Merida Mexico Temple
May 8, 2018
It all started last December after I had visited my 23rd temple for the year. I got the idea to make the 24th one a “wild-card” temple. I pulled up a random number generator on my phone and put in the range from 1 to 160, the then current total number of operating temples in the world. I’d let my phone decide where in the world I’d go for my 24th temple.
Within seconds it pulled up number 93. The 93rd temple put into operation is in Mérida, Mexico (pronounced “Meh-rid-uh”.) I checked the round-trip airfares and they ran a little over $500. So I put it in an airfare watchlist and decided to make the trip in 2018.
Yesterday was my 60th birthday. I’m thrilled to be making the trip as a birthday celebration. This may in fact turn into an annual tradition as I continue to visit temples around the world.
The Adventure Begins…
I first flew to Atlanta on Delta Airlines. I love their soft seats and the fact they give out free snacks and Fresca. Now, in the international terminal there, a live band is playing. They were so good our flight attendants stopped to take photos…
The cab ride to the temple was only $10. I thought the temple was outside of town on the hill and was quite large. It turns out it’s in the middle of a city block and it’s somewhat smaller. The temple is still magnificent though.
The guy who took the photo of me in front of the temple was named Paul. He rode up to the temple on his bike to begin his shift just after I had arrived there. He helped me on the session and afterwards we struck up a great friendship.
The session was of course in Spanish and I enjoyed wearing a headset. There are beautiful murals inside the temple and it’s really an elegant place.
Before the session I went next-door to the seminary/institute building and met some people.
The flowers outside on the grounds were beautiful!
I also got a kick of seeing the Mexican flag flying on the property.
There’s a wonderful spirit inside of a temple regardless of who’s there. These people were really helpful and I totally enjoyed the Spanish language.
This is my eighth temple this year (but technically it’s my 24th and final temple for last year.)
When I arrived at the airport I loved seeing the Johnny Rockets restaurant here. I ate there tonight for dinner.
Many times when I’ve had early-morning flights the next day, I’ve just spent the prior night sleeping at the airport. I thought I could do that here, given that my flight the next morning left at 6 AM for Mexico City.
I was wrong. This airport isn’t very big; consequently the last flight coming in was at midnight and the first one going out was at 6 AM. So they shut the airport down from 12 AM until 4 AM. That presented a problem…
That’s no big deal except that means yours truly doesn’t have a place to sleep. I didn’t want to pay for a cab ride to a hotel that I would only use for two hours before I had to get up and pay for another cab ride to get back to the very place that I was currently standing at.
I’m not sure walking around looking like a tourist is a good idea after midnight on the streets of Merida either. And I can’t stay at the airport because they’re closing it down. What I need is a four hour hide out.
Meet my hideout. I spotted it when I went on a walk around 11 PM to just survey the area. See the skinny area between the white building and the chain-link fence that is dwarfed by the bamboo? Perfect place to hide away for a few hours because it’s dark and is actually on the airport property.
It’s about 2 feet wide. It’s about 20 feet long. Shortly after midnight I took my backpack, walked down the length of the front of the airport building, cut across the street of the parking lot and disappeared in that dark spot.
That would be my hideout for the next 4 1/2 hours. I put my hoodie on, pulled the strings tied around my face, and laid down on my back on the natural bamboo leaves that had fallen next to the building.
I told myself for hours this might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. It’s on government property. Government property that’s officially closed. When I arrived earlier in the day at this airport there were an off a lot of policeman with substance-sniffing dogs going through all the luggage. If one policeman walks his dog at night, that dog’s going to sniff me out like I’m raw hamburger. I could then possibly get arrested and put in jail–which is not why I went to Mexico in the first place.
Once I lied down, all was quiet, which is a good sign. I then started to scan the bamboo for snakes, spiders, small monkeys, iguanas, ants, and anything else that might be slithering around. After all, this is the jungle in the middle of the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico.
It wasn’t the most comfortable bed in the world, but it felt great to actually lie down after sitting inside the airport in the chairs for about four hours.
I would sleep for little while then wake up. If it rained I was OK; the bamboo would protect me. I was worried about mosquitoes and ants.
I laid as still as I possibly could without making a sound for 4 1/2 hours. And I actually got some rest.
Somewhere around 4 AM the birds start chirping. All kinds of birds making strange sounds. And somewhere around 4:30 some kind of an animal made a screech at some other animal that scared the living daylights out of me. It happened at the end of the branches by the roadway. It sounded like a small leopard calling off another leopard before it pounced on a baby gazelle.
Needless to say I was ready to leave. I quickly stood up, grabbed my backpack, brushed the leaves off my back, and walked out onto the street like I owned the place. Sure enough automobiles were pulling up and dropping people off at the airport entrance. I walked about 500 feet and slipped right into the crowd. Once inside the building my worries were over!
At 6 o’clock we took off for Mexico City, then went on to Detroit, then finally back home to Baltimore. I took this shot somewhere between Mexico City and Detroit. IT WAS GREAT!!! It was a birthday I would never forget!
