Sunday a Mexico

So when last we left our traveling crew the air conditioning had stopped working. You have no idea how horrible it is to try and sleep on a bus of 41 people when the air conditioner is spewing hot air instead of cold (yes, it was actually hotter than outside). At 1:30 we stopped to refuel and try to fix it, a half hour gone to no avail. The only idea we could come up with, open the emergency roof hatches and keep driving. The drivers abandoned this idea about 4:30 when we stopped at three "TA"'s in a row trying to find a mechanic on duty. At the third, still no one who could work on the bus, so they called ahead trying to find a mechanic somewhere on the road.

Jump ahead 2 hours. We're still at the same TA in Arkansas and nothing, so we decide to start the bus up and leave. Somehow, after turning the bus off and on, the air magically works. We say nothing, thank God and try to sleep (yeah, right) and continue the journey. But now we have 15 hours of bus driving and everyone's sleep schedule is messed up (yes, 15 hours + 6:30 in the morning = late, add in no showers = lots of fun). The poor people at McDonald's who fed all of us on one order as we took it all to go back on the bus since we were already 3 hours late, God bless them, they must have hated us. Still, we needed to get going and get to our destination.

Youthworks was waiting for us in El Paso along with another youth group from Virginia, they had been there since 10:00am (poor forgiving people). But we made it. So the 39 of us, the 12 from Virginia and the Youthworks crew all pile in an old school bus with Minnesota plates and a really broken back seat (just the one) and we all go to the Mexican border. Before we even cross, you can feel a Mexican flavor, but that was nothing compared to Mexico.

We cross extremely quickly (Mexico isn't as worried about people sneaking in as America) and hit Juarez. The city has water running through the streets from the storms, water rushing to the Rio Grande. I remembered my old friend Mike Grafton saying how borders are imaginary lines that make no sense. It kept running through my head as this was no imaginary line. You could see I-10 clearly with cars on it a few hundred feet away, on the other side of the cement wall with barbed wire on top running along the tiny river. I was a little disappointed we didn't see Juarez in daylight first as Carrie (the Youthworks leader) said most people take it as quite a shock. Some of our guys were so shocked in the night, maybe I should be glad it wasn't daylight.

We arrive at our site, definitely not the Ritz. We live in a small compartment half-way up a hill with double sets of steel doors (this picture is from during the day). Wooden bunks in each room hold us all as close together. Because of lack of space and it being late, etc., I end up on the floor, but I'm underneath a swamp cooler. What is that you ask? Really cheap air conditioning. Basically it's a wall of hay with a fan behind it, water siphoned up and dribbling down the hay, causing the air blown to be cooler and moist. Still, after our drive, long day, shock and awe and being hot and humid, falling asleep didn't come as easily to some as others. But everyone has amazingly great attitudes, so we're not doing too bad.

Want to see the view from where we are? Tune in tomorrow (we didn't' see it until then either).

T