Block by block: Building a church on the Yucatan Peninsula
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- Published on 14 February 2013
- Written by Terry Towery
The author, Terry Towery, with two youngsters from a tiny Mayan village where a group of Peorians work each year during a mission trip.
By this time next Thursday, I'll be hot and sweaty and wondering, yet again, just what in God's name I've gotten myself into. If all goes as planned, I will be working with a group of mostly Peorians alongside a group of Mayans building a tiny church in the jungle village of Nuevo Durango, about 100 miles inland from Cancun, Mexico, on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Brown-skinned Mayan children with the biggest, most beautiful black eyes you've ever seen will be scampering happily underfoot. It appears the only word they know in English is "Gringo." But they say it lovingly, we think, so it's all good. Still, it's no party. There are few, if any, modern tools in the jungle. We do it old-school, mixing concrete by hand, breaking big boulders into small boulders using picks with handles fashioned from trees the Mayans cut down in the surrounding jungle, and laying concrete blocks. It's stunning, really, how such a tiny structure can be composed of so many blocks. My back hurts just thinking about it.
(Photos courtesy of Terry Towery)
This will be the seventh consecutive year the group has spent a week toiling under the hot tropical sun alongside Mayans who speak little or no English and eat things that makes your skin crawl. Their specialty is some kind of black bean soup with a massive steamed chicken foot sticking out of it. Yum. A couple of years ago, they made us tortillas filled with cheese and the meat of a jungle mole that had the misfortune of wandering into the village one morning. (Not wanting to hurt their feelings, I took one bite and "accidentally" dropped my tortilla on the ground. A real shame, that was...)
This will be my sixth consecutive mission trip. And honestly, Fear Factor food and sore muscles aside, I wouldn't miss it for the world. A group of eighteen, most of us members of Peoria's Northminster Presbyterian Church, will board our plane at 6 a.m. Saturday bound for Cancun. We arrive at the Cancun International Airport mid-afternoon on Saturday, where we are met by our hosts, Wilian and Erly Cen Colli of the Yucatan Peninsula Mission.
Wilian is Mexican (as opposed to Mayan) and is a Presbyterian pastor who oversees about 20 tiny village churches throughout the Yucatan for YPM, which is headquartered in the U.S. His wife, Erly, is the daughter of a minister on the nearby island of Cozumel. Wilian's English is touch-and-go, but Erly is fluent in Spanish, English and Mayan, and she translates between the three languages all week.
For the record, they are two of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
We stay at the YPM facility in the Mexican village of Leona Vicaro, about 40 miles inland as the crow flies from Cancun. The place where we stay is known locally as "The Gringo Hotel," again said lovingly (we think). The cinderblock facility has come a long way since we first went down in 2007, and is now painted a pleasing lemon yellow. It's surrounded by high security walls, beautiful pink climbing flowers, palms, and orange and lemon trees. We sleep on either cots or hammocks homemade in the village. Personally, I go for a cot since my back balks at the hammock after a day or two of work. Our meals, all local fare, are made there at the facility by a mother-and-daughter team, Mary and Terri. If they aren't the best cooks in the world, they are darned close. No jungle moles or chicken feet in their meals, thank you very much.
We rest on Saturday, go to one of the tiny village churches for services on Sunday and spend the remainder of the day reading and/or walking around Leona Vicario, which is so very poor. It's stunning to realize how people live only a relatively few miles from Cancun, one of the world's nicest vacations spots. Most people in Leona Vicario (many of whom work in Cancun's tourist trade for very little money) live in bamboo huts with tin roofs that have few, if any, modern amenities. Electricity and paved roads are still rare, although the village has made vast improvements over the past few years.
Starting on Monday, we get up early, eat a light breakfast and pile into two large panel vans for our hour-and-a-half trip through the scrubby jungle to our little Mayan village. We work for about seven hours, taking breaks every hour to prevent sunstroke, and head back around four in the afternoon. Once back at the Gringo Hotel, we take quick showers (thankfully we got warm water a couple of years back) and gather for our dinner feast. Afterward, we spend some time with the village kids, either singing, making crafts or playing games. No television or computers, although one year they surprised us by renting a flat-screen TV and we watched the Super Bowl and all of the commercials in Spanish. It was great fun and totally hilarious.
Around 9 p.m., a group of us head up on the roof of the facility and enjoy a good late-night cigar under the most beautiful tropical sky I've ever seen. Those evenings rank among the best of my life.
On Thursday, the day that's always hardest for me because I am by then totally exhausted, we stop working around noon and spend the afternoon with our Mayan friends. We visit and play games with the children. Sometimes, we ride the zip line the villagers operate as a tourist attraction. It goes over a very deep jungle gorge and, well, let's just say there's no OSHA overseeing safety conditions down there. Each year we take our Mayan friends suitcases earmarked for each individual family, stuffed with clothes, toys for the kids and toiletries. These are items generously donated by our church members, things they don't need nor want. But the look on the faces of the grateful Mayans when they receive what are essentially our castoffs is so touching we are often moved to tears. It's humbling to think how good we have it here, no matter our station in life.
After tearful goodbyes, we head back and crash after dinner and cigars. Friday is OUR day, the one day of the week we allow ourselves some selfish fun. In years past, we have toured Mayan ruins and visited a tropical island off the coast, where we swim in the Caribbean and drink coffee and smoke cigars at beautiful outdoor cafes dotting the narrow, cobbled streets. Saturday, we say our goodbyes to Wilian, Erly, Mary and Terri for another year and head off to the airport for the trip back. Bruised and battered, we are always glad to be home. But always, we think of next year.
We are hardly the only group of locals who do this sort of thing. I'm proud to say that central Illinoisans do mission work such as this far more often than most believe. From Haiti to Central America to the Yucatan, as well as places within the United States, you can find Peorians working hard to help those less fortunate. We are a very generous and giving city.
This year's team members, besides me, are: Bob and Connie Brandow, Doug Love, Lizzie DeHeer and Jim Witmer, all of Peoria; Andy Fograscher of Lacon; Luke Harvey of Chillicothe; Chris and Mary Kerr of Morton; Northminster Pastor Mike Shirey of Peoria Heights; Jay and LeeAnn Glatz, and Ric Fritz of Dunlap; Marcy Fritz of Osage Beach, Mo.; Valerie Daly of Ohio; and A.J. and Marlene LaSota of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
I'll write a follow-up when we return. On a personal note, I would strongly encourage everyone to think about stepping out of your comfort zones and sign up for an overseas mission trip. There are few things in life so rewarding.
PHOTO CAPTIONS: A bucket line is formed as the Peorian mission team mixes concrete that is used to pour the floors and ceilings of a church it is building on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Terry Towery, left and Jim Wittmer, members of the Peoria mission team building a church in a Mayan village, spending time with their buddy known as Pistol Pete. He is called that because no one in the Peoria group can pronounce hi Mayan name. The pistol he is holding is, by the way, a toy.
Our Favorite Things: Movies Based on Books
- Details
- Published on 13 February 2013
- Written by Kevin Kizer
“Our FavoriteThings” is a new feature here at the Peorian where we poll our murder* of writers weekly about their favorite things. To kick off this new feature, we went with an easy question: What is your favorite movie that’s based on a movie, novel or short story? Check out our writers’ responses and see if your favorite(s) made the list.
Oh, and very soon, dear readers, we will be throwing these questions your way. We really do care about your opinions. You can trust us. We’re not like all those other publications. They just tell you what you want to hear then take off with another reader while you’re sitting at the bar thinking you’ve connected with someone. So stay tuned…
* our writers, like a group of crows, are considered a “murder”
Kevin Kizer
As an unabashed book nerd, I have a list a mile long including the likes of Sometimes A Great Notion and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but I think I will go with a rather obscure film called The Last Time I Committed Suicide starring the young Thomas Jane and Adrien Brody, along with a mediocre Keanu Reeves. It’s based on a letter from Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac written in a spontaneous prose style that altered Kerouac’s approach to writing, ultimately manifesting itself in On The Road which just came out on screen in 2012.
Timothy Wyman
This is an easy and tough question all at the same time. I easily could have gone with The Godfather, Scarface, or Goodfellas and no one could or would argue. However, I must say given how big of a fan I am of the book and its use of the language, I am voting for The Lord of the Rings. From the groundbreaking cinematography to the exceptional legion of actors to the remarkable storytelling ability that Jackson demonstrated on film make it my choice.
Matt Richmond
First of all, just want to thank Kevin for not specifying that this must be about a movie made from a book we have actually read. I mean, I read stories and everything; it’s just that they’re mostly Karate Kid fan fiction (http://www.fanfiction.net/movie/Karate-Kid/). Having said/written that, I’ve never read The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, but the movie version, Adaptation, has to qualify as, if not the most faithful adaptation of a written work (I wouldn’t know), probably the most inspired. And least inspired. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s struggles play out in parallel with the story he is adapting, creating an odd, brooding meditation on movies, writing, love, anxiety and disappointment. You know, great, sprawling, New Yorker stuff.
Paul Gordon
This is a no brainer: The Godfather. Not only was it a classic, well-written novel but the movie was one of the best ever made. It was amazing how closely they were able to follow the novel considering how long the book is. The actors in the film captured what I envisioned the characters of the novel to be in such realistic fashion. And the baptism scene will always be one of my all-time favorites.
Kate O’Hara
A favorite movie of mine is the 1998 What Dreams May Come, starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr., and authored by Richard Matheson. A classic tale of eternal love, it is memorable to me in spite of that storyline rather than because of it. Matheson’s articulation of heaven and hell and life after death is captivating, even more so when knowing his storytelling relies on years of research and not creativity alone. Regardless of whether one would agree with the premise, I felt the movie created a beautiful and dramatic visualization of the concept.
Shaun Taylor
My favorite movie that's based on a book is Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Kind of cheesy I know, but I love the whole historical fiction genre. I'm also a huge Tom Hanks fan AND I thought Ewan McGregor did a pretty solid job in his role as a power hungry priest. As often time is the case, I prefer the book but I also enjoyed this movie.
Christoph Traugott
Any movie based on a novel will invariably be a disappointment, either such will leave huge sections out or lightly dance over segments requiring a deep-introspective view, and yet still fail to grasp the epic-sweeping narrative, or fail to convey non-visual thought processes.The one film that comes closest is John Irving's The World According to Garp, but even it jumps through history on super fast-forward.
In Walter Kirn's Up in the Air, which tells the story of a singular ultra-traveler who visits a new city every day, such becomes a test case of the impossible-to-translate-into-a-visual-medium. The Up in the Air screenwriters sensed so much choosing to rearrange, to reshuffle the deck, while keeping the basic essence intact. Up in the Air is a very different film from the book, a retelling, yet it manages to be a good film, unto itself. It wasn't an adaption, as those never really seem to work, but sometimes, good paraphrases can become their own parallel universes, existing side by side, harming neither.
Terry Towery
As a writer, I’ve always been firmly in the “never judge a book by its movie” camp. But there’s an exception, one shining instance where the film was almost as good as the novel. In fact, some would argue the film was superior, but that’s just Hollywood nonsense talk. Yes, I’m talking about The Godfather. I was 14 years old when Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece was released. And like most people, I rushed out to see it. But the complex plot and the Italian words left me, shall we say, confused. Ah, but then I bought the novel by Mario Puzo and just like that, I was hooked.
Editor's Note: Since we already showed The Godfather trailer, here's the trailer to The Godfather II.
A Pipeline Everyone’s Happy About: Peoria's Basketball Pipeline
- Details
- Published on 11 February 2013
- Written by Dr. Tim Cundiff
Peoria is synonymous with basketball. Basketball is synonymous with Peoria. Because of this, there is an unofficial pipeline between Peoria and our state’s university in Champaign. On this week’s “The Journey” – a feature program on the Big Ten Network – this pipeline is highlighted.
You won’t want to miss this wonderful depiction of the recent history of nearly 20 continuous years of a representative on the Fighting Illini men’s basketball lineup hailing from the Heart of Illinois. Interviews include former Illini Jerry Hester, current Illini DJ Richardson and WEEK/WHOI-TV’s Jim Mattson. This segment can be seen in the first 15 minutes of the program, which is airing various times throughout the week.
The Peoria segment comes right after an in-depth look at the Indiana Hoosiers victory over the Michigan Wolverines on Groundhog’s Day. A victory that put the Hoosiers into the #1 spot in the country, only to be upended by the aforementioned Illini this past Thursday. That’s the way the ball bounces.
It’s been a wild year in college hoops and it’s not even March! Just ask Notre Dame and Louisville who battled for five overtimes until the Irish squeezed out the hard-fought victory. Saturday’s marathon game was one for the record books as it was the longest game in Big East regular season history. If you’re struggling to find the connection with this historic Big East hardwood battle with the Peoria Pipeline, that’s probably because you are thinking about the players on the court. Savvy hoops fan might have noticed that during numerous timeouts throughout the five extra periods, as the referees met to discuss a close call or review the replay, a woman was often on camera sitting at the scorer’s table. That woman was Monica Cundiff, Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Notre Dame. Cundiff, also, was (and is) a part of the Peoria Pipeline as she went from Spalding High School to Assembly Hall playing for the women’s basketball Illini team back in the early 1990s.
This certainly brings the story full circle. And it’s true; when it comes to basketball, all roads do lead to Peoria. Well, at least Interstate 74. To learn more about this pipeline from P-Town to Urbana-Champaign, watch “The Journey” this week on Big Ten Network. Check your local listings.
A Short Story; A Long History: Lincoln's Farewell to Illinois
- Details
- Published on 12 February 2013
- Written by Ken Zurski
“This is my literary bureau,” said president-elect Abraham Lincoln as he handed a “well-filled” satchel to Mrs. Grimsley, daughter of Dr. John Todd, who happened to be Lincoln’s wife Mary’s uncle.
It was early February 1861 and Lincoln had stopped by the doctor’s home (said to be one of the largest in Springfield) just days before traveling by train to Washington D.C. and begin his term as the 16th President of the United States. He asked Mrs. Grimsley to keep the bureau in her charge. It contained writings and lectures and if he returned to Springfield he would claim them again. “But if not,” Lincoln said, “please dispose of its contents as deemed proper.”
A friend of Lincoln’s, Dr. Samuel Houston Melvin was also present that day. He remembers: “A tone of indescribable sadness was noted in the later part of (Lincoln’s) sentence”
Melvin’s concerns for his friend were warranted. A few days before Lincoln had shown Melvin several letters “threatening (Lincoln’s) life.” Some predicted that Lincoln would never live to see his inauguration day. “It was apparent to me that the threats were making an impression on his mind,” Melvin continued, “although he tried to laugh the matter off. “
Lincoln’s inaugural train left Springfield on February 11, 1861. Before departing he waved goodbye to his friends and said, “To this place and the kindness of these people I owe everything.”
The inaugural whistle stop tour was set. The train would travel eastward not north and exclude many larger cities in the state like Peoria and Chicago. Instead the route and schedule was a well calculated effort to maximize time and efficiency. The train would stop at only two cities in Illinois then continue through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York before heading to the capital.
In tiny Tolono just south of Champaign, Lincoln would say farewell to his beloved Illinois. From the back of the train, he delivered a passionate 20-minute speech focusing on the two pressing issues at the time, slavery and preservation of the union. A large crowd had gathered in Tolono, larger than the president-elect and his handlers had anticipated, so Lincoln reportedly gave the speech he had planned for the last stop in his home state, Danville.
Lincoln’s tone was somber and a light rain was falling “A sob went through the listening crowd as the broken voice asked their prayers,” a local scribe wrote. “There they stood, these townsmen of Abraham Lincoln, with bared heads, the raindrops mingling with tears.”
Lincoln told them: “I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties.”
In the crowd, a young girl yelled out that she could not see the president-elect, so a baggage man lifted her up.
Lincoln continued: “Let us believe as some poet has expressed it, ‘Behind the cloud the sun is still shining.’ I bid you an affectionate farewell,”
Lincoln turned and walked back to his coach car. In the distance a cannon fired and the hundreds in attendance “waved handkerchiefs” as the train moved on.
“The bell on the funny looking engine clanged,” a reporter wrote, “a warning of the beginning of a Great Adventure.”
Lincoln left Illinois that day for the last time. In 1865, only his body would return.
Making way for the Marriott
- Details
- Published on 08 February 2013
- Written by Paul Gordon
A piece of Peoria history started coming down on Friday, making way for a new piece as downtown development kicked into a higher gear with the crunch of a Caterpillar Inc. excavator bucket.
The person most responsible for that new piece being developed got to deliver that crunch, smiling all the way.
The building that formerly housed Big Al's, a local gentlemen's club and strip bar that for decades sat next to the Hotel Pere Marquette, is not being demolish to make way for the Marriott Courtyard tower that will be constructed and connected to the Pere Marquette, which itself is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation.
Gary Matthews, president of EM Properties of East Peoria, owner of the Pere Marquette and chief developer of the project that will cost more than $90 million total, got the honors of bringing the jaws of the excavator's shovel down on the canopy covering the entrance to the building, signifying the start of demolition.
"It's been a long time coming, but we're getting there. This is an exciting day," Matthews said to a pretty nice sized crowd that gathered for the event on the cold morning as snow started to spit through the air.
Dignitaries and civic leaders were among the crowd, including Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, State Rep. Jehan Gordon, D-Peoria and others. All cheered when the canopy came down, including Al Zuccarini, former owner of that building who built a new Big Al's a few blocks away, opening it near the end of 2012.
Matthews and Zuccarini clasped hands after Matthews alit from the excavator, each looking like a proud new daddy.
Matthews said demolition of the remaining buildings along the block of Main Street next to the Pere Marquette will take two to three weeks to complete. Any asbestos abatement that was necessary has already been done, he said.
After that, construction of the tower that will become the Marriott Courtyard will begin and take up to a year to complete.
Renovation of the Pere Marquette, which has been ongoing for months, is expected to be finished and the building reopened by the end of April, Matthews said. "That's what we're shooting for, barring any unforeseen problems," he said.
Renovation of that building was slowed when it was discovered there was much more asbestos in the basement to be abated than was originally thought.
Matthews gutted the Pere Marquette's electrical and plumbing systems. Each room was renovated and updated, including the historical presidential suite that has slept many a dignitary, including presidents and performers through the years.
Because a new front desk will be established at ground level that will accommodate the Pere Marquette and new Marriott, Matthews removed the previous second floor desk and opened it up as a new entrance into the building's Cotillion Ballroom. It will be entered now from the grand marble stairwell the ascends from the Main Street entrance.
Finished already is the new parking deck that will serve both hotels. It isn't open yet, however. The front part of that deck will house restaurants and retailers.
Sometime this spring construction will begin on the million-dollar walkway that will connect to two hotels to the Peoria Civic Center, giving that facility a true convention hotel setup since guests will be able to go between the structures without going outside.
It is that type of hotel that Civic Center officials have wanted for years because convention planners more and more insist upon such accommodations before they will even consider any location for their event. Among those officials at the event on Friday were Jim Wetherington, current Civic Center general manager, and his immediate predecessors Debbie Ritschel and Don Welch. Welch now is president of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Completion of this project, they believe, will lead to large and more prestigious conventions and trade shows for the local Civic Center. "This is going to be very important to the Civic Center and to the entire area," said Dan Silverthorn, chairman of the Civic Center Authority who also stood by on Friday. "For this, I don't mind standing out here in the cold today."