Mayra and I just talked to the owners of a two-bedroom house in a nearby neighborhood. We are renting the house for about $285 a month, plus another $70 a month or so utilities, from June to December.
This is probably the 6th or 7th time we’ve rented a house like this, in the past for as short as 2 months. Houses are readily available in the area where we live…the issue becomes how to adequately furnish a house for just a short time. So the accommodations are often a bit…er…rustic, but hey, it’s a missions trip, right! You can cook on a hot plate, right?
This availability of inexpensive, safe housing provides a wonderful opportunity for college students for even whole families to come and experience the mission field first-hand, and actually live in their own house. The experience becomes very real as one learns to identify the sound of the tamalero (the man who sells tamales every morning), and that the sound of a cowbell means the garbage truck will soon be by to pick up the trash. Oh, and the obnoxious L.P. gas trucks yelling “gassssssss” at the top of their lungs in the early morning! And of course the street parties your neighbors like to have nearly every weekend, till the bass woofer eventually lulls you to sleep. Boom…boom…….boom.
We’ve had several families of 4 here in the past, and even a family of 8, the Holdermans, who stayed with co-worker Tina for a month. It can be done! A team experience usually is hyper-active, but a family experience is more like living real life in a different place (where you probably have a lot of learning to do)! Wanna know more? Ask Jane Beneenga, she’s been down with her family several times.
So, seriously, think about it! You’ll be forever changed!
Check out Tina’s blog on this summer’s activities HERE.
Great experience! You can’t imagine how a trip like this will change you and the people are wonderful.
I seriously like your idea of a mission trip in Mexico.