Feb 12

Well as predicted I was packing late into the night. The little sleep I did get was broken with excitement and anticipation of the trip. It's seems we all slept about the same (go figure). Kim was a great sport when I woke her up at 3:30 so I could get a Tim's before boarding the shuttle bus to the airport.

The adventure began. Only 2 people with misplaced tickets. One when we were still in Waterloo (easy trip to get the ticket) and the other at the airport (it was in the backpack). One of the vendors I work with happened to be travelling to Jamica. He noticed first the orange shirts and then me. I appreciated the opportunity to share what we were doing.

This was my first trip to Mexico. For those that have travelled to Mexico before you can appreciate the “magic button”. If this is new to you let me explain. Once you have your bags and have cleared immigration you wait in line to push the “magic button”. If it lights green you are in the country – keep walking. If it lights red you get a special trip to the search police. Unfortunately the person in front of me got the red light. I eagerly stepped forward thinking there is no way that will light red two times in a row. There is only 1 officer station in front of me. But luck would have it I got red as well. My mind was racing. Fifty pounds of nothing but donation for Pan de Vida. How am I going to explain it? Well lucky for us the orange shirts saved us. The guard asked what was on our shirts (WMB – Pan de Vida 2010). I explained that we were going to visit an orphange. With that he put his hand in and out of my bags and said have a great day. The Lord is good.

Next stop, money exchange. Wow there are a lot of exchanges in the airport. I can't imagine how much currency must flow through here. We went looking for the best rate – 12 pesos on the dollar and exchanged our cash. We were met by Ira who is the caretaker at Pan de Vida.

Next was lunch. I wasn't daring enough yet so stuck with McDonald's and then off to the highway coach for the ride to Pan de Vida. Over lunch we heard how the septic tank has collapsed over the past few days. Ira said he was up to 2:00am trying to get it set up. Looks like we might have some muddy work ahead of us if the weather stays dry.

The coach took us through Mexico City on our way out of town. I'm not sure what I was expecting. When we flew in I saw poverty and skyscrapers. Dirt streets and lush boulevards. It reminded me of India with one tenth the population. You could tell that most people are lower to middle class and proud. There were almost no homeless and certainly no beggers. Little shops lined the streets selling car parts, drywall, etc (just like India). There were street vendors too (almost clean enough to try).

We soon left Mexico City on a highway to Queretaro. Three hours through the country side. The land is a dark sand/clay. The farms are small and look like they are managed by hand. The highway was smooth (90km/h) with proper ramps. Very America's.

We stopped in Queretro for diner and had Tapa's (not sure if I spelled it right). They are a small build your own soft taco. Basically shell, meat (chicken, pork, beef), a variety of sauces (hey Darren the green is chilli) roll and eat. A little rice milk (a most a sweet liquid rice puddingto kill the heat and your set to go. Totally awesome!

Fifteen minutes more on the bus and we arrive at Pan de Vida. It's in the country so totally dark. A few kids are out along with the team from Winkler, Manitoba to greet us. Because of the overlap of the 2 teams, we are sleeping in the school the first night. We unpack and then start roaming the grounds. There is a band practice going and kids are playing. The grounds are large (I believe 7 acres). There is an auditorium, dining hall, boys dorms, girls dorms, worker dorm and workshop and the school. They yard is mostly paving stones with some repaved asphalt. It's amazing that all this was built by volunteers over the past 10 years.

The night air was cooling so I went back to get my fleece. I notice something moving in the shadows …. A big pig and look there's another roaming the grounds. I thought they were allowed to roam but I was mistaken. Soon the kids noticed and the chaise was on to get them back in their pen. Using car lights to light the field the kids were running everywhere after the pigs. What fun :-)!

After a while of greetings and roaming, we had devotional (led by Sammy) and 2 testimonies (Larry and Paul). Ira popped in to say that the septic pump was not operating proper and that he was going to work on it. If he needs help he'll call us. It will be a long night for him. Then it was lights out at 10:30 our time. A long first day filled with new wonderful adventures.

Greg