TWELVE TO MONTEREY (Easter 1971)

Mrs. Frank Fry, Marianne Mahler, David Seal, Mark Milford, Cathy Culverhouse, Carolyn Holley, Steve Shelton, Jill Pirtle, Brenda Piland, Donna Richardson, Sharon Srader and Peggy Williams

This dream came true for the Honey Grove High School Spanish students on this past Easter weekend. The C1ub made a trip to Monterrey, Mexico with a group from Bonham High School, sponsored by Miss Ethyllene Williams, Spansih teacher at Bonham High School. The group from Honey Grove that went on this trip included Mrs. Frank Fry, Marianne Mahler, David Seal, Mark Milford, Cathy Culverhouse, Carolyn Holley, Steve Shelton, Jill Pirtle, Brenda Piland, Donna Richardson, Sharon Srader and Peggy Williams.

This dream trip was not realized, however, without many hours of long, hard work on the part of the students and their sponsor, Mrs. Betsy Fry. The members of the Spanish Club engaged in many money-making projects to raise the money needed to go on the trip. These projects were selling mascot jewelry, serving Mexican suppers and selling sandwiches every day at school for about five months. Mr. Lewis Fleming provided the means for the group to have car washes which helped tremendously towards raising the money for the trip. The group left Sherman at 6:30 p. m. on April 8 on a Greyhound bus. They arrived in San Antonio a little after midnight. About half of the students decided to go see the Alamo. They had to run all the way to make it back in time so many of the students started their trip with blistered feet. At Laredo they changed busses and went three blocks and got off again for customs. After getting through the line (about an hour) the customs guys made them get all their luggage off the bus, again. They had little red crayons and wrote on all the luggage without ever looking inside and then made everybody get back on the bus. One student remarked, "I guess they were practicing their coloring." The group left Nuevo Laredo while the sun was coming up and finally arrived in Monterrey about eight thirty in the morning.

One student observed, "Monterrey was unlike any city I have ever seen. The people were very friendly and cooperative. We got a chance to use a little Espanol, but I think we puzzled some of the natives." They became acquainted with the bellboys, maids, elevator operators, bus drivers and even the policeman on the corner. They had many new experiences such as going through customs and learning to spend pesos. For many of them the trip to the mercado (open market) was the most interesting. Not being used to their way of displaying meat and all the new foods such as sliced cactus, papayas, ycamas and grasshoppers this visit left quite an impression on them.

The mountains there were very beautiful and the trip to Cola de Caballo (Horsetail Falls) was interesting and awe inspiring. They were surprised to find that they could speak in Spanish to the people there. The little boys on the streets yelling "Chushine, chusine" and the carriage rides around the town added to the atmosphere. Many students made an adventure out of each meal. They bought fresh bread around the

corner at a typical Mexican bakery and tried frog legs, octopus and a vegetable you eat with

salt and lemon which is called ycama. A lot of the students had papaya for the first time. Besides the trip itself, they met a lot of interesting people from Bonham who went along with them on the bus. They left Monterrey reluctantly at 6:00 p. m. Sunday evening and after a long bus ride home and customs again (this a time a breeze) arrived in Bonham at 8:00 Monday morning. To quote one of the students, "We saw some beautiful things, had a whole lot of fun and I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything.