Oh, Mexico

For our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, Amar and I decided to head down to Reynosa, Mexico on a mission trip with our church. We left on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. The SUV was loaded to the brim with supplies, friends, and snacks, and we descended into Austin pre-Thanksgiving traffic. Fun. It really wasn't that bad, and we made it through town and down to the border fairly quickly.

We stayed at an orphanage in Reynosa, and let me just tell you, it was posh. It was nicer than some hotels I've stayed at before. Plus, there was home cooking for breakfast and dinner each day. Yeah, it was pretty sweet.

Thursday recap:
Thursday we set out to the colonia to do some canvassing. Basically, the colonia is a settlement of creatively constructed structures perched near the border crossing bridge on a strip of land between an irrigation canal and sewage canal. Families settle there for weeks or months, sometimes years, somehow surviving is a seemingly unsurvivable manner. There is little food, poor shelter, and tons and tons of dust and gravel. We spent our first day there meeting as many people as possible, talking with them and telling them about the various activities we were going to do over the next few days.

Friday recap:
The guys set out that day to start building the first of 2 houses planned for the trip. They got the foundation setup, the floor done, the walls put up and the windows installed. The rest of us ladies set up for the kids activities and women's ministry for the day. Needless to say, things with the kids didn't quite go as expected, but the team flexed and made it work somehow.


Saturday recap:
Saturday was much the same as Friday, but with more building and more sports. Our time with the kids and the women was much more productive! By this time, the guys had almost finished both houses. Quite impressive, if you ask me!

Sunday recap:
We attended church with the staff at the orphanage, and it was quite a new experience for most of us. The corporate worship time was really active, lots of songs and dancing, and it was so neat! The pastor who spoke also had a translator, which made the service just a smidge longer :) After church, we packed back into the car, and proceeded to wait in line to cross the border for about 2 1/2 hours. Uh, yeah. No so much fun. Here's a picture of the Rio Grande. Yeah - no so grande in this picture…

Anyhow, we made it back safe and sound. We're now praying about possibly going again in December...keep you posted!