A Pelican's View: Week 4

Carnival and Church!

Last week we had the chance to attend a Carnival celebration in Merida, which was a great time.  My favorite aspect of life in Mexico and Latin America in general is how much they love family and integrate it into their every part of daily life.  Many of us know that Carnival (or Mardi Gras) has a reputation of being a potentially wild and unhealthy scene.  In Merida, a city that is known in Mexico for its huge Carnival celebration, families pour into the streets for the nightly parade.  Yes, there are women wearing swimsuits on floats.  Yes, there are men wearing what North American guys would deem to be "underwear" on floats.  And yet, the entire scene is a massive, family oriented celebration.  Sound a bit odd?  Yep, it sure is from a North American perspective........but not odd for the beauty of life in Latin America.  I admire so much about how everyone just "does life" together.  

Church last week in Telchac Puerto is another great example.  We're out playing on the playground (or our kids are playing...well, maybe we both are, to be honest) until the bell rings for church at 8 PM on Saturday night.  It's like recess at school, except it's at night and we're waiting for Catholic Church.  The bell rings, everyone goes running into church across the street, and the service begins!  Afterwards, people spill back out into the street, and life continues......

We leave on Wednesday to head back to the States.  What a wonderful experience it's been here in Mexico.  Work, life, family, faith, recreation, and everything else that has run together over the past month has been awesome.  I look forward to spending more time here and all over the world down the road......I'm going to write one last blog entry from this trip from the road before I cross over the border coming back into the States.

Matt and Gina Pfingsten & Family

A Pelican's View: Week 3

Our First "Norte" in Mexico

 

After a couple of weeks of comfortably warm temperatures here in Telchac Puerto, a curious thing happened on Wednesday.  The winds died. The sun blazed.  The clouds left.  It was HOT.  Gina and I both noted that we felt as though we were somewhere closer to the equator.  As we got into the car to head to Merida on Wednesday, and began driving, we both saw it.  The temperature read 96 degrees in the car, and it wasn't dropping. A word to the wise, this is not your Arizona 96 degrees with 10% humidity.  This is 96 degrees with about 70% humidity, making the air temp feel like it's in 110's.  Anyway, hot enough (for someone that loves hot weather) to say, "oh my gosh, it's hot.  I've got to get in the water."

 

Two days later, I'm sitting here writing this blog entry with a long-sleeved thermal shirt, wishing I had thrown on pants instead of shorts today.  That, my friends, is my first experience with a "Norte." I had heard about them, but never experienced it here in Mexico before.  Every once in a while, a system from the North (Norte), makes its way south over the Gulf of Mexico far enough to swipe the good people of the Yucatan. Two days ago all I could think about was getting in the water.  Today I want an extra layer.  There ya have it!

Changing direction a bit (good wind pun), there are no Protestant Churches in Telchac, and just the one Catholic Church.  We haven't seen a big turnout there yet, though we're going to the Saturday night Mass this week.  I ran into a sweet elderly lady named Maria last week at the church, and she said you have to go out of town quite a while to get to another church beyond Telchac Puerto.  From our perspective at home, one church in a town of 2,500 isn't a significant number.  The older I get and the more I see, the more I realize I have to learn.......

Where ever you may be, have a wonderful weekend!

Matt and Gina Pfingsten & Family

A Pelican's View: Week 2

As I sit in front of my computer for what is now becoming a weekly life update from the road (hey, that's almost a blog, isn't it?), my brain strains to grasp where the time as has gone and what's new.  It's remarkable how we as humans adjust to our surroundings and just begin to live life from whatever place we're in.

As of right now, I live in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico with my family and dogs.  We've begun to take once per week trips into Merida or Progreso (a port town) to stock up on a few of the items that aren't available in Telchac Puerto's small shops, much like the locals.

We walk over to the Panaderia (bread shop) every day to pick up our bread, and the ladies there all know my son, Isaiah, by name.  They even save special treats for him.  A loaf of french bread costs 25 cents.  Want a cookie?  That's a nickel or a dime.  We can see the bakers kneading the dough in the back room......

That's just a snippet of what our days are like as we live (and I work) in Telchac Puerto.  All over the world, people are getting up and living life based on their surroundings.  Maybe it's a big office building in the United States.  Maybe it's a small town in Mexico.  What's remarkable (as I sit here and reflect on it this morning) is how little God cares about our environment, and how much He cares about what's going on inside us as people.  He doesn't give a rip about where we live, and I love that.

I love life in the States.  I love Mexico.  Alright, time to stop being mushy and sentimental.  Goodbye for now!

Pfingsten Family

Telchac Puerto, Yucatan

Mexico