From July 21 to Aug. 2, Girl Scout Troop 90 visited Mexico on their first international trip. The 10 girls and three adults spent 14 days in Mexico City and nearby Cuernavaca soaking up Mexican culture and learning about Girl Scouts and Guides around the world.
Eyes drooping and shoulders slumping, the travelers met in front of the international terminal of the Mineta San Jose International Airport at 4 a.m. After half a day of traveling, wide grins replaced glassy-eyed stares when the group gazed at the beautiful grounds of their destination, Our Cabaña. One of four World Centers, Our Cabaña is a Girl Scout house located just outside Cuernavaca, a city a few hours south of Mexico City. Allison Beardsley, a student at Mountain View High School, said, “It was fun living together for a long time.”
Troop 90 spent nine days at Our Cabaña, along with fellow Girl Scouts and Guides from Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico and Chile. During the nine-day “Friendship Session,” the girls from around the world formed lasting international friendships. Activities ranged from making friendship bracelets and painting ceramics in the Cabaña craft house to learning about refugees and human rights.
Visitors to Our Cabana also participated in a service project. Working together with the organization Vamos, the Scouts and Guides were able to reach out to the less-fortunate children of the community, treating them to a day of fun games and activities.
The stay at Our Cabana included day trips to nearby towns. The girls journeyed by bus to Cuernavaca, where they shopped at craft markets, visited gardens and learned about Mexican history in a museum inside Cortez’s castle. On a morning trip to Tepotzlan, they saw another side of Mexican culture – life in a small town – as they roamed the streets of a giant market and picnicked outside an old and beautiful cathedral. The final day trip was to Taxco, known as the Silver City of Mexico.
For the second leg of their trip, Troop 90 stayed at the Girl Scout hostel Ticalli. During their four days in the Zona Rosa, the troop went to dinner at the San Angel Inn, where Henry Kissinger and Neil Armstrong have dined. They traveled to the top of the second-tallest building in Latin America, the Torre Latina Americana, or Latin American Tower. A mariachi band serenaded them in the middle of a square, and they rode the double-deck bus to the La Feria theme park in Chapultepec.
On their last full day, the troop took a tour of religious sites, stopping at the shrine to the Lady of Guadalupe and scaling the ancient pyramids of the sun and the moon. At an evaluation meeting after their return, the travelers deemed the trip a success.
“We saw each other every day,” Samantha Friedman said. “We formed stronger friendships.”
Troop 90 meets the first and third Mondays of each month from 7-8:30 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Los Altos. The troop plans a trip to France in 2007.
Katherine Raichlen is a sophomore in high school, and a Senior Girl Scout in Troop 90..
