Mexico 2017 - The Building Begins

This time last month we were waking up to the last full day in the UK before we began our travelling to Mexico. That means it was our last day to pack and, in true Walters' style, it was the day we began to pack! What followed was an indescribable trip, but I'm going to give it a go.

Photo cred: KG

Being the last to arrive at the airport meant we got to say hello to everyone as soon as we arrived! Seeing KG, ET, JB and KB from last year's trip was brilliant, and we couldn't wait to camp and build with them again!

Photo cred: BW

A quick 10/11 hour flight later and we'd landed in LAX. When going through border security I got separated from the rest of my family by a member of staff, which could've proved tricky seeing as we were entering the country on the same piece of paper (landing forms). But I got through really speedy with no problems, made some new friends who were also going to Mexico, collected all 7 suitcases from the carousel and waited, and waited, and waited for the rest of the group. Fortunately I'd packed my Ukulele, so KG entertained us with some tunes. Eventually the lucky 15 (of which I was one), who'd been separated and sent to a shorter, faster queue, were reunited with the rest of the group who'd just spent the last 90 minutes standing in line.
With everyone together we ventured outside in search of our coach. Yellow Prius after yellow Prius sped past until eventually there was a gap in traffic big enough for us to make it across the road. Once we'd made it to our hotel in San Diego, it was about midnight US time and about 8am UK time - we'd not slept in 24 hours. We had dominoes pizza as a US midnight snack/UK breakfast and then headed straight to bed, in order to be ready for the early start to get to Mexico the next day.

Photo cred: BW

The sun was up and following our American-pancake-breakfast we were treated to views like above whilst we waited for the coach to turn up. Through the Mexican border, we were met with more waiting whilst the coach itself was being checked. 
The first drive through Tijuana was just as shocking as last year, but in a different way. I was shocked that I'd completely forgotten exactly what it was like. 'Houses' stacked upon 'houses'. So. Much. Poverty. Driving through was a feeling like no other, you have to be there to feel it.

Photo cred: BW

Some houses were built so close to the edge, they really looked like they might not stand the slightest gust of wind.

Photo cred: BW

We arrived at the Amor camp and it felt like we'd never left! The yellow circus tent still standing, the baños hadn't moved, and the mountains looked as magnificent as ever. Baños, for those of you that don't know, is the Spanish word for toilets. Only the toilets we got to experience were far from ordinary. No flushes, just a big ditch. And something happened that we didn't expect... Because the the ditch below the baños still had some room and therefore the baños hadn't been moved, we were weeing and pooing upon our own wee and poo from last year! Gross.

Photo cred: BW

Baños were best braved in pairs or groups - thanks to air vents, you could have a conversation with a friend to distract yourself from the buzzing flies and awful smell. Top tip: Poo-Pouri works in Mexican toilet ditches as well as it does in flushing toilets (as discovered by mum), perhaps even better as it covers up years of smell! Okay... tmi, moving on.
We'd set up camp, added a few extra tents to solve the tipee over-population issues, experienced our first lunch and our first dinner, come up with a team name and a team chant (which seemed to change every night), and we were just about ready for sleep. Night one. Humans vs Earwigs: 4-0.
Thanks to a cockerel with an underdeveloped 'cocka-doodle-doo' and a donkey that hadn't yet mastered the 'eeyore', the leaders were 'awake' and ready for their 6am meeting.

Photo cred: BW

The buses arrived promptly at 7am, ready for us to leave the site at half past. We loaded the buses with pack lunches, igloos (cold drinks containers), and humans that were ready to build some houses. Singing our way through Tijuana meant the journey from camp to build site felt really short.
Our first impressions of the site were really positive. There were no 25ft drops like last year, and we got the privilege to all build on one site, together. 80 people, 2 single houses, and one double house.
The building began. (Watch this space for part 2)
Thanks for reading, I promise loads more pictures in the next post!

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Why Mexico?

- Tomorrow I'm flying out to Mexico with my family and some friends. In Mexico we will be building a house, along with a group of people from Plymouth. There will be 3 other builds taking place at the same time, being built by people from all around the UK. We will all be eating together, praying together, camping together and hearing about each other's progress throughout the builds. The building will take 5 days and we will also spend a day either side of the build in Mexico to set up and pack down camp, and to hand over the keys to the families. -

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"Why help people abroad when those on our own doorstep, in our own country, need help too?" The number of times I've heard this response to mission work abroad is countless. So I thought I'd write an open response to anyone who has thought about this question before or to anyone who has no idea how to respond to this kind of question but would like to. -

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There are people in the world who need help and there are people in the world who can help. In fact, I'm sure we could go as far as to say that everyone needs help and everyone can help. You see, the help we all require is different and relative. One woman needs help getting a job, whilst one woman needs help getting to and from her job. One man needs help with childcare, whilst another needs help and support after the loss of his child. Sometimes the help we require can be a long and seemingly never-ending list. Does that mean the list isn't worth denting? Checking some things off is surely better than none at all.  - What can you offer to someone who needs help? A friend is struggling to stretch their finances to the end of the month, could you bless them with a meal? Perhaps you are that friend that needs help financially, so could you invite a friend over for coffee and encouragement? Perhaps you are that friend that needs a shoulder to cry on and a whole heap of encouraging, could you smile at someone in the street to give them a warm and hopeful feeling that everything is going to be okay? Perhaps you are that person who needs a smile, could you bless a family with a meal? These small acts of love really do make the world go round. Not everyone can give everything, and not everyone needs everything but it becomes a beautiful cycle when we all give what we can to the people that need it. - There are opportunities around us every single day to help people locally and, occasionally, the opportunity might arise for you to help someone further afield.  A project abroad has a much bigger impact than the obvious: blessing one family with one house, blessing an orphanage with supplies and volunteers, etc. The 'help' reaches so much further. For the people who receive some help, they get a weight lifted off of their shoulders - an item ticked off of the list of things that they need help with. They feel loved and supported, and they feel safe. For the people embarking upon the adventure, they come home with a fresh new perspective on life, family, and what it means to be happy. They work towards helping a problem much bigger than they can imagine, empowering them to know that they can make a difference in people's lives back home too. For the people at home who have cheered them along, they get to see the fruit of their own hard work and support, which in turn encourages them in knowing that they are valued, needed, and that they have purpose. I could go on!  - Sometimes, no, all the time, the project is about the people. The people who need help, the people who give, the people who are inspired. The people. We're all people on earth in search of love and happiness, purpose and direction. So, let's get the ball rolling! Start helping out and start asking for help this week. - Why Mexico? To make love look like something for all of the people involved. - See you on the other side! Expect a picture-filled post in a fortnight's time! - Amy xo -

The Adventures of 2016...

At the start of the year I wrote myself an adventure list. I started out with 7 items on my list, leaving room for a couple of spontaneous things to add throughout the year. Here's what I started with, nothing too fancy:

- Drive to nowhere in particular

- Make waffles

- Go camping lots

- Go to Mexico

- Spontaneous holiday

- Build a snowman

- Climb a tree

I quickly ticked make waffles off the list, more than once! 

In Easter, we made it to Mexico!

By May we were camping again! This time, at BCDO!

Then the Summer came and I could add a couple of things to my list...

Swim in a lake!

... and swim in the sea at midnight!

A couple of months passed before I spent an evening with Beverley driving to nowhere in particular!

It reached NYE before I could tick off climb a tree and build a snowman!

I may have cheated the system slightly by only climbing a foot and a half because 'the tree was slimy' and by using artificial snow for my snowman (we got no snow this year!) but it was fun none the less.

I have half-stamped spontaneous holiday. Here are a few of the lovely things that almost qualified for the title!

A surprise day trip to London thanks to Emma!!

A spontaneous trip to the beach to chase a rainbow!

A roadtrip or three to Essex!

A few days in Liverpool!

and a sudden Christmas in France!

All in all it's been a rocky year but one full of great memories!

Here's to the adventures of 2017! Amy xo

She travels... Budapest

| Lows: -3°C || Highs: 0°C | I'm going to have a go at writing, in a few words, about our trip to Budapest last week. For those that prefer pictures, there will be plenty of those as well, so just keep on scrolling! We flew out from London Gatwick, and the trip started a little different to any other flight I've taken. We had special assistance this time around for various medical reasons. This meant a speedy trip on an indoor airport vehicle (caddy?) through passport and boarding, straight onto the plane. A new and pain-free experience!

Upon arriving at the hotel, our hungry stomachs led the way to food! I ordered a Weiner Schnitzel with a lemonade. It turns out that Hungarian lemonade is nothing like the lemonade we drink in England! It's flat, and way more full of flavour.

Mum and I went for a late-night spa trip before heading to bed. The spa entrance certainly set the scene for the salt caves, saunas, and aroma rooms that greeted us through the doors.

Day 1 Breakfast consisted of freshly squeezed orange juice, lightly toasted bread, and miniature croissants with homemade jam for me. Whilst dad and the grandparents tucked into scrambled egg and hot dog sausages!

Satisfied that we had fuelled up for the morning, we hopped on the metro and made our way into Pest (pronounced: pesht). 

Our first stop was the cat café, but upon finding that closed until later in the afternoon, we wandered over to the City Park where we found an interesting permanent art installation, and walked past a lake that had been dammed and turned into a real ice skating area! It was huge! 

Heroes Square was just nearby too, and then our stomachs called us towards any place that sold decent food at decent prices. The first place we came across was going to cost us 41euros per meal(!) so we kept searching. We stumbled across an excellent burger place, with it's seating area set up inside a shipping container! I was more than content.

Next, we had a spontaneous trip to Budapest zoo! I wanted to see the penguins, the sloths and the Komodo dragon. Becca wanted to see the Elephants and mum was desperate to see the Giraffes! We were not disappointed.

The lonely bear did make me sad, though. Next stop, hot drinks. And where better to go than head back to the cat café which would now be open! We even got a 20% discount with the card we picked up from the hotel.

This little fella loved dad, whilst another curled up on granny's coat. Following our purr-fect drinks, we made our way through old town Pest, dipping into souvenir shops for warmth! We found a beautiful Italian restaurant for dinner and tried a Hungarian drink: 'Palinka' afterwards - I wasn't a fan! On our bus trip back to the hotel we saw a magical-Disney-looking tram! We were all very excited at the sight.

And the magic didn't end there! Not long after getting back to our rooms, some fireworks were being displayed across the road and we had the perfect view from our top floor windows! Day 2 Another morning, another breakfast. Becca, Granny and I had a slow, chilled morning at the pool whilst mum, dad, and Gramps went to the Holocaust museum. Reunited in the early afternoon after some bus complications, we ended up at the nearby McDonald's. They sell much the same in Hungary - but pork burgers are an addition to the menu, as well as double quarter pounders! Dressed in jeans, 3 tops, a jumper, a coat, a scarf, and a hat - I felt more prepared for the minus numbers than I had been the day before! Tonight was all about the Christmas markets.

Granny and Grampy headed into the warm after the first market and some mulled wine, whilst we went in search of the cinnamon chimney cakes.

The lights around all of the markets are absolutely amazing!

After watching a light show projected onto the front of St Stephens Basilica, we found Granny and Gramps waiting for us in the Hot Stone restaurant. This was an interesting meal, and although tasty it was definitely the most stressful meal I've ever eaten! Becca and I ordered chicken breast. The spices were spectacular, the 'steak potatoes' were amazing, and the miniature vegetables in oil were oh so cute. There was one problem... we didn't realise the chicken would be served the same as the steak: 'cook it yourself'. We'd been served raw chicken on a hot stone!

Day 3 This day was more action-packed than the other two. So I'm going to bullet point it and fill it with even more pictures! - Breakfast - Late start, chill at the hotel - Metro into Pest - St Stephen's Square market - full of police arming the area during mass - Cute Café - I've decided the decor is what I'd like in my dream shipping container home!

- A walk around the inside of the Basilica

- Lunch: Hungarian Pizza! Deep fried dough with fried chicken and peppers placed on top.

- The ICE BAR! -1°C

 - Danube Shoes at the side of the river

- Tram rides... (we nearly didn't get out before the doors shut, leaving dad on his own outside!)

- We walked from Pest to Buda, across the bridge to see a waterfall which had no water in it! :(

- We decided it was too many steps to climb to the Citadel in -2, so we hopped on the venicular railway to get a bird's eye view of the river from Buda
- Hot chocolate at the top of the Buda hill, in a café who's door handles were giant forks and knives! - Bus back down to Pest - Italian for dinner again! Celebrating Granny and Gramps 51st Wedding Anniversary - We crossed 6 zebra crossings on the way back before realising we were going the wrong way, and crossed them all back again to the right bus stop - It snowed!!!! - Bed If you made it to the end, congratulations! Here are a few spare pictures from the trip whilst I wait for my disposable ones to be developed!

 Amy xo