It's taken us a long time to try to write this post. This one really needed some thought. How do you eloquently put into words the kindness of strangers? Not only do they work for the non-mission based, humanitarian relief organization, Live Different, but Andrew, Dawn, and Anthony randomly stopped to check on us after our wreck. They stood on the side of the road for hours in the cold, called Felipe who came to translate for us (and stand in the cold), drove an hour to San Quintin to stand outside of the police station (in the cold). Can these human beings be more amazing? Yes they can. They then introduced us to the best hot dog, wrapped in bacon, we had ever eaten. Oh yeah.... and then they offered us a place to stay.
Andrew and Dawn (sans Anthony) showing of our repairs.
We woke up in their cozy, usually reserved for volunteers, bunkhouse. The group was close to finishing a two classroom school building that will serve the local children. They were building it in cooperation with the government who will eventually install a satellite and two televisions for long distance learning programs.
It's a huge improvement over the tumbledown, tarp roofed shack that was their previous school. Thanks Peter (a Live Different Academy Lead) for the photos.
While planning this trip we had talked about looking into volunteer opportunities and it seemed we had just stumbled into one. The groups that come down to work with Live Different pay a fee which goes to cover the costs of their housing and building supplies for the projects, so it was very nice of Andrew and Dawn and the rest of the crew to let us help out for a day. We got to swing a hammer and roll some paint, and hopefully we helped them get done a little faster and didn't get in the way.
We weren't there to see the finished building, but Peter sent us these.
Felipe was there, and after the work was done for the day, he brought his incredibly feisty horse India out for a run. He was going to race her over the weekend and wanted her legs stretched, but still full of fire.
Later Andrew, Dawn and Anthony offered to take us to a little Italian restaurant run out of someones home. It's the kind of place that you would only ever find out about if you live here. We took about twenty turns down unlit, dirt tracks off the main road. It made us wonder how many great little spots like this we miss out on when you just pass through little towns.
Carlos, who also works with Live Different, was gracious enough to come over on a Saturday to get our camper fixed enough to continue on our trip. He pounded, clamped and welded for several hours and at the end of the day, our camper door actually closes and locks better than before and the jack in the corner will support the camper again.
The truck was still banged up but we felt travel worthy. We've been dreaming of getting back to Bahia Concepcion for years and had the itch to continue on south. It was difficult leaving our new friends so soon but we decided to hit the road. A few minutes later we were feeling a pang of regret and wished that we had stayed at least one more night. We didnt turn back though. Goodbyes are hard enough once.