Monday, March 11, 2013

Overview of the First day of Work

Hola from Tijuana!

My name is Alex Dereix and I am a junior at the College of Wooster originally from Centerville, Ohio.  This is my first time on the Esperanza trip and as well as my first time to Mexico.  Every moment we are here, I am amazed by the colorful sights and the festive sounds of this beautiful country.  This morning we woke up bright and early and headed down to the street market to buy fruit and fetch freshly made tortillas before starting our work day.  After having met Eduardo, the volunteer coordinator, we divided into groups and headed off to the various work sites.  Our group went down to help build a house, and get the structure established before pouring the cement roof in on Friday.  The sun was out, and after lathering in sunscreen multiple times, I still think that half of us got sunburned.  This was surely different than the snowy Ohio we flew out of three days ago!

This experience has been eye-opening and has given me a different perspective.  Something that I will really take away from my time in Tijuana is the appreciation everyone has of community and the trust instilled in our fellow neighbors.  I hope to remember the importance of family connections when I get back to the States; knowing that the most important part of life are the people, rather than the things, we chose to surround ourselves with.  Even though we are only three days into this experience, this is much needed to give me a chance to see another part of the world and learn to step back and re-evaluate how I approach situations on a day-to-day basis.  I am so lucky to have the chance to work on this project; I hope everyone else can have a similar opportunity.


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