Monday, February 28
     We awoke to a hot and sunny day. Upon arriving at the ruins we were met by Abi´s cousin, Miguel. Coming from Mayan descent he had a lot to say about the buildings and structures around us. We learned about the positioning of the main temple and how it is aligned to the sun and the points on a compas. We also learned about the Mayan calendar. As it turns out they didn´t predict the world will end in 2012, the calendar will recycle itself and start over, so there´s no need to panic about the universe exploding anytime soon. With some help from Abi we managed to buy a few suveniers to take home.

The cenote, or, for lack of a better explaination, giant hole in the ground, right across the street was, apparently, the place to be. The parking lot was filled with tour buses and we were afraid we might not get to jump as much as we´d like. However, everyone there was very friendly, cheering on total strangers to ¨¡Salta!¨ After we got our fill of belly flops and bright, red, burning skin we returned to the hotel to, again, relax by the pool for the afternoon. We have a long day of traveling ahead of us for tomorrow. We are very excited to come back and see our friends and family, but we are sad to say goodbye new friends and family and the bright, warm sun. ¡Adios Mexico! - Alex Levi

Sunday, February 27
     This morning we bid farewell to our last host families. We attended the church service at la iglesia en Hopelchen. Pastor Franciso graciously invited Lizziye to play a song on her ukelele, Michael to play a song on the piano, Patrick to collect the offering and Sam to lead us in communion. A delicious lunch was prepared for us following the service. We enjoyed one final meal with our new found family and the goodbyes only took about an hour. The van ride to the hotel Dolores Alba went by quickly when everyone was taking a nap. We spent the rest of our Sabboth time swimming and relaxing. All were very excited to see what was in store for us at the ruins. - Alex Levi

Friday, February 26
Yesterday, we finished painting the inside of the church. Lunch was amazing as usual! We had fried fish and sour orange juice.

Then we went to see some Mayan ruins. THEY WERE SO COOL! We walked up the steps of some of the temples. We saw several robust iguanas. And engaged in interesting conversations about musicals and life under a tree.

Then we reboarded the van and made our way to Hopelchen. For dinner, we ate at the mayor´s house. The food was delicious and colorful. Also, we enjoyed soda de fresa (strawberry soda). After dinner, we went for a walk into town where a large celebration was being held for the 52nd anniversary of Hopelchen. Una celebracion muy grande!

The mighty mayan awards went to Michael for trying new foods and Caroline for "reaching new heights" while painting. The night was very fun (fue divertido)!

So far, today, we have painted a church here in Hoplechen. And eaten an amazing lunch of free range chicken and noodles covered in a delicious sauce. Right now, we are back at our host´s house (the mayor). We are taking showers and a short siesta fiesta before returning to town to check out the different (but so yummy) foods they sell here in the supermarket! Hasta luego! - Caitlin Bailey

Wednesday, February 23
     The warm Campeche sun woke us up around seven and we congregated for breakfast in the hotel, after which we headed straight to la iglesia for the days work. Upon arriving, we noticed the overall grandness of the builing and were afraid that we wouldn`t be able complete our task of painting the inside. We set right to work, using several tools to spread the warm, yellow paint on the rough walls. Some of our group ventured up the rickety scaffolding in order to get to the hightest parts of the walls. It was a very friendly atmosphere as the group began mingling with the church members, laughing, painting, and trying to combine each others knowledge of Spanish and English to form conversations. An amazing lunch was served just as we were about to collapse from fatigue and revived us for another few hours of painting. We came to the church with it a sullen grey and left it a welcoming yellow. We enjoyed a festive dinner with music and great food and then split up to our respective host familys` homes. I think that everyone would agree that it was a very successfull day in Campeche.  - Alex Levi

Tuesday, February 22
     ¡Hola de Campeche! We departed from Syracuse at 7 a.m. After a short delay in Philidelphia we managed to get to Cancun around 2. An early buffet style dinner left everyone in good spirits for the rest of the long car ride ahead. We arrived safely at the Hotel Américana around 9:30 p.m. That`s 10:30 New York time. Caitlin was awarded with the "Mighty Mayan", instead of the "tortuga" (left in Old Forge) for conquering her first flight. We regressed to our rooms for a full night of much needed sleep. Tomorrow`s much anticipated events will hopefully be enough to get us out of bed in the morning! - Alex Levi

On Monday night, arriving in Syracuse for a meal together, the 2011 LAMPers took a moment to have a group picture taken before going to host homes.  Keep them all especially in your prayers this week.

On arrival the first night in Campeche, Amy Bartel reported on the group:
We had a good day despite an unexpected wait on the plane in Philly...there were delayed passengers that we waited for, then had to be de-iced.  But we found our driver, Abi, just fine in Cancun, enjoyed a good meal in Piste, and finally made it here at about 9:15 to the hotel.  We solved the dilemma of the missing tortuga for nightly awards by purchasing a necklace in Piste that has a small Mayan charm on it, so it has become the mighty Mayan award.