2006 Monterrey Mexico Trip

137 photos

• 01 - Ben reacts to the prospect of rooming with Jeff
• 02 - Tim and Calvin, our team leader
• 03 - Unloading and getting our keys
• 04 - Griffin, Michael, and Ben
• 04a - The Divas get ready to go
• 05 - The Bethel Mission where we worked
• 06 - Sizing up the situation
• 06a - More planning
• 07 - Dividing the work teams
• 08 - Ruth was actually expecting the
• 08a - That's better
• 08b - The kids know no fear
• 08c - One of the youth from Bethel Mission
• 08d - Before
• 08e - More before pics
• 08f - Even more before pics
• 08g - The stairs o' death
• 08h - Michael is disappointed to discover that he won't be helping make VBS materials
• 08i - Katia
• 08j - Kids from Bethel Mission
• 08k - Mmmmm -- Breakfast
• 08l - Everyone is eyeing the breakfast table
• 08m - We are pretending to be casual here
• 08n - Church at Bethel Mission
• 08o - Michael preached while Jorge translated - or was it the other way around?
• 08p - What does this mean? Peace? V for Vendetta? We're going to win the World Cup? I don't know
• 09 - Our pimped out ride
• 09b - Our pimped out ride is even cooler on the outside
• 10 - An afternoon picnic at the rock slides
• 11 - No silly American safety rules here
• 12 - Ouch
• 13 - Hannah is a pro
• 14 - Even Ruth gives it a try
• 15 - Racing
• 15a - Looking casual comes naturally to us
• 15b - Obviously, most kids think the slides are more fun than these silly trampolines
• 16 - Monterrey...
• 17 - ...is surrounded by mountains
• 18 - ... and goes on forever
• 19 - Some of our group at the park
• 20 - More of Monterrey
• 21 - This is a gorgeous city
• 22 - A mountain view
• 22a - Kids hanging off of the rails, who would have guessed?
• 22b - This flag pole is almost 600 feet tall and goes at least that far back into the ground
• 22c - The flag itself is 150 feet long and 90 feet tall
• 23 - Ben and Jeff -- lookin' cool
• 24 - Pictures only begin to describe this great city
• 25 - Leave it to the smart-alec kid to mess up the group photo
• 26 - I don't think the second try was an improvement
• 27 - See, we did actually work
• 27a - Jeff and Hamp drew the short staws and started chipping concrete
• 27b - Oh my
• 28 - Lisset and Culley
• 29 - Hanging the drop ceiling
• 30 - David is the handyman of the Bethel Mission -- Don't try this at home
• 31 - Elias chipped more concrete in ten minutes than Jeff managed all morning
• 32 - The saw o' death
• 32a - Making VBS stuff
• 32b - Making more VBS stuff
• 32c - Ben tries out the Village People look
• 32d - The man with the plan
• 32e - The man with the sweat
• 32f - Macho, macho man
• 32g - Vogue
• 32h - The platform is coming along despite all the theatrics
• 32i - Elias
• 32j - There is a reason Mexico is a contender in the World Cup
• 32k - Hannah and the kids
• 32l - The relationships were the best part of the trip
• 32m - The neighborhood kids
• 32o - Hanging out with the neighbors
• 32p - OK, back to work
• 32q - Michael makes the case for why HE should be the supervisor who sits around and does nothing
• 32r - The new stairs o' death
• 32s - VBS technology hasn't changed much in the past twenty years
• 32t - Getting ready for second breakfast
• 32u - I think these guys are looking forward to second breakfast just a little too much
• 32v - Lisset shows off the stylish safety glasses
• 32w - The local school kids were thrilled for us to visit (Bethel was partly responsible for getting the new school built)
• 32x - Paint, paint, paint
• 33 - Ben and Griffin wore themselves out eating lunch
• 34 - More tired workers
• 35 - Our chefs for the week -- The food ROCKED
• 36 - Apparently, someone asked Jeff to paint
• 37 - Looking for inspiration for his next work of art
• 38 - And inspired it is!
• 39 - The platform for the pulpit is coming along nicely - notice the stairs on the right that Ben installed
• 40 - Bethany and Hannah work on VBS banners
• 40a - Tracing the banner was only the first step
• 40b - There is a reason they are called hanging ceilings
• 40c - No, really, this is fun
• 41 - Bethany, Culley, and Hannah
• 41b - Ben fell asleep watching Oprah after dinner
• 43 - Imagine having this view from your house
• 44 - Or this one
• 44a - This is Jorge's house
• 44b - Maybe our luck with group photos is changing
• 44c - Ah, the finished banner - Now we start the second one
• 44d - The platform continues to take shape
• 45 - Back to work
• 46 - They told Jeff that he wouldn't get anymore lunch unless he painted for real
• 47 - Moving along on the drop ceiling
• 48 - They had to bring in experts to finish what we started
• 49 - The wisdom of our group
• 49a - We had to call in professionals to fix the stairs
• 49b - A professional cutie
• 50 - Yes, we ate at McDonald's in Mexico. Sue us.
• 51 - Visiting the park
• 52 - Sorry Hannah, there are no horses left
• 53 - Hamp is an old pro. The horse is rethinking his career options.
• 54 - You don't find many things like this around Rock Hill
• 55 - I wonder who has been eating more Mexican food this week?
• 56 - More waterfall pictures. Why? Because I can.
• 57 - And now, live from Monterrey...
• 57a - Say cheese
• 57b - The waterfall was nice and cool
• 57c - Jeff and Brenda
• 57d - Ben, Culley, Melissa
• 57e - The Garza's have a golf course in their back yard
• 57f - The roof of the Garza's house
• 58 - The back yard of the Garza's house
• 59 - Cooking out
• 60 - Our wonderful hostesses
• 61 - Scrambling to finish, just like in Trading Spaces, but without the music
• 62 - The old stairwell is no more.
• 62a - We didn't let the rush to finish get in the way of spending time with our new friends
• 62b - Almost there
• 62c - A ladder in a stairwell - that's a new one
• 62d - Ben gets to paint too
• 63 - Bethel Mission can throw a serious party
• 64 - The finished platform (the door still needs hinges)
• 65 - A cotton candy professional
• 66 - The Mission Team from RUF at Winthrop and Bethel PCA in Clover, SC
• 67 - Mariachi!
• 67a - There are few things better than mariachi
• 68 - Aye, yie, yie...