Saturday, November 04, 2017

Flights, Headache, Baja California Sunset

Yesterday I arrived in Mexico. I flew into Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of Baja California Sur penninsula, then took a three hour shuttle ride up to La Paz in classic style...in the back seat sitting next to a big American guy on my left (a bit taller than me, but add an extra 60 lbs or so...), and a short, recently retired Mexican business man on my right coming back to La Paz from the US to visit his mother and family here in Mexico. I say classic style because it was extremely bouncy in the back seat of the shuttle, going an indecent amount over the posted speed limit, and without a working seatbelt. I've lived enough, and been through enough experiences, that I don't stress about the seatbelt not working anymore. No amount of complaining was going to fix it--and even IF I had a working seatbelt, it would do nothing to save my life if we were to get into an accident at the ridiculous speed we were going at. The trip usually takes three solid hours, our driver got us to our destination in about 2 hrs 20 minutes. If you ever come to La Paz from the airport in Cabo, ask for Ricardo when you get the shuttle. If you aren't ready to meet your Maker, the ride quickly will help prepare you for that day.

Here are some photos to help you better understand where I'm at during this trip.
La Paz is located at that blue circle.

Close to the bottom of the Baja Peninsula but in the Bay of La Paz.

Here is La Paz


Once I arrived in La Paz, I had to wait an extra 40 minutes for my missionary colleague (Steve Dresselhaus) to pick me up, since I got there in record time. Not a problem--I enjoy watching people. However, after traveling all day and not sleeping long enough the night before, and not being hydrated enough, my head started pounding. Finally, tonight it's almost gone.

After a delicous meal prepared for me by my hosts (Steve's wife, Lois Dresselhaus), we headed to the waterfront here in La Paz for some ice-cream and to watch the sunset.  The ice-cream was refreshing in the warm weather, and the sunset was beautiful, as only God can do.
Sunset in La Paz, Mexico
No, I'm not here on vacation. Nope. I don't consider it a vacation if my wife and four kids aren't with me. In fact, I miss them so much, I'll put a picture of each of them here I took at the airport before leaving:
My beautiful bride, Becky

Caleb, 10 years old

Samuel, 7 years old

David, 5 years old

Lilianna, my princess, 3 years old

Now, is it beautiful here? Yes! But this is work. I know, many people would love to work here! If you haven't read it in our regular updates yet, which you can access here, I'm down here looking into how we at TEAM and RECONCILIAMAR (a Mexican non-profit started by missionary Steve Dresselhaus) can work together with A Rocha at stewarding God's creation and sharing the gospel with a broader scope and deeper impact.
Myself on the left, Dr. Bob Sluka in the middle, Steve Dresselhaus on right.
We had some good initial conversations last night--but my head could only take so much in when in that condition. The ice cream helped, but still... I'll be here in La Paz interacting with these two men and many others as we seek to steward God's creation wisely and be a witness for Him in this world by sharing the hope we have in Christ and the reconciliation He brings to ALL of creation. I'll post here as often as I can about this trip the next 9 days.

Chicago has their "Bean", La Paz has their "Pearl".



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