Mexico 2014

It's been well over a year since I posted here. 2014 was just insanity! So many things happened and I just never got on here to talk about them. So, here goes...

View of Cumbres neighborhood of Tijuana from our second worksite.

 Mexico in February was amazing. We worked on three sites during the week and got to see so many amazing things. The hibiscus above is what was growing next to the house where we made blocks. The first site we worked on was laying the floor and walls, here we made blocks, and the third site we worked on was digging the trenches for the foundation. All three had wonderful people to meet and work alongside. It was absolutely amazing!

House near our first build site - loved all the flora and fauna!

We went to the Pelican (the grocery store [which is more like Wal-Mart, but it's not Wal-Mart because they have that too] but it is actually called the Comercial Mexicana by name, but we call it the pelican because their symbol is a pelican...) and picked up some baby items because the daughter of the first home we worked on was pregnant! We had such a great time. And, as it turns out, her daughter's birthday is the same day as mine so we got to celebrate together. :)

Birthday girls!

As always, we stopped in to see Christina and Juan. Our group worked on two houses for their family - one for Christina and Juan and one for Christina's children. I wasn't there to work on either house, but I have grown to adore Christina, Juan, and the kids in the subsequent years.

We had such a great time visiting with them and we also took a trip to the beach! We love checking out the beach at Rosarito.

AJ and me with the Pacific Ocean in the back.

The 'young' crowd of the trip. Kevin (the whale we saw and named) is in the background, too!

We also took a trip through La Gloria (the town where the posada [the place where we stay] is) and stopped at the panaderia to get some treats on the way home. We also stopped at the swap meet with its strange dinosaurs, etc.

 We saw some goats at a veterinary hospital on our way home from the swap meet. We love goats. :)

And we got to see the TJ soccer team play. They're called the Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente. Super long name...they're nicknamed the Xolos (pronounced sholos). The xoloitzcuintli is a dog that is hairless and a native of Mexico.  We had such an awesome time at the game! I'm hoping maybe we can rope our way into another one this year.

Here are a few more assorted pictures from that trip:

The border. There is lovely art on the MX side and a sign that says there are sharp impaling things out in the water so don't even try to get around the wall that way.

Our first build site.

Making blocks.

Torta. No other words are necessary. :)

So there's Mexico 2014. Some time I'll get around to 2013. I've got a lot to catch up on. :)