Our first activity of the day took us back to the same trusty mechanic, this time to deliver a ranch-owned van – another opportunity for Fritz sr. to follow and drive the Jeep (trust me, driving in Mexico can be a new trick for old dog Americans).
After dropping it off, we visited to the jobsite to see how
the volunteers were doing. At times some of the orphan boys are involved in Project
Mexico homebuilding work, and this was one of those days. As soon as we arrived we ran into Moises (in the green shirt below), who
cradled a darling show-and-tell in his arms: a tiny puppy, maybe a couple of
weeks old. Actually the entire litter was
being well loved by various boys.
Wall-framing had almost been completed when we
arrived. Shortly after, the entire crew
joined to repeat the Lord’s Prayer together in Spanish (Americans had a printed
cheat sheet). Then the workers inhaled sandwiches of bread and Jiff peanut butter made available on a
stack of lumber: lunch!
I greatly valued another opportunity to speak to the owner
of the new house (with Fritz jr. translating).
She apologized for her husband’s absence - he would love to
be helping as well, but had a job as a field worker for a landscape business
(this explained plant cuttings in tubs awaiting placement around the new house).
I asked how she was feeling about progress on the house, and she said she was
“emotional, and very excited.” The same sense of connectedness swept over me as
before, and I asked if there was some way I could stay in touch with her in the
future. We’re planning to talk more
about that when we attend the house blessing on Wednesday.
Because of his history with construction, Fritz sr. enjoyed
checking in with Zach, a full-time staffer at the orphanage who heads up these
house-building efforts. Zach is truly an
expert when it comes to interviewing potential recipients of houses, doing all
the pre-planning and material ordering, and being the foreman of volunteer
crews.
Next we drove around the area to see other houses built by Project Mexico in the past. This one was
headed up by Fritz jr. and another staffer a couple of years ago, before Zach
arrived. The owner (red shirt) had been super-involved and grateful, and later built on to the structure (left side) to double the size of the house.
A pack of adorable kids led by one older girl stopped us to
ask for a donation for a school project verified by info on a sheet
of paper which seemed legitimate. Fritz
jr. offered a few coins, which made them quite happy, and they waved us
good-bye with cute-as-a-button, cheery faces.
At my request, we stopped at a “panaderia” that bakes
everything from scratch daily. Amazing
pastries were displayed on open-air baking sheets – I understood very well the
time it took to shape these beauties!
Then home for a quick lunch – grilled goat cheese and smoked tuna sandwiches on Trader Joe's gluten-free bread.
We picked up Chuy’s family at 2:30 and crammed in the Jeep, 5 adults and 3 kids, to head for the beach. A street performer “did his thing” for us while we were stopped at a stoplight – Chuy explained (via translation of course) that these folks often have somehow lost their official governmental paperwork that proves their identity. For this reason employers can’t hire them, so they make their living by doing gymnastic tricks on the street and gathering donations.
Our destination was a large public beach on the Pacific adjacent to a steel wall dividing Mexico and the US. On the US side of this divider, two hovering helicopters patrolled an expansive open area, just in case someone tried to illegally pass from Mexico to California. Chuy’s younger kids had a great time making sand castles and playing in the surf, even though the water was plenty cold! Fritz jr. asked four musicians roving the beach to serenade his dad in honor of his recent birthday, so they jovially played the Mexican version of “happy birthday” and sang to him for the low-low price of $5.
Fritz sr's follow-up appointment with the
chiropractor was scheduled for 5:00, so Fritz jr. dropped us off there and then drove Chuy and his family home before returning to pick us up. During Fritz's adjustment I had
a fascinating conversation with his wife, Suzanna, who is an incredibly knowledgeable
naturopath studying to become an MD. Her
vast understanding of wellness and disease, and her compassion and generosity,
encouraged me greatly. Although I'm not officially her patient, she treats each person who comes her way with customized
care, and is planning to prepare a tincture for me to try in regard to my hearing issues.
For dinner we stopped for the Mexican version of fast food,
all fish of course. I ordered a tostada topped with an amazing mix of seafood
and garnished with clams in-the-shell swimming in some sort of dark brown sauce. It was all scrumptious! While eating, we were approached by a loud Mexican
man - he was obviously very drunk, which I admit was a bit unsettling to me. Fritz jr. handled the situation with grace
and poise, and spent quite a bit of time talking with him. It turned out he was the owner of the
establishment, and when he learned Fritz jr. worked for an orphanage, he didn’t
charge us for our dinners!!! A “muy grande”
(very big in Spanish) surprise!!
No comments:
Post a Comment