Trip 1 Day 8

Trip 1's last day did not start out very well. In the morning, we learned from Patrick that he had been up all night puking and was not feeling up to going to work. Of course this was disappointing for Patrick who really wanted to be a part of the final day's festivities. Nonetheless, as Patrick went back to bed, we climbed in the back of Oscar's pick-up truck one last time and headed to San Antonio Aguas Calliente. The morning was pretty uneventful. We painted while Chici and Mini-me put on the roof and installed the door and window. But mostly the the tranquility of the morning's work was due to the fact that Tree Man and I seperated from the group for about an hour to go help another group paint their house because they were down a few workers. Whenever Tree Man and PJ are seperated, it gets pretty quiet due to the lack of their constant bickering. Of course, when we returned, the volume turned up when in typical guy fashion, colorful criticism of each other's painting ability rang out through the valley. Verbal jarring aside, the inside and outside briskly entered the world of color, the roof was fixed to the house and the door and window were put in place - A new home! While we waited for Oscar (the project manager) and Joe (the founder of the From Houses to Homes non-profit org.) to arrive in order to conduct the "handing over of the keys" ceremony, we had our own little party with a pinada that oddly looked a lot like Adam. When the fellows arrived and explained to the family how this all was made possible and how this whole project works, we handed over the keys, exchanged hugs of gratitude, said our last good-byes and headed home. There is no doubt that we are going to miss:

Vilma, clearly a wonderful mother raising respecful and joy-filled children

Carlos & Cristian, energetic young boys with enthusiam and great potential

Michel & Ingri, beautiful young girls with intelligence and charisma

And Justin, the happy baby who is a main source of joy for the whole family.

Six men spending ten days together, building a house for a single mother and her five children, ripping in to each other (as men tend to do) resulting in so many laugh out loud moments that I can't even count them, having sincere discussions about faith, God and religion (as men tend never to do), enjoying a culture, a city, an experience and each other's company - I loved every minute of it! Great job Trip 1!

Shalom,

Fred T. Mercadante

Campus Minister