a group from san diego came on friday to work on the boy's new house. they bought all the rest of the stuff we need - praise God! - and spent friday and saturday busting through that place. we are so close to being done...and then the school can move inside to the boy's old house, chuy will have his own room, and the boys will move to their new house!

right as i was leaving with paco on friday afternoon, al (castro, from rancho el refugio) called me to let me know that rue, a guy who works for mexico outreach, and his family were in ensenada for the weekend! he preached friday night at espigas nuevas, a men's rehab right down the street from fuente de vida (marta's church). i stopped by to see him and it was so great! juan jose came up to me right away with this year's mexico outreach sweatshirt and goes, you were here last april weren't you? with your group from new york? he and arturo (who 'graduated' from the rehab and is now working in chapultapec) helped with camp ops last april. it was so great to see him! he knows a lot more english now, but it was funny because he was speaking english and i was speaking spanish. javier, the director of the rehab, remembered our group from this summer as well and asked how everyone was doing. so fun to see everyone. rue's kids are ADORABLE.

saturday we spent the whole day working on the roof at church. we nailed down chicken wire, or something like that, so that the cement could be poured on top. paco told me it's a mexican trick to make it look like it's made out of something nicer than it actually is. clever...
before we got to work, the grandma had us replanting her garden...it was so funny. all of a sudden she decided she didn't like where one plant (rather, small tree) was so we had to dig it up, roots and all, carry it to the place she wanted it, and then replant it.
then she realized that someone had locked the keys to the main gate, the house, and her room in her room. of course, there was no spare that existed, so we spent awhile trying to pick the lock. when that didn't work, we moved the party outside and set up the most rickety, unsafe, 20 feet high contraption that i have ever seen to get to the window. mimi cut the screen with a knife and jumped in. i got my camera because it was just too funny to miss. they were all laughing at me as i was taking pictures but i was like i cannot forget this! they think i'm so wierd.

quite exciting...and this all happened before lunch.

later that night paco and i picked rocio up and headed to porvenir for the youth group thing. it wasn't a missions conference, really, just like a gigantic youth group. tons of teenagers were there, from all over baja. there was a worship band, they played some games on stage, and then chris richards spoke about love and marriage. he has a book out called dang it! i married a loser. funny guy - good with high school age. the emcee of the night was marcos, the pastor of the church we were at. he's american but has been here for years and years and is awesome. really dynamic, loud, and full of energy. the kids loooved him, and he was nonstop with jokes that had everyone laughing. i was really glad rocio went. it was totally geared toward her and she had a lot of fun. so crazy - we were walking to our seats and i walked right by palau and his brother - the worship leaders from kids camp! i was like what the heck man, this is crazy! didn't get a chance to talk to him but it was so fun to see him. i also saw the kid who was in the kids camp drama a few years ago - i have seen him in the most random places...first in the kids camp drama, then a year later at a site we were visiting with barnabas, the next year skateboarding at a park in ensenada, and now here. and he speaks english so he really can't get away from me. i'm positive he's creeped out, because every time i see him i get so excited. oh well. i can't tell you how fun it is to see familiar faces when i'm 3,000+ miles away from home.




today was super exciting...christian and lis announced their engagement in church! well, their intent to get married. after the service, everyone went to lis's house, and they got engaged! like in front of everyone! it was a little strange for me but that's how they do it here. it was super formal - marta introduced the parents to one another, even though they'd met before, and they each stated the intent of the visit and what they expected to happen. then christian got down on one knee, busted out the ring, and did the whole romantic will you marry me thing! she said yes, of course, and then we all had a party to celebrate with them. they don't have a date yet, but woo hoo!