Cow Heads on a Moped

I saw a dude driving a moped with a basket of cows heads on the back. Sweet.

I held out some hope that after a couple weeks my body would adjust to the constant heat and I wouldn't continue to sweat constantly. That hope has been crushed. In fact, I think my body is rejecting the heat and choosing to sweat even more than normal. Is that gross and probably not something that should be put in a blog? Probably, but I'll use the "I've never blogged before so I don't know the rules" excuse.

Our second group has officially departed now, and we don't have a real group for the upcoming week. By that I mean there is a group of day-trippers that will be working with us M, T, W but not a big group that stays in the team house all week. Since the week is different, we are kicking it off with a retreat for all the interns and nannies. There's an island just off the coast called Deer Island and we are going to camp out overnight on the beach. I can't wait. There are only two things that concern me: getting carried off and eaten by some manner of giant insect colony and not sleeping high enough on the beach so the tide carries me out to sea while I sleep. I've been told both are highly unlikely but I'm not so sure.

After the retreat our group of staff and the day-trippers will continue to work on projects at the homes. I'm looking forward to being able to work in a smaller group. I think it will be a great opportunity for our team to bond (since often we spend time trying to get to know the group members that are there for the week). We also will be attending a graduation party for a couple kids at the Salvation Army home; one kid is graduating from middle school and the other from elementary. It's super cool that we get to celebrate a landmark achievement for these kids who have had such tumultuous childhoods.

Last thing, I would love some prayer support. I continue to apply for teaching jobs back home, but so far have heard either nothing or bad news. I continue to pray and ask for God to help me trust Him and have faith that His plan is better than mine. Unfortunately I haven't been able to break that anxiety. As soon as I think I've made progress I see another person posting something about their new teaching position and I drop right back into mistrust and doubt. Congrats to all of you who have gotten a job by the way, you'll do great! I guess I just don't have the faith to accept that not getting a job is really the best plan God has got for me. Basically if you read this and could toss up a prayer or twenty, that would be lovely and I'd be so thankful.

Also, if you're looking to see some pictures of what is happening down here, follow Back2Back Mazatlan on facebook or add me as a friend because I'll be tagged in pictures as well. I'm not a big picture-taker myself so I let the people who know what they're doing handle all that. Peace. I'm gonna go pack all the kitchen knives in my backpack in case I have to fend off an insect army during the night.

A Night in the Life

The last couple days have been wonderfully crazy. Our first group was here and we kept them plenty busy. Some projects got done quickly, others will be summer-long projects. I'm happy to say that my summer will include lots of footer-digging and concrete pouring, my old loves from my last trip. My life wouldn't be complete without them. Today is a brief head-above-water day where the first group is gone and the next arrives tomorrow. Therefore, I am sitting in front of a fan eating leftover tacos for breakfast and lunch before going out to get more for dinner (although I heard a rumor about some sort of bacon/hot dog creation for dinner).

Two nights ago I had an incredible opportunity. For reasons not important to all of you, the Salvation Army home needed some overnight help this weekend. That meant that a few of us (staff/interns/groupies) got to go out to the home for the night and hang out. When we pulled up in the van, the kids came RUNNING out of the dorms to greet us, they were so pumped. We played games and had a quick devotional before getting them in bed. It was quite an adventure. They loved to call me over to tell me something, even though I didn't have the faintest idea what they were saying. I relied on a lot of hand motions and facial expressions to communicate, but its all good. After the kids finally settled down enough to go to bed, us American-folk sat on the curb in the dark, Mexican countryside and talked. We talked about our lives back home, God, orphans, special needs kids, and what was going to change because of this trip. It was super cool to hear the group members talk about the drastic changes they want to make in their lives and thinking; a lot of them were similar to my own when I was here for a week.

As I sat there on the steps looking up at the stars, I was struck by how BIG God is. He created everything and is active in his creation. I know God is at work at home, I know God is at work in Lansing, and I know he is at work here. And yet, he offered us the opportunity to know him intimately. I know it sounds like a simple revelation, but it was what struck me on the steps outside that dorm.

Wow, ok, take a breath from all that heavy stuff...one of the best parts was the next morning (which was at 5:45 in the morning after a terrible night of sleep in a dorm that felt like it was 120 degrees in a bed that may or may not have contained lice) when we woke the kids up for breakfast before going to school. I felt a little tap on my face, opened one eye, and heard "buenos dias!". I mumbled something the greeting in return and crawled out of bed. The little fella that is on my shoulders in that picture up there was struggling to wake up. Everyone else was bustling around getting dressed and picking on each other, he had made it like two steps out of bed. He was face down, spread eagle on the floor passed out again. I couldn't help but crack up. Eventually we got them all off to school and then took off back to the team house. It was a quiet ride, but it was a great night.

Lots of Things

I know I said I didn't blog and now this is a second one in three days, but I guess thats just the way it goes. Today had a lot of "making me think" types of moments. Quick summary: woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned the team house, had lunch, visited the three children's homes we will be working with this summer, made dinner, brought said dinner to the beach, swam in 5-7 foot waves, worshiped and devotionalized on the beach while the sun set, came back to a staff house for a movie, and back to home sweet bottom bunk where I am now. Yes I made up the word devotionalized. What follows are thoughts I had throughout the day, loosely in a corresponding order to the above events.

• Still not used to the time change
• Is it really raining while we eat breakfast?
• After only two days, our team is working together like we've been here a month
• God has put awesome people in my life
• Mmmmm tuna
• Rancho...wow. Last I was here there were eight holes in the ground and now there is a huge wall
• These kids are awesome and I can't wait to be here for the next two months
• The vision of the Back2Back staff is so cool.
• Driving around Mazatlan takes a long time
• FloreSer...cool to finally be here! But I truly stink at speaking Spanish, I REALLY should have worked on that
• Salvation Army...freakin' sweet jungle gym! Crazy thinking back to building it. So many excited kids, so much to do, so pumped for what God has in store for the kids and the groups who are coming
• Quiet van ride back to the team house, lots of thinking going on I think
• Appetizer of our lunch for the next two months for dinner tonight, booyah
• Salt water tastes bad and waves are stronger than me
• This community was put together by God for an incredible purpose
• The Creator made some pretty wicked awesome stuff
• My tendency to dump M&M's into my popcorn came from my mother
• Billy Crystal is a funny dude
• Tired

Those are exactly the only thoughts I had all day. No more, no less. Not really, but close enough. And like I said...tired. First group comes tomorrow and so begins the awesome craziness. Bring it.

The Great White Ocean

I've given a lot of thought to how much honesty to put into this here blog. I made a somewhat embarrassing mistake that I'm not proud of...remember when I said I flew out on Monday? Yep, that wasn't right. I actually was scheduled to leave today (Wednesday the 5th) all along. It turned out ok though, I got to spend some extra time with the fam and the dogs, and I still made it to Mexico. Barely.

I got a phone call at 4:30 this morning that my first flight was delayed so I wouldn't be able to make the second flight into Mazatlan either. The lovely lady at American Airlines worked some magic and BAM, I had flights that still at least arrived today. The kicker? I had to connect through Mexico City, that was an experience. But I made it and felt an immense amount of accomplishment as I sat in my seat, bound for Mazatlan finally, with only a mild to heavy amount of sweat all over myself. I fell asleep for a bit on the plane and when I woke up and looked out the window, I saw the ocean. Except I thought I was dreaming or drugged or something because the whole thing was white. Turns out it was just a weird angle with the sun and a light layer of fog, but it was crazy awesome just the same.

ANYWAY I'm here, I met the people I'll be working with (I only remember like a third of all their names at this point, shhhh) and they seem lovely. I'll hold off on writing any more about them until I know them well enough that I don't care about potentially offending or humiliating them on a public stage. I'm gonna go shower now cuz I'm REAL shtanky, then I'm off on some sort of Mexican potato adventure.