| SO MUCH SUMMER, SO LITTLE JIMMY... well, actually...*EDIT*
After reading this post, I realized that it sounded kind of negative on my Mexican homies, and that's totally uncool. The post was written quickly and in "train of thought" mode, and I didn't get to put in the time finishing it out like I should have.. Anyways.. read on regarding the Mexico Mission Trip, and the great lessons learned there.
Actually, I guess there's a LOT of Jimmy.. but I digress. For all the homies that read my blog (both of you), an update since last entry.
MEXICO MISSION TRIP
It was awexome. We did, in fact, pour a concrete floor at a mission in a Mexico Border town. Quite an experience. The girls also helped with crafty-type things and kool-aid distribution to the little kiddies attending their vacation bible school program. What a hoot. Inspired by Nacho Libre (which I have yet to see) I felt the need to have a mexican wrestler-type nombre, and came up with Gordo Loco (which means "fat crazy" for those of you who don't habla espanisho) The local urchins found it quite humorous to see a fat, white gringo yell "ME ES GORDO LOCO!" while patting his fat belly and then re-enacting a favorite wrestling move on an innocent bystander. We decided it wasn't fair for just me to have a nickname, so we all came up with nicknames, all of which ended in "loco". It was a real bonding experience.
We also took a day off to play. We visited another touristy border town to buy some flea-market quality goods being hocked under the auspices of being "authentically mexican", but were, in fact, for the most part, authentically junk. Althought my quest for a cool, mexican guitar (at a very low mexican price) was unsuccessful, we had fun in the sun, and it was all good. However, the most amazing part of the day was our trip to S. Padre Island. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Interestingly enough, during my lengthy career as a college student, I was always too poor to trip with my friends who travelled to the island during spring break for it's infamous festivities (probably a good thing) so it was my first time, and I loved it. My desire to live near the ocean is ever increasing the more I am exposed to it's intoxicating atmosphere (non-chemically induced intoxication, btw).
The following are a few important lessons I learned while in mexico.
LESSON 1> I now understand why Texas drivers are so horrible: They are surrounded my mexican drivers. After driving there for a week, it took about 2 days to "detox" and drive like a civil human being again. Speed limits and road signage mean NOTHING to mexicans. Of course, a large number of them are still driving vehicles that require potty breaks and hitching posts, and horses can't read, so it's only natural that chaos ensues. In a sick way, though, I have to admit it that I enjoyed it, but we won't go much further into that.
LESSON 2> Mexicans are simple people. If there is a more rudimentary way to do a task that depends less on tools and technology and more on your back muscles, they will find it. Forget using silly things like mixers, forms, or even quickcrete for pete's sake: let's dump everything on the bare ground and mix 100 yards of concrete by hand! I'm thankful we even had shovels. I suspect that if the soft, lazy americans hadn't been there, they would have been using sticks and old planks, though. Of course, we were able to do it all for about 1/5 of the normal cost, so that was cool. Plus, a few girlie-men gringos got to feel like real men for a couple of days; real SORE men.
LESSON 3> Mexican food in America and real Mexican food are totally not the same. Authentic.. and I mean AUTHENTIC, as in "I'm In Mexico Eating Food Prepared By Someone Who Was Born And Raised In Mexico At Aforementioned Persons Home/Church, Not Some Americanized Restaurant" Authentic, is so far superior to any of the swill you get served here in the states, that it is barely worth eating. But I will anyways, because I love meat. And Cheese. And meat smothered in Cheese, wrapped in a tortilla.
LESSON 4> Americans are soft and whiney, and don't know the meaning of "labor". There was a 70+ year old man that was blind in one eye named "Lino" that made the youngest, most verile of bucks look like a no-stamina pansy. Wiggity Wack.
LESSON 5> Mexicans rock. No matter what they do, they give it there all. Singing, working, playing, or just chillin' with the homies, they put there all into it. You just have to experience it. Our whole group was totally blown away by how passionate these people were. Hopefully it was contagious and we can bring it back (and keep it) in our own group.
There were many more lessons learned, but you'll have to either a.) be a "Loco" to understand it or b.) go next year and learn a few lessons of your own. Just know working together for the cause of Christ can overcome any language and/or cultural barrier that may exist otherwise. I'm now friends with people I could barely speak to, and all because of Jesus. THAT, my friends, is a cool lesson to learn.
TEEN CAMP
A great experience. I was in charge of the music, and I must say, it was one of the best worship experiences I have been a part of. Honestly, if worship was consistently at that level, I think a lot more people would be a lot more excited about showing up for church on Sunday. And no, I'm not talking about the entertainment factor: I could honestly feel the presence of God in what was going on: I think that was some of the most sincere and genuine experiences that I've had. It was really great. The only bad thing about the week was some negativity regarding our rendition of "Amazing Grace" set to the tune of "Sweet Home Alabama", but that's OK. I think it was totally worth it.
SEA WORLD
As I write this, I am chilling at my brother-in-laws, preparing to leave for San Antonio in the morning. We're going to go to Sea World for sure, and probably the Alamo and Riverwalk as well. I'm pretty stoked, as I've never been to San Antonio before. I'll update later on the experience.
LAPPY
I've now got a laptop, and that is just cool. It's bad. Supa-bad. If it had exhaust pipes, it would blow flames. Just earlier today, another "lesser" laptop came within close proximity, and my laptop took it's lunch money. I'm very excited about this (the laptop, not the lunch money), as I am leaning on this recent technological acquisition to bring about greater productivity on my part. Of course, it's got the potential to decrease productivity, now that I have access to the internet almost anytime and anyplace thanks to the wi-fi world that we live in; so we'll see how that works out. But still, I love technology... always and forever. Always and forever.
OK, I'm out. I need to go interact with some real people and then go to bed. |
