End of Summer Post

Hey everybody! Today I have a couple of pictures and some reflections from the summer. The first picture is of me in front of a house I didn't work on. I wore that pair of overalls almost every single building day this summer (92%, if we want to be really picky). I washed them every week, in case you were worried. Actually, wearing the same thing every day was really nice. I didn't have to devote any of myself and my energy to dealing with unnecessary possessions like extra clothes.
The second picture is what a typical Amor house looks like, excepting the overhang above the door. The group felt like doing a little something extra for the family, so they did. I've been working on houses like that all summer. To us, tiny. But in reality, they are enormous gifts growing out of God's love for us. They are more than buildings - they are symbols of a cross-cultural connection, of hope for family, and they are manifestations of Christlike love.
This summer has meant an incredible variety of things to me. But the thing I'll take away most is the lesson of service I took from working with my group of 5. They came expecting to build a whole house but were not able to. Instead, we finished some houses with 2nd coats of stucco. They were willing to drop their own expectations and pride for what needed to be done. This is truly the attitude of a servant - one that I pray I might adopt more and more each day: not to be driven by my own selfish ambition, but to be useful to the one I serve.

It's been a great summer

Adios

1 group, 4 coats of stucco

This week I had the privilege of working with a group of 5 people from Hope Christian Church. It's really hard to build a full Amor house with only 5, so we went around Tijuana finishing some houses that were not completed by the group first assigned to them. We finished the stucco on 3 houses, but we also worked on a house that needed a lot more. With help from Miguel, the father, we managed to put up tar paper, chicken wire, windows, and a first coat of stucco in 2 days. Miguel had 3 sons: Angel, David, and another whose name sounded like "Mayo". David took about 14 pictures with my disposable camera, so I'm interested to see how those turn out.

This was the best week of my summer so far, and when I try to explain why, I think of the relationships I was able to build this week. Because I worked with such a small group, I was able to become just another fellow worker, and I came to know the group members very well as a result. And because my Spanish was among the best in my group, I was forced to interact with the family and kids more than I usually do or usually am comfortable doing. So it was a week of stretching and growing and being uncomfortable, but in the end I had a blast and cannot wait for my group this week.

And now for something completely different, a picture of a real live luchador that we saw when we sent to the fight a couple of weeks ago. Sorry I don't have any pictures of things currently going on, but if you look closely, you can see the elbows of 2 interns. I have to go - have a great day!

Adios,

Three Great Houses and the Circus

This last week I worked with Concord Christian Church (actually several Northern California churches who come to Mexico together). They built three single houses (11' x 22'), which were among the best I've seen yet in my time building with Amor. In addition to great houses, Concord had great food - I ate mostly vegetarian this week, and it was fantastic.

The Nexus are finally back in Tijuana's main camp for the rest of the summer, so I'll get to settle in for a little while, not have to keep packing my bag every weekend. Since we're back in main camp, we also opened up the Amor Store, which raises money for a food bank. One night, the Amor team member in charge of recruiting for internships came to camp with some big speakers and hosted a dance party right in front of the store. It was ridiculous - 50 strangers kicking up an enormous cloud of dust, surrounded by tents and 15 passenger vans.

Last night, some of the Nexus went to a circus which had recently popped up near camp. It was fun - there was juggling, dancing, and sword-on-chin balancing while climbing a ladder. At the end, we saw some clowns, which made no sense to me. This picture is of the outside of the circus. You can see my back in the foreground.

Adios,

2 Awesome groups and San Diego

This week I was assigned to two really great groups - Fair Oaks Baptist and Lincoln Presbyterian, both from Stockton, CA. They were building double Amor houses right net to each other, so I hopped back and forth between the two, answering questions, giving advice, and being an extra set of hands when they needed it. Both groups had fantastic kids - all great workers, which makes the week a lot more fun for me. In addition to great kids, they had great food, plus I could pick and choose what I wanted from both groups.
The two groups were building for two sisters, and we got to meet one of their husbands, as well as some kids and cousins. The family cooked lunch for us every day at the worksite, which was delicious. It's incredible to me how people can be so generous and giving when they live in poverty. It really challenges how I treat my own possessions. On the last day of work, they made pozole (again, delicious), a soup usually reserved for special occasions.
On our day off, we went into San Diego, splitting into two groups.
I wandered around the city with a couple of people, going to the Museum of Contemporary Art and Balboa Park. This picture is 2x4 Landscape, which was on display at the museum. It's made of 50000 2x4's cut to different lengths.

Adios,

Picture of Lunch

Here's a picture of the Nexus, some Amor staff, and some Mexican children. Ali (Nexus) is all the way to the left, Alex (Nexus), and Daniel (neighbor of family we built for) are left of center. Chelsea (Amor field staff) is top center, and Anna (Nexus) is bottom center. Nick (Nexus) is slightly right of center, and Matt (Nexus) and I are in the top right Sam (Nexus) and Kelsey (Nexus) are in the bottom right. I never found out the names of the two ninas on the right.

Here we're enjoying the goat, rice, beans, and tortillas the family cooked for lunch. They were delicious, especially with the mole and hot sauces that came with them. Hopefully I'll be able upload some more pictures in future weeks.

Adios,

Training, Building, and a Goat

A lot has happened since my last post. In my first week, I met my Project Nexus Team (the intern group I'm a part of - henceforth referred to as "Nexus" or "the Nexus"), learned a lot about interacting with other cultures, leadership, communicating with different kinds of people, conflict resolution, etc. There were plenty of those get-to-know-you games or games that show how your team functions as well. I really enjoy the company of the other Nexus (Alex, Ali, Sam, Matt, Brian, Nick, Sarah, Kelsey, and Anna) .

The second week was house-building training. We crossed the border, set up camp, ate some tacos, and built an Amor Ministres house as a team. Howie, an Amor field team member, helped us out by watching us work and giving us advice at the end of each workday on how to do things better or differently.

Our site was very difficult - there was little room and needed lots of leveling, but we finished by the end of the 4th day. This was possible with the help of a small army of neighborhood children, who helped us by doing some lighter tasks. I had never interacted with the kids or families much on previous trips, but I did so more this time, which I'm really glad about. So much of Amor's goal is building relationships and trust with the Mexican people that ignoring the families is a really big mistake.

Tuesday this week, Edgar (father of the family) walked up the street with a neighbor, carrying a goat. They tied it to a post downhill from the worksite, and it sat there baaaahhing until Thurday when it wasn't there anymore. The family cooked us lunch on Thursday, which was delicious and certainily the most delicious goat I've ever eaten (and the only).

Tijuana is an interesting city. I've eaten at several taco stands, which are fantastic and almost have a sense of where major steets are. Our worksite was very close to the border - we could always see the wall in the distance, and sometimes we'd see a border patrol jeep or helicopter on the other side. Tijuana has very poor and very rich parts. After a week in the dirt and shacks, we did some shopping at Costco, where the wealthier people of Tijuana go. That was a very surreal experience - one I was not mentally prepared for, as I have only seen the poor areas of Mexico before.

I'm about to lead a group across the border, so I have to go.

Keep the Nexus team and Our Lady of Angels Church (the group I'm assigned to help this week) in your prayers.

Adios,

Hello, I have a blog

The purpose of this blog is to, as my roommate put it "write down [my] adventures" this summer in Mexico. The name of the blog means Jacob with nails (in case you haven't google-translated it yet). "Clavos" is one of the relatively few Spanish words I know, and I learned it on a previous trip to Mexico (Juarez, specifically), so I thought it appropriate.

I intend to update this blog once a week (on Sundays), as I will only have internet access then. It may not even be possible to do so, as I will not be the only one wanting to check email, etc. Having never written a blog before, I hope this is an enjoyable experience for you, the reader, and for me as well.

Until later,