Mexico

So I got back from Mexico last night after spending a week and a half there. I went down with my family to help build a school in a little mountain village thats kind of far away from everything. I have been alot of places and done alot of things but this was one of the coolest/funnest things I've ever done in my life. We went to Pajalton Bajo which is in the middle of the mountains on Southern Mexico in Chiappas. The town has an elementary that we stayed in but the nearest middle school in an hours walk away so many kids don't go, even less go to high school and the first 2 to go to college just finished their first semester. We had 3 and a half days to build the school, a soccer field and 5 stoves for houses where people cook over open fires everyday. The town was so excited they threw a huge welcome party for us on Monday and then we got to work. We got the main part of the school built in a day and a half but it took the rest of the week to get the bathrooms and a few other things put in. The soccer field was for a kid's eagle project and was really cool because the town flattened out a piece of land by the school which was a major undertaking because there is literally no flat land in the area and it took 2 weeks for an excavator to clear the land. The stoves are being put in because the women cook over open fires all day and are breathing the smoke. They also strap their babies on their backs so they are also breathing the smoke. They still cook with fire but it's in the stove and a chimney takes the smoke outside. I got to help build one in a 70 year old house made out of mud bricks and a thatched roof. It belongs to a 90 year old guy named Domingo who we called John Wayne cause he was just awesome. On Friday the governess of Chiappas came to see the school and the stoves and she stopped in to see Domingo's. She was excited to see the improvements in the village and told us about some more initiatives that the government is starting to help people in the region. Thats just a brief overview of the whole trip but if you want to know more let me know. Here's a list of things I learned or experienced.

Never let a pregnant vegetarian plan your meals

Things in the mountains of southern Mexico are very old fashioned as evidenced by:
-Men run everything in the village
-When teenagers steal they are publicly flogged

You can live 70 years in a house made of mud

Montezuma's Revenge absolutely destroys people

The Mexican police force has an enforcement department and a prevention department. Neither does anything.