But anyway, I'm here! And I'm super stoked to be here! I've been thinking the last few days, through my whirlwind of activity, how excited I am to be staying at the Ranch for a full three weeks. I've never stayed longer than three full days, so this will be a neat opportunity to get to know the week-to-week operations of this place. (And to practice Spanish, of course.)
I didn't get to practice Spanish much today, though. Most of the Ranch staff speaks primarily English and LSM (Lenguaje de Señas Mexicanas, or Mexican Sign Language). The majority of my Spanish practice will come when I'm working with Juanita, the cook, who lives down the road in the town of Guadalupe. Juanita is here earlier in the day, so I'll get to work with her tomorrow.
Quick rundown of the day, since I hear my pillow calling me:
- Got to the church at 6 am. Emily (my sister) drove me there. We had 9 people total on this trip: Erik & Angie, Jerry & Rene, Bill, Johnny, Miguel, Dean, and me. Followed the standard mode of operations for a weekend trip down to the Ranch: load the cargo vans with supplies, donated items, and luggage. We were late leaving because the Ranch had a bad fire this summer and lost a ton of equipment, so we had a lot of things to bring down with us. From the church we drove to Encinitas for our customary breakfast stop at the 101 Diner. Normally I have granola or the açai bowl, but I splurged and ordered raspberry banana pancakes today.
- From Encinitas we drove south and then inland to the border crossing at Tecate. We always go through Tecate because it's a smaller city and much less sketchy than Tijuana, and because it's a much shorter route to the Ranch than going along the coast. Stopped at the convenience store we always stop at to get travel insurance for the vans. Had to go in the declare line at the border because of all the stuff we were bringing, and it took a while to get through. We were running really late today.
- Made it to Rancho just in time for lunch. Juanita had made ground beef and vegetables with rice, tortillas, and salad. Howard (who coordinates the projects for the visiting groups) and his wife Janet (who does admin work and manages the interns, like me) met us when we arrived. We had a nice time catching up over lunch.
- After we ate, I helped Janet clean up the kitchen and monitor the kids on dish duty. The littler boys were doing it today and they were a little squirrelly. It took forever for Janet to get them to finish. After that, we had to unload the vans. That took a while too because there was so much stuff, and because it was nasty hot outside. Praise God for the breeze, or I would have croaked out. As it was, I had almost no energy all afternoon, which I was expecting since I knew it would be way hot compared to the weather we've had at home.
- About midafternoon we finally had all the equipment, tools, food, and donations unloaded, and we went down to the staff housing building. Howard & Janet live on one end, Doug & Peggy (who teach at the school and help run things) live on the other end, and the guest apartments are in the middle. I'm in apartment 3. I spent the remainder of the afternoon sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, and killing bugs (yikes, I've already killed a potato bug and at least three spiders inside this place! Thankfully the little scorpion I encountered was already dead. Gotta love those desert bugs!). It's super nice accomodation--there's a living room, bedroom, bathroom, two closets, a little fridge, and free wi-fi!
- Helped Janet make dinner after that. Leftover meat, vegetables, and salad, with some jicama & lemon salad and boiled pinto beans added. Leftovers happen a lot here . . . very little goes to waste. I had mostly salad and a few beans. Janet and Mark (the long-time "dorm dad" for the boys' dorm) had a time getting the boys to successfully finish their kitchen chores. I think a couple of them were on a mission to misbehave.
- After that, I went back to my apartment and finished cleaning. Then our group, and Howard & Janet, got in the van and drove into town for tacos. Yum! This is a common Friday-night activity on Rancho trips. We always go to the same place, Taquería El Principal, which is run by a man named Ruben who supports the Ranch's work. The food is always delicious--they have tacos, tortas, quesadillas, and other similar dishes. I had two tacos de asada . . . excelente.
- Got back around 8:30 and unpacked all my stuff. Organized everything in the cabinets, drawers, etc. I'm all moved in!
Now it's time to move myself to my BED!
Pictures will be forthcoming soon . . .
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