Published: 03/06/2020
L'Arche Mexico Team
Follow the L'Arche Mexico Alternative Break Service Trip team on their blog, and read an excerpt below.
Part 1: Katie and Bri
Today, Katie and I volunteered to work on the mural wall. We thought we would be starting to paint but boy were we wrong! We started off the day by trying to find the perfect ratio of concrete powder to water to create our perfect "spackling" recipe. For the majority of our day we filled in holes and laughed as our mixture got everywhere. Later in the day after sanding out the bumps we finally started to paint. Bri decided to climb the very tall ladder to paint around the L'Arche logo (which was a bit scary). Overall we shared a lot of laughs and had a great day in the sun! We decided we are the dyad partners to beat, because we are the same person lol.
Part 2: Taylor, Sarah, and Liz
Things at the house were super chill today! After cleaning up after breakfast we sorted through some beans to prepare for lunch. One of our tasks was to paint the bottom of the trees in the backyard white--a sight you see all around the city. This is where burning ants come into play. The paint is actually a mixture of salt and lime, making the tree alkaline and pretty painful to ants. This keeps pests away from the precious leaves and fruit of the tree. After this we came in to hang out and play with core members and help prepare for lunch. We shredded chicken and cut chayotes, a super spikey squash (that tastes really good con azucar, with sugar!).
Part 3: Izzi and Evan
Today, when we got to the workshop, the core members went up to a basketball court to do some therapeutic exercise! We joined in and had a lot of fun! Some of the activities included walking around the court, doing some arm and leg exercises, and doing activities with basketballs! We also did some stretches with a resistant band. We're going to be sore tomorrow morning! Afterward, we walked back to the workshop and went to the Panaderia station. Izzi and I aided some of the members in bagging cookies and wrapping them with a green ribbon. We ate lunch, then went to the painting station for a little bit. Next stop: the mural. Izzi climbed up on a ladder to get some hard-to-reach places for the group, while Evan took over and got artsy with the camera. We helped paint with the assistance of the entire group, and then we were done for the day. We are so excited to continue painting the beautiful mural throughout the week.
Part 4: Gwen and Brynn
Today was an exciting day for us. It started out by using going to the workshop. Once we arrived at the workshop, we headed out to do an exercise class. At the class, we were paired with one of the core members to do the exercises with them. These exercises included running, biceps curls with resistance bands, and passing the basketball while walking up and down the court to name a few. This was a workout for all of us, but the core members showed us that they were in better shape than us. Following this, we returned to the workshop and began to help in the painting station. We then had tacos for lunch with the core members. After this, we began to work on the mural. Today we discovered what the mural was going to look like. One of the core members actually painted this at the painting station. Once we starting painting, Gwen got to use a giant roller. We finally returned to the house after a great day's work.
Part 5: Grace and Rick
We also had fun exercising with core members. We helped out in the carpenteria. Grace made bracelets with core members in the art area, and Rick helped plaster and sand the wall in preparation for painting the mural. We both pitched in when it was clean up time. At the house, Grace played Pato, Pato, Ganzo, played with the house mascots and drew pictures with the house members. Looking forward to tomorrow and helping to paint the mural.