Bienvenidos a Mexico

When my sister asked me what I did this weekend, I told her, "Went to Mexico," as casually as I would have said "Stayed home. Watched a movie. Not much."



Her response: "MEXICO?!?!?"



But it wasn't really a big deal. A few people from DM were going and had an extra spot and said I could go along with them. And I really appreciated the simplicity of the trip.

We drove down Friday night and hung out at a beautiful house owned by a couple who is now living in San Diego. They come down every now and again to do outreach. Along with our group, there were some students from San Diego and a group of students from Loyola Marymount University in Santa Monica.

After a delicious dinner of toasted rolls with beans and a salsa of cilantro, chiles, tomatoes and onions, most of us went for a night hike led by tall guy named Pete who'd been there before. As we set out, the Santa Ana winds suggested that a sailboat would have been a more appropriate means of transportation than our legs - it was what I'd imagine a sand storm would be like! We bowed our heads and leaned forward into the wind as we made our way up an increaingly steep hill until we got to our destination: A part of the mountain that offers a majestic view the city of Tecate.

The winds were so strong at points of our descent that it felt like we were the targets of a herd of little boys who'd just gotten bb-guns for their birthdays and were target-practicing! The gravel and sand bit the backs of our legs through jeans and jogging pants alike!

Saturday was an early morning (well, for those of us who actually thought that 6 am meant 6 am and not 8!) and after breakfast my group headed to the water-damaged house we were going to work on.

The story of this family is simultaneously amazing and heart-wrenching:

The two kids we met were 14 -year old Michelle and 12-year old brother, Yoel. It's my understanding that they have younger siblings but we didn't meet any of them that day. What's so extraordinary about these two adolescents is that their parents aren't around - their mom died and their dad is in jail for at least 15 years and they have no other family to take care of them.

You know the phrase, "It takes a village..."? It's entirely true in this situation. The family court system in Mexico is so bad that these young kids are better off to stay in their house, without adults, than be put into "foster" care. So their neighbors watch after them - make sure they have food and clothes, go to school etc.

It was really a blessing to watch Michelle and Yoel interact with the adults from our group, especially one man, Arturo. He had his two daugthers along with him on the trip, but the fatherly love he showed to these two kids put a smile on my face despite their sad circumstance.

Michelle and Yoel weren't the only kids who got to experience unusual love while we were there; two kids from our neighborhood (let's call them Manny and Eddy) also got to see their dads, whose presence they've lived without for years.

Manny is a tough, scraggly kid with spiky hair, sparkling eyes and an attitude that makes up for his small stature. That's the Manny I get, anyway. He's the no-nonsense, "don't mess with me" type and he means it. But in Tecate he was a kid. He was free of the pressures to be a tough guy he feels in Boyle Heights and was so warm and goofy that I barely recognized him. His interactions with the other young people there - rough housing to rough house and not to prove himself - revealed how entirely transforming love can be.

This trip to Mexico wasn't life changing for me. And I'm glad that I didn't come back blown away by the poverty that I saw or feeling a sense of accomplishment for having helped someone. Don't get me wrong, there's validity and importance to feeling those things. But it wasn't a big deal. Just a great way to spend a weekend.