Mexico Trip (Part 3)

Early on Sunday morning, we crossed the border into Mexico. We'd heard rumor of the smell of Tijuana. It's hard to put into words, but it had a distinctly bad smell. Once out of Tijuana, we drove down the coastline, with a beautiful view of the ocean for the next couple hours. All along the way there was an interesting mix of beautiful tourist cities and then trashy cities. We then made our way through the mountains, and looped back around to near the coast again.

Although it took us awhile to find, we eventually arrived at the compound where we would be staying the next 5 days. It had a beautiful courtyard, with facilities not unlike what can be found at campgrounds here in the US. The road on which the compound was located went a mile further and led straight to the ocean, where there was an amazing private beachfront spot.
We stayed in Camalu, a small village located a quarter of the way down the west coast of Baja California. Mexican Federal Highway 1 was the road we took all the way from Tijuana to Camalu, and it goes right through the village.

The area in Mexico where we were was mostly destitute, with only a few nice homes in a neighborhood nearby. Most of the homes were worse than any you'd find in Springfield, though not as bad as might be expected for the location. The village in which we ministered was a couple miles back the way we came on Highway 1, and was considerably more third world than Camalu. The huts were crudely constructed. Yet, even though their homes seemed ready to fall at first strong wind, nearly every one had a TV dish. We were astonished that people could live in such conditions, and somehow have access to television. As we learned from the long-term missionaries we were staying with, the Mexicans as a whole are more concerned with peace and tranquility, and less so with accomplishments and advancements as are we Americans.

One of the most difficult things for us to acclimate to was the water situation in Mexico. Water was used very sparingly. When using the restroom, the toilets were only to be flushed when going number two. (I'm sure there was a more graceful way of wording that). And toilet paper was to be put in the trash, not the toilet. That was especially difficult to remember when passing solids. (Nope, definitely not better). The restrooms at the mission didn't smell bad at all, which I wouldn't have expected considering above information. But at the outhouse by the church it was another story altogether. Have you ever known a smell was so bad you didn't breath while near it, but the duration of your stay near said smell was mistimed? Oh dear. I made that mistake in this outhouse, and nearly lost it. (If you're wondering why I don't just breath through my mouth in these situations, it's because I have this weird need to know what goes into my body, including bad smells!)

Due to the length of this entry, I've split it into several entries.