Almost Home

I’m now sitting in my hostel room in San Francisco with only 2 sleeps to go until I get on the plane to come home! The last few weeks have been great, but I am really looking forward to coming home, which is good!
Mexico was once again amazing and I can’t wait until I get to go back (who knows when…). I managed to meet up with the group from Sydney at the airport, and they were a great group of people ranging in age from 8 to about 70, with a really great group of people my age that I really enjoyed meeting! It was the 4th time that Paula and Niall Reid had organised this trip, so they pretty much had everything worked out, and you could see how much they, and their sons (who were about my age) loved it simply because they all came back time after time (about every 2 years). There were 47 of us in the group, so instead of us building one house like I did last time, we were in 3 different teams all building a house, and it was great because 2 of the teams were right next door to each other, and the other team was right down the street which meant that we could go and visit the other teams in breaks, or help them out if they were a little behind and needed a few extra hands! Amor chooses families to get houses in areas, and these were the last 3 houses that were going to be built in that area. It wasn’t that all families get houses; they must go through an application process with their pastors to be chosen.
The family that we were building for had 3 children; Miguel (7), Alondra (8), and Simi (5 months). It was obviously a more wealthy and safe area than the last one that I had been building with, which in some ways made it less powerful, but at the same time it was far from what we would call a good neighbourhood, and the families joy and excitement at getting the house was still the same. With more people around my age, it also totally changed the dynamic of the group and the work, and it was fun to be around so many Australians again, although definitely made me look forward to going home as I was constantly being reminded of people from home! One of the really positive differences at the building sight for me was how much more confident I was in the building process and understanding what had to be done and how, and being able to help and instruct other people on what needed to be done! Knowing what we were working towards and the steps that needed to be taken really helped me to enjoy the building even more.
We also went to a service at one of the local churches which was rather fun although we filled more than half of their church and couldn’t understand each other. We did some translation though and they sang some songs in Spanish and we sang some of our songs and it was just a really nice time to spend with people and represent Amor in the community. There had also been some donations made to the trip for the families, so we took each family shopping in the market with a certain amount of money to spend on whatever they wanted, and it was really fun to see the Mexican street market and try and remember Spanish numbers when they tell you prices!
After we had built the houses, we headed off to Rosarito, which is a coastal town on the Baja Peninsula. It’s a bit touristy, and obviously a favourite for Americans to visit, but it was absolutely beautiful on the beach, and again there were lots of Markets, although these were more permanent and had lots of things like jewellery and ponchos and blankets etc. And of course, there was lots of haggling over prices as you seemed to be able to get everything at half the price they initially told you. I didn’t particularly enjoy the haggleing, as I really just wanted them to tell me the reasonable price first off, and I would have been happy to pay that! We also took day trips from Rosarito to Puerto Nuevo, a small fishing port specialising in lobster and homemade tequila, and Enselada, a very touristy town where a lot of the cruise ships stop. Again, lots of shopping and lots of demanding shop keepers trying to convince you to buy their things by any means possible! In the evening though we got to have fireworks on the beach right outside of the villas we were staying in and watch the sunset over the ocean, which was lots of fun! It was definitely a completely different Mexico from where we were building in Tijuana though, and I’m really glad that I got to see both the real Mexico, and the Mexico that is set up for Americans, and is all most Americans would see. We then drove back over the border at the worlds busiest border crossing, looking at all of the vendors set up by the road for people to shop as they are crossing the border, did a bit of shopping in outlets south of San Diego, and then up to the hotel in Anaheim, just near Disneyland. The group my age had all decided to go to 6 flags magic mountain instead of Disneyland, so I went off with them although I didn’t join them on some of the biggest rollercoaster’s, as they were crazy! It was a really fun day though.
The final morning before everyone left we went and visited the Crystal Cathedral, which was a very different experience. It was a very large beautiful building but the most exquisite part was the female bathrooms, which cost over $700,000, built with money donated by a lady who thought women deserved to be comfortable! They seemed a little over the top to me, and the church seemed to be very much about presentation, and very formally done, with only 2 songs! Most of us found a 2 hour service with only 2 songs a bit long to just be listening for…
One of my favourite things about this trip was the diversity. Although it was UCA synod run, there were Baptists, Salvos and Anglicans on the trip too, and it didn’t matter. We discussed some of the differences, but most of the time we were just working together and doing the work; not caring about the little differences that we had in our religious rituals.
After everyone headed off to the airport I went back to my hostel in Santa Monica for a night before heading out to Las Vegas for 2 nights, just for the experience! It is certainly an interesting town and I did have lots of fun, although I thought the theme parks and game arcades were far more interesting than then casinos! It was interesting to see though that there was such a difference in feel between each of the casinos and some of them had some really interesting things in them… did anyone know that the MGM Grand has a Lion enclosure in it?
And now I’m in San Francisco enjoying my last few days. It’s been really good finishing where I started because it has given me a real chance to see the differences in how I see the city… and how much more confident I feel in my ability to jump on a bus or go and explore different area. I really do like this city, and it’s nice just to have a few days of me time before I head home, which I am so excited about! I can’t wait to see everyone!
This is going to be my last blog, mainly because although I could continue posting about my experiences and thoughts, I’m really hoping that we can have these conversations in person more often, rather than just me writing about it and not getting to listen as well. So I really hope that anyone who has enjoyed reading this will take the time to not only talk to me about the little things, but everyone around them and not just listen but also talk equally as much!
Thank you to all who have read this and all who have posted, I have really enjoyed writing these, although it has been challenging at times! I will see you all very soon!
Laura