4,000 miles of excitement...

It feels so great to be back at the base. Our trip to the border was unbelievable. We left last Saturday with two Suburbans, a Honda CRV, ten people and a lot of stuff. About an hour into the trip Matt noticed that our Suburban wasn't driving very well so he pulled over right as it completely bit the dust. We waited for 5 hours at a gas station while a local mechanic tried to fix the thing but it was hopeless so we all piled into the two remaining cars and went on our way. At 9pm that night we ate at a 100% all natural/organic restaurant in Acapulco and kept driving until we got to San Luis del Rio which is about an hour north of Mexico City. We got to our hotel (Hotel O' Puente) at 4am, slept til 9, and got back on the road at 2pm.
Dinner Sunday night was...strange (to say the least). Sue ordered us a plate of meat. Gross. See picture for vivid details. (Potential parasite entry number 1)

Stopping at the restaurant was great though because it gave us a break from the road and some entertainment. There was a man outside the restaurant that played an awesome air guitar and has some sweet dance moves. He tried his best to serenade me, but somehow I resisted the temptation.
After we left we got lost in the city for a little while but eventually found our way out and made it back on the road. Somewhere around 3:30am our remaining Suburban died on the Mexican superhighway. This is where the fun really began. The Honda went to the nearest toll booth to call for a tow truck while the rest of us entertained ourselves on the side of the highway. There wasn't room for all of us inside the tow truck so we had to ride in the Suburban on top of the flatbed tow truck for almost two hours. We were all slap-happy so anything anyone said was hilarious. Watching Bernardo pretend to drive while falling asleep at the wheel was worth the breakdown in itself. Then we got to the Bible school in Nuevo Laredo at 6am and took a 4 hour nap before getting back on the road. Our Suburban was fixed very quickly by replacing just one fuse but little did we know that the problem really wasn't fixed. We ate our leftover meat with scrambled eggs for breakfast. (Potential parasite entry number 2)
Crossing the border was uneventful and not very scary. Matt, Dalene, and I waited at a Wendy's while the Mexican boys got their visas at the border. I've never seen anyone eat as much as Matt did while we were at Wendy's. It was great to be back in the States.

We made it to Austin before the Suburban started having fits. It died the first time on the highway outside of Austin. Matt and Bernardo changed the fuse and got us back on the road. Needless to say, this happened four more times before we made it to the Chevy dealership. By this time Matt was feverish and sick so we called our dads and they came to get us.
My dad came to Durant, OK to pick up Bernardo, Checo, Juan Carlos, and myself, while Matt's dad came to pick up Matt, Rebecca, and Arnulfo. On the way, Arnulfo was amazed as to how easily Matt's dad put away a quarter-pounder, a large fry, a 20 piece nugget, and a large diet coke. It was pretty funny. Once they got to Rebecca's house, they were welcomed with open arms and Rebecca's mom gave Matt some chicken noodle soup and a dry shirt since his fever caused him to sweat through the other. He started feeling a little better and contemplated going to the hospital, but decided to try to sleep through the night. By 5:00am, he decided that he needed to go to the ER. He got hooked up to an IV, got some fluids and meds, and got feeling much better...especially once visited by the entire Gunselman family. Nothing like being served a happy meal in a hospital bed while in a stylish hospital gown to make a man feel better.
After spending a few days in Tulsa we were ready to start the journey back to Mexico. We left early Saturday morning and drove to San Antonio, Texas. That night we ate some amazing BBQ with Matt's aunt and uncle on the Riverwalk. The next morning we left at 4am and got our visas at the border and picked up our Mexican friend Rene who helped us drive through Mexico. The scenery was spectacular!!!

The drive back was much less eventful and we got to spend the night in a nice hotel in Cuernavaca. We got back to the base at 6pm after a grand total of 10 days of traveling. The end.

bittersweet

The short term team from Corinth, MS left this past weekend. It was sad to see them leave, I didn´t realize how attached I would get to the teams. They cried as they prayed for us, and we cried because in the midst of our work we didn´t even realize how much we meant to them. I look forward to working with the other teams that are coming.
The last worship service was on Monday night. Indescribable. We had communion in a way that I have never experienced before. The entire 4 hours of the worship service was devoted to communion. Then we had the opportunity to wash eachother´s feet. I´ve never done this before and I cried as a girl I barely knew washed my feet and told me how grateful she is that I am here and that she knows God will use me in a big way. It was such a beautiful experience.
This week has been spent mostly in the office developing a strategy to improve the administration of the base. We are also brainstorming about ways to bring in money long term to the base. One way they want to do this is to build villas by the beach so that retired professionals or skilled workers can come live for 1-3 months and teach the students a trade. It would be a one-time donation of $20,000 and you could stay for up to 3 months every year with everything provided.
Matt and I have to drive to the border on Saturday with 10 other people from the base to get our visa's extended. We oficially expire and become illegal on the 19th. It will take us 3 days to get where we need to go and then we will pick up a Suburban that has been donated to the base and drive it back which will take another 3 days. As if that's not exciting enough, there have been strikes and riots in the state of Oaxaca because the teachers aren't getting paid enough money. Two of our own missionaries are trying to get out of Oaxaca City today because of the tear gas bombs, gun shots, and cars being set on fire outside of their hotel. If they keep blocking the roads we may not be able to leave Oaxaca to get to the border. Please pray for this.
There is a man who started a coffee company called Oaxacafé that buys coffee beans from the indigenous people and sells it in the States to bring money to the base. He and his family are here this week and he told us that they are opening a Oaxacafé coffee shop in Fayetteville!! It will be by Harps and La Huerta on Mission/Crossover. This will be such an amazing opportunity to bring awareness to the base and its mission! Forget about Arsaga´s and start going to Oaxacafé!

Matt made it back safely from the mountains. It can be very dangerous in the rainy season because the rain washes the roads away. They have recently been exploring a new territory to plant a church. Once you´re in the mountains you come to this huge Indiana Jones river that you can´t cross by foot or boat so you have to grab on to this metal cable that runs about 6 feet above the decaying ¨bridge¨ and use only your hands to kind of monkey-bar across to the other side. OR if that sounds too scary you can hike a little further up the mountain and sit in a basket while some person pulleys you to the other side. Matt seems really excited about going but I think I might just stay at the base.
This week I am translating in the clinic for a dentist from Mississippi. He is a really nice man and is very gentle with the patients. I am loving this, I really think I want to be a nurse.
Also in the evenings I am teaching English to the worship leader of the Cacalote church. She is 21 and has the most amazing voice. It is easier for her to learn English when I write thing out. The other day I felt a little nervous when she asked me to spell ¨eight¨. It´s embarassing to teach English, nothing makes sense.
Dios les bendiga.