Homes of Hope in Tijuana

Check out this video of my Discipleship Training school building a house for a needy family in Tijuana. We finished in just two days!

Here are some pictures of our build...

This weekend in Ensenada...

This was our first free weekend in Ensenada... on Saturday, I helped one of my friends on base repaint his apartment, then we went out for lunch to eat empanadas. Empanadas are sort of like a homemade Mexican version of a Hot Pocket - a hot pastry stuffed with all kinds of goodness, meat, cheese,veggies, bacon, mushrooms, chile, etc. They are one of my favorite foods down here, along with tamales. Tamales are made of corn meal dough called masa stuffed with a delicious filling and then wrapped in corn husks and then steamed in huge covered pots. These can also be filled with a variety of things, like meat or cheese, or be sweet and have fruit inside, like pineapple. I have learned that you will find the best tamales being sold out of someone's house or from a little stand on a street corner from a local. :)

Saturday night we all went to the circus! It was set up right behind the Walmart in town, so we all headed there for a fun night. I realized that I had never been to the circus before, even in the US, so I was pretty excited. At first I didn't really want to go because I thought it was with all those crazy rides and dumb arcade games, but then I realized that was a carnival, and that the circus would have animals and that would be fun. So I imagine the Mexican circus is pretty much the same as the American circus - clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists, mini horses, panthers, tigers, etc. The one thing that was alittle strange is they said the kids that were on the trapeze were only between 11 and 14 years old... I guess those kids really did run away from home and join the circus.Gordana and I pretending to be tigers outside the circus, haha.

Real tigers jumping through a fiery hoop!

Sunday was a ridiculously fun day, I went with my friend Giezi (who is also on staff here) off-roading in his jeep. We picked up some lunch in the morning then headed out with his other friends in their jeeps up to the mountains of Baja. We caught the most beautiful views of the coast. By the end of the day I was covered dust and dirt, but I didnt' care. It was really an unforgettable experience..I can only hope all my weekends here will be as memorable as this one :)

A tour of Ensenada's Harbor

Last week, our staff took us on a surprise boat tour of the harbor in downtown Ensenada. Ensenada is a port town on the Pacific ocean, and often there are cruise ships here. Tourism is a main source of income, as well as fishing. Here are a few pictures from our tour...

This ship was sinking, but it made a nice place for all these sea lions to sun bathe!

A view of the YWAM base from the ocean, it's the big red building in the middle, and check out those beautiful mountains in the background!

The Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean movies is docked in Ensenada!

Me, Gordana (Germany) and Brandon (Minnesota) on the boat. Good times!!!

Susie's Tour of YWAM Ensenada Base (part 3)

Take a look at my room in Ensenada...

Susie's Tour of YWAM Ensenada Base (part 2)

Here is part two of the YWAM Ensenada base tour...

Susie's Tour of YWAM Ensenada Base (part 1)

Instead of posting pictures, I thought I'd try to be alittle more high-tech this time and take you all on a video tour of the YWAM base here in Ensenada. There are 3 different videos that all show different parts of the base, including where I eat, sleep, go to class, and more. So come, see where I live, I'd love to show you!

New Friends and Food

Here is a picture of me with some of the other students here in Ensenada: Danielle from Minnesota, Kyoko from Japan, Gordana from Germany, me, and Elizabeth from Wheaton. The other students that are here with me are mostly from California, Minnesota, Oregon, North Carolina, and Canada. That is something I just love about YWAM, there are people from all over the world, all here serving God together! Today I ate lunch with some of the staff here: Jason from New Zealand, Jean-Phillipe from Switzerland and Katelyze from Mexico. I love learning from all the different cultures and languages and customs of the different people I meet, it's one of my favorite things about doing missions! I'm trying to get Kyoko and Gordana to teach me a new phrase everyday, so by the end of my 5 months I can be quad-lingual, hahaha, not really, but at least know what to say if I make any other German or Japanese friends :)

The food on the base is really great. We eat both American and Mexican food, mostly American food (which comes from Costco, which we also have here!) Usually we have cereal and muffins for breakfast, sandwiches and salad for lunch, and then some bigger dish for dinner, like chicken, roast beef or pasta. My favorite meals though are the Mexican ones: tostadas, flautas, tacos de carne asada, etc. This weekend, I ate shrimp tacos for the first time and they were delicious! I acutally eat alot here, because we have snacks during our break in the middle of class, which can range from fruits and veggies to cake, and then usually have ice cream or popcorn at night. So, no worries about me not eating enough while I'm down here! We are very blessed, and there is always more than enough food to go around. There is also a great taco stand down the street that we love to go to, where the pile on the beef, cilantro, red onions and guacamole, they're the best. Yum!