This trip into Mexico brought us to a city approximately 60 miles from Veracruz called Alvarado. While on a couple of tours of the area, I did not see one church other than the one we were working on.
We were told to pack cool clothes because Veracruz would have moderate temperatures for the end of January (2006). We were in for a big surprise. What the locals called “El Norte” set in on our third day of the trip. This big north wind dropped temperatures and brought a significant amount of rain. Obviously, big winds and rain inhibit the amount of construction work you can do.
Most of the work we had before us involved pouring concrete footings for walls and columns and then putting up the walls. Unfortunately, the winds and rain really slowed the project down. We could not build some walls past 4 1/2 feet tall because of the winds for several days.
As with every project, meeting new people was a big highlight. Our hosts in Veracruz were absolutely wonderful. They provided all of the transportation for us and even treated us to a number of meals. By the way, if you are ever in Veracruz, you need to go to La Parroquia for a meal or two and purchase the “Cafe con Leche." The waiter pours hot milk from a teapot located a couple of feet from the glass.
The people we met in Alvarado were incredibly nice and worked with us every day. It is always amazing to see some people who do whatever they can to live week to week help others and give of their time and skills.
While the weather slowed down the work, it gave us more time to get to know the people. Although my Spanish is very limited, we found ways to communicate and had a kindred spirit.
Some of the members from our group got to be on "Radio Veracruz." They shared stories of their lives and answered questions from people who called into the show.
Words, pictures and videos give a brief glimpse of these projects but it would take an entire book and video series to put it all into perspective. We have put together a short video to give you some more views of this project.
