Hey all!
I just wanted to throw up a quick post before bed to let you all know that we are alive and well here in Laredo, TX. Our group hasn’t had any internet access, so I’m writing this on a cell phone currently. Blogs are written and pictures are taken, so hang tight!
Quick recap of our trip so far:
We worked Monday through Thursday on four different houses in an all-Habitat neighborhood. Much of our time was spent laying sod, putting in doors, cutting and nailing base boards, and putting in countertops, among other projects. All of our houses are nearing completion, so it has been extremely rewarding to work on them.
As far as after work entertainment, we’ve spent some time exploring the city and enjoying the extremely hot weather. Monday we spent the evening swimming at a lake and enjoyed a tasty picnic prepared by Matthew Swenson and Kelly Maloney’s teams. Tuesday we volunteered at a homeless shelter and ate supper at various restaurants around Laredo (many of us enjoyed the wonders of Taco Palenque). Wednesday was a day many of us will remember for a long time – our site put on a fiesta complete with delicious authentic mexican food and dancing inside Laredo Community College’s environmental center aka zoo (yes, we did the Cha Cha Slide in the presence of crocodiles, wart hogs, and armadillos). Tonight, we released our inner tourists with some shopping on San Bernardo Avenue, followed by an AWESOME meal of quesadillas and fruit salad prepared by my team and Nick Atkins’. Our night ended with watching Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary and having some large group reflection about illegal immigration (the theme of the documentary).
We’ve all been struck pretty deeply by the community here – I don’t think its too far of a stretch to say that we’ve all felt like a part of it at some point during this trip. We’ve worked alongside Habitat homeowners all week, we’ve volunteered at a local homeless shelter, and we’ve played basketball with kids in the community just about every night. Every single person we’ve met has been absolutely wonderful to us and we couldn’t be more grateful. Habitat employees and volunteers here are very close and it shows in their work and interactions. I think its safe to say that the word “home” has taken on new meaning for all of us. More to come on that in the near future.
Tomorrow morning, our group will be kayaking on the Rio Grande and then hitting the road to come home. I’m pretty excited about that, so I should get some rest.
Be sure to watch for our very late but very awesome blog posts starting as soon as we find free wifi!
– Tristan Richards ’13