Mexico

Wow. What a crazy awesome adventure.
For those of you who don't know (probably most...) from July 10-19 I rode a bus for 60 hours and helped build 1 of the 3 houses our group of 50 built in Juarez, Mexico. I thought I'd sort of go through my adventures day by day, mostly for my benefit but also for yours. If you care at all. :)
Friday, July 10-Saturday, July 11:
The agenda said we were to leave the church at 7, but it was more like 7:45 by the time we pulled out. :) 7:45 pm, that is. We then proceeded to drive through the night, through the next day, and finally arrived in Albuquerque, NM around 6 or 7 where we ate at one of the few non fast-food restuarants of the trip. We then went to the University of New Mexico who graciously allowed us to use their showers, then we went to Desert Springs Church where we slept for the night.
Sunday, July 12:
We got up early enough this day to clean up all of our belongings and go to breakfast before attending the 9:00 service. I'll be honest, it was sooo nice to sit somewhere other than a bus seat at this point. :) After the service we returned to our home on wheels where we stayed for another day of driving, stopping for lunch on the road. We got to El Paso by dinner time and we were given about 2 hours to eat and shop. Some of us stayed and helped Blynda shop for our perishable food items at Sam's Club, me being one. Afterwards, Hallie, Melissa, and I proceeded to Wal-Mart to but a banana, an apple, and a bottle of juice each, plus a bag of grapes and a package of cheese. This was our dinner, and it was one of our favorite meals of the trip considering we've had almost nothing but fast-food for 2 days.
After dinner we went to the church and had a few hours until it was time for bed. Some played ultimate frisbee and I stayed and took pictures for a while. I don't remember every detail of this day, but I do remember spending a lot of time with Hallie and Melissa... oh, and we shared beds every night but 1 on the trip. 3 of us on 2 beds... that's bonding, right there. :)
Monday, July 13:
We got up at what, 5? Ish. Close to 5, and definitely no later. Packed up, loaded up, headed out. We crossed the boarder around between 6 and 6:30, and got to the SHOC (the building where we stayed) between 6:30 and 7. We were on our work sites by 7:30 at the latest. My team pored cement this morning. This consisted of shoveling lots of sand, gravel, and cement, and getting lots of buckets of water. My initial job, water, had lots of gaps between buckets. So instead of resting like a sane person, I helped the people whose jobs didn't allow for breaks. I'd shovel sand if there was a need, gravel if it's what was lacking, carry buckets if it was going too slowly. I kept losing track of how they were doing on water, so i kept forgetting to do my actual job. That's when Ron (a parent) took over the water for me. :) So now I was mainly shoveling gravel, carrying the occasional bucket of gravel so Alex would stop trying to kill himself carrying 3 at a time. Shoveling wears you out, carrying the buckets kills you... I don't know how Alex kept going. I really don't. He was amazing that day, which was just what we needed since he was by default our only runner.
We got the cement poured by 1, then went back for lunch and siesta until 5 (it's over 100 degrees at this point, they don't want us out in the hottest part of the day.) Being terrible at sleeping in spite of my 5 hours average every night of the trip, I tried twice for over an hour total and failed both times to actually fall asleep. It was sad. But I colored pictures with Hallie, Jessie, Cassie, and a few others. So it was still good. :)
After siesta we went back to the site for a few more hours to finish the day. We built walls and part of the roof. I learned this day how terrible at hammering stuff I am. It's not pretty, it's not something that should happen often, me with a hammer. :( ;)
Night time. Glorious sleep.
Tuesday, July 14:
Up at 5, back to the site by 6. Work, work, work, build, build, build! Today we put the walls up and part of the roof on. That's really all I remember... siesta this day I was saying really silly things. I mean like me, but times 5. :D I was so tired and had so much energy. You know. Nickle does, at least. ;)
This is also the night that Mark ate pudding, guacamole, cheese, sprinkles, more pudding, and more guacamole, just because he wanted to. This is my mentor; I learn from the best.
This is ALSO the day when we met our children. I didn't play with the kids very much this day, there was too much to do and too many others already slacking off that we couldn't afford it (even though my feeble efforts were no significant contribution...) But the kids come back later, no worries. Like, tomorrow. :) And I did let one little boy, a 9 year old named Yonatan help me hammer the blackboard.
Wednesday, July 15:
It's tomorrow!!!
So we get to the site by 6 again and Hallie, Cassie and I get to sift a lot of sand for stucco. Yonatan shows up around 6:30, grabs a shovel, and stops only when we do to get water, though he cannot drink our water. That was the hardest part, standing there greedily drinking our precious water every like 15 minutes while he has none for hours. I hated to not be able to give him any, more than anything. Even more than I hated not being able to communicate much with him.
All morning this little boy and some relatives helped us stucco the house, he even helped smooth it afterwards. He also followed us to the SHOC at lunch, but he was not allowed to come in, sadly. That broke my heart, that he followed us home but we couldn't even let him come in and sit down.
When we came back after siesta the kids came again. Apart from those drywalling inside, there was nothing else that really needed done, so we got to play with the kids!!!!!!!!!!!
Yonatan was my child. I bet you never saw that coming, huh? He didn't want to sit on other people's laps, he wanted to sit on MY lap. He wanted to give ME hugs, and plenty of them. I've never hugged someone I just met more than this child. We couldn't really communicate in words, but with my insanely limited espanol we were able to communicate on the most basic level possible. We didn't really need words anyways, we had laughter and smiles and hugs to say all we needed to.
The kids had to leave after about 2 hours, and we finally had a bit of work to do again. About an hour before we left, Yonatan came back for less than a minute. He gave Hallie a hug, me a hug, Hallie another hug, and me another hug. I said to him, "asta manana!" (Not sure I spelled it right, but I know how to say it...) and he looked up at me with huge, hopeful eyes and said "manana?" I said "si, si!!!" Then he ran home.
That was the last time I saw him.
That night we had tacos for dinner. I don't remember the conversation I had at all, not a word, not a topic. Nothing. All I remember is Hall and Hallie, Hallie leaving after about 30 minutes, and taking about 60-90 minutes to eat a meal I could normally have gone in 20. We could not stop laughing, Hall, Hallie, and I. Then just Hall and I when Hallie left. At what, I wish I could remember... this is how tired we all were. It. Was. Awesome. :)
Thursday, July 16:
We dedicated the houses this morning, handed over the keys and said goodbye to our families. It was joyous, sad, and awesome all at the same time. The family was very thankful and it was great to see the hope in their faces.
We had some debreifing before we left, and then took off to return to El Paso where we got to SHOWER FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE SUNDAY. Yeah, we were all pretty disgusting at this point, us SPAMS at least. (Smelly People Against Mexican Showers.) :) It was great to be clean, I had forgotten what it felt like.
The rest of the time was travelling, going to the Carlsbad Caverns, playing hours and hours and hours of mafia on that bus, and sleeping sometimes. I also developed a cold, but I was so greatful it wasn't while we were in Mexico. I still have a cough, but I'm nearly over it. :)

So the trip was awesome. The bus was the worst and best part, if that's possible. It's where all the bonding and relationship building happened, and I for one am glad for the experience.

I have more words, so many more words, but I leave for the 6th grade trip at 9 am, and I'm still recovering.

Prayer requests:
-Rest. I'm busy for about the next 3 weeks straight, and the rest I get will be less than desired. Please pray that it's enough to sustain me, and that I'll continue to look to God for the strength to make it through the day.
-Relationships. That I can continue to build relationships here with the students and sponsors, as well as my relationship with mentor, that it'll be open and we'll communicate (we're sometimes lacking in that area.) ALSO for relationships at home, that I won't neglect or take any of those for granted.
-Safety. For all the trips, in all their travels that they will be safe and in God's hands.
-Unspoken. There's a student that really just needs your prayers... I wish I could tell you more, but that's all I feel I can say. Please, please pray for her as well as the rest of the students at New Covenant, that the teaching and the service and the worship might have a whole new meaning and will change their lives eternally.
-Those in poverty. That they may have hope, that those us of us who have so much might feel burdened to make a difference.
-Lastly, it's not a personal request but one I frequently feel burdened for. Please pray for those involved in human trafficking, particularly the sex trafficking industry. That the ones bought and sold might have hope and not lose their dignity, that those doing the buying and selling might see their "products" as men and women made in the image of our Creator. That they will look to our Father and not see someone who has abandoned them, but someone who loves them and is constantly reaching out for them.

Thank you friends.

Please don't hesitate to let me know how I can pray for you!

Much love,
Amanda