Madawaska Arrived in Mexico!
We arrived at Toronto airport three hours before our flight left so we had plenty of time to weigh luggage, move some stuff around so no one’s bag was over 50 pounds and convince US Immigration that Pia (an Austrian exchange student) was safe to allow into their country!
After our customs ordeal, we boarded a miniature plane bound for Minneapolis. After a two hour flight that landed in a strong cross wind, we had three hours of walking around the mall, which amazingly was inside the airport! Soon we were all on a plane heading to Los Angeles, California. We then quickly boarded a bus, driven by our very accommodating guide, Charles. He took us to our hotel for some needed one-on-one time with our pillows. At 6:30am we got back on our bus, and greeted Charles with sleepy smiles. Within an hour we were all craving some breakfast, so we made a stop at an IHOP just off of the highway, where they were surprisingly patient with our group of twenty-two!
After breakfast we embarked on a six hour bus ride down the Pacific coast. Across the Mexican border the scenery was beautiful and we just had to stop at a local lookout point just off the highway. The view was breath taking!
We finally arrived in Vicente Guerrero, our base of operations. We found the accommodations to be much nicer than expected, we were given two beautiful houses, and they even had bunk beds! After our debriefing we tucked into our bunks, dreaming of the day to come.
In the morning, we woke up to bacon, pancakes, sausage, eggs, and bowls full of delicious fresh fruit. After breakfast we had a quick information session and then hopped on the “Charles bus” for a quick five minute ride to our two building sites. Once we arrived we were greeted by the smiling faces of the two families. They were so excited to have a new house – even the children were picking up hammers and pounding in nails like little construction workers!
The houses are 20’ x 21’ and the process of taking mostly rookies and teaching them how to build a house is well honed. The concrete pad was already laid when we arrived. Today we cut lots of boards, painted trim, and managed to nail together and paint the four roof components and two of the walls. The walls even have siding on them already! Most of the houses in Mexico are very brightly coloured. Apparently our two families have chosen sky blue and deep red for their houses.
Charles says that tomorrow the walls go up and the roof goes on. It sounds ambitious but doable with our great Madawaska teams!
