Carlos is going to Merida without me!

Mike in Peru

We decided to bring our plumbing supplies to Mexico by ship, and would not spend time in Merida like last December. Than we got a phone call from Mike, our Danish exchange student from 25 years ago who wanted to visit Merida and see how our house was coming along. As we had already booked the cruise with my sister and her husband, it was decided that Carlos (who has vacation the entire month of December) would escort Mike and his partner Tine there. I have surgery scheduled for December 19th and will not be able to travel with them.
I returned to St Louis this past Tuesday and Carlos stayed in Florida at his sisters' house. Mike and Tine are arriving tonight (Friday) and they all are leaving for Merida (via Cancun) on Tuesday! This has actually worked out pretty well as I forgot to order the garbage disposal and Carlos can now take it down with him! (as well as some outlet covers for the GFCI, as several were broken in transit on our visit in Oct) They will return to St Louis on December 21st in time for Christmas here.
Mike was one of the 14 exchange students we hosted over the years. He was number 3... and he was one that we decided to host in the middle of the year when his original placement in Kansas did not work out. He is also one of the kids we have remained the closest to over the years. He returned to St Louis to do an internship when he was at university, working 6 months for Carlos' company. He and Carlos have travelled to Panama together when we were thinking that Panama was the place for us. Mike and Carlos and two of my brother-in-laws did the Machu Picchu trip two years ago. (and survived the 5 day climb!) We have visited Mike and his family several times in Denmark as well as meeting in Munich for Octoberfest... so through the years he has become a close member of our family.

Carlos, Santiago, Jim and Mike at Machu Picchu

I am so excited to hear his thoughts of Merida. I'm sure he will fall in love with the city and become one of our frequent visitors.