Ok so here's the story.... bit by bit. First, August 16th we left for Mexico City to go to the District Convention in the state of Queretaro, Mexico. For the middle of August I thought it would be pretty warm there - and it was, in the sun... but on a cloudy day or at night it was a tid bit CHILLY! As soon as we got there we went to Bethel and met up with some friends German and Abner and we were invited to dinner at Bethel. Later we went into Mexico City at night to do some sightseeing. It was very beautiful and I had another successful and safe trip into the city with no problem!

Thursday we left for Queretaro to get ready for the convention - as soon as we arrived, there were witnesses everywhere....

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Wow. I can't believe its August already... And the District Convention is coming up so soon! I know, I know, most of you have already had yours... but I'm really excited about mine. Not only is it going to be approx. 3,000 english speaking visitors and locals.... but it's in Queretaro which is totally far away from Cancun. hee hee. We're going to tour Bethel on Wednesday and Thursday and then go to the Convention about an hour and a half away... then we'll take a trip to see places such as San Miguel Allende, Guanejuato, Michoacan, and MORE.... I can't wait.. it's going to be a really fun trip. I'll take lots of pictures, get to see old friends (Like Christi Hess and her family who are living in Mazatlan), I'll see lots of the Mexico countryside ( tons of driving! ) And hopefully, many stories for my blog. I'll be back on the 27th of August... all pumped up and ready for the next Service Year... BRING IT ON! Love to you all.....

Wow! What a trip! I've heard so many bad bad things about Mexico City that I was prepared for the very worst.... and then I was pleasantly surprised. It's really not much worse than NYC and I've visited there countless times. So to dispel any shock some of you may have that I actually WENT to Mexico... let me first explain why we were safe...

First of all, I went with a group... (don't worry mom, I wasn't alone.)
We rented a car (fake taxis are a huge problem and how kidnappings happen)
We stayed in the tourist areas (lots of police patrol these areas to keep it safe)
When we got lost we kept the doors locked and never let the car stop moving (ok so we made a few wrong turns, but no worries, we`re still alive)

But, yep, everything was cool. Now, the details! Thursday we got there and we were exhausted from the early flight. We stayed in an apartment in the back of a sister`s home for about $25 a night. It was perfect and 4 blocks away from Bethel. Friday morning we started the tour and Brother Eric Castillo gave us a really nice and special tour. He worked in the service department and he took us around to many of the brothers there and introduced us to a number of people who gave us the inside scoop on the service department in Mexico. VERY cool. We got to see the English Congregation Overseers and the indigenous languages like Mayan and Tzotzil. And we met Juan and Germain who oversee the arranging of the assemblies and conventions for all of Mexico and Belize. We also met Arnold Trujillo who we ended up eating lunch with and later spending the evening in the city!

Lunch at Bethel is such a treat, as always. We had some yummy pita bread carne thing with avocados and lemonade, salad, and nopales! The perfect Mexican Bethel Lunch! Arnold mentioned that he`s got a friend visiting from Arizona and that he`s going to bring him into the city in the evening with some friends and asks if we would like to join them. YAY!! Just what I wanted! So all the above mentioned (minus Eric) and Abiu and Tony came to the city with Dave, Jen, Julie, and I. We got a guided tour through Mexico City. 22 million residents. (wow) My favorite was the downtown. (I GOT STARBUCKS!!! WHAT A TREAT! ) We saw some cool sights like the Independence Angel and the crazy collection of artistic cows. (I`ll add pictures later) And some other cool and historic sights like Zocalo, the remains of ruins that the Spaniards built on top of while trying to completely get rid of the Aztecs and their culture back in the 1500s. It wasn`t until hundreds of years later when an Earthquake hit and the building had to be torn down did the city realize some of these temple ruins were underneath! Cool stuff! It was a wonderful evening. The sights were great and I loved getting to know the guys. Now we have people to visit in Mexico next time around!

The only other really eventful thing that we did was drive up over the mountains to Puebla, Mexico. What a BEAUTIFUL place. I loved it. It really reminded me a lot of Antigua, Guatemala. Very colonial and rustic. There was this street `Barrio del Artista`(Neighborhood of Artists) where musicians played background music as painters, sculptures, and other artists worked on their canvas`sitting on the sidewalk of this cobblestone street. The cool breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees and the sun was warm on my skin. There was a woman gazing down onto the painters from a beautiful colonial balcony with flowers draping over the sides. It was a scene straight out of a movie... If I ever imagined a place in Europe.. this would`ve been it... except I was in Mexico! Surprises everyday!

Well that is a quick summary of my wonderful time in Mexico. I want to visit again... soon. Our District Convention is August 18th in Queretaro which is 2 hours north of Mexico City so I think I`ll make plans to visit again then. Anyone want to join me?

HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mexico City... here I come!! I can't believe this! A last minute trip for $160 roundtrip including taxes from Cancun to Mexico City.... what a great deal!!! And I... BOUGHT IT. AHHHH!!

Me, Jen, Dave, and Julie....... we're going to Bethel... lunch on Friday... and we might even get to stay there! I'll fill you in as news comes along... leaving Thursday morning earrrly in the AM.  See you soon!!

I have been traveling around with my awesome backpack. ( I'm very proud of it! ) But, this backpack is incredibly heavy. The other day I took all my clothes out of it ( and I honestly didn't bring that many....and even empty the backpack weighed so much! ) John has been calling it the monster-pack, so that is what I refer to it as now. I must admit, it gives me quite a workout....but it definately slows down my pace a bit because it's just so heavy.

Well, we leave to head to the volcano Arenal, and we're on the outskirts of Las Juntas waiting for the bus to come by. I still have my pack on and I decide to go sit down on a wooden bench that is near the bus stop. OUCH!       What in the world...??  OUCH!!!   OUCH!!! AGAIN!!! I look down and my feet are covered with tiny little ants, running around chomping down on my feet! ACK! I'm screaming and trying to brush them off, but they just keep on coming, even more.... So I try to jump up to get off the bench, but my incredibly heavy pack is still strapped to my back, and I lost my balance and couldn't stand up, so I fall backwards and grab a log right next to the bench to steady myself... OUCH OUCH!!! All the ants crawled on to my hand and start up my arm!

Imagine this... I've got this enormous backpack on, I'm trying not to fall over, but my feet and hands have ants everywhere and I'm kicking my feet up and stomping them, shaking them. I looked like I was dancing.  Jeanna runs over and starts trying to brush them off my feet, but then they start biting her! By this time, I've got 2 taxi drivers, and about 6 people waiting for the bus, staring at me like I'm absolutely CRAZY. Talk about ants in your pants! Finally, with Jeanna's help, we got all the ants off. Fortunately, they didn't go up my pants or else I would have died! I looked back where I was sitting, and the log that I braced myself on was literrally crawling with hundreds of ants. I had sat right on top of the nest. Even when I went back to get a picture... if I got too close an ant or two would crawl up onto my shoes and bite my little toes! Oh boy, that was quite an experience. I walked away with big ole welts all over my hands and feet. Don't mess with killer ants!