After traveling for much of June, including a trip to my home state of Wisconsin less than two days after returning from Mexico, I’ve now been home for a few days recovering, catching up on the home front (and yard work), resuming my Spanish study, and doing a bit of reading. And, finally, I have some time to reflect intentionally on my Mexican experience. And what an experience it was! Rich, challenging, stimulating, provocative—and possibly even life-changing!
Early—very early!—on the morning of June 10, I joined two others from Denver on the first leg of our travel, flying to Houston for our connecting flight to Mexico City. There we met two others, a mother and daughter from Oklahoma, who joined us on our second flight.
Did you know that the Houston airport must have the cleanest rest rooms of any airport in the world? (This observation, of course, is not based on any actual scientific study.) When we arrived there, looking for a rest room after our flight, we found one almost immediately—and it was closed for cleaning. We were told there was another one nearby, and made a beeline to find it. Success! As we had a long layover, we then took time for lunch (Texas barbecue), followed by another trip to the rest room before our flight. And guess what—it was closed! Finally, though, it reopened, and we were soon in the air again—well, not quite "soon," as we had to wait on the plane for 45 minutes while a radar component was repaired. And, while we waited, a thunderstorm passed through Houston and resulted in another 45 minutes on board due to weather delays.
Approaching Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City) from the air gave us a unique perspective on how enormous the world’s most populous city is! It fills a large mountain valley, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. This photo, taken from a helicopter (I found it on the Internet), gives a glimpse of both the size of the city, and one of its many challenges--keeping the air clean. One estimate is that it would take a minimum of 3 hours to drive from one edge of the city to another; of course, as we quickly learned, travel time to anywhere in Mexico City is always "depending on traffic"—which is overwhelming. (More than once, our group was glad someone else was doing the driving, as it seemed that there were traffic suggestions rather than laws.) Only about 30% of the city’s 26 million residents can afford to own a car—otherwise traffic would be at a constant standstill! (There is inexpensive public transit, but not enough of it.) After arriving at the airport, we obeyed our instructions (good Lutherans that we are) to wait in a specific place—and stood there for two hours! (We were being met by staff of the Lutheran Center, who had incorrect information about our arrival time.)
Eventually, we connected with Pastor Heidi Torgerson—a college and seminary classmate of one member of our group, Pastor Jay McDivitt of Good Shepherd Lutheran in Denver. Along with Pastor Kim Erno, Heidi is an ELCA pastor serving in global mission at the Lutheran Center in Mexico City. Finally, after maneuvering through rush-hour traffic, we arrived at the Center, joining others in our group of 11 who had arrived earlier. We were assigned rooms, and sat down to the first of many delicious authentic Mexican meals. Almost every meal included the staples of the Mexican diet--beans, rice, and fresh, home-made corn tortillas. (After eating them, the store-bought flour tortillas I usually eat are pretty darn bland!)
So, we were in Mexico, and preparing for an adventure. Although we didn’t know exactly what to expect, we did expect to have a profound experience. The group was outstanding—congenial, fun-loving, open to and eager for the experience, and willing to trust that our leaders in Mexico had planned an experience that would be invaluable, while they also cared for our safety.
And so it began—an eight-day immersion that simultaneously passed quickly and seemed to last a long time because of the newness and richness of it all!
Upcoming blog posts will focus more specifically on my learnings and reflections on the experience. So, please, stay tuned for more!
Early—very early!—on the morning of June 10, I joined two others from Denver on the first leg of our travel, flying to Houston for our connecting flight to Mexico City. There we met two others, a mother and daughter from Oklahoma, who joined us on our second flight.
Did you know that the Houston airport must have the cleanest rest rooms of any airport in the world? (This observation, of course, is not based on any actual scientific study.) When we arrived there, looking for a rest room after our flight, we found one almost immediately—and it was closed for cleaning. We were told there was another one nearby, and made a beeline to find it. Success! As we had a long layover, we then took time for lunch (Texas barbecue), followed by another trip to the rest room before our flight. And guess what—it was closed! Finally, though, it reopened, and we were soon in the air again—well, not quite "soon," as we had to wait on the plane for 45 minutes while a radar component was repaired. And, while we waited, a thunderstorm passed through Houston and resulted in another 45 minutes on board due to weather delays.
Approaching Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City) from the air gave us a unique perspective on how enormous the world’s most populous city is! It fills a large mountain valley, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet. This photo, taken from a helicopter (I found it on the Internet), gives a glimpse of both the size of the city, and one of its many challenges--keeping the air clean. One estimate is that it would take a minimum of 3 hours to drive from one edge of the city to another; of course, as we quickly learned, travel time to anywhere in Mexico City is always "depending on traffic"—which is overwhelming. (More than once, our group was glad someone else was doing the driving, as it seemed that there were traffic suggestions rather than laws.) Only about 30% of the city’s 26 million residents can afford to own a car—otherwise traffic would be at a constant standstill! (There is inexpensive public transit, but not enough of it.) After arriving at the airport, we obeyed our instructions (good Lutherans that we are) to wait in a specific place—and stood there for two hours! (We were being met by staff of the Lutheran Center, who had incorrect information about our arrival time.)
Eventually, we connected with Pastor Heidi Torgerson—a college and seminary classmate of one member of our group, Pastor Jay McDivitt of Good Shepherd Lutheran in Denver. Along with Pastor Kim Erno, Heidi is an ELCA pastor serving in global mission at the Lutheran Center in Mexico City. Finally, after maneuvering through rush-hour traffic, we arrived at the Center, joining others in our group of 11 who had arrived earlier. We were assigned rooms, and sat down to the first of many delicious authentic Mexican meals. Almost every meal included the staples of the Mexican diet--beans, rice, and fresh, home-made corn tortillas. (After eating them, the store-bought flour tortillas I usually eat are pretty darn bland!)
So, we were in Mexico, and preparing for an adventure. Although we didn’t know exactly what to expect, we did expect to have a profound experience. The group was outstanding—congenial, fun-loving, open to and eager for the experience, and willing to trust that our leaders in Mexico had planned an experience that would be invaluable, while they also cared for our safety.
And so it began—an eight-day immersion that simultaneously passed quickly and seemed to last a long time because of the newness and richness of it all!
Upcoming blog posts will focus more specifically on my learnings and reflections on the experience. So, please, stay tuned for more!
1 comment:
It sounds like you had a wonderful experience. I'm looking forward to hearing more.
Shane
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