Well well well since I kept a daily journal type of thing in Mexico I have decided to post it on here. 4-2-05 First day of our Spring Break mission trip. We left this morning (5:30)! So early! Naturally I don't remember much about this morning except I was not in a good mood and I was really unfriendly. Which is a great way for my parents to remember me all week. Sooo the bus ride is loong and I've been texting pretty much everyone I know. Also trying to make up for being rude to my parents. Spent a good part of today in Louisiana, on the bayous. Everyone thinks the scenery is disgusting, but I think it's really cool. Makes me want Cajun food. We stopped at a mall food court for dinner, and after waiting in line at Chik-Fil-A and finally placing my order, the power went out. No, actually it didn't go out. The mall management people cut it off. Intelligent.. we get a huge group of people in the food court that want to give us money, so we cut off the power so the cash registers wont work. Welcome to louisiana, everyone. So anyway there I am with no food watching others eat. It was ok though, cause Erin, Jessy, and Erica all gave me their leftovers. Free dinner for me! So then there was more bus riding and we watched Jurassic Park and tonight we stay in this really cool hotel called the Embassy Suites. 4-3-05 So today we finished the bus ride into Mexico. We pretty much chilled out all morning while we drove through the lovely state of Texas (where everything is bigger. Actually, in my opinion it's just flatter.) We ate lunch right beforr crossing the border. I ate at Sonic, which took about 10 hours b/c they were overwhelmed with the whole 15 people that came in there. But anyway, after that we got in the bus and drove to the border, where we unloaded the buses and crammed into vans (they won't let you cross the border in ginormous charter buses). From the vans we got into school buses, which took us to the gateway. That's where we stayed in Mexico. Mexico is sooo different it's hard to believe it's still North America. It's very flat, dry, dusty, and windy, and all the buildings except for the oxxo stores and a few more affluent colonias look like they are about to fall apart. But it's also beautiful in some way I just can't place. And I had my first Joya, which is pretty much the nectar of the gods. Soo I'm happy. 4-4-05 So today was the first day at our work site. In the morning we rode there in a school bus, which was really fun by the way because there are absolutely no road laws or drivers liscenses in Mexico. Well, there are speed limit signs, but there are no police to enforce it. So basically I just looked out the window for most of the ride and realized that it was the 1st time I had ever been in a 3rd world/developing country. The colonia is so poor and rugged (it was built on top of a landfill) and I just wanted to take the little kids home with me. I swear I have seen the same kids over and over on the save the children commercials. So after we were done prayer-walking today we got to play with the little kids. There was one girl who clung to me the entire time, and she gave me the saddest look when I sent her home at lunchtime. I thought I would cry. So then we had lunch, and I had the coolest food. Chile lemon fritos and these weird marshmallow cookie things that came with a packet of strawberry jelly. Yum. After that we went to construction, where we laid the foundation and built 2 walls of our little house. Mostly I just played tag with the kids. Since then I havent done much except look for fossils (!) and chill out. 4-5-05 So today I led a man to Christ! Well obviously it wasn't just me-it was a team effort, but I basically got to explain how you can have a personal relationship with Christ, answered a few of his questions, and prayed the prayer of salvation with him. It was amazing-God was really speaking through me at that moment. There was no way I could have done it myself. Well that was during our door-to-door part of the day. In the morning we had construction, which was cool because we got all the walls done and started painting them. The family's 5-year-old, Jose, came out and helped us paint, and he really was a huge help. It was pretty much like having another member in our group, which was amazing since he was only 5. Also, our translator treated us to ice pops from a street vendor on a bike. They were awesome. And when we got back to the VBS site, a little boy had been lost so we had to stay and find him. There's a lot more that happened, but I don't feel like writing it down now. Pretty much one of the most amazing days ever. 4-6-05 So today we had sports first, and guess who showed up! Pedro! (the guy we led to Christ yesterday) At first we were really excited to see him, but then he came over and said hi to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then we started talking and he was creeping me out a little bit, expecially when he asked me if I had a boyfriend. So then I was just like uhh I need to go over there for a second. I went and told josh what pedro was doing and that I was creeped out a little and I wanted Josh to stay with me and protect me. So Pedro kind of followed me around a lot while I was playing with the kids and every so often i would be like "Josh!! Come save me!" But eventually Pedro left and I had a great time with the kids. So we left construction a little early to go shopping in Matamoros. We went to this cool little marketplace with vedors everywhere. JP was with me pretty much the whole time, and he helped me find the right shops and bargain with the vedors. I bought a blanket, a dish, and some vanilla for Mom. I wanted to buy this mirror that was in the shape of a sun, but JP told me it was one of the gods and I shouldn't get it. So I didn't. I don't know how I would have gotten it home anyway, with me carrying the bowl and all. When we got back on the bus, Josh told me he would give me $100 if I chugged the bottle of vanilla. So, stupid me, I opened it up and took a sip. It was disgusting and I broke the seal so now it leaks and I probably ruined the whole bottle. 4-7-05 So today was basically our last day in the Mexico mission field. We did construction in the morning, which is always kind of boring because I'm not much help. Well, actually I love playing with the kids that live there, epsecially Jose, but other than that it's kind of a drag. After construction we had lunch, and then we did VBS. I was one of the puppets, and the kids loved the puppets! It was so exciting! Pedro showed up again, so I had Daniel protect me. After VBS I met this Mexican girl about my age, and she and a whole bunch of little kids started hangin out with me and playing with my digital camera. It was so amazing that we had so much fun together even though my Spanish was not exactly perfect and we come from two totally different worlds. I didn't want to leave them to go back to the Gateway. But at least I have like infinity pictures of them now. But I regret so much that i didnt take that perfect opportunity to share Christ with them. I kind of feel like God put them in my path so that I could do that, but then I realize that when I was with them I just didnt feel that little "nudge" you get when you know it's time to do that. Maybe I was doing the best witnessing by showing love to them. So then tonight we had pretty much the best worship service ever. By the end most people were bawling, and everyone was walking around hugging each other and praying for each other. And then I realized I have the best friends in the world. And the best part is: theyre not just my friends- theyre my sisters. 4-9-05 Well we left the Gateway yesterday morning around 10. When we got to the border we were stopped and had to go through immigration. basically we just had to prove we were U.S. citizens. They said they were going to x-ray our vans while we did that, but I found out later that they never actually did. Soo that took about 3 hours, which gave us plenty of time to get settled in the lounge in the back of Bus 2. So the bus ride was pretty fun for most of the day because the lounge made it like a little slumber party. We ate kind of a late lunch in a mall somewhere in Texas, and Sara and I shopped around a little. So we had a nice bus ride until dinner.. watchin movies and talking about our Lists and whatnot. We ate dinner at a mall in Houston that had a climbing wall in the food court! I had chik-fil-a and this time the power didnt go out until after i got my food. And it only went out at chik fil a. I must be some kind of power jinx. So I sat with Patrick and Austin and Jason at dinner but Jason only sat there for like half the time cause he kept getting up to see if his gallon jug of ice tea was ready. That kid has major ADD issues I swear. But anyway when we got on the bus we got ready to go to sleep. And everyone started getting sick. Which was not fun. I was pretty much sitting in a hole with my head kinda leaning on one shoulder. Eventually I was able to get in the floor and sleep with my head under claires legs and my feet wrapped around the cooler. And it was right above the axle so I could feel and hear every little thing. I would wake up in the middle of the night and start hyperventilating cause i had no clue where i was and all i knew was that we were goin really really fast. A long time on a bus can do wierd things to the mind. Soo by the time morning came about half the bus had puked at some point on the ride and no one was really ready for a fast food breakfast somewhere in nowhere, alabama. After breakfast we got back on the bus, and we had been driving for a little while when the bus went over a big bump and Mandy goes "Whoa is that our tire?!" and points to a tire rolling away on the side of the road. yeaaahhh. so then we had to split up and get on the other buses so we could get home somewhat on time. I ended up sitting at the back of a bus that had officially the smelliest bathroom ever. Like I seriously almost puked and I had just spent the whole night on a bus full of sick people and felt fine. yeahh. Today was pretty much the bus ride from hell. but we eventually made it home and I lost my cell phone and life is good...