Day #1 * Mendoza YWAM

After a quick flight from Chile to Mendoza, I arrived at 6:30 p.m. After picking up my luggage and going through customs, I walked out the front door and thought, “I sure hope Carissa remembers to pick me up.” There I stood, the only white woman around, the only non-Spanish speaker, with absolutely no idea who to contact if Carissa didn’t show up. I wasn’t worried; I just realized I would be in quite a predicament if no one came to get me. Do they have phone books in Mendoza? Could I find Youth With a Mission listed? What’s it called in Spanish?

A taxi soon arrived and out stepped my beautiful daughter. We were both so excited to see each other. After a short 10 minute taxi ride, we arrived at the YWAM Mendoza base.

The greeting I received from everyone was so warm and welcoming. I got more kisses in one evening than I get at home in a month. And, our family is a very huggy and kissy family. Seriously, everyone (young men and women) that greeted me gave me a kiss on each cheek. So sweet!

While I understood very little that they said, each one of them clearly loves Carissa as a sister. (She was a bit embarrassed to translate all of the sweet things they said about her.)

One of the things I did understand was how many of them asked Carissa how old I was. I guess I didn’t look like what they expected a “mother of 13” to look like.

After meeting everyone, it was time for dinner at 8:30. We had a delicious meal of rice and veggies. After our dishes were cleared, we stood outside around a fire, visiting until about 10:30. I was amazed at how welcome and at-home I felt, despite the language differences.

Even with the several naps I had gotten while traveling, I was ready to head to bed early. With quick good-byes to her friends, Carissa and I headed into the woods as she walked me home. It was quite dark, with only a few distant lights to be seen. I followed Carissa carefully down the path, as we navigated large mud puddles, etc… However, at one point Carissa didn’t see a mud slick, and I was just a bit to the right of her. In a split second, my slippery Crocs went right out from under me as I fell to my bum and slid right down the path, covered in mud. Only my ego was bruised a bit. But, I was certainly glad that we were out in the woods by ourselves. When we got back to my cabin, I stood by the door and chatted with my housemates for just a few minutes, gave Carissa and hug, and smoothly walked backwards into my bedroom so that no one would see my backside.