Mexico (part II)

Now where was I...

So, after a week of hard work we loaded up the school buses again and headed to the ocean! We arrived in San Carlos Saturday evening (March 23rd) and stayed at the Christian Cultural Center for the next few days.



Sunday morning we went to 2 church services; one was an 'American' church and the other was a local spanish church. At both services the youth did their dramas, testimonies, etc. In the evening we put on another carnival for the local village.
Monday was our relaxing day off. It started off with a boat trip out in the ocean; we went snokeling, diving and worked on our tans.





After lunch we did some bartering and sight-seeing on the mountain that the original Zorro movie was filmed on, then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach.






Tuesday morning 10 of us sponsors woke up early and hiked up Tetakawi mountain (meaning: goat tit). It was a pretty good hike and the view was amazing especially when the sun was just coming up.





Then after breakfast we loaded up the buses again and headed out to a little fishing village, El Choyudo, about 2 hrs away to do one last carnival. This village was by far the poorest and sadest we saw. Very dirty and the living conditions were horrible. But all the kids and adults all had smiles on their faces and when we left 4 women gave their lives to Christ so it was a memorable day.








Wednesday we packed everything up for good, said goodbye and started the long journey home. We had planned on shopping at the border that afternoon but when we got there we were rerouted to another border crossing and after a few delays it was too late so most of us came home without any souveniers. Oh well, I guess that just means we'll have to go next time!


After a day of driving we got to LA. On the trip Brian and I did the 4 am-10 am driving shifts (Brian in a bus and I was in a truck pulling a trailer); so Thursday morning I drove a big diesel/standard truck, pulling a trailer on a 7 lane highway through Los Angeles in morning rush-hour!!! I do believe that is my biggest accomplishment so far! When we stopped for breakfast and I got out of the truck my whole body was shaking - a little nerve-wraking:) The rest of that day we went to 6 Flags Amusement Park north of LA. Huge roller-coasters! The kids had a blast - only a couple were puking! I wasn't feeling so good so I mostly watched and even had a much needed nap in the bus.




The next couple days were pretty low-key. Driving, driving, shopping, driving, flat tire, driving, driving.

lunch stop...

We arrived back in Canada 6am Saturday morning, dropped the Maple Ridge youth off and arrived in Vernon around 1pm. We were greeted with a crowd of people and lots of hugs. We stayed in Vernon for another day then drove home Monday. It was good to be home but I could have easily jumped on the bus and done it all over again. We're already getting excited for the next trip in 2 years! :)

So, that was a very condensed version of our Mexico trip. I have many more stories to tell but we'll save that for another time.