It's a neat, safety-focused event for families that we found to be, well, a little boring. It didn't help that they ran out of snow cones just before we got there! And neither Eric nor Melchor wanted to sit in the back of the police car with me!
One thing that was pretty cool, though, was the life flight helicopter that was there. We stood a short distance away and watched as people climbed in to check things out. Melchor didn't want to go up there, but I could tell he was interested--he hadn't seen one before. So I walked up and peeked in and after a little bit, he followed me. Then he asked if he could get in. Here he is sitting inside:
Melchor doesn't smile in photographs because he says that he looks funny. I don't think he does, but I can understand not wanting to look unnatural. Eric decided to take the Melchor approach for this one.
None of us had ever seen a helicopter take off from up close before--it was pretty cool!
I have really enjoyed visiting with Melchor. Not only is he a very thoughtful and interesting person, but he is also originally from Santiago Naranjas, which is just down the road from San Francisco Paxtlahuaca, the town where I stayed for a few days in rural Oaxaca a few months ago! After the park, we looked at some pictures from my trip and printed off some helicopter shots that he could take with him. He was scheduled to leave just a few days later for Fresno, where he plans to stop over before heading to Baja California to vacation with his family. I hope that he is traveling safely and that he comes back next summer! I had such a meaningful time visiting over this past month with Melchor and the others living at the nearby migrant camp.
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