Week with Family: Thursday

On Thursday morning, I think mom, dad, and Neal found out how much I planned for the week they were here. I also had a set schedule which was sometimes difficult to follow in a country where time is a little more relaxed. Right away in the morning we took a tour of Merida on the city tour bus, went to the Cathedral so they could see how impressive it is, and I even showed them the jaguar that the children at Patronato painted. When we returned from downtown, we had about an hour before the Thanksgiving dinner began. We had invited people from Merida that we had met and there ended up being probably about 50 people there. I was so thankful for mom, dad, and Neal coming down because this Thanksgiving was still very different not being with mom and dad's families and being in a completely different country. I was also thankful for Skype because Neal and I called my grandma and told her I wished I could be with her and then we called Neal's parents that were spending Thanksgiving in Webster City. So even though we couldn't be with all of our family, we still got to hear their voices!!

The buffet for the 50+ people that came for Thanksgiving dinner.

The organ pipes in the balcony of the cathedral.

The main aisle in the cathedral. Absolutely breath-taking!

The jaguar that the kids painted at the Patronato. There is a wilderness convention/fundraiser going on in Merida so there are jaguars all over the town. The kids painted the jaguar for the event but also because once someone buys it, part of the money will go to the organization. I think that is very smart on their part!! Publicity + Fundraising in such a large city.

A stop at a fountain in one of the MANY parks in merida during the city tour.

A beautiful house along the tour...

Another one...

Neal and I sitting in the infamous chairs found in downtown Merida. They are called comprometidos which means engaged. However, we are not engaged! But I think the design is so neat.

Then Thursday night we just laid low at the house. I was planning on taking them to the VIP Theatre so they could experience that, but we were all kind of tired so we decided to spend the night together--just the 4 of us. We went to my favorite pizza place here in Merida that is only a couple blocks from the house, called Koony's. Then we walked back to Oxxo (a convenience store that is across the street from the house) to get some popcorn, pop, and juice for the movie we were going to watch together. That night I became confused about my mom talking about going to "The Hugs and Kisses store". I asked her, mom, what are you talking about!?!? I don't know of a hugs and kisses store and what the heck would it be anyway? And she said, the Oxxo store. And I burst out laughing. I had never thought of it that way since I had only ever known it as "Ox-O". But anyway....that night we made our own couch in the room Neal was staying in at the house by putting the twin bed against a wall and putting the computer on a dresser. Talk about dorm-style living!! We really enjoyed watching Facing the Giants together and especially since Neal had never seen it.