Wednesday at the mission and in Queretaro

This opening video gives you some idea of how fun it was to be at Tacos al pastor every night. We crammed into this little taco stand to share the stories of the day and to continue to build community. And to show off how much we could eat for under $5!

Wednesday was our last morning at the mission. We got up early to have breakfast with the guys, and unfortunately, they had already poured milk on the raisin bran long before we arrived. A minor disappointment. They came and poured fruit loops over the raisin bran, though, so that was fun, and at least those were not soggy. We learned a lot of Spanish from the jovenes at table throughout the week, and they learned at least a little bit of English. Whenever I make these trips, I always promise myself that I will find a tutor and learn the language, but still my Spanish is inadequate. I can get by speaking, but I really don't understand enough when listening. I can't really force myself to watch Univision at home - the programming is too bad! At the end of breakfast, since we couldn't think of a song to sing other than 'you've lost that lovin' feelin'' - which definitely would have run contrary to the operative 'machismo' of the jovenes, we just sang the alma mater and did the Rock Chalk Chant for them. They like it, especially the yells in between each of the chants! Then we said our final goodbyes and the gentlemen went off to school.

Led by Fr. Mike, who wanted to help us return the vans in Queretaro, we went to Colon and picked up our KU women, who were having their own difficulties saying good bye at the Casa. Then we drove an hour and a half into downtown Queretaro, a place which unbeknownst to me, was the site of so much Mexican history. We checked into our hotel, and after having to wait a couple of hours for the guy to come and get the vans, there was time for a short nap, getting caught up on news from home via the free internet available throughout town, and then exploring the beautiful courtyards and churches of Queretaro. It is a city of about a million people but we found a beautiful hostel right downtown which was inexpensive for us.

At around 5, Gabriel from the mission came to Queretaro to give us a tour of the city. He took us to a square where the Mexican war against the Spanish was begun around 1830 I think.

Then he took us to the spot, the convent of Santa Cruz, where the Spaniards fought and won many battles against the Aztecs in 1521. The Franciscans came soon thereafter and began a mission. Santa Cruz convent reflects many of the symbols of the early conversion of the Aztecs to Christianity, including a large stone cross in the church that the was built in imitation of the cross the Aztecs saw in the sky when fighting against the Spaniards.

At Santa Cruz, we were also able to see the tree that produces thorns in exact imitation of the cross of Christ, showing points where his wounds would have been. Legend is that this tree began growing in the convent after a great missionary left his walking stick in the courtyard of the convent. The tree really is impressive and it does not really grow in many places

We were able to see as well, led by Brother Jesus, the parts of the convent that would have been used by the early missionaries, including those who were trained at Queretaro and brought the faith to the United States, like Junipero Serra. I had no idea there was so much history in Queretaro.

Then, after some negotiating with the local Franciscan, they let us have a Mass at Santa Cruz in English by ourselves. We attracted a crowd when they saw Mass was going to take place, but a lot of them left when they realized the Mass would be completely in English!

After leaving the convent, we went for a nighttime view of the city and a look at the great aqueduct that was built to bring fresh water in from the mountains.

Then we headed out for dinner on another perfect evening in Mexico. A lot was learned by all! So far, so good. Everyone is safe and happy! Tomorrow, off to the Basilica!