February, March and a bit of April

Hey from Baja! Sorry I have been such a lazy blogger lately! It's partly due to the fact that my computer was stolen a week after I got here so uploading pictures and internet access has been slightly limited.

We arrived at camp at 10 pm on February 7th.  We were picked up at different times throughout the afternoon, stopped for lunch, ran some errands at walmart and waited 2 hours at the border!  Usually you can drive right into Mexico but the police were checking each car before they crossed because that was the day the nationwide hunt started for the California police officer that had gone on a killing spree.  We spent the first few days getting to knowing each other and going through orientation.  There are 6 six- month interns.  From top; Ashley (L.A.) Miguel (Ensenada), Lexa (Intern Staff, Puerto Rico), Martin (Ensenada), me, Tianna (St.Inez, California) and Nate (Vancouver, B.C.)

 The first few weeks we spent in different classes ranging from topics like leading an outreach to evangelism.  We also had outreaches twice a week.  Every Tuesday we go to an incredible ministry called Casa Esperanza.  It is a ministry that takes in moms and their children who come from domestic abuse situations. They are given a small room/apartment and chores around the campus.  They have a certified pre-school and kindergarten, as well as a daycare.  The women have to spend the first 3 months without working so that they can spend time with their children and starting the healing process.  After 3 months they are allowed to go and find a job.  We do lots of cleaning and matienance projects as well as spend time with the sweet little kids that live there.
We also did other projects like painting the deck of a pastor's house. (above picture)

 During February we also had free time in the evenings and on the weekends.  One day Lexa took the girls driving around Ensenada and we stopped at our favorite look out that looks out over the entire city! We also went to a local youth conference. There were hundreds of youth from churches all over Ensenada.  It was fun to be able to experience a local youth event!











On Valentines day we helped prepare and serve food at a lunch the camp put on for the pastors we work with and their wives.  We spent most of the day in the kitchen while the event was going on.  It was a really fun day working together.  The only bummer was when I returned to my room in the afternoon and found out my laptop and ipod had been stolen. A serious bummer, and after a trip to the police it didn't show up.  But God has been faithful and my amazing grandma has blessed me with a laptop for when I get home and go back to school.


MARCH:

One Sunday afternoon in March we went to Martin's soccer game and then out to eat downtown at a burger stand.  It was a super fun night and then it turned into a funny adventure.  A block away from our neighborhood the car broke down in the middle of the road.  We were able to get it started and a few feet into the neighborhood.  Then it stopped again and we had to push it over a mile back home. It was a night full of a whole lot of laughing at ourselves and the situation we were in.  It is one of those memories that you will never forget. We still laugh about it.

 In the beginning of March we celebrated Tianna's 20th birthday! We went out to eat at a taco/stuffed potato restuarant and to a movie. It was a really fun night of time together outside of camp.  Fun fact, a movie ticket here is about $5!

Mid-March we started a 3-week term of house building.  The first house I worked on for was for a sweet family in my favorite community, El Zorrillo.  Moises and Veronica are originally from a southern state called Oaxaca and were married at 15.  They have 3 young boys. Jesus (chuy) 7, Andres 4, and Aaron who turned 3 while we were building.  I also got to work with an incredible team from Vancouver, BC made up of youth and adult leaders.

 It was a truly incredible week being able to serve a great family and work alongside energized, fun people.  The family was very involved as well as the pastor and on dedication day they made us a delicious lunch of fish tacos.  It was a crazy day for sure, we dedicated around 5 pm and ended up hanging around for another hour.  They made us all bracelets and they gave beautiful woven hats to the 2 women leaders on the team and to me to pass on to my grandma who made blankets for me to give to the little boys.  I got to experience a really cool, humbling moment the last day.  The family's neighbor Carmen approached me and asked if we had any food that we could give to another women that had 5 kids and whose husband had left her.  The team had told me that they were going to bless Carmen with a food box because she had been such an encouragement to them.  I told her that the team was going to bless her and when she heard that her eyes lit up and she told me that

she was going to share it with her friend, and that she tries to help her whenever she can.  It was really incredible to see this women who lives in a small house and does not have tons of resources be so overjoyed to share a gift she was going to receive.
I also got to see my precious 3 little sisters that I met my first summer in Mexico.  They live in the same village that we were working in and I was able to visit them 3 days in a row. It is always so good to see the 3 girls that changed my perspective on so many things. I was given some money to bless people as needed and I was able to take some of it and buy them groceries. Seeing them always makes my day. It was a truly incredible, amazing week.  God is so cool in the way that He puts things together.

 

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The next week Abundant Life, my church came!  The camp was full with over 175 campers from 2 churches and lots of volunteer staff.  We built 7 houses, had 2 VBS and a special project. It was insanely busy but so awesome.  I had been extremely homesick so having my church come with familiar faces was such a encouragement to me.  Also having my dad and brother here was great!  We built for another Oaxacan family in another one of my favorite villages, Lomas Bonitas.  The family is made up of Fransisco, Ofelia and thier 3 children.  Silvia 7, Libereo 3 and sweet 3 month old Fransisco. It was an awesome week of getting to know some youth from my church as well as getting to spend time with people I have missed so much.  On Tuesday the mom Ofelia told me she was going to the store and was gone for almost 2 hours.  The next morning Fransisco was coughing really badly and I asked her if she had gone to the doctor yet.  She told me that she had tried to go yesterday when she went to the store but the pharmacy had been closed.  The nearest pharmacy is about 5-7 minutes driving, down a HUGE hill and down the main highway.  She had walked the whole way with a baby on her back.  So we offered to drive her again on Wednesday so that we could get the baby checked up and buy medicine. Taking the mom and baby to the pharmacy was a really simple yet incredible experience.  Ofelia does not speak much Spanish, she speaks a Oaxacan dialect called Mizteco.  So because of that I was able to do a lot of the speaking with the doctor and help him check the baby. The check up cost 35 pesos, so barely over $2.00.  He prescribed 3 medications which we were able to buy for about $10.00! This trip gave me a look into the reality of medical care in the villages we work in.  The check up room was small with a desk, cabinet, check up table and scales.  It was really bare and made me think about the privledges we have at home. It was pretty impactfull and a reality check. On Wednesday night I was able to join my church in going to the church in the community we build in.  The family came in late and sat with me and I was able to cuddle with sweet little Fransisco.  This family was really special to me.  I was able to spend time chatting with Ofelia which gave me a little look into her life.  One day my dad and I were talking with her and she told us that the matteress on the bed we gave her would be the first one she ever slept on! It was a awesome week serving along Abundant Life.  

The next week we had a really cool opportunity!  A family of 4 came to build a house so all of the interns got to go out and build together.  We got to spend the week working as one time which was super fun because we usually all go to different houses.  We built for a family of 6 and we were able to put some fun extra details in their house, we did some paintings on the wall and the family bought them a couch and table set.

APRIL

Back in March we went on a random outreach one Thursday morning.  We prayed that God would lead us to a family we could bless with groceries.  We ended up at the house of a women named Veronica.  After a bit of chatting we found out that they are a family of jehovah's witness.  We were able to spend time talking and encouraging them as well as sharing the gospel with them.  Her husband, 2 daughters (Griselda and Mirim), Griselda's son Oscar, Mirim's husband Eduardo and their daughter Alexa.  After visiting them 3 times we had heard many things from their lives.  Griselda has an incredible story of the abuse she suffered with the father of her sweet son.  Veronica told us about a time in her life where she was trafficked and ended up escaping.  Keep this family in your prayers as they have lots of pain in their lives.  The 3rd time we went to visit them they invited us to dinner that weekend so we went for dinner last Friday.  It was seriously SO fun.  They had cleaned up their yard and set out a table for us all to eat at.  They made rice, tortillas, chicken, pork, soy ceviche, and a delicious desert from Michochan.  We brought soda, ice and cake and had a great time hanging out with our new friends!  It was perfect!

From Left to Right, Tianna, Lexa, Nate, Mirim, Eduardo, Sean, Griselda, Oscar, Me, Alexa :)

So, in a nutshell that's what I've been up to the last couple of months!  This trip to Mexico has been the hardest and most stretching time I have had living here.  This year I experienced much more homesickness when I got here as well as being constantly pushed out of my comfort zone.  But it is so good, I have been learning so much more than I would be if I was just sitting in a super comfortable place.  God is using different situations to stretch my perspective and although it has been harder than before it has also been an incredible time in my life and I am SO incredibly happy.  I wouldn't change anything because God has been teaching me so much and I am learning to walk day by day in my faith with Him.  I go home in a few weeks for vacation which is so exciting but it also marks the halfway through point.  And the closer that gets the more I think about it. Since I graduated almost 2 years ago I have lived, slept and breathed Mexico. If not in Mexico, thinking and dreaming about Mexico.  And once I go home in August I am looking at 3 years of school.  Which I am SUPER excited about but it means less chances to come to Mexico for the upcoming season of my life.  So it is really, really bittersweet.  I am looking forward to making the most of the next few months and enjoying the time I have here in this incredible place that has my heart.