While I had hoped to write daily during our stay in Victoria, our schedule and the limited availability of the hotel computers prevented me from doing so. Nevertheless, I journaled our experiences in a notebook I had in the event they left my memory, although I doubt they ever will. We had such an incredible, life-changing experience while in the city and I could not wait to get home to share some of our adventur
e.DAY ONE
Well it only took two flights, a bus, and roughly 12 hours but we finally made it to Ciudad Victoria Wednesday evening. Traveling into the city, my thoughts ran wild. As a local friend here told us, ¨This is not the Mexico you are used to, "He was right, no beach, no resorts, no crystal blue water." However, I couldn't help but be drawn in by a beauty of a different kind. I commented to Kristi as we drove in, that despite appearing unkept and somewhat out of date, 
the city had a certain comfort to it. Old stucco and brick buildings, some painted in vibrant colors, street vendors out selling fruit, ice cream, tacos, etc. and families sitting outside in 100 degree heat, seemingly just enjoying each others company. The charm of the old city was great, but I had little idea of what was to come.
Wednesday evening we were taken by our friend, Alex, to Juventud por Cristo's building to prep for the next day. Several of the student leaders worked with us as we split up in our teams of construction, Wheels of Hope, and community outreach. The night was a blast. Given the obvious language barrier, we tried to communicate as best as we could in an almost caveman-like fashion, pointing or grunting to objects repeating over and over, "Como se dice_____?" One of our new friends, Elena, had an especially fun time with this by repeating every botched attempt we made to pronounce words correctly followed by what I can only describe as an uncontrollable belly laugh. Upon completion we returned to our hotel for what was supposed to be a great night's sleep. Unfortunately excitement and nervousness filled that night more than slumber.
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