Today, Ryan and I decided to be crazy and go skydiving. We made reservations last week and set out for California City, about 2 hours away. Little did we know it would include some things we never could have imagined. We were right on time for a change, driving through the Mojave desert, about 20 miles away from the airport. The highway was practically deserted since it’s the middle of nowhere, and the desert just stretched out on all sides as far as you can see. We were driving along when we noticed some cars pulling off to the side of the highway up ahead. We slowed down and when we drove by, we could hardly believe our eyes. A white Toyota Tacoma truck apparently had just run off the road and rolled in the desert. It was lying on its roof, crushed like a can. Not only that, but there were people clearly injured lying on the side of the road. Well it just so happens that I took a first aid and CPR class about a month ago, so we jammed on the brakes and pulled over too.

            When I first got up to the scene, I almost gagged. There was so much blood… everywhere. There had been two people in the car, one guy and one girl (who had been driving). The girl had been ejected from the vehicle when it flipped and was lying in a heap on the berm. There was about silver dollar sized piece of her forehead missing and you could literally see inside her head (I’m assuming it hit the ground). Her left leg was twisted around backwards and something (presumably bone) was sticking out through the ripped jeans. The guy from the car was trying to take care of his girlfriend but he kept throwing up bright red blood (indicating a punctured lung from a rib most likely). Despite this, no one was doing anything to help them. The people watching were in shock I think because I later learned that they had actually seen the crash happen. They had called 911 and given the girl a t-shirt to press against her head, but that was it. She was conscious and obviously in extreme pain.

            So Ryan ran back to the car and got the blanket to support her back which was definitely injured. We got wood to splint her leg but once we found out she had back injuries we didn’t move her to do the splint. Her pulse kept dropping about 10 beats a minute and she was clearly losing consciousness quickly, so we kept trying to keep her talking and warm. Her blood loss was incredible and the shirt was soon soaked. FINALLY after what seemed like hours, the first cop got there and immediately radioed for the air care after seeing the girl. He said an ambulance wouldn’t be much use because it was so far away and plus there were no hospitals for probably 75 miles. She wouldn’t make it that long. To my disbelief, the “California City” (population 3,000) tattooed police officer didn’t have any medical training, but at least he was carrying a medical kit to help out until the fire truck with paramedics arrived. In the end, they took over and the girl was airlifted out. Ryan and I got our stuff back, wiped the blood off and proceeded on to skydiving, very late of course. While skydiving was amazing and something everyone needs to do at some point, the day was definitely a little gloomy after that morning incident. Just say a little prayer that that girl ended up living…. And slow the hell down when you drive.

THE CURSE OF THE MEXICAN CONVOY

So yea... just got back from Mexico and decided its time to make the first entry because it was a pretty crazy weekend.

Let's see.. Nick and I left two hours late on Thursday night because we were waiting for our "buddy" cars to get ready and they were slow. It was a bunch of girls and one guy in the other two cars. Nick and I got to the parking lot on time and pretty much got stuck taking a whole load of flour, rice, supplies etc. that we needed for camp in the back of Nick's pickup truck. We were kind of annoyed about this last minute delay but willing to help out right?

So anyway... the three cars set off. We were leading for a while and planned on leading the whole way, but didn't anticipate how much weight was in the back of the truck, and on the hills we were chugging up them at an amazing 60mph and the other cars were stuck following us. We felt bad so we sent the other cars ahead of us and they drove on towards Mexico through the desert.

The crap began. We lost touch with the other vehicles once they got into Mexico because no one had cell phones that worked and the two way radios were out of range. Nick and I finally made it to the border about 2:45am by ourselves. We were the only vehicle in sight crossing into Mexico... probably no one else dumb enough to try it. Sure enough the one actually uniformed sketchy Mexican border guard working wanted a "tax" (A.K.A. a bribe) once he saw the goods we were carrying in the back. I've been to Mexico plenty of times and knew what was happening. Usually you can argue your way out of it once the corrupt guard realizes you know their game, but this one wouldn't budge. After half an hour, he took Nick's license and made us turn around in this dank alley and drive back into the U.S. He gave his license back. The U.S. border patrol suggested we just pay the "tax" and get on our way, but the problem was, we knew we had to pass through another Mexican checkpoint later on INSIDE the country about 150km and we were afraid Jose Border Guard would call down to his buddies if we paid and tell them to "tax" the stupid Americans as well... once you get inside the country, if you don't pay the next "tax", who knows would happen to us. We were going to be passing through the middle of nowhere, there wasn't a gas station, a light, or anything for almost two hours we found out. So to avoid setting a dangerous precedent, we just tried calling all the emergency contact #'s we had been given. Of course, no one answered over and over again. So now we were stuck on the U.S. Mexico border with a truckload of gear and supplies at 4am. With no other options, we decided to crash at a hotel a ways back. 

Friday morning, by 11am no one had called to check on us or return our messages from the night before. Not the church, not our friends, no one. We could've been lying dead in a ditch somewhere and no one had even tried to contact us even though we were 10 hours late to camp. We later found out this was because of two reasons.

They actally did realize our car was M.I.A., but no student or staff member had brought a working cell phone. Genius idea?

The second reason was that they had more important things to worry about. One of the other two vehicles that been traveling in our little convoy, a Honda SUV, had run off the road IN Mexico IN the desert and flipped on its roof. Somehow everyone got out of the car fine but when I saw it (see web site for pictures) it was nothing short of a miracle. The car was smashed like a tin can.

In the end, Nick and I buried the supplies under sleeping bags and pillows and made it across during the daylight, as expected, with no problem. Everyone was alive and made it in one piece so it was cool. We built a house for a family there, played with kids, and then drove back last night. It was an enjoyable trip... made some new friends and had a chance to serve... once we got past the mexican curse. 

I'm gonna try this little Xanga thing everyone is doing. I have resisted it up to this point, over a year I think, but I'm finally giving in because i feel like an outcast without a little sweet online journal that everyone can read and know my every thought. Actually, I don't plan on updating it that much except when exciting things happen... so especially don't count on a daily update.