This is Phil Starr from Trinity - and this is probably my 14th Esperanza mission trip!!!
This morning most of the group walked to the flea market which moves around to different colonials each day. We didn't buy anything except doughnuts from the bakery.
There are a total of three groups sharing the Posada this week. Seven from USC, 11 from Boston Mass and our group. We had our opening circle with Eduardo to start the day - we sit in a circle and we introduce ourselves to him.
Today was our first workday. We went to the colonial - San Antinio (I'm probably butchering the spelling) and we poured a floor for Esperanza. We have been in this colonial in previous years. We saw one of our previous places - and for those who were on the trip - in maybe 2006 or 2007 when we worked on a place that was going to be a garage. It was never used as a garage it is a store. On that trip we had a number of Sr High youth.
Myself and six students (three from Boston and three from our group) went over to another house and made cement block for a few hours. This is something that I've never done before. It takes 5 buckets of sand, 50 lbs of concrete and probably one bucket of water. It goes into a smaller cement mixer.
Then the machine that makes the block is electric - you put the cement mix in the mold and it tampers it down. Two blocks come out and two people carry them on their wooden platform.
We came back over to Esperanza's house to help with the floor cement poor which was 30 bags of cement. I took my usual post working back of the mixer working with the sand and gravel.
We had a few neighbors helping us with the cement pour today. It went pretty quick and I'm sure our entire group will be sore and tired tonight.
This Esperanza Mission Trip is such a good trip. I will take some time to reflect later in the week. I'll close for now - I'm very impressed with the students - we all put in a full days work.
Phil
Monday, March 14, 2016
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Glad to be back
Hello, my name is Mo and I am a sophomore at the College of Wooster. This is my second trip down to Tijuana, and I am excited to return and interact with everyone. After a long 15 hours between airports, it was great to feel the crisp breeze of Tijuana at night. One of my main objectives are to see how Tijuana has developed since the last time we were here, both physically and culturally. I think it's important that we remember to consider how people in neighboring countries are affected by some of the events that take place in ours. Especially concerning American politics. I am curious to receive a different perspective about our country from our neighbors to the south.
Today we went to the border at Freedom Park to see the barrier the separates the United States and Mexico. Besides the beautiful artwork painted on the walls, I was excited to see a group of teenagers on both sides of the wall working on a "bi-national garden". I thought that was the coolest thing, people being able to positively interact with each other despite "systems" keeping them apart. After the border we went to downtown Tijuana and enjoyed lunch on our usual rooftop restaurant. Later, we browsed the colorful shops and bought souvenirs and blankets.
But the best part starts bright and early tomorrow. when we begin working and interacting with the families!
Stay tuned!
-Mo
Today we went to the border at Freedom Park to see the barrier the separates the United States and Mexico. Besides the beautiful artwork painted on the walls, I was excited to see a group of teenagers on both sides of the wall working on a "bi-national garden". I thought that was the coolest thing, people being able to positively interact with each other despite "systems" keeping them apart. After the border we went to downtown Tijuana and enjoyed lunch on our usual rooftop restaurant. Later, we browsed the colorful shops and bought souvenirs and blankets.
But the best part starts bright and early tomorrow. when we begin working and interacting with the families!
Stay tuned!
-Mo
A Day of Firsts
Hi everyone! My name is Emily Velichka and I am a sophomore student here at Wooster!
We started our day by traveling to the Mexican-American border. It was amazing to see the variety of artwork on the wall, and even a small garden in front of it. There seems to be so much history documented through the writing there, and it was neat to see many names written.
This is a particularly special trip for me, as it has been my first time on an airplane, first time traveling internationally, and first time seeing an ocean. I was so excited, I enlisted some friends to come with me to "dip our toes in". However, this was not the result, and we ended up with some very soaked jeans!! Regardless of having soggy clothes for the rest of the day, it was so much fun.
We wrapped up our day by eating lunch at a rooftop restaurant with some delicious pico de gallo and were able to shop downtown for a bit. It was interesting to barter with the shop owners for low prices, and many of us purchased some great gifts for ourselves and our families.
I am looking forward to starting the workweek tomorrow and seeing what the rest of the trip has in store for myself and the group. This has been an incredible experience thus far, and I cannot wait to continue.
We started our day by traveling to the Mexican-American border. It was amazing to see the variety of artwork on the wall, and even a small garden in front of it. There seems to be so much history documented through the writing there, and it was neat to see many names written.
This is a particularly special trip for me, as it has been my first time on an airplane, first time traveling internationally, and first time seeing an ocean. I was so excited, I enlisted some friends to come with me to "dip our toes in". However, this was not the result, and we ended up with some very soaked jeans!! Regardless of having soggy clothes for the rest of the day, it was so much fun.
We wrapped up our day by eating lunch at a rooftop restaurant with some delicious pico de gallo and were able to shop downtown for a bit. It was interesting to barter with the shop owners for low prices, and many of us purchased some great gifts for ourselves and our families.
I am looking forward to starting the workweek tomorrow and seeing what the rest of the trip has in store for myself and the group. This has been an incredible experience thus far, and I cannot wait to continue.
We found Wi-fi
Hi. My name is William Barnett. I'm a sophomore music composition major from the College of Wooster. I never fully realized that when driving through the city of San Diego, when you cross an imaginary line, you cross into another world. When we first crossed the border, my eyes were drawn to the difference in infrastructure, the poorly built houses, and the sketchy people walking around. It was a little bit of a culture shock and at first I pitied the 1.5 million people who live in Tijuana, but as the weekend progressed, I began to realize that this world could not be described by poverty.
For dinner, we were taken to an amazing taco shop, all handmade with fresh ingredients and fantastic grapefruit lemonade smoothies in the fridge. While driving, we got a glimpse of houses and saw how artfully decorated they were, and how much pride that people take in their house. From Meriachi bands to Margaritas, Mexico is a place that's rich in culture and both a fun nation and people.The morning, we went to the beach and saw lines of fun shops and resteraunts, almost like what you would find in Malibu or Santa Monica in L.A. We also got to look through the two giant walls that separates Tijuana from San Diego and the four-wheeler that drove down by us just to stop little kids from climbing the wall. I could not believe what great lengths the U.S. has gone to keep those on our side of the wall out and how we can show so much fear and hate towards a country of such rich culture and happy people. Looking across the fall, I felt like America was so close to and yet so far, like I truly had entered another world.
One of my first questions was how the financial differences of Tijuana affect happiness. From what I've heard, people are happier here. People are much more family orientated, as they are all they have. Back in the US, where all our needs and comforts are met and exceeded, we focus on the things we don't have and our often ungrateful for the blessings we have.We came here with a goal to help the problems of others, but perhaps they might just help our problems too.
For dinner, we were taken to an amazing taco shop, all handmade with fresh ingredients and fantastic grapefruit lemonade smoothies in the fridge. While driving, we got a glimpse of houses and saw how artfully decorated they were, and how much pride that people take in their house. From Meriachi bands to Margaritas, Mexico is a place that's rich in culture and both a fun nation and people.The morning, we went to the beach and saw lines of fun shops and resteraunts, almost like what you would find in Malibu or Santa Monica in L.A. We also got to look through the two giant walls that separates Tijuana from San Diego and the four-wheeler that drove down by us just to stop little kids from climbing the wall. I could not believe what great lengths the U.S. has gone to keep those on our side of the wall out and how we can show so much fear and hate towards a country of such rich culture and happy people. Looking across the fall, I felt like America was so close to and yet so far, like I truly had entered another world.
One of my first questions was how the financial differences of Tijuana affect happiness. From what I've heard, people are happier here. People are much more family orientated, as they are all they have. Back in the US, where all our needs and comforts are met and exceeded, we focus on the things we don't have and our often ungrateful for the blessings we have.We came here with a goal to help the problems of others, but perhaps they might just help our problems too.
We are here
After flight delays and being split up into three separate flights we finally got to the posada last night at 10 pm. We got groceries and ate at the taco stand. We are at the border now and will go downtown. Wifi at posada isn't working but we hope to figure it out.
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