Our headquarters for the duration of our stay in Mexico City was a structure known fondly as the Pink House. This is, as the name suggests, a residential house located in a suburb of Mexico City (though when in Mexico City, it seemed hard for me to draw a distinction between "suburb" and "city" - it is all very urban and metropolitan). It was purchased by the Sunset Church of Christ in Lubbock, TX a number of years ago, and has since been used as a base of operations for many AIM trips and youth group trips, for hosting elders or church visitors from abroad, or just as a place for church activities. During our trip, most of the female AIMers and assistants were housed somewhere in this house, while the guys and a handful of the girls were housed in a nice hotel about a ten minute walk away. In addition, the house is occupied by a family of four who maintain it - Gerardo (one of the evangelists for the Metropolitan church), his wife Carola, and their two children Melanie and Christian (spelling is guessed). Gerardo and Carola are wonderful people and it was a joy to be around them and to have them accompany us on some of our outings.

Located on a tranquil neighborhood street, the Pink House was a good place to come home to after a long day on the busy streets of Mexico City. It is a stone's throw from a couple of little convenience stores, yet also isolated enough to make a very adequate hideaway. As with all of the houses in the neighborhood, the Pink House is separated from the street by a plant-covered wall, and members of our group often congregated to talk both inside (Image 1) and outside (Image 2) this barrier. The garden-like area inside of this protective wall extends around the side of the house, where it leads to a lush corner with a children's playset (Image 3)

Inside, the Pink House is spacious and quaintly decorated. It has several bedrooms, both upstairs and down, each with bunkbeds for maximum capacity. There are two dining rooms, one a very large open one attached to the living room and entrance way, the other a small and cozy one tucked away at the back of the house. Likewise, there are two staircases, both spiraling from the ground floor to the floor above. The main one, in the living room, is perhaps the most prominent feature of the whole house (Image 4).

The role played by the Pink House was that of base of operations and place of regrouping. After dispersing to the hotel each night, we would congregate again at the Pink House each morning for a light breakfast, normally consisting of fruit, various sorts of bread, and juice. Then, each morning, a different team's or collection of teams' guys would lead the rest in a devotional in the living room area. Seating for these devotionals was always fun... The Pink House is large, but it was still a challenge to fit 80-plus people in that devotional area. Many would sit up and down the staircase and in other creative areas of the room (Image 5).

In the evening, after a long and full day around Mexico City, the groups would again filter one by one back in through the doors of the Pink House. Between that time, and the time of the evening devotional, most people just wound down (Image 6), some napped, others (like myself) would use the time to write in their journals, and all would to some extent just stand around and chat (Image 7).

I am left to conclude that our Mexico City experience would not have been the same without a good place to spend time together, unwind and rejuvenate like the famous Pink House. At one nightly devotional, Jay Jarboe spoke in a moving way about the memories that reside within those walls, and the stories that those walls could tell if only they could speak. It should go uncontested that many more memories and growing experiences took place among our group because of the Pink House.