Bringin' out the big guns!
AAAAHHHH!!!! The Cardinals just won their 11th World Championship in '11 and I am WAY too amped up to sleep right now. So, I figured I'd share a little about the past week of my life. I was thrilled to have a group again since the last one was in mid-August. I kept calling them "Barrington" since all but one of the 5 guys originally came with a group from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Barrington, IL, but in reality they traveled to El Paso from Barrington as well as Albuquerque, St. Louis, and Atlanta.
Their task was a home for the Cardona-Contreras family of 7 near Pastor Hernandez (Pepe)'s San Pedro y San Pablo mission site. We brought out the big guns! Maybe it was because he got them back in August and had yet to play with them, or maybe it was because the group was small and had to finish the house in 4 days since they left today, but for whatever reason Chris let us use nail guns! Boy, did it make a difference on certain tasks! I sincerely enjoy hammering when it comes to framing, but I tried the nail gun on siding and trim. I got a little nail-happy a few times; Chris had to tell me not to put them so close together! Here's me with the new toy, plus some more photos that capture the rest of the build:
Day 1 progress--before lunch!
This picture does double-duty: it shows one of the many animals that was very much a part of the family, and it illustrates how spoiled we were in that the foil is from some burritos made by Pepe's wife Blanca. She treated us to lunch everyday!
I love cats and normally want to pet them all, even ones in Juarez that I know I shouldn't go near. This one, however, I found rather creepy. Notice that one of its eyes is blue and the other is green, the result of a dog bite...needless to say I kept my distance.
One more storyline about the family pets--this little neighbor girl was incredibly cruel to them, especially the cats. I'm thinking that there are some major underlying issues there.
New house and old house. You can see what their home looks like on the outside, and the stench of urine on the inside was unbelievable. I don't say that to gross anyone out or arouse anyone's pity, but just to convey the reality of life across the border at times. I'm fairly certain the family didn't have running water, so I honestly have no idea how they went about cooking or bathing.
Painting "Beeswax" yellow. I was in charge of choosing a paint color that matched a part of the existing home not visible in the above photo. My selection wound up being just a tad lighter, but pretty darn close!
One of the guys on the trip works for CPH and was given some Spanish coloring books in exchange for some good "kid-with-coloring-book" photos.
Chris's and my adopted goddaughter (see this post) is a member of Mision San Pedro y San Pablo. Blanca and Pepe told her we'd be working there, so she skipped school on Thursday to stop by!
Singing "Alabare" at the start of the house blessing/key ceremony.
After the formal stuff, it was time to give out more coloring books, blankets, and these cool fleece hats that double as scarves.
Mom Araceli and her 5 kids.
Group + family + Nelson + me.
Same crew outside the finished and painted house. The only thing the group didn't accomplish that they wanted to was painting the interior, so Chris, Nelson, and I agreed to knock that out this coming Monday.
Pepe was ready for Game 6 of the World Series, which wound up being the best baseball game I have ever witnessed. Judging by this photo, I don't think Dave agreed...
Their task was a home for the Cardona-Contreras family of 7 near Pastor Hernandez (Pepe)'s San Pedro y San Pablo mission site. We brought out the big guns! Maybe it was because he got them back in August and had yet to play with them, or maybe it was because the group was small and had to finish the house in 4 days since they left today, but for whatever reason Chris let us use nail guns! Boy, did it make a difference on certain tasks! I sincerely enjoy hammering when it comes to framing, but I tried the nail gun on siding and trim. I got a little nail-happy a few times; Chris had to tell me not to put them so close together! Here's me with the new toy, plus some more photos that capture the rest of the build:
Day 1 progress--before lunch!
This picture does double-duty: it shows one of the many animals that was very much a part of the family, and it illustrates how spoiled we were in that the foil is from some burritos made by Pepe's wife Blanca. She treated us to lunch everyday!
I love cats and normally want to pet them all, even ones in Juarez that I know I shouldn't go near. This one, however, I found rather creepy. Notice that one of its eyes is blue and the other is green, the result of a dog bite...needless to say I kept my distance.
One more storyline about the family pets--this little neighbor girl was incredibly cruel to them, especially the cats. I'm thinking that there are some major underlying issues there.
New house and old house. You can see what their home looks like on the outside, and the stench of urine on the inside was unbelievable. I don't say that to gross anyone out or arouse anyone's pity, but just to convey the reality of life across the border at times. I'm fairly certain the family didn't have running water, so I honestly have no idea how they went about cooking or bathing.
Painting "Beeswax" yellow. I was in charge of choosing a paint color that matched a part of the existing home not visible in the above photo. My selection wound up being just a tad lighter, but pretty darn close!
One of the guys on the trip works for CPH and was given some Spanish coloring books in exchange for some good "kid-with-coloring-book" photos.
Chris's and my adopted goddaughter (see this post) is a member of Mision San Pedro y San Pablo. Blanca and Pepe told her we'd be working there, so she skipped school on Thursday to stop by!
Singing "Alabare" at the start of the house blessing/key ceremony.
After the formal stuff, it was time to give out more coloring books, blankets, and these cool fleece hats that double as scarves.
Mom Araceli and her 5 kids.
Group + family + Nelson + me.
Same crew outside the finished and painted house. The only thing the group didn't accomplish that they wanted to was painting the interior, so Chris, Nelson, and I agreed to knock that out this coming Monday.
Pepe was ready for Game 6 of the World Series, which wound up being the best baseball game I have ever witnessed. Judging by this photo, I don't think Dave agreed...Until next time, blessings!
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