Mexico- the other follow-up

Over the few days we spent outside building the house, I got to know the family pretty well. I was one of two people out of 22 that could actually have a conversation in Spanish. Conversing with the family was one of the most memorable experiences during the whole trip. There were three members of the family: the mom, the dad, and one son.

The son was very sweet and had a very cool personality. The sun was so hot when we were working. We finished the house very fast compared to previous mission groups, so we got to have a lot of chill time. Getting to know the family was something I cherished, but the friendship I made with them was so hard to leave behind. I found out later that we have no way to connect with them after we leave the work site. I actually cried when I heard the news.

We stayed at one church during our stay in Mexico; Jesucristo es la respuesta, which means Jesus Christ is the answer. We were told that the church we stayed in was one of the nicer ones in the whole town. We even had the chance to attend a Spanish church service. One of the most memorable moments during the service was during worship when a song that both the Mexicans and the Americans knew. No matter what language you’re speaking, God always knows what you are saying.

The ride home was treacherous. I had such a hard time sleeping because I was too busy recalling all of the cool experiences I had during the trip. Going to Mexico made me realize how much I have compared to people of other areas.

Mexico- the follow-up

This is the end to the last Mexico trip blog I posted. It felt like it took years to finally arrive at the border. One thing that really shocked me was the lack of security they had when entering Mexico. We rolled down the windows to the Excursion and held our passports right next to our faces. Without checking the dates on them or really paying attention to the connection between the picture and our faces, they let us pass through. It was obvious that they didn’t care about what passed through there. The thing they cared about most was us entering back into the United States. We passed about 300 cars trying to enter into the U.S., most of them Mexican.

The change between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico was such a downgrade more than I can even explain. You would have to see it yourself to believe me. It seemed as if everywhere you looked was the “ghetto”. Buildings were run down, small, and had graffiti tattooed all over them. There were Mexican people trying to make a living out of selling pop and miscellaneous items on the street corners or on the median between going and coming traffic. There was more poverty in that one city than I had ever seen in my entire life. Overall the scarcity, deficiency, and poverty Juarez was so beautiful.

I felt so much of their pain throughout the four days I stayed there. Little things like not being able to use the tap water, taking cold showers, surviving the awful wind and sandstorms, the dreadful beating sun, the violence, and scarce materials really made me think of how much better life is for me, yet I still complain.

The house that the family had already was made out of cinderblocks, a material that acts like a freezer in the winter and a sauna in the summer. I felt so bad for the family. Their bathroom wasn’t connected to the house and was made out of plywood and duct tape, barely standing up. It looked like random scraps were holding it up. Since the family didn’t have running water anything other than a liquid put down the toilet was to be washed down with a bucket of water.

News about Juarez, Mexico has been all over the world. It’s been said that it’s the most dangerous city on Earth. Some parts of me say its true, but I went there this past spring break and nothing appeared to be that harmful. The only thing that really popped out to me was the army soldiers patrolling the area pointing their guns at you, but unless you were directly involved in the drug wars you were not to be harmed. Rumor has it that there are random shootings and stray bullets flying around the border, but in reality, that is not true. You have to be either selling drugs or buying them to be harmed in any way.

So basically what I was told was that the majority of the newscast is false and they are only trying to say those things because it’s their job and they want to make money off of interesting stories. This really made me distressed. Since Juarez is a very run down place and nothing positive has been on the news about Juarez, Mission groups all over have been canceling due to fear of the violence. Do you know what this means for Mexico? Fewer houses are going to be built which means more poverty. Part of the reason why there is so much violence is because the Mexican government just doesn’t care so they let it fly for so long and eventually got out of hand. Going to Mexico was something that I will never forget and violence shouldn’t be something that should stop anyone. Just don’t get involved with the drugs and everything will be fine and dandy.

ps: dont listen to the news.