((HoStAgE To mY oWn HuMaNiTy))

I was going to make this blog about cheer camp but I decided against it. Not only would it be super boring but I just really dont feel like it. If you really want to know then I'll sum it up for you real quick - it was long, hard, and crappy. There ya go.

Mexico on the other hand was different. It was also long and hard but I wouldn't say crappy. It started on an almost 2 hour plane trip to El Paso. I really hate flying. I used to be fine with it, but for some reason I just cant stand it anymore. But I lived, and met Brent, Becca, and Steve-O at the airport. We took a van back to the Hotel where we met up with everyone else ((aside from the advanced team who was already in Mexcio.)) I had dinner with Brent and Nathan which was really fun, I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. But I was so stinkin tired from camp so I went straight to bed after that. The next morning we left really really early for Mexico. We crossed the border with really no problems and headed for the campsite. It was so much fun to meet all the people from the advanced team and see the camp all set up and ready for us. We unpacked everything and slept. Me and the like 5 other people who didn't bring cots got to sleep on wooden benches the whole week which pretty much sucked but we did get to sleep oustide, under the stars which was awesome. I'm really not the outdoorsy type. I don't do dirt and bugs and sand. But I really enjoyed sleeping out side. For the rest of the week we we woke up extremely early - which i didn't exactly do that great at - worked all day, came home, showered, ate, hung-out, and slept. It was exhausting. We "showered" by filling a plastic bucket with water - undrinkable water I might add - and pouring it on yourself. I've never been so disgusting. But every day I went to bed looking forward to the next. I mean of course there were times that I couldn't wait to get out of there. Times when I was bitter and tired and gross and sun burned and angry. But it was so worth it. Handing the keys to a family who had watched us build them a house for a week, who we had tried to communicate with using our limited spanish knowledge, who lived in a house made from old matress springs, ply wood, and cardboard boxes - it was amazing. I wasn't really expecting to get that emotional when we were done. And it may have been partly because of my lack of sleep - but I cried so hard when we handed the house over. We gave them something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. It was freaking awesome.

But I think that aside from just seeing how truly lucky we are, God wanted to show me the importance of surrounding myself with other believers. Because even when I was just in a terrible mood, there was someone there who could make me laugh again. Whether it was talking with me for 30 minutes on a trailer, helping me attack a certain someone with corn flakes and apple juice, sitting on water coolers and talking about my severe case of "mission trip syndrome", laughing at me when I knocked over a lamp post and fell right on my back, plotting revenge on an old cemented doorway, or just letting me whine - people loved me at my worst. Could that be any cooler?

All in all it was a great week, a great experience, one that I haven't really decided if I want to go through again next year, but I learned so much. And I gained and strengthened so many friendships. And I'm really excited about everything that is going to happen from here.

It's been almost a year since Houston, and things have changed SO much. I can't wait to look back at this trip a year from now, and see what changed. My thought and hope is that it will be a lot.

MEXICO '05!!!!!