Christianity. Which made the story of the conquest that much more tragic as the missionaries destroyed many temples and denounced their faith as pagan.

Life, death, resurrection, even the cross was present prior to the Spanish arriving. Rod and I were reflecting upon how different Mexican history might have been if the missionaries were able to use the images already present, rather than destroying ancient beliefs.

Home Stays

This morning we head for Amatlan for our homestays. We´re going to visit the pyramids today, and it promoses to be HOT. I had a little trouble with my belly this mornng bt it´s nothing that a little Immodium won´t clear up.

We don´t know if we´ll be able to update the blog while in Amatlan, if not, we´ll be back on Monday and will do so then. Hopefully it will be someone else, other than me, who shares some thoughts.

Talk to you on Monday.

No Pics Yet

We haven´t been able to upload any pics yet, but hope to do so soon.

Today we visited a small business co-op that made and sold wire artwork. Beautiful stuff. This business co-op was the brainchild of a Basic Christian Community (a Basic Christian Community orBCC is like a ChristCare Group with a political edge) who, after reading scripture and reflecting on their lives and the lives of other Mexicans, decided to start this business to be able to pay people just wages for their work. Since people over 30 can´t find jobs if they´re fired or layed off, and the ones they did have barely met their basic material needs, this BCC thought that this would be a good way to run counter to the prevailing economic dealings.

This afternoon we´re visiting with another BCC Co-op. Tonight we´re listening to a speaker talk about the benefits of NAFTA, since yesterday, we heard about the challenges and disparities NAFTA presents to many Mexicans.

Last night we went out as a group and had a couple beers. Some folks did some dancing (I just watched). It was a lot of fun!

Market Basket Survey

This morning we did a ´´Market Basket Survey´´ by which I mean that they sent us off to the Market downtown to get some items, and price others. I was in a group with Lynne and Stefanie, and were to get avocados, green chiles, and a newspaper.

Stef was awesome at this exercise. She charged in speaking very poor Spanish, but not really caring how she sounded. We finished our hunt very quickly.

Since we had time left over, Stef and I bought hats, Lynne didn´t because she didn´t bring any cash with her.

We then gathered at the CEMAL (where we´re staying) and calculated how much the these items cost against the Mexican minimum wage. To by deodorant, for example, the average Mexican would have to work two and a half hours. DEODORANT!

That was our morning. We´re hoping to put some pics up some time today. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: It doesn´t cost a typical Mexican living on min wage 2.5 hour of labour to buy deodorant, but rather 4.7!

We Arrived!

We finally arrived Monday afternoon after an unscheduled overnight stay in L.A. There was a problem with the plane in Seattle, which meant that we missed our connection in Los Angeles. It was all part of our adventure.

We stayed in Mexico City Monday and Tuesday nights with a group of nuns calling themselves The Guadalupe Missionaries of Christ the King, Order of St. Benedict. Quite a mouthful! But they we very kind and generous. Plus, the food was fantastic! Traditional Mexican fare.

We visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe a couple times, as well as the Museum of Anthropology. Fascinating stuff. The basilica is quite an experience. On thing that struck me most was the deep faith of many of the people.

The sisters shared the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, then we went back to the Basilica with fresh eyes. Then, Lisanne from the centre took us through and exercise on the power we have and the power we don’t here in Mexico. A powerful exercise.

Today we went to the palace downtown to see the murals and the localo. There was a protest by the supporters of Lopez Obrador, who belaieve Sunday’s election was a fraud. For those who haven’t heard, a winner hasn’t yet been declared. There’s less than one half of one percent between the two presidential contenders. An electoral mess.

We arrived in Cuernavaca just before dinner. We had our orientation, and then we just hung out in the sultry night air.

The sisters asked Sarah Speakman to read this poem during this morning’s worship. We all thought we’d like to share it with folks at home.

Solidarity

To always maintain ears
To hear the cry of pain of others
And their request for help
Is solidarity…

To always maintain an alter gaze
And eyes spread out over the sea
Looking for some shipwrecked person in danger…
is solidarity.

To be the voice of the humble,
To discover injustice and evil,
To denounce the unjust and the evil doer…
is solidarity.

To let yourself be carried away
By a message full of hope, love, and peace,
Including shaking a brother’s [or sister’s] hand…
is solidarity.

To become yourself the messenger
of a sincere and fraternal embrace that one people sends to another…is solidarity.

To share the dangers in the struggle
to live in justice and liberty,
risking in love and even your life…
is solidarity.

To be devoted to love
is the greatest proof of friendship;
TO LIVE AND DIE WITH JESUS CHRSIT IS SOLIDARITY.

Leonidas Proano, retired bishop of Riobamba, Ecuador, died at 78 on Aug. 31, 1988.

We’ll be posting regularly now that we have internet access.