Exactly one week from the very hour I am writing this, Andrea and I will be on a flight to Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We are extremely excited, of course! We have kind of been looking forward to this trip for the past year, and finally it is upon us. Before we leave, we have some packing to do, as well as things you would never think about just travelling with your family.
Now I am beginning to realize all that my parents went through when we would go on vacation–bills all paid and up to date, refrigerator clean, house clean, all ministries at church covered, caught up with work, etc. I can never forget before my family would go on vacation the frenzy that my mom would go through just getting the house spotless before we left! I would always think, and sometimes say, “C’mon, we’re leaving this place! Why do we have to clean it if we’re not even going to be here!” She would always say, “I hate coming home to a messy house!” But guess what, I see what she felt like now! My wife has got her little list of things to do before, and sure enough, cleaning is at the top of the list!
Anyways, I am trying to get organized with all of the trip planning things. During the nine day excursion, we stay at three places (two hotels and one bed and breakfast), plan to eat a lot of good food, and see a bunch of neat attractions. I am glad that the actual place we are going is not very “touristy.” It is definitely more of the backwater part of Mexico. I have a few goals listed out that I would like to accomplish while we are there–somewhat in order:
Snorkel in the coral reef
Swim in a cenote (freshwater sinkholes common in the Yucatan Peninsula)
A Cenote less than a mile from where we are staying
Take more pictures than I can count
Spend a lot of time at the Mayan ruins in Tulum
The Ruins of Tulum
Learn more Spanish
Learn to like Mexican food more than I do
Visit an indigenous Mexican church (I know that there are no good churches in Tulum, but I would like to try one out to observe, at least)
And here is Andrea’s list of goals:
Be around the people and culture
Eat tacos
Eat tostadas
Eat tortas
Eat gorditas
Drink Jamaica
Drink jugo de naranja
Actually, I am just kidding about Andrea! Although, I am pretty close…To top everything off, we both look forward to the time we get to spend with each other non-stop. The best vacation in the world with your best friend? Priceless!
When we get back, I plan on doing something that I have never really tried before: compile our pictures and make a video of our trip. I have never really delved into the video editing realm yet, but I have always wanted to. I enjoy graphic editing, so maybe I will like video too! But if I am successful, I plan on posting it right here on Be Instant.
Until then, though, we have seven days ahead of us in the 30-something degree, wet Pennsylvania weather! All the better to look forward to the tropics!
This is where Andrea and I will be in just…45 days now. You say, how can a newly married couple in this recession economy end up on a tropical vacation? Good question! This was supposed to be our honeymoon spot. Almost a year ago, I booked flights and paid for bed and breakfast accommodations: I think it was supposed to be from May 25-June 2. Three weeks before our wedding, though, a little predicament came in our way called Swine Flu. I know, I know, it ended up being a big scare over nothing; but it was a big deal back then, if you can remember. We took some counsel over the whole thing, and instead of taking chances during our honeymoon, we decided to stay in Chicago for the week or so after our wedding. It ended up being perfect, and better than we could have ever expected…especially after what we get now! Two airline tickets and accommodations that I already paid for a year ago!
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico is where our vacation will take us. This old pueblo in the Yucatan Peninsula has about 10,000 people in it, the majority of which still have indigenous Mayan roots. I originally picked Tulum because of its tropical climate, beautiful scenery, very reasonable prices, and overall quiet feel (from what I have read on the internet). Our “casita” is about six miles north of Tulum itself on the coastal road, just 150 feet from the Caribbean Sea! It looks incredible! We are also staying 4 nights in a little “posada” (inn) in the pueblo of Tulum itself–the real Mexico, as Andrea would say. We plan on eating a lot of Mexican food (I trust my wife to find the places that are sanitary/healthy!), seeing a lot of neat things, and enjoying the Mayan Riviera winter (85 degrees, and no rain).
Some attractions we want to see are the Mayan ruins of Tulum (in the picture above), Chichen-itza (one of the seven wonders of the world), cenotes (giant sinkholes of freshwater that are popular to swim in), and the jungle itself–which is practically everywhere that the ocean isn’t. We are so spoiled to be able to go on this trip! We certainly don’t deserve it!
Pastor Chris will be picking us up to take us to the Baltimore/Washington Airport at 3:15am–a little payback, I say, for us having to do the same thing for him and his wife a couple of months ago! Our flight leaves at 5:45am, and after a short layover in Houston, we fly to Cancun, arrive at 11:15am, and drive 2 hours south to Tulum. And I had better stop now–I don’t want to tell the story before we get there! Our hotels have internet, so I bet we will post at least once from Mexico.
Here is a story about a little adventure I took while travelling once.
A year and a half ago, I was on my way to Aguascalientes, Mexico to visit Andrea. The problem was that I had a four and a half hour layover in Mexico City. Now, I had never been in Mexico before, let alone Mexico City (which is the largest metropolitan area on earth). But still, it was FOUR AND A HALF HOURS! I thought I could just hop out of the ‘aeropuerto’ for a bit, see the city square (Zocalo), and get acquainted to the country. I asked two veteran missionaries to Mexico City if that was a good idea or not. Both flat out told me, “No.” Did I care? Believe it or not, yes! I didn’t want to get kidnapped or robbed or killed! However, when I landed at Benito Juarez Airport, the idea all of the sudden sounded good again. So I took a taxi (another bad idea, they said), and told them to take me to the Zocalo. I had read that if you get a certified taxi, you are safe though. I paid the extra and got the certified one. Now, I know just a little bit of Spanish; but I figured as a HUGE multi-cultural city there would be plenty of English-speaking people…not! For the next hour, I walked around, guarded my wallet, and took some pictures.
Then, I did another crazy thing. I wanted to eat some authentic Mexican food, so I looked out for decent looking restaurant. I found one after looking for a little bit just off of the Zocalo. The first surprise was trying to figure out the prices that were on the menu. Here I was, a lonely American in big Mexico City, not knowing 10% of the Spanish that I
At the Los Tacos--my lunch for the day
should have. Then I had to figure out what was on the menu and what it meant. I found something that I had eaten at a Mexican restaurant back home that I liked: Tacos el pastor. I also had to find a drink, without accidently picking some kind of alcohol! It was actually a sit-down and tip style of restaurant, so I had to figure out how to tip my waitress too! However, after finishing my meal and paying, I left thinking I had scored an A+ in my eating experience that day.
The rest of the time I spent looking at the city basilica, the Plaza of Four Cultures, and a few typical Mexican shops. As it started to get close to the time when I had to leave, I was looking for one of those certified taxis again. I looked through seas of cars, and found none—only a bunch of regular taxis. I conjured up in my mind a good idea—if it is a newer looking taxi, they are probably decent people; and if it is an older guy, he probably would not try to rob me. Plus, I would be able to take him down if he tried. After looking for a few minutes, I found one to my liking. He drove me back to the airport in half of the time, and for a quarter of the price of that certified taxi. From there, I took the last leg of my flight to Aguascalientes.
Guarding my carry-on luggage in the square
I arrived and told one of the missionaries about my little adventure. He pretty much told me that it was unwise, and that he would have had to answer to my parents if nothing had been heard of me (ie: robbed, beat up, kidnapped, etc.). I also heard from Andrea what that Tacos el pastor that I ate was: pork. Now here in the states, that is no big deal. But in Mexico, it is a huge mistake to eat pork. There is very often parasites and diseases in them that could make me very sick. On top of that, it is roasted on an open-air rotisserie—similar to gyros.
What an adventure! I honestly had an enjoyable time. Would I do it again? Absolutely: but maybe with a little bit more caution…maybe!
By early August of 2007, Andrea was teaching in Mexico, and I knew perhaps the most difficult year in college was going to be my junior year. A small part of me had a difficult time returning to college without Andrea there. Our little relationship had grown in the few months we had been together. We communicated a few times a week via a Vonage telephone line, and after her being in Mexico just a month, I felt like I had a little connection to that place because of her.
One of the important things to all returning dormitory students at Fairhaven is who your roommates are going to be for the year. I mean, you are going to be living with that person for eight months or so! I remember calling friends just before college to see who they were with, and then I remember hearing who mine were…
Count It All Joy
Dustin Speckhals, Julian Balatbat, and Nathan Rader—those were the names on the dorm assignment list for Room #2: Ed Weimer Men’s Dormitory. Julian was someone on the basketball team with me who I knew at the time just a little, and Nate was a missionary kid from Vallegrande, Bolivia in South America who came to study for a year after finishing his church’s Bible Institute on the field. What friends they turned out to be, and continue to be to this day! I could not have had better friends and roommates.
Like always, the fall semester began with the Stewardship Banquet and Fall Push. College orientation was in the brand new dining hall for the first time that year, but something was a bit unusual. Mrs. Leslie, Andrea’s mother and the long time Dean of Women at Fairhaven, was feeling sick and was not able to attend the orientation. From what I remember, she continued to not feel well for the next week, and went to the hospital on September 11 to find out what was wrong. That night, Andrea called me with a saddened and heavy heart: her mom had cancer that tended to be terminal. For the next year and a half, she battled that cancer. I know that the Leslie family’s life was changed from then on; for the better and to the Glory of God. For her battle with cancer, Mrs. Leslie gave numerous testimonies of how God had worked revival in her heart. I also knew that Andrea was in Mexico, and would have a little harder time with it compared to the rest of her family. God would certainly work in the coming months through answered prayer and biblical miracles.
I don’t remember too much else from that September, except for a smooth Zoo Day (which is always a blessing and a half!) and a severe drop in our bus’s attendance after the campaign. God would change that, though. By late October, it seemed as if our bus had hit the doldrums. No new families were being contacted, and spirit of the kids was dropping at the same time. It was about that time I remember hearing a sermon on simple faith that God can do anything. We had hit the low point in early November when a family that helped on our bus was scheduled to bring jello cups for a treat. They told us on Saturday that they had made 50 cups. We laughed to ourselves and said, “We’ll never have that many…maybe 30 riders at the most!” I believe God was building our trust in Him. That Sunday, “out of no where” 53 came to church! From then on, our bus never looked back, praise God! People were being saved and baptized, as well as the blessing of good attendance. I loved seeing God do that, and I truly enjoyed my Junior year in southwest Gary on Bus #101!
The Candy Sale at Fairhaven Baptist Academy is something to behold. Twice a year, preschoolers all the way up to twelfth graders try to sell chocolate to win a few rewards here and there and help keep school tuition low (amongst the lowest in the nation in private Christian schools, I believe). Those in college may help a family in the academy if they wish—hey, and you get a day off of school too! I was able to help one staff member’s family all four years of college; so that would be eight times total, I think. It is a joy to go out with a six or seven year old for a day and help them meet there goal. This may sound crazy, but I even learned some things from it too!
In mid-November, we had a mission agency representative (that most of us knew) in to preach a couple of chapel services. I have always loved his preaching, and I would say he is one of my favorite preachers also. After one message, he asked for a couple of college men to accompany him to a church to help him present the work of his board. It happened to be a free day for me, so I asked if I could go with him. It also happened to be one of the most profitable times for me in college. Ironically, the same mission agency that he was representing was also the one that hired Andrea to be the teacher for their language school in Mexico. It was a four-hour one way trip to that church in northern Michigan; but the time flew by. The representative, another college student, and I talked about missions basically the whole time. We spoke of David Livingstone, Adoniram Judson, and many others. He inspired me to read more missionary biographies, one of which is a favorite of mine now: Daktar: Diplomat to Bangledesh. It all happened on my birthday too—what a gift!
My third year of the Christmas Lights activity came in early December, like usual. Five friends and I ventured to Gino’s East of Chicago for a ‘delicioso’ version of the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. I had no idea that at that same corner of Gino’s East—18 months from then I would be making wonderful memories with my wife on our honeymoon taking pictures and eating (of course!). We had a great time together with just five guys. We got to see some $800 dollar a night hotel rooms, drink a way-overpriced coffee at Starbucks, and watch the snow fly of course! Some of the students that year were a bit disappointed, though, because the activity was cut short by an hour so we could have dessert and some entertainment back at school. That was fun, but I think we all liked the time in Chicago better…so we switched back to normal the next year.
Christmas Break of my junior year was full of memories. Andrea had four and a half weeks off from school, so she was able to fly back from Mexico and spend Christmas at home. She came and spent a few days with my family also in Michigan, where we went sledding, ate at the world-famous Zendher’s of Frankenmuth, MI, and got to know each other a lot more. On the day after Christmas, I went with Andrea’s family to take Mrs. Leslie to the hospital for her fourth chemotherapy treatment. Before that, we spent time walking around downtown Chicago and enjoying the Christmas season. What a wonderful time that was to spend with the family!
A Christmas Day surprise: the moment I walked in the door
The second semester began two weeks before Andrea was to fly back to Mexico…so for that time, I was not a ‘single’ college student! During the rest of the semester, we were apart! Andrea flew back in the middle of January, and I knew I would miss her even more than before (yes, I know, I tried not to be too ‘mushy’!). However, I still had the two greatest roommates I could ask for. We all got along GREAT. I don’t remember a time we got into a real argument. I was a room captain, but never had to use my room captain position over them. They followed college guidelines, worked hard, had a great attitude, and were truly seeking after God. We enjoyed going out places together too…whether it was George’s Gyro Spot, a Wal-Mart trip, a hike in the dunes, playing racquetball, or just hanging out in the room (which had to be stopped sometimes; we would get going and never get anything done!). Then we had our “fourth roommate” that year—Tyler Brock from Rapid City, SD. He didn’t sleep in our room, but was basically there during any other free time!
Now before you think we are weirdo's all wearing the same shirt, think again. This was a hilarious coincidence that happened: one Sunday evening after church, we all came back to the dorm to change and play basketball, I think. None of us knew that we had the same shirts, and none of us were in the room while the other was changing either. Eventually, Julian, Nate, Tyler, and I ended up talking in the room, when Tyler started laughing hysterically (the “Tyler Laugh” as we called it) and said we were all wearing the same shirt. We thought that was funny, so Tyler took this picture of my roommates and me.
Another goofy thing we did that year was celebrate Cinco de Mayo. None of us are Mexicans, but we all had some connection to Mexico, we thought (Dustin’s girlfriend was in Mexico, Julian looks Mexican [he’s really Filipino], and Nate talks like he’s Mexican [he spoke Spanish fluently as a missionary in Bolivia]). So we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by wearing the colors of the Mexican flag on our respective ties during classes that day: a red, a white, and a green one.
I mentioned in a previous post that I was able to be on Fairhaven’s intercollegiate basketball team all four years in college. I definitely was not the best player on the team, or even close to it. I guess my motto was “Leave it all on the court.” Put your all into practice, put even more into the game, and work hard. Our team was never “great,” and we knew we never would be overflowing with talent—we were preacher boys, not all-stars! We always tried to put up a good fight on the court. We never wanted to leave feeling we had not given our all. Our coach often emphasized the idea of “riding the bubble,” which I learned is not just a basketball principle. You need to make the opponent think you are crazy; by that he meant dive for every loose ball, be super-aggressive, and show strength—but never to the point where you lose your head, make stupid fouls, or get a technical foul. Ride the bubble of “insanity” as much as you can, but never pop that bubble. My junior year of playing was the most exciting. We had a good number of close games, a good record, and the “Revenge of the Snowman” game (a story for yet another post!). Sometimes I didn’t like how my coaches pushed me, but now I realize why. I believe that their pushing me not only made me a better player, but a better person also.
Wow, the ’07-’08 year was packed! For Spring Break in 2008, I was able to go to Mexico and visit Andrea. I loved the time I spent there, and appreciated everyone’s hospitality to me. Everything was eye-opening and extremely interesting to me. I loved learning about their culture and even the language some. God used that trip in my life to give me more of burden for foreign missions also, on top of getting to see Andrea.
I returned in early April after eight days south of the border. When I returned, I realized how fast the semester had gone. We were already in the last several weeks of school, and the Preaching Conference was in just two weeks. Hebrew History was probably the class with the most work. We were required to outline over the course of two semesters the entire books of the Bible from Genesis to Esther. For most of us, we had over 100 pages a piece, with some much more. The Kings Project (I Samuel to II Chronicles) ended up being the most dreaded piece of the whole puzzle. By the end of the year, however, we all gained a lot of knowledge from Hebrew History.
Overall, my grades were doing fine, but I know now that my spiritual life was lacking then. Thank God, Preaching Conference came right when I needed it most. God greatly worked on my heart for the few months following in areas mainly focusing around always putting Him first: in devotion, in service, and in prayer. God worked through His Word and revived me during a critical time: I was beginning to realize how soon I would be done with school and how serious I had to be about serving Him after college. It would never come “naturally” because of what I had learned so far in college. It had to come by putting the Lord first in EVERYTHING. During our end-of-the-year college activity at Turkey Run State Park, God also worked on my heart. During a testimony time in the evening, and then the bus trip home talking with other students, I was convicted about just how serious I had to be in order to be effective for our Savior. I was on a spiritual high coming out of college, and it was not about to stop either.
A few other male students and I were invited to go with an evangelist from Fairhaven to basically knock on doors for twelve days straight. I was able to take the days off of work and head up to London, Ontario, Canada. God put a serious burden in my heart during that time as well. Half-way through our trip, I began to LOVE knocking on doors and witnessing to people with a new passion. It was a true joy to see a few people saved during that church’s revival meetings, and know that God was all in it. With all that, I stayed with a family that was about as hospitable as can be. The whole church was a blessing to my heart during that short time.
God had prepared my heart and life during the last few months to fully surrender to His will. I believe with all of my heart that I would not be where I am today if it was not for the revival God worked in my heart that spring and summer. There I was, heading into my last year of college. Some of the biggest decisions of my life were ahead of me in the coming year: marriage, a place to serve, and finishing strong. It was to be a fruitful and exciting senior year to come.
n sounded good again. So I took a taxi (another bad idea, they said), and told them to take me to the Zocalo. I had read that if you get a certified taxi, you are safe though. I paid the extra and got the certified one. Now, I know just a little bit of Spanish; but I figured as a HUGE multi-cultural city there would be plenty of English-speaking people…not! For the next hour, I walked around, guarded my wallet, and took some pictures.
