Mas de Mexico

The Gabriel house is located about 20 minutes outside of Ensenada in Baja, Mexico. The houses we stayed at were in between Ensenada and a little tourist attraction called La Bufadora, or as we affectionately called it, "La Buf".

This is the first house where we stayed

And this is La Bufadora: One of nature's many wonders. As the tide comes in, the waves crash into the crevice of a rock, and the water spews out and up like Old Faithful.
It's mostly just an excuse for vendors to set up shop and barter with the cruise ship tourists that come through this way. The bartering was a lot of fun. We went up to La Bufadora three times, and on the last trip I had a lot of "friends" in the shops who would yell "Kristy, como esta?!"
I was one of the few people who came from Utah State who spoke Spanish, so I was very popular with the Mexican Vendors.
This was the only sight-seeing we did. The majority of our time was spent with the kids.
Oh yeah, and I can't forget to tell you about the Taco Stand...I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat a taco in the USA ever again, they just can't compare to the deliciousness of the Tacos we ate every day at lunch.
Mmm...now that's one delicious memory!

Falling in Love in Mexico

I’ve just come home from a terrific trip to Mexico. I came with a group from the Utah State University Communication Disorders department to work in an orphanage called The Gabriel House. It was developed for orphaned children with severe disabilities. I was there for a week and a half. We came down with a group of Engineers who helped develop and install a more efficient septic tank for the orphanage, while we delivered an abundance of Spanish books (and some English ones that I spent a good while translating before we headed to Mexico), lesson plans, and activities. While there, we worked with children who had disabilities that ranged from cerebral palsy to preschoolers who are HIV positive.

These kids were so wonderful! I can’t believe how attached I became them in just a week and a half.

Antonio was my favorite.

Alex is Antonio's brother, they (along with their older brother José) have cerebral palsy.

Chloe is 2 1/2, she's HIV positive.

Rosalinda and her four sisters have a degenerative disease. I've never known people with as good a sense of humor as these girls.

Irene is HIV positive and (obviously) as cute as a button.