Right About Now

It's been a month and 2 days since I returned from Ensenada, Mexico, where 14 of us from Sunset Church worked alongside a local Missionary family, the Camachos, to run a week-long camp. The day camp served about 100 children from two colonias, rustic communities on the outskirts of town that lack paved roads, drinking water, and electricity. Snapshots from a day:

6:30 AM

Right about now... The roosters in the farm next door are starting to call us awake, followed by a chorus of barking dogs and squealing pigs. It's not long before those of us on the "ladies' floor" are stretching out from our sleeping bags and squinting at the sunlight streaming in.

7:30 AM

Right about now... I'm piling into a van with five others, bound for Bodega Aurrera (like a Walmart) to buy supplies for tortas (sandwiches) that we made daily for the kids' lunches. By the end of the week, we got really good at ordering "ciento cincuenta pan (150 bread), jamon (ham), y quesos (cheese), por favor!"

9:30 AM

Right about now... We're cleaning up after a tasty breakfast of cereal, torta, or pastries with our teammates. I'm on bus duty today, so I climb into the old black-and-white striped school bus to pick up kids and, most importantly, make sure they don't fall out the back door with the broken hinge.

10:00 AM

Right about now... We're at the colonia! Several of us are assembling tortas in the humble home of a sweet woman with an easy smile, bemused by our weak attempts to engage her in Spanish. The others are outside in the mounting heat, playing jump rope and soccer in a cloud of dust.

12:00 PM

Right about now... It's lunchtime! The tortas look so tantalizing, dripping with melted cheese due to the 100+ degree heat. Tiny hands reach eagerly for jalapenos and drinks. Some of the kids tuck their sandwiches under their shirts and ask for another -- what I thought was an act of mischief, until I learned that for many of them, it's their only meal of the day.

2:00 PM

Right about now... The kids are climbing onto the school bus to head to the park, many still happily clinging on to the crafts that they had just made. With big smiles on their faces, they drag us around the playground, occasionally stopping for a hug, to kiss us on the cheek, or ask us to chocola (give a high-five and fist bump).

4:00 PM

Right about now... We're calling out across the park, "Ninos! Al autobus!" -- "Children! To the bus!" Time to go home. After triple checking the headcount and lots of hugs and chocolas, the rickety school bus pulls away from the curb as we wave and run after it.

Right about now... and so often since our return, my thoughts drift to those children and our blessed time with them. Hasta luego, ninos. Until we meet again. Que Dios los bendiga. May God bless you.