Please Note...

Any political ads that show up on my page are NOT necessarily political opinions I hold!! Google has placed them there!! 

Do your research, real research, not just listening to an add, before you vote!!

To my continuing readers...

Thank you for your continued support of my blog and Esperanza, I am glad to see that there are still readers out there. I am planning a trip back to visit and will hopefully have more to report soon!

If you would like to see what I am up to please see my other blog: Starry Eyed Wander ... for recipes, natural remedies, restaurant reviews, travel updates, etc.

Please check up on what is going on with Esperanza at www.Esperanzaint.org

Thank you again! Keep reading!

- Rena

Hugging Jesus

Miss driving by this beautiful (large) statue of Jesus lovingly called "hugging Jesus!" This photo is from a few years ago! Still have never visited the church on the hill! Have any of you?

Musica

 One thing I love and miss about Mexico is their love of music and dancing! Hoping to go through in the next few days and start adding more pictures from my last stay in Mexico. I am starting to get excited about heading back in August! Let you know exactly when I'm going back when I know! So back to the music, here are some songs to put you in a Mexican mood!

Danza Kuduro - Don Omar

Tu Carita - 3Ball MTY

LaCumbia Tribalera - El Pelon de Mikrophone

Redemption Song - Bob Marley

Besos al Aire - 3Ball MTY

Intentalo - 3Ball MTY

Last Day in TJ...

Hello!
   SO I know I haven't been writing often lately, I've been busy and preparing to head home! This will be my last day in Tijuana for at least awhile, I will continue to post when I get home I have a TON of pictures and experiences to share so keep checking back! Thanks again everyone for reading!

Bucket Cam video

Video from the Bethel Youth Mission to Mexico

This video is awesome! They made a "bucket cam" and shot the process of pouring a floor, check it out!! There are two more awesome videos on their channel as well!

Semana Santa

When there aren't groups here believe it or not, there is still work to be done! However, when it is Holy Week (Semana Santa) we had four days off! The first day we went to the beach and had some delicious shrimp tacos!

 On Saturday we went to the Xolos game! Xolos vs. Atlante, Xolos won! We sat in the front row of the cheering section! It was a blast! Above is me in front of the stadium before the game below is the a good shot of where we were sitting, the guy standing in front of me was wearing an Indians hat, what are the chances, Go Cleveland!!

For Easter I went with Victor, the grounds keeper at The Posada, his wife Olga and their three daughters to the Beach at Rosarito. Families flocked to the beach for a great day!

Hopefully everyone had a great Easter, or holy week, whatever your religion!

Thanks for Reading!

<3 Rena

There has been a sharp decline in cross border giving in the last five years

“Yes, the children suffer here,” he said. “But across the board, the groups that aren’t coming because of the perceived fears are the ones that are losing out. People are missing on the incredible experience of serving so close to home.”

This is a really good article about the decline in giving from the U.S. to Mexico. All organizations in Tijuana, and the whole of Mexico, especially those on the border, are suffering greatly from a decrease in American volunteers. The American volunteers that could be coming are also missing out on a life changing experience. An experience that could help them to understand a culture that is geographically so close to our own, and a culture that has a lot to give to our own. There is so much to be learned from sharing with our neighbors, south of the border. We are all missing out on a huge opportunity to share, and to learn.

Sharp Declines in Cross-Border Giving- UT San Diego

Independent Trips

 Hello all!

  So I know there are many people out there that have come on trips in the past but for whatever reason cannot come with their church or start a new trip, there are several independent trips throughout the year one is the East/West trip, coming up July 28- August 4th of this year! Check it out:

Interesting in forming your own group?

So I know a lot of people are curious about how to start your own group, here's some info on how:

Start your own trip information!

More Tecate!

 Friday after going to La Fundacion La Puerta: La Cocina que Canta and Las Piedras we went to Los Ninos, an orphanage, free daycare, and school in Tecate. Hadme showed us around the organization and shared about her experiences growing up there, and now working there.

With the Los Ninos, they have also have a water mission that goes out into communities and shares their excess water (their wells are overflowing) to local communities who go without water, we happened to go into a community that Esperanza built two houses in 2010. This was a special project building homes for factory workers whose homes had burned down. The Wooster group I know worked on this house, I was so excited to see it finished (it's grown so much!)

 This is the other side of the house, the yellow part is the part we built!

Saturday we poured two floors in record time, pictures to come soon!

Thanks for reading!!

-Rena

More from Tecate...

Me inside a traditional Kumiai house built at the museum!

Thursday, after the Kumiai museum we had lunch at a great little restaurant called La Mision then toured the Tecate Brewery and had a beer in their Jardin de Cerveza (Beer Garden)!

Friday morning we went to Las Piedras (the rocks) part of La Fundacion de La Puerta. Las Piedras focuses on preserving the natural habitat in Tecate and the mountains as well as the native peoples in the area. They teach local school children about conservation, recycling and gardening!

 We went for a walk through the moutainside and a local Pai Pai woman told us about some of the plants and their uses along the way! The view was amazing!

 

 Next we went to La Cocina que Canta (the kitchen that sings) for a tour of their gardens and an all organic, gluten free, vegetarian lunch!

 

The head chef, Denise, of La Cocina que Canta and the head gardener showed us around their beautiful organic gardens! Two acres of gardens are tended by the head gardener and six other men. The two acre garden feeds the Rancho La Puerto, a wonderful wholistic spa and La Cocina que Canta the cooking school.

While touring their garden we got to taste fresh fruit right from the ground! It was delicious!

After touring the garden and tasting the veggies raw, we went into La Cocina que Canta and had a wonderful vegetarian lunch, and I don't really like veggies, but it was delicious! And so simple!

Computer is being slow... More to come soon!

Thanks for Reading!

-Rena

Rancho Ojai- Tecate

Hello all!
  So this week we have a group from San Diego State University staying in Tecate at El Rancho Ojai! It is beautiful here. Group B was in Tecate last week, Alex stayed here with them, I am here this week with group A (when each group isn't here they are staying in Mexicali with a different organization) here is some of what we have been doing this week (since Wednesday)!

 

This is me sitting out front of the Kumiai museum. The Kumiai are a native people that lived in the Tecate region and in Arizona. 

This is a Kumiai woman telling us about their creation story and her people. She is one of only five people left that speak the Kumiai language. 

My computer is being slow I will have to tell you about the rest of my week a little later!

Model Three Roof Friday March 23rd

Model 3 house ready to pour the roof. This is an Oaxaca style house, if you look close you can see the blocks are smaller than the Tijuana houses, and they have mortar between the blocks, whereas the Tijuana style houses do not. The roof has rebar criss-crossed over the entire thing, at each joint the rebar is tied with wire for stability.

Central Washington and Seattle U. groups all ready to pour the roof!

Roof almost finished! Only took a few hours (or so)! Big job!

You can see the full buckets being passed up to the roof, and the empties being thrown down!

Thanks for reading!

Rena

Sunday's two floors with Corazon in Tecate

Hello!
   Saturday, Monday and  today have been a bit lazy for me, I've been here at the posada while part of the staff is in Tecate with a group from San Diego. Did a bit of computer work yesterday and have started my job search, for when I leave here and need to find something to do!

   Sunday I went to Tecate with Roberto and Rigo to help the group pour some floors with another organization, Corazon, that builds wood houses in both Tecate and Tijuana.

Here are some photos from Sunday:

The border wall in the mountains on the way back form Tecate.

Getting ready to start the pour for the first Corazon floor on Sunday, you can see there is no foundation below the floor, just dirt. Their floor process seems very similar to Esperanza's roof process. Instead of the rebar we used metal fencing like Esperanza used to, though theirs has rebar in an "X" through the middle and around the edges for support. Corazon houses are a lot less expensive to build, and thus they can reach more families, the houses also are not as sturdy or long lasting. Corazon seems like a very great organization though, doing similar things to Esperanza with community building and classes. They also have a scholarship program to help children with their schooling!

The first Corazon floor almost finished, we poured a second one after lunch exactly the same about a minute walk up the hill from this house. They are using the board to level out the floor and make sure the cement is evenly distributed across the floor.

Washington Groups!

This week we have three groups from the state of Washington; Central Washington, Seattle University, and Western Washington University! 63 people total in the Posada and it's great!!

We just got done playing some soccer with all three groups, the staff, and some friends! Did a round robin sort of game when the other team scores your team is out and another one switches in!

One group is working at Guadalupe Lopez's house working on getting the roof ready to pour (hopefully Friday)! I've been working at Teresea & Armando (and Lucia)'s house digging a large hole to get ride of all the trash in the ground so the house is built on solid ground! We also have more of the foundation built up!
Here are some pictures of the work I've been doing this week!

 Last night I went to La Ninas, an all girl's orphanage here in Tijuana that is run by nuns, with the Central Washington Group.

Tonight I went to the border with the Central Washington group before the soccer game. All along the fence (along the beach and near town) there are quotes, reactions and art about the border. Farther down there are hundreds of crosses for those who have died trying to cross the border.

 Here you can see how deep the hole we were digging trash out of was, the group is also pointing to a microwave we found in the pile! We also found: a toy dog, two baby bouncy seats, part of a matress, a lot of shoes, and toys. Last weeks group (Wooster!!) found a typewriter and a satelite dish!

Check back soon for another update!

-Rena

Finishing up a few projects

For those of you have that have been here in the last few weeks we have finished up, or at least made a lot of progress on many of your projects!

Rosa's Roof is pictured a few posts below.

Guadalupe's walls are finished, poured and the house is awaiting it's roof!

Getting ready to pour the walls

Good view of the finished walls

Vicki's roof all finished!

Vicki's finished roof!

Today we dug a footer in one location wtih the Wooster group (where the Muskingham group made blocks). The Providence group built the top of the walls for Guadalupe's house in the morning then the Providence group at 8 people from the Wooster group poured the top of the walls after lunch!

Thanks for reading!

Rena

Block making fun!

Hello all!
   So today in the morning we did a lot of the same things we did yesterday.

 People put "stilts" or supports below the wooden roof, where the cement will be poured.

The stilts will be removed once the cement on the roof is dry.

Susan sawed pieces to go under the 2x4's (supports) to give them a little extra height.

((Picture coming... Slow Internet! That picture /\ took about 15 minutes to load!))

Some of us worked on the roof, chipping away at the existing roof to make a lip so the finished two part roof is seamless and strong.


After lunch we went to another house in La Morita to make blocks! This is something the families (and their neighbors) usually do, with the help of Roberto and sometimes other Esperanza staff, however, with three weeks of groups, we are going to need more blocks, so the small group this week is perfect for block making! I was really glad to see something new, it's great to see the work that goes into the making of the blocks, they are generally just all ready when we get here!

The mixer is orange, and the block maker is green.

After mixing the cement, it's shoveled into the block maker.

The block maker presses down and compacts the cement/sand/water mixture into a block.

Then the blocks are carried away!

And laid out to dry for a day.

After they've dried they are stacked up. They also need to be watered frequently so they don't dry to fast. If they dry out too fast they will be weak and break easily.

We played a Muskingham vs. Esperanza soccer (futbol) game, there is some discrepancy over who won... but it was a blast! I am terrible at soccer, and at one point tried to pick up a ball with my hands that was rolling towards me, while standing right in front of the goal... but it was fun!

   Peace & Love
         Rena

Muskingham Group

Hello!
  I'm back in TJ and loving it! It's a little chilly hear today, rained a little, but after we were done working. With small groups the jobs are a little more diverse and "technical" today some people took nails out of boards and straightened them so they could be reused (fun, I know). Some of us chiseled away at an existing second story where another section will be added onto, so that when we pour the roof they will have a seamless and strong second story. They also built a small over-hang and prepared the roof for pouring.

   Last night we had the taco stand which was DELICIOUS! I missed the fresh guac when I was home, craved it all week! The food here is so yummy and inexpensive! Today they group bought three medium brown paper bags full of fresh bread and pastries (for 11) for $5.30! That's amazing!! Amazing fresh food is so cheap here, food is my favorite thing about traveling so that's ggggreat!!

   Pictures tomorrow...

          Night night....

              Peace & Love

             Rena

Check out the Muskingam group's Blog

http://muskiesinmexico.wordpress.com/

 

 

To everyone I met on my trip home it was lovely meeting all of you!

Thirty One Fundraiser LAST DAYS!

Thirty One Fundraiser Ends 2/28/12

Support Esperanza by placing an order - 15% will go to Esperanza

-or-

By becoming a qualified consultant! For $99 you get over $300 worth of products and everything you need to get started! After your first 30 days I will donate $50 to Esperanza!

www.MyThirtyOne.com/Wooster

What I did today...

Today was the last day with our first group! Always a little emotional being with the families and the groups on the last day, as everyone has worked together side by side all week with the families, and the families are so happy to have the groups and to finally be getting their houses built.

  So today we poured a roof on Rosa's house, where we poured the floor the first day with the college students!

   SO great to be able to see a house pretty much start to finish, and WORK on it start to finish! Love it !!

So some photos...

Yesterday, Thursday, we poured the foundation for the Lopez's house

Roof at Rosa's house is all ready to pour!

Finished roof at Rosa's house!

Then we had a little fiesta with carne asada, fresh fruit, ice cream, fresh squeezed lemonade, fresh salsa and pico de gallo! Tons more yummy Mexican food as well!

Headed to the Taco Stand tonight!! Yummmm!!

Peace & Love

Rena

First Group

Been a long few days! Lots of physical labor! Monday I helped the group from Ohio pour the walls up to the top in the house that we worked on in the weekend with the Mexican high school and college groups. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked with the other group from Nevada, Arizona, and all over with digging a foundation and today we started building it. I believe, tomorrow we will be pouring the foundation.

Here are some photos...

 Work site right before pouring on Monday

Digging on Tuesday

Back filled 6" of lime into the "trench" then a few inches of sand, next we built about 7 layers of block in the foundation, which I forgot to take a photo of.

More later...

A thought to leave you with,

 people are people, no matter what side of an imaginary line they were born on.

Peace & Love

Getting ready for our first full week of work!

Hello!
   Our first two American groups of the year arrived yesterday! We worked throughout the morning and early afternoon with three Mexican groups of high school and college students, then the groups got here in the evening!

Here are some pictures from my week...

Went with Eduardo and Roberto to look at/measure a few sites where homes will be built this year

Lovely view of Tijuana from the back of a truck

Worked with three college/high school groups from Mexico Saturday! It's great to see local students taking an interest in their community! These students are from upper middle class to upper class homes in areas around Tijuana, who don't live in areas like the ones we work.

The Cetty's college group got the walls all built, just getting them all sqaured and the walls straight before we poured them. Last week the same group poured the floor I was standing on while I took the picture.

Getting ready to start pouring the walls. Canoe is set. Buckets ready.

Spent a few hours today at Rosarito beach, sipping a margarita and eating some yummy fish tacos on the beach. Beautiful day! We start working with the group tomorrow!

Peace & Love

Rena