Hello! My name is Rebekah, and I am a senior criminal justice and applied intelligence dual major. I am one of the two student leaders for the Merida ABST this year, and this is my second ABST experience. 

Today started with a walk to a local coffee shop, and breakfast at Casa Blanca. We made some toast, eggs and had fresh cut mango to fuel us for the day. At 8 a.m., Jose picked us up to drive us to Nueva Vida for some work. The group split up to do gardening, painting and organizing clothes and other items for their “bazaar.”  We also painted the trunks of the trees at Nueva Vida with a limestone wash, which helps protect them against bugs and fungi that will kill them. After our work was done, we danced to some Shakira with the staff of Nueva Vida, played limbo, then sat down to enjoy lunch together. Lunch today was sopa de Lima, a traditional Yucatecan dish. After lunch, we returned to Casa Blanca for some much-needed rest. 

Later, we embarked on a night on the town. We walked to Parque La Plancha, one of the city parks. There, we walked around a bit to see some different areas of the large park. There were many little restaurants, at least three different playgrounds, a splash park and a gorgeous fountain. Around the perimeter of the park is a walkway and bike path that many people run, skate or bike on. This park also has a train museum, so many of the little restaurants around were in train cars, including the one we got gelato from! We ate dinner in the food court, played in the park with Azucena’s son then walked back to hit the hay. 

Today was a great day of hard work and community, not just within the group, but with the Mission of Friendship as well. We are so grateful to be here and cannot wait to continue this journey together.