On June 29, 2022, a group of Jesuit students embarked on a service immersion trip to Monterrey, Mexico. 

Wednesday, June 29

We touchdown in Monterrey, Mexico, around 11:00 am and quickly get out of customs and security. We meet our adult leader Mr. Perry at the airport entrance, to which he gives us the great news that the mask mandate was lifted just yesterday in Monterrey. This was great because it was hot in Monterrey, and most places did not have air conditioning. We quickly packed ourselves in a van and drove out of the airport and into Monterrey. When entering Monterrey, I realized that it was much larger than I imagined and that they were in an ongoing water drought (for about 20 years). 

Our lodging was in the hotel district of Monterrey, which was very accommodating for tourists and travelers. We were staying at an older hotel, but it was very nice. I was assigned rooms on the 3rd floor and unpacked a bit before returning to a conference room on the 5th floor they rented out in the hotel. We enjoyed chicken sandwiches with bacon fur lunch. Afterward, we had a meeting to debrief on what to expect when arriving at the immigration shelter and the struggle they had gone through. One such example was when they told us how the migrants were not allowed to have their phones at night for security purposes.

After about two hours of debriefing, we got on the van and drove to the immigration shelter. The drive was about 15 minutes to the migrant shelter. We met the shelter’s manager. The first thing I noticed about her office when dropping off donations was that she had a massive TV with 20 different camera footage. Then, she directed us into the cafeteria, where 50 or so migrants were waiting for us. They introduced and welcomed us and told us where they were from (most were from Guatemala or Nicaragua). 

We then split up into groups of two (usually a Spanish speaker with a non-Spanish speaker) and talked to a group of migrants. We learned where they are from and their journey here and told them about ourselves. It was not long until the migrants wanted to play with us, so we broke out Uno cards and played them for hours. I eventually stopped playing to help the staff in the kitchen to help make Dinner.

After about an hour, we said our prayers and had Dinner with the migrants, grilled chicken (from a chicken restaurant down the street) with rice, beans, and tortilla chips. We stayed at the shelter for another hour, playing games and sharing stories with the migrants. After Dinner, we departed for our hotel at 8 pm.

While coming out of the shelter, I remember all of us seeing two police officers next to a pickup truck providing security for the immigration center. It reminded me of the danger that migrants continue to face. We were told to get change and clean up before the reflection. After a thoughtful reflection and a debriefing of what to expect tomorrow, Mr. Perry treated us to some desserts from the hotel, which capped off our eventful first day.

Thursday, June 30

I woke up at around 7:00 am and headed to the dining area at 7:15 am. The dining area at the hotel had many different Mexican breakfast foods, including an omelet bar. Afterward, we returned to our rooms and packed our day bags before coming to the conference room. Before the long journey, the adult leaders emphasized the importance of hydration. So, we often filled our water bottles using the giant water jug in the conference room. This was the only place we could get purified water throughout the trip (this would become very important later). 

Upon getting to the shelter, I felt like the awarded feeling I had the day before had disappeared. I felt much more comfortable talking, playing, and joking with the migrates. Specifically, I played Uno in the cafeteria with the migrates for most of the morning. Others would play basketball outside or volleyball using a cloth line.

The morning was pretty unremarkable, and we just played games till lunch. I volunteered to help with lunch, which I was tasked to give out jalapeño to those who wanted it. We eat outside under a porch area next to the chapel. Toward the end of lunch, one of the migrants, an older gentleman, would come to us and give a heartfelt thank you to us for coming. After lunch, a famous Monterrey hairstylist was going to cut the hair of the migrants for free. Later, I learned the hairstylist was Mr. Perry’s cousin.

Two other kids and I volunteered to help sweep and help with the haircuts. She came around 1:00, and they were excited to get their haircut. I helped clean the floors for most of the afternoon, and some others would also serve ice cream. She and her team would give haircuts till all the migrants who wanted it got it (which took 4 hours).

Around 5:00 pm, we left the shelter and went to old Monterrey to get Dinner at a local pizza restaurant. Old Monterrey was a fascinating place. Before we got there, they told us that a couple of years back, it was a certain point in the Cartel Wars in Mexico. Are group probably devour about ten pizzas before they got full. We walked back to our hotel, which was about 10 minutes. When getting to the hotel, we went straight into our reflection. Afterward, we fill our bottles and when to our room to sleep.

Friday, July 1

Our third day of the trip was said to be the most intense day of the whole trip for us. I woke up a little later than usual because they wanted us to have a good night’s sleep. I went to the dining hall and ate breakfast as usual before returning to my room and getting ready. At 9:00 am, we had a little debriefing about what we would do today. Our first stop of the day would be at the immigration shelter, which would be the last day we get to spend a significant amount of time with them.

Throughout the morning, we mostly played games with them until lunch. After lunch, the shelter’s manager took us to the chapel, to which she thanked us for giving our time with them and had a little prayer session there. We then left to go on a riverboat tour of Monterrey, which was a treat for us.

The whole thing lasted about three hours, and it was also time to buy goods from Monterrey. Around the afternoon, we left for our last stop at this community housing complex for orphans who wanted to live there till graduating college. We first learned a bit about them before we played volleyball with them. Afterward, we ate pizza (from Pizza hut) with them and stayed there till 9:00 pm. 

We got to the hotel a bit late, and our reflection ended way later than usual. Throughout the reflection, we were without purified water, and Mr. Perry tried talking with the hotel about getting water. After the prayer service, while my friend and I were hanging out, Mr. Perry tasked my friend to call in to see what was going on with the water after 11:00 pm. 

It was around 10:30 when he went to his room, and my friend and I decided to get cleaned up and come back. When we called them, they said it was almost ready, so we decided to wait a bit in our rooms. After a while, we decided to come down to the lobby and see if it was there. We found a massive jug of water on a cart. 

When coming back up, we found out that the hotel was charging more than a hundred dollars for it. At midnight, Mr. Perry decided to go with all of us and get water from the Seven Eleven down the street. We got handfuls of enormous water bottles, and some got snacks, including me. All the water (more than enough for us) cost just 60 dollars. Around 1:00 am, I fell asleep exhausted.

Saturday, July 2

I woke up at the usual time to eat breakfast, and we had our regular briefing on what to expect. Since we had a little more time than usual, we also had a small reflection on the trip. The plan for the morning today was to go to this impoverished part of Monterrey to give them food and clothes and play with them. We stop by the immigration shelter and pitch in to help make the care packages before heading off. 

Now I did not know what to expect when getting there. I was told that this community was so poor that they did not have essential utilities and spoke in broken Spanish. Once there, I do not think words can fully describe how poor this community was. We passed out food and clothes while also trying to play with them and turn this into a festival. I would be one of the people to play with some kids in the community and blow bubbles. 

We stopped at two more communities, and at the last one, I and another youth went into one of the homes to go to the restroom. The house floor was just hard dirt, with no floorboards or anything. All the furniture was made of pieces of wood, and the house was built from wood from the garbage. After helping out, we returned to the immigration shelter to have lunch and stay a bit. We stayed there for around three hours and said our goodbyes and thank you. Our final stop was to have Dinner at this resort on top of a mountain, where we also spent time looking at the city.

The whole trip getting there was about an hour long, and the view from there was beautiful. We ate Fajitas and just had a good time talking and joking around. We got back to the hotel were 9:00 pm and had a reflection on the trip and headed to our rooms, and packed up. I was hanging out with others for an hour before heading to bed.

Sunday, July 3

The last day was pretty unremarkable. Some of the members and I watched TV in my room while waiting for others. We had our last reflection of the trip in the morning. It was a pretty emotional to reflect on our time there. Afterward, we headed to the van and drove to the airport, which was an hour away. Once at the airport, we got through security and all, which was quick. I bought a hat for myself at the airport, and we boarded the plane around noon and headed back to Dallas.

Once we got there, it took us around an hour to get through immigration (due to one of the group members getting behind a slow group). I said goodbye to my fellow group members and headed back home.

Conclusion

Only so few people will ever experience what my fellow group members and I experienced in Monterrey. Without a doubt, I can say that what you do in Monterrey will be more intense and world-changing than any other service trip that Jesuit provides. You will bond with many people and grow closer as a group there. It will open your eyes in so many different ways. So that is why I highly recommend this trip to anyone seeking a very hard-working and more intense service trip.