Sorry for the delay I was going to write and send this to you all in the mail but it I kept forgetting! So I am making it a blog.
Now finally I have a free break to sit down and put all my thoughts together about Mexico. As you can probably remember I sent many of you a letter a month or so ago saying how I was going to Mexico June 30th- July 7th. Trying to put it all to words is incredibly hard but I'm going to start with at the beginning, The flight to El Paso, which is we crossed the border, had an eight hour delay in the middle of the day from ten to six. At first it seemed like a drag to have to wait in the Dallas airport so long plus we would be able to cross the border to Mexico until Sunday. God had better plans for the lay-over not only was I able to get to know my team better it was also extremely fun with naps, card games, meals, riding the tram, and so much other crazy stuff the time went fast.
Then we got on the plan to Dallas and arrive around eight and went to the hotel, after a meal we went straight to ready for the day to come. The next morning we were picked up by a white van after a forty five minute drive, which seemed to take a lot longer, we finally crossed the board instantly I could tell I was in a different country beaten down buildings ,stray dogs, no grass and not to mention ever sign was in a langue I did not understand.
The Orphanage was just 4miles away from the boarder and as we drove to the gate I could see my cousin Tera, and little kids playi ng in the sand. Once the van stopped I almost didn't really know what to do my emotions were all over the place. A few kids gathered around the van as we got out asking question like what's your name or saying hello, mostly I didn't know what they were saying, I know more Spanish then I used when I first got off the van the only word I could think of was "Hola" the Spanish word for hello. After about five minutes I still had only said hello then once a kid told my cousin Tera I was "Loca" (Crazy) I suddenly remembered what little Spanish I knew and was able to tell the kid "I was not crazy." After he disagreed we settled on that maybe I was a little crazy.
The week went by incredibly fast, We did a lot of painting and scraping paint because we were re-doing the play grounds which had a lack of swings and really old paint. We also had a VBS for the kids in the mornings. Then after dinner we could spend time with the kids. I became really close with a select few kids one whose name was Javiar who is six, He was the cook's son and he was on the swings every morning as soon as I woke up he would run over and ask me to push him even though we couldn't speak the same langue we were still great friends. Some other kids were also close to my heart and always will be. Near the end of the week I realized how hard it would really be to leave and just wanted to spend as much time with the kids as I possibly could. During the week we had a huge water balloon fight our team filled up three thousand water balloons and had a surprise attack on the kids which soon turned into a epic war. The water balloon fight although it only lasted ten or fifteen minutes was defiantly one of the highlights of the trip. On the night before we left we had a huge bon fire and the kids roasted s'mores and the kids wanted to sing our VBS songs. I aslo got some time to talk to my step sister Kelly who really seems to be enjoying interning.
Leaving was one of the hardest things I think I'll ever do, I could tell that some of the kids I really bonded with were sad and what also hurt is the some of the younger kids didn't know what was happening. Javiar didn't know I was leaving until my cousin Tera told him he hugged me and said No, No. Which didn't help make it any less hard. One kid who knew no English, Omar who is six, I tried to tell him that I would miss him but not knowing the words I just said it in English he repeated it back in a question like tone of voice and I just had to give him a hug and head for the van. Once I got in the van and we headed toward the gate I just wanted to jump out and stay with the kids but we left the gate the van was decently quite then we began to talk about the kids we bonded with. Then we got on another plane I guess that's when it really hit him the fact I was leaving and maybe to go back maybe not and even if I went who knows what kids would still be there. Our flight ended up leaving without us and we were stuck in Dallas airport again we sleep on cots with tiny blankets and pillows the airport gave us. Then we got on our seven a.m. flight to Knoxville and arrived at ten thirty. Home, sweet home, yet I had never not wanted to be home so bad, I wanted to be back over the border with those kids.
God taught me a lot on this trip, I saw how much I have that I take for granted just little things that most kids don't have. How blessed it is to be in American and have everything they don't. At first I felt ashamed that I had so much while other people had so little, but then I realized I should not be ashamed because God has a plan for me and He planned for me to have more than others do, So I must use it. Although I'm not sure how exactly I am to use it weather its missions, volunteer work or donating. the trip really showed me all the things I have to be grateful for and also helped me realize what other people live like. So not only should I not be taking what I have for granted I also should be looking for ways to help those who have less.
