Tijuana!

Late night food runs, fights, dormies, Costco and cops, home builders and a trip to the sea.
Wilson, here. Since this is my first trip to Mexico, Robert let me write the blog tonight, and it's been an exciting two days. We flew out of Seattle Saturday, May 2, getting into San Diego a little after 6 p.m. and then racing for the border, and Tijuana, one of the fastest growing cities in Mexico. The need for housing here is tremendous, so I'm not just here to promote the One World Futbol. I'm also here to watch the team that will be building homes for a poor family or two.
 
For more details about this program, you are welcome to visit tjposada.blogspot.com, which recounts last year's home building project.

This is the 25th year that an organization called Esperanza ("Hope" ) has been building homes in Tijuana, so this trip is going to be extra special.

 Altogether, 22 of us arrived in Tijuana Saturday night. We drove to a compound referred to as the "Posada," which has dining, meeting and sleeping accommodations that will support our volunteer group for the coming week as we build a home for a poor Tijuana family. Before we went out for the evening, we got together for a brief orientation. That's part of the group, below, with one of the ten One World Futbols we brought along for distribution to young soccer players.

The home builders took a moment to get oriented before heading out for a meal at La Gloria Taqueria.

La Gloria Taqueria opens out into the street, and keeps late hours, beackoning evening drivers to stop in for a meal.

From the left, Susan and Tom Nadeau, Nick Petlow, Jeff Vargo and Steve Ellis watch the "fight of the century" for free.

As they dined, members of our group became transfixed with the Floyd Mayweather,-Manny Pacquiao "fight of the century." While Americans were paying $100 to view the fight, Tijuana Taqueria guests were able to watch for free. Well, OK, it was kind of expected that you'd buy some skirt steak or frijoles. But you didn't pay to watch.

As he diced up the skirt steak, the cook had trouble taking his eyes off the fight -- but he finished the night with all fingers intact.

After all the excitement, Robert and I settled in for the night. Although it's supposed to be one to a bunk at the Posada,  no-one even paid attention on whether we were cuddled up together.

Our bed. The luggage goes on top and we get the lower bunk.

In the morning, I got up and prowled around the premises, getting a feeling for the Posada.

I kind of like this table here, where people can gather outside at the end of the day.

Breakfast is prepared about 7 a.m. Keep in mind that you don't drink tap water in Tijuana, and there's such a water shortage that we are limited to one-minute showers.

So how do you make sure the dishes are sanitary?  Easy: We use three sinks. We wash in the first sink; rinse in the second sink; and sterilize in the third sink, where the water has bleach in it. Then we air dry the dishes. No-one has ever gotten sick at the Posada using this method.

Shelly Cerio, an Amazon employee from Bellevue volunteering for the first time in the Esperanza home-building program, cleans the dishes after breakfast.

Sunday morning a bunch of us headed out for mass at Capilla Imaculada Concepcion church. Enroute, I saw the strangest police station. It had a facade, but it didn't seem to have any depth. But if you look closely, you'll see there is a tiny office behind the front door.

The not-so-imposing police station.

I waited by the door for everyone to get into the church before I went in.

Afterward, on the way back to the Posada, I passed the police station and got to meet the only officer who was there at the time. He was very impressed that I don't need a needle or bicycle pump to stay in shape. You probably know I'm made from the same material Croc shoes are made of, so I just naturally maintain a nice round figure.

Sunday was the day to load up the pantry for the week, so we made a run to Costco. Tom Nadeau, a newcomer to the home-building program, consulted with Deana Barrow and her daughter Kelsy, who have participated in past years.

Since I have no need for arms, I got to ride in the cart while everyone else shopped.

Afterward, Tom showed me what you do with those free Costco samples.

After the Costco run, most of the team did the obligatory run to Rosarito, where they did the usual tourist shopping. It's a tradition with the Esperanza volunteers. Rosarito is a separate city, right along the Pacific coast, on the southern side of Tijuana.

At Rosarito, I saw the Pacific Ocean for the very first time! The waves just never stopped crashing.

In the next few days I'll be following the adventures of the volunteers as they build another home -- and celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Esperanza's home-building program in Tijuana.

Love,

Wilson,

and Robert