Baja Missions Trip 2023 - Day 2 "The Work Begins"

Check out the video I put together of the trip: Baja Missions Trip 2023

Day Break

I fell asleep last night to a chorus of feral street dogs, rooster's crowing at the oddest times, and the sound of rain pouring off the roof. But that didn't matter, with yesterday's travel day in the rear view I was ready to lay my head and get some much needed rest. It didn't matter the chorus going on outside or that the room lights were still on, I was out like a light. I awoke several times in the night to the aforementioned noise, made my way to the bathroom and back to bed again. I awoke for the final time unable to force myself back to sleep and mustered the strength to get out of bed and start my day at 4:30AM local time. If I was at home I would already be at work, so my body wouldn't let me rest any longer. 

I find it helpful when traveling to try and keep some of the same rhythms, this helps ground my body in the present and keeps my shoulders from merging with my neck. Thanks to a pocket-sized blanket I was able to do my 30 minute stretching routine. So now I write this well rested, well stretched, and anxious to start our first full day here in Mexico. The house build is in SE Tijuana, about an 1 hour and 30 minute drive from the Connections house. Who knows what the day holds, signing off for now! 

Before Bed

Traveling to the worksite was made difficult by the amount of rain that had worn away at the already rough roads, and an hour and thirty minutes bouncing around in a 15 passenger van didn't go very fast. Water flooded the roadways making the journey slower that usual. Most of the journey was on paved roads, but they were littered with potholes. Kevin expertly outmaneuvered most of them to save our spines.

Shanty towns which I learned today are called "squatter communities" lined the roadside every few feet. Feral dogs ran amuck with little regard for cars and would dart out without warning. Many of the dogs showed signs of having delivered a new litter of pups which would only add more mouths to feed. 

About 2 miles from the house build the roads turned from paved to mud with ruts that were upwards of 8" deep. We turned off and the road became steep and I feared that we would have to trudge on foot to the house, but Uncle Kevin soldiered on and inch by inch made it to the jobsite. 

A group of about 7 people stood there in the rain waiting to greet us. A poured concrete slab and a pile of precut lumber was all that set this small lot on the hillside apart from the rest. We clamored out of the van, crossed the muddy street to greet the crew. Forman's Pablo, Nacho, and Jorge would be leading us in the house build. There were 2 apprentices Angelo, and Benji, and another builder named Josh who had come to Mexico during Covid to join the BCM team and never went back home. Looking back now I understand why Josh never left.  

We were then split into two crews, painting and building, all the other women on the trip Terry, Liz, and Lucia went to the painting crew, this would prove to be a challenge to paint in the active drizzle. They really did try their best, but a lot of the paint ended up in the various puddles around the jobsite. Cory, Dewey, Chris, Squeaky, Josh, Stephan, and I joined the building crew. I donned a tool belt provided by Baja Christian Ministries (BCM), filled the pouch with 16p nails and awaited further instructions. 

I mentioned earlier that the weather was going to be less than ideal, but in a little over 3 hours the walls were up and the roof was being formed. The team that builds these houses has it down to a science, in fact many houses in the area have been known to take the design for the house and copy it exactly. A 3 room house with 2 bedrooms, a shared living area, and a loft area to serve as an additional sleeping area or for storage, Very similar to this: 

I anticipate helping build the latrine tomorrow which is just a few steps from their front door. The family helped with the build, Alejandra, draped in a Frida Kahlo apron, painted while her husband Daniel helped with the building. We were really working cohesively as a team, even somewhat anticipating what others needed before they asked. It was awesome to be a part of a team that works so well together and were willing to do whatever needed to be done to get this house built! 

Alejandra and Daniel's two boys, Noe and Axel, made an appearance during lunchtime, they were excited to see the progress on the house and took a mini tour while we were eating. A man named Charlie stopped by and brought us a hot lunch of chili dogs, which was a welcomed gift with the cold that has soaked into most of our bones. Liz, Lucia, and I huddled in the van to try and warm up just a little bit, but with soaking wet clothes and the damp cold that Mexico had to offer it was a futile endeavor. 

After lunch with full bellies we very groggily headed back to work. Josh and Benji had finished the roof and we just needed to make the house as weather proof as we could putting up the remaining pieces of siding and finishing up the drywall inside which was being put up even before the exterior of the house was complete. Epikos Josh was the tallest person on site and he got a workout hammering and nailing all the high spots that others would need a ladder to reach. 

Shortly before 3pm we called it and started cleaning up. We were all exhausted but satisfied with the work we had been able to accomplish. We said our goodbyes to the crew who we would be seeing the next day to finish the house, and piled into the van to start the bumpy return trip. 

The return trip was quiet as many people were resting having put in a long days work. Back at the connections house I grabbed a quick shower and got ready for dinner. After dinner we took a trip to Soriana's to try and find some warm sweatshirts, but they either don't stock any regularly, or because the temps had been so cold they were sold out. The only sweatshirt in the whole store was on a mannequin. And then it wasn't. Let's just say Lucia wasn't willing to freeze the whole trip. 

Every night we did devotionals together and tonight was no different. It's been good to be able to spend time in community diving into scripture. We played a game afterward, the Christian version of "Cards Against Humanity" called "Cards Christian's Like", it's hilarious if you can laugh at the cultural things Christians do or have done. We had a good time laughing and playing together, Cory is very good at this game! 

My eyes are getting heavy as I pen this since I've been up since 4AM and it's now almost 10PM. My body is very tired, but my heart and spirit is high. So far I'm glad I came on this trip and look forward to all that tomorrow holds. 

Check out the video I put together of the trip: Baja Missions Trip 2023