Reunion Tour Pt. 1

Iowa. Home.


I MISS YOU!!!


Here's a little bit of what I was up to when I went back home. Those of you at CPC...the reunion tour will be back in December! :)

Caborca 2011 pt. 3!!

I created this video to highlight our adventures in Caborca. Enjoy!

Caborca 2011 pt. 2

Thanks to Amy for her brilliant rhyming skills, and our partnership throughout the week which provided most of the inspiration for this song.

Caborca… in 27 verses

(to the tune of the “Gilligan’s Island” theme)

The time had come to take a trip;

The van was piled high.

Pointed ourselves toward Mexico

And prayed we wouldn’t die.

Permisso lines and sleeping bags,

New friends to make… or not,

Bonded by puke beside the road

At a 50 cent pit stop.

No passing lanes and yellow lines-

We prayed for lots of luck.

Started to wonder when the middle van

Got slammed by a semi truck.

A customs point came mid-way through

Our 3-4 hour tour.

A nice U-turn to the USA –

A 14 hour detour.

“I hate my life” was the refrain

When the trailer was cleared out.

But Captain Kirk, he led the crew

And so we didn’t pout.

“Just go straight” the directions said.

When the fork came, we chose West.

Found ourselves in Hermosillo,

Realized that wasn’t the best.

Turned around and missed a cow

And the crack head as he roamed,

While the other vans, they kissed each other,

And then hit traffic cones.

‘Twas 8pm when the first arrived.

‘Twas 5 once all were here,

Falling upon the tile floor

Amid their piles of gear.

Construction was the morning’s task.

Blueprints – there were none.

Some concrete here, a big nail there.

As long as it gets done!

With talk of screws and getting wood,

No space to turn around,

A wall to build and power tools –

Just don’t come falling down!

As pot fumes float across the wall

The morning gets more fun

We’re climbing walls and dropping things

And still this isn’t done!

Escuela Biblica time is here.

Let’s test our Spanish skills.

With promises of answers soon

And the best sex – what thrills!

Then sickness came and struck some down.

Contesta Bill’s in bed.

Is Opera Sean just sleeping there?

I hope he isn’t dead.

Beans for breakfast, beans for lunch,

Beans for dinner too.

The food looks great, now say a prayer,

And go wash your hands too.

Friendship bracelets, duct tape bags,

Amid our sweat and stink.

The smell is getting worse each day,

But we shower in the sink.

The week wears on, the tensions come.

Loud voices at break of day.

We almost reach a boiling point –

Chris rubs it all away.

How long ago did we all meet?

Has it only been a week?

I’ll tell you ‘bout the sex I’ve had,

And watch you while you sleep.

Do a wood dance, drink horchata,

What’s this milky drink?

Conversations in Caborca

Are not what you think!

Inhaling sawdust, cement showers,

Nails into our feet,

Fiberglass between our boobs,

And still we won’t be beat.

With sandpaper and hammer swings,

This window WILL behave!

And now this classroom’s taking shape

From what was a cave.

Shower time has now arrived,

Don’t flush or I will scream.

Just make sure we all take one

And all smell like a dream!

Out to dinner, lots of salsa,

Guac, and other dips.

Turns out that when it’s the real deal,

Sadly there aren’t chips.

Drink sangria, eat your onions,

(Seems this one’s a boy?)

Eat intestines, lick your fingers

Remember-food’s a toy!

Driving home now – is it over?

Rolled through that stop sign

“You alto-ed like a Mexican!”

Right into a customs line.

What will we do now – there are showers!

Toilet paper too!

No more beans for every meal,

And we have beds here too!

So we’ll remember our last sunset,

Standing in the park.

Prayers with friends both new and old

Until its time to part.

We’ve got stories, lots of pictures

Spanglish in our heads

New friends to stalk in Facebook land

And memories of Caborca!

Caborca 2011

Day 1:

• scheduled to leave at 1:30, Leave at 3 instead
• feel carsick immediately
• pass a semi trailer, miss oncoming traffic by 20 yards
• puke in the car, get out at pit stop, continue vomiting
• Dramamine. :)
• Ram into a double trailer semi while passing other semi. Lose side mirror and mangle van.

• Stop at pull off and check damage, Anne switches vans (and blames it on the non-existant nausea)
• Reach customs stop. First 2 vans proceed. Third van gets stopped because of church name printed on side and trailer hitched to back.
• Anne argues with customs, saying that Agua Prieta officials claimed that van didn't need permission to travel.
• Van did need permission.
• Driver of 2nd mini van exits van, forgets to put in park. 
• Car accident number 2.
• Third van with trailer attached turn back towards Agua Prieta, time stamp 5:30 pm. 2 minivans continue to Caborca.
• Reach AP, get trailer/van permission. Cross the border to pick up car sick pills at WalMart, and pizza at Little Ceasars.
• Leave AP at 9:15 pm. Receive message from rest of group that they have made it to Caborca at 9:30, just in time for a 6 pm worship service.
• Try to pass crack head swerving over all 3 lanes of traffic on a blind curve on a mountain. Almost get car accident #3. Pass successfully.
• Reach customs stop again. In and out in less than 2 minutes.
• Ask directions to Caborca, told to just go straight.
• Reach Santa Anna. Can go right, or can go left, but can't go straight.
• Ask Taco Stand Dude for directions.
• Follow Taco Stand Dude's directions.
• 2 hours later, call Pastor. Told to go back to Santa Anna. Taco Dude was wrong.
• Turn around, encounter new Customs stop. Time Stamp: 2:30 am.
• Change drivers. Customs soldiers command that trailer be emptied and x-rayed.
• Anne. Pissed.
• Continue to Santa Anna.
• Take wrong street to Caborca in Santa Anna.
• Reach Altar, Mexico. Roll through stop sign. Warmly greeted at 4:00 am by Mexican Federal Police.
• Worm way out of ticket. Pull into Caborca church at 4:37 am.

Day 2:

• 7 am wake up call. FML
• work construction. Kirk demotes himself to bottom of group, Anne takes over. (Seriously)
• lunch.
• Shower in the sink. NOTE: 1 bathroom:25 people; 1 shower:25 people
• First day of Bible School
• 6 kids show up at start.
• 40 kids leave at end.
• Success.

Day 3:

• Wake up much more refreshed.
• Breakfast: more beans
• 2 members fall ill, Montezuma's revenge hitting very often. NOTE: still only 1 bathroom.
• Construction: climbing on neighbors roof to reach our roof. Second hand marijuana high. Good MORNING.
• Shower in sink again.
• Lunch. 
• Second day of Bible School. Total of 80 kids. Oldest member of group unknowingly wets his pants. Begin urine smell in common space at night.

Day 4:

• Wake up at 6 am- Group leader using outside voice while rest of the world is sleeping.
• Thererfore, wake up really cranky
• 7:30 Breakfast
• Contingent to leave for Hermosillo, Mexico.
• Begin insulating classroom ceiling for construction.
• Very quickly be covered in fiberglass
• Sweat- a lot
• Lunch: Group leaves for Plaza tour, Kirk and Anne try to finish insulation
• Staple gun out of staples with brand new box of staples no where to be seen. Give up on insulation
• Take REAL shower.
• Third day of Bible School. Those who went to Plaza arrive late. Frantic scramble to be prepared for apx. 60  kids.
• More success.
• More pee smell from group member who only brought 2 pairs of pants, and still hasn't realized that he smells.

Day 5:

• Wake up on my own schedule.
• Breakfast at 7 ish
• Continue with construction. Finish insulating the ceiling. Build and install window and frame. Feel incredibly accomplished, and very dirty/sweaty/itchy.

• Notice member has wet his pants again. Try not to suffocate in small room.
• Contingent back from Hermosillo.
• Lunch
• Real shower again. Try to get rid of all fiberglass in skin.
• Pack and clean common room for trip back to Agua Prieta.
• Bible School: last night. Hotter= less kids. Balloon fight for Recreation. 
• Dinner with Church pastor, fill up on Horchata. YUM.
• Leave Caborca at 8:30.
• Customs stop- no problems.
• Drop off ladder in Altar.
• Pee.
• Pull off road halfway through trip to check new tire on van. Seems to be without problems.
• Reach church in AP 3 hours later. Check tire in van. MANUALLY move lug nuts. WHOOPS.
• Lead group across border for coffee and breakfast stop.
• Return home 4:30 am.

The division wall in the classrooms we were constructing

Future location of cinderblock wall

Practicing the puppet show for Vacation Bible School

The most beautiful insulation work Mexico has ever seen