Lunch with Monks

Today i woke up in my tent, to the sniffling of the monastery dog around the camp site, and unzipped the door to feel a cool and dew covered soil below. I was fortunate enough to have a warm shower in the Monastery and a clean shave before attending the mass up on top of the mountain outside Cuernevaca called Ahuatepec. It is a Benedictine Monasterio of which was founded by another Benedictine Monestery in Oregon over 40 years ago. This is where i came on an alternative spring break trip three and a half years ago to paint schools for a head start program called Vamos. It is also where I met Lou over three years ago, where he told me to buy a BMW motorcycle and go around the world with him. I thought he was crazy, and he still is, only I realized, I´m a little crazy as well.
The Catholic mass was very nice, with a full Mariachi band, incense, communion, robed monks and all. Father Conrad who lead the Mass, is a dear old friend of Lou´s. They studied here together 31 years ago when Lou first came here for Seminary. Lou is a Lutheran Campus Minister, (rather was...he retired a few weeks ago), and has brought students down here for many years. It is the first time that he has come down here in years, where he didn´t have to look after anyone. Acutally, Landon and I are looking after him now, making sure he doesn´t get to out of control and starts drinking Tequila with the monks all night.
Being that Lou and Father Conrad are good friends, Father Conrad and the Monks invited us up for lunch in their private quarters outside the Monestary Chapel on top of the mountain, which overlooks Avacado, Orange, and Lemon vineyards as well as the entire valley that makes up Cuernevaca. If you want to talk about Serine locations in this world to get away and think, these monks are in the right place for central MX. Lunch was fantastic. A few of the monks spoke english, however, Brother Raphael and I had a wonderful conversation as I suffered along with my limited spanish vocabulary. But like a good monk, his patience carried me through the conversation, and we talked about my motorcycle, mexico, our trip and the monestary. After lunch, the proceded with a few scriptures from the book of Psalms, of which I had no idea what they were saying except for Jesuschristo and Amen. It was nice though, and I was full.
Walking back down to the tents from the monestary, we stopped to pick off some Oranges, and I picked a few things that may be dates. Flowers lined the cobble stoned road droping a fourth of a mile down the road to our grassy lot with our bikes and homes. Breathing in the wonderful air smelling of roses, lillies, and cumin, I asked Landon, ¨how many times in our lives will we get to sit and eat lunch with some monks?¨