You know you're singing The Boys are Back in Town in your head now.
Well, the gringo has been here (Mexico City) since Friday, but the gringa is back now too. I don't actually think I have anything interesting to say right now. I came back last night, and have been on the internet since.
I had a chat with Pastor Gerardo over breakfast about the culture of the Church in Mexico, and the things I should and should not be doing while I'm here. Also, he's going to be giving me Spanish classes started next week. I'm excited about that, but also hoping they go well because he's not the least distracted person I've ever met. And I'm not so sure how classes will go with constant distractions. But, well, he's willing so we'll give it a shot! In exchange for the classes, I'll be trying to help at the church. I'm not sure what I can do, because there's not much that they need done that doesn't require being able to speak or write in Spanish. We'll figure it out!
What else? I don't know. I need to do something so I can write about it later.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Living Dead and Cracker Jax
This blog was written Nov. 1…or 2….well a few days ago.
Yesterday (or today) was (or is) dia de muertos…or something like that. I’m not quite sure if that’s right, but in any case it’s the day of the dead. To celebrate people make certain foods, apparently tamales and mole. I only say that because I keep getting fed tamales and mole. We have more tamales than you can shake a stick at, but the tamales story comes later. So, also for dia de muertos, people leave offerings of food out on a table so their dead relatives can come during the night and eat. I suggested we go house to house eating all the food. And if we’re questioned I’ll act like a ghost and say “Yo soy tu abuela y tengo hambre. Yo soy blanca porque yo soy muerte.” “I am your grandmother and I am hungry. I am white because I am dead.” Well, we didn’t go because we’ve been loaded down with tamales, as mentioned previously. Also people put a line of flower petals out their doors so the dead people know how to get it, I suppose. Some people also spend the night in the cemetery, eating food and singing and stuff. I just don’t get it. The other thing people do for the holiday is make balloons and send them off. Montse (Israel’s daughter) and I went to watch the balloons. It’s pretty impressive. I have video if you care to see. It’s impressive because they’re made with paper, and they’re huge! Some are 10-20 feet high. What I find most impressive is that they create a burner and light it on fire to make the balloon go up. The reason this is impressive to me is because the balloons are made of paper, which you probably realize is highly flammable. So they have to strategically fill the balloon with air before lighting the fire so that the balloon doesn’t go up in flames. Usually, the balloon does eventually go up in flames, you just hope you get it to lift off before it does.
Eating tamales in rural Mexico is kinda like getting Cracker Jax. You know you’re going to get a prize in the middle, but you don’t know if you want it. The other day I broke open a tamal to find a chicken toe, complete with nail, staring back at me. I put the tamal back together, wrapped it back up in the corn husk, and left it for someone else. Sometimes the things you find in your tamal aren’t nearly that interesting. But you just never know what it might be, maybe beans, maybe another kind of beans, maybe chicken, maybe a pig hoof, they keep you guessing. I’m sure it’s interesting to watch a gringa who has been faced with making a choice between 40 tamales. Choose wisely, white one, choose wisely.
There’s something exciting happening in the church, and I should send out an email update. The youth have started learning how to play instruments and lead worship. Until now, they’ve been doing cd led worship, or this one guy has been doing some old time Mexican worship on a guitar. But this past Sunday the youth led their first song. I’m so amazed by them! There are 5 youth who steadily come to youth group and church, and 4 of them know how to play instruments. The other one, the only girl, sings. Seeing them play on Sunday brought me to tears. It’s really great, I’m very proud of them. They make me miss my kids.
Tonight 1 of the ladies from Huitzilan, which is where 4 of the youth are from, came to our house while the youth were here. She brought us atole, which is a hot drink made out of rice and milk. She and Aby went and bought a cake and they threw me a little farewell party. I videoed everyone saying a few words to me, even though I didn’t always understand, it was so sweet. When Aby asked the one guy what he wanted to say to me, she said he had to say it in English, and he did a cat call whistle. You know, the one you do when someone looks good. I definitely blushed and didn’t look up from the cake I was cutting.
I don’t like that bugs bite, not at all. But I think there are especially mean bugs that bite you in the worst places. I thought the bottom of the foot was one of worst places to get bitten, but now I’m thinking the palm of the hand is worse. Well, at least with the chilly weather, the bugs aren’t as bad as they were a few weeks ago.
I’m trying to waste time while my laptop charges. There are only certain places in the house where I can charge it, and I was trying to charge it earlier in the kitchen but it got in the way of cake and atole. Now I want to go to bed, but I don’t want to go upstairs until it’s charged. Well, I’m out of things to write about for now so I’m going to play a game.
Yesterday (or today) was (or is) dia de muertos…or something like that. I’m not quite sure if that’s right, but in any case it’s the day of the dead. To celebrate people make certain foods, apparently tamales and mole. I only say that because I keep getting fed tamales and mole. We have more tamales than you can shake a stick at, but the tamales story comes later. So, also for dia de muertos, people leave offerings of food out on a table so their dead relatives can come during the night and eat. I suggested we go house to house eating all the food. And if we’re questioned I’ll act like a ghost and say “Yo soy tu abuela y tengo hambre. Yo soy blanca porque yo soy muerte.” “I am your grandmother and I am hungry. I am white because I am dead.” Well, we didn’t go because we’ve been loaded down with tamales, as mentioned previously. Also people put a line of flower petals out their doors so the dead people know how to get it, I suppose. Some people also spend the night in the cemetery, eating food and singing and stuff. I just don’t get it. The other thing people do for the holiday is make balloons and send them off. Montse (Israel’s daughter) and I went to watch the balloons. It’s pretty impressive. I have video if you care to see. It’s impressive because they’re made with paper, and they’re huge! Some are 10-20 feet high. What I find most impressive is that they create a burner and light it on fire to make the balloon go up. The reason this is impressive to me is because the balloons are made of paper, which you probably realize is highly flammable. So they have to strategically fill the balloon with air before lighting the fire so that the balloon doesn’t go up in flames. Usually, the balloon does eventually go up in flames, you just hope you get it to lift off before it does.
Eating tamales in rural Mexico is kinda like getting Cracker Jax. You know you’re going to get a prize in the middle, but you don’t know if you want it. The other day I broke open a tamal to find a chicken toe, complete with nail, staring back at me. I put the tamal back together, wrapped it back up in the corn husk, and left it for someone else. Sometimes the things you find in your tamal aren’t nearly that interesting. But you just never know what it might be, maybe beans, maybe another kind of beans, maybe chicken, maybe a pig hoof, they keep you guessing. I’m sure it’s interesting to watch a gringa who has been faced with making a choice between 40 tamales. Choose wisely, white one, choose wisely.
There’s something exciting happening in the church, and I should send out an email update. The youth have started learning how to play instruments and lead worship. Until now, they’ve been doing cd led worship, or this one guy has been doing some old time Mexican worship on a guitar. But this past Sunday the youth led their first song. I’m so amazed by them! There are 5 youth who steadily come to youth group and church, and 4 of them know how to play instruments. The other one, the only girl, sings. Seeing them play on Sunday brought me to tears. It’s really great, I’m very proud of them. They make me miss my kids.
Tonight 1 of the ladies from Huitzilan, which is where 4 of the youth are from, came to our house while the youth were here. She brought us atole, which is a hot drink made out of rice and milk. She and Aby went and bought a cake and they threw me a little farewell party. I videoed everyone saying a few words to me, even though I didn’t always understand, it was so sweet. When Aby asked the one guy what he wanted to say to me, she said he had to say it in English, and he did a cat call whistle. You know, the one you do when someone looks good. I definitely blushed and didn’t look up from the cake I was cutting.
I don’t like that bugs bite, not at all. But I think there are especially mean bugs that bite you in the worst places. I thought the bottom of the foot was one of worst places to get bitten, but now I’m thinking the palm of the hand is worse. Well, at least with the chilly weather, the bugs aren’t as bad as they were a few weeks ago.
I’m trying to waste time while my laptop charges. There are only certain places in the house where I can charge it, and I was trying to charge it earlier in the kitchen but it got in the way of cake and atole. Now I want to go to bed, but I don’t want to go upstairs until it’s charged. Well, I’m out of things to write about for now so I’m going to play a game.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Muy Triste
Yesterday was a sad day in my life. In the morning I went out to check on our chickens who have been living outside since Thursday, to find one gone. The neighbor said she saw an animal (that I can´t translate) snatch it during the night. I cried a little over Princess Leia. And I brought the rest inside, where they´re going to live for now. I think they´re still too little to stay outside.
Last night I said goodbye to the church in Huitzilan. Everyone was really nice, and they prayed for me. But the one little girl (who´s around 6 yrs old) started crying because I was leaving. So I picked her up, hugged her and told her that I love her, between sobs she told me she loved me too. And the harder she cried, the harder I cried. Within a few minutes all the ladies were in tears. Two of the men gave me some good words of encouragement, which began with "I can´t say what I would like to say to you, but I will pray for you..." It was really nice, but so sad. I said goodbye to them because I´m leaving to go back to Mexico tomorrow or Tuesday for my last 6 weeks here.
Later I´m going to write more upbeat things about dead people, and chicken toes. :)
Last night I said goodbye to the church in Huitzilan. Everyone was really nice, and they prayed for me. But the one little girl (who´s around 6 yrs old) started crying because I was leaving. So I picked her up, hugged her and told her that I love her, between sobs she told me she loved me too. And the harder she cried, the harder I cried. Within a few minutes all the ladies were in tears. Two of the men gave me some good words of encouragement, which began with "I can´t say what I would like to say to you, but I will pray for you..." It was really nice, but so sad. I said goodbye to them because I´m leaving to go back to Mexico tomorrow or Tuesday for my last 6 weeks here.
Later I´m going to write more upbeat things about dead people, and chicken toes. :)
Bugs, chickens & squirrels
Winter had left, but it’s back now. It’s been so rainy here, it pretty much rains every day. It makes doing laundry difficult because there’s never a good time to hang it out. But it makes living easier because it’s not in the 90s anymore.
Ben doesn’t believe I can write (what I call) stories about anything. But in the past few days I’ve proved to him that I can. He periodically says something like, “we have trash hanging from our stove; write a story!” So I did. Ok, it’s not really a story, but more like a one-sided conversation about something. In that case it was about the trash that’s hanging from our stove. You may be wondering why is there trash hanging from our stove. Just in case you are, or in case you couldn’t care less, I’ll explain.
Here in rural Mexico we have issues with bugs, namely ants. So anytime there’s garbage on the ground, there’s ants in the garbage, and a trail of ants following after the ones in the garbage. So we can’t keep garbage on the floor so we hang a bag from a knob on the stove. Does anyone care? I’m sure you don’t, but it’s based on the fact that I can talk about anything.
My toes are much browner than the rest of me.
It’s kinda boring here without Isra, Aby and the chilluns here. I’m not sure what the difference is, because I don’t feel like there’s any less to do without them, but I feel like it’s harder to occupy my time. I was just helping Ben build the nesting boxes for the chickums, but I don’t feel like doing that anymore. Actually I should probably go out and round up the pollitos, bring them in, and clean up the house/church before service tonight. I’m hoping it cools off enough this evening to share some ponche with whoever comes, but I doubt it will. We might make ponche anyhow. Ponche is a hot fruit drink, similar to hot apple cider, but it’s only served hot. The other day we made some hot chocolate, which was so yummy, but that’s when old man winter was still here. We’ve been getting raw milk from a woman here. We boil it before drinking it, although Ben wants to drink it raw, as per the woman’s instructions. The milk in Mexico is gross. I really hate it. I guess it’s the preservatives that make it taste bad. Ok, I gotta go help Ben and wrangle some chickitos.
Plans seem to change on a regular basis here, without warning. Israel and family were supposed to be back from Mexico on Sunday. On Monday Israel emailed us to let us know they’ll be staying in Mexico for another week. Then they showed up Friday night.
Last Friday Ben & I reconnected with a family from church who haven’t been around lately. It’s a single mom and her 3 teens. She also has a daughter who is away at college. I enjoy the family a lot. They’re very nice, very talkative and very entertaining. We spent time with them Friday, yesterday and today. Unfortunately because of a certain incident there’s a lot of rumors being spread about the family, and our neighbors have let us know that we shouldn’t allow them to come visit. So we just go to their house now. She took us to a restaurant here that we’ve been talking about trying. It was so good! By far my and Ben’s favorite place here in Zapotitlan. Six of us ate for 95 pesos, which is less than $8. We had tacos, tostadas, and quesadillas. It was yummy!! I think Ben and I might try to go every day until we leave.
Tomorrow Ben is planning on going squirrel hunting. I told him that if he brings a dead squirrel, or live, or somewhere in between, into my house I will stab him with my umbrella. I have a feeling that if he manages to kill one, he’ll bring it here and expect me to cook it. Not so sure that’s gonna happen.
Speaking of Ben, I wanna give a shout out to Ben’s mom. Hi Mrs. Yutzy, hope you enjoy my blog!
Seven weeks left until I return to chilly PA. Wow. This time has gone so fast. I’m hoping that in the next 7 weeks I learn much more Spanish, and learn how to make a lasting impact. I just really don’t want to go home and be “that gringa that was here for a little while.” I want God to impact people’s lives through me….or despite me. He’s still working that out.
I’ve been writing this blog for almost a week. And I keep having to go back to change things. I’m giving up on that. I really need to upload this soon. Ben and I have decided to head back to Mexico on Friday. It’s really bittersweet for me because I might not come back here…until next summer. It’s hard to imagine not being here, but that’s the reality of it.
Ben doesn’t believe I can write (what I call) stories about anything. But in the past few days I’ve proved to him that I can. He periodically says something like, “we have trash hanging from our stove; write a story!” So I did. Ok, it’s not really a story, but more like a one-sided conversation about something. In that case it was about the trash that’s hanging from our stove. You may be wondering why is there trash hanging from our stove. Just in case you are, or in case you couldn’t care less, I’ll explain.
Here in rural Mexico we have issues with bugs, namely ants. So anytime there’s garbage on the ground, there’s ants in the garbage, and a trail of ants following after the ones in the garbage. So we can’t keep garbage on the floor so we hang a bag from a knob on the stove. Does anyone care? I’m sure you don’t, but it’s based on the fact that I can talk about anything.
My toes are much browner than the rest of me.
It’s kinda boring here without Isra, Aby and the chilluns here. I’m not sure what the difference is, because I don’t feel like there’s any less to do without them, but I feel like it’s harder to occupy my time. I was just helping Ben build the nesting boxes for the chickums, but I don’t feel like doing that anymore. Actually I should probably go out and round up the pollitos, bring them in, and clean up the house/church before service tonight. I’m hoping it cools off enough this evening to share some ponche with whoever comes, but I doubt it will. We might make ponche anyhow. Ponche is a hot fruit drink, similar to hot apple cider, but it’s only served hot. The other day we made some hot chocolate, which was so yummy, but that’s when old man winter was still here. We’ve been getting raw milk from a woman here. We boil it before drinking it, although Ben wants to drink it raw, as per the woman’s instructions. The milk in Mexico is gross. I really hate it. I guess it’s the preservatives that make it taste bad. Ok, I gotta go help Ben and wrangle some chickitos.
Plans seem to change on a regular basis here, without warning. Israel and family were supposed to be back from Mexico on Sunday. On Monday Israel emailed us to let us know they’ll be staying in Mexico for another week. Then they showed up Friday night.
Last Friday Ben & I reconnected with a family from church who haven’t been around lately. It’s a single mom and her 3 teens. She also has a daughter who is away at college. I enjoy the family a lot. They’re very nice, very talkative and very entertaining. We spent time with them Friday, yesterday and today. Unfortunately because of a certain incident there’s a lot of rumors being spread about the family, and our neighbors have let us know that we shouldn’t allow them to come visit. So we just go to their house now. She took us to a restaurant here that we’ve been talking about trying. It was so good! By far my and Ben’s favorite place here in Zapotitlan. Six of us ate for 95 pesos, which is less than $8. We had tacos, tostadas, and quesadillas. It was yummy!! I think Ben and I might try to go every day until we leave.
Tomorrow Ben is planning on going squirrel hunting. I told him that if he brings a dead squirrel, or live, or somewhere in between, into my house I will stab him with my umbrella. I have a feeling that if he manages to kill one, he’ll bring it here and expect me to cook it. Not so sure that’s gonna happen.
Speaking of Ben, I wanna give a shout out to Ben’s mom. Hi Mrs. Yutzy, hope you enjoy my blog!
Seven weeks left until I return to chilly PA. Wow. This time has gone so fast. I’m hoping that in the next 7 weeks I learn much more Spanish, and learn how to make a lasting impact. I just really don’t want to go home and be “that gringa that was here for a little while.” I want God to impact people’s lives through me….or despite me. He’s still working that out.
I’ve been writing this blog for almost a week. And I keep having to go back to change things. I’m giving up on that. I really need to upload this soon. Ben and I have decided to head back to Mexico on Friday. It’s really bittersweet for me because I might not come back here…until next summer. It’s hard to imagine not being here, but that’s the reality of it.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wintertime in the Pueblo
Winter has come to Zapotitlan. And by winter, I mean it’s maybe in the 60s. That’s pretty good for me, except that I took all the warm clothing I had here back to Mexico because it’s always in the 90s here. So I’m wearing someone’s random Old Navy sweatshirt. I’m concerned about the corn because I don’t think corn appreciates cool weather. Actually, I know it doesn’t. I’m also a little concerned about it because when we planted it we didn’t think about the fact that even though it’s a tropical climate, the days are getting shorter and it may not be getting all the sun it wants. Well, we’re hoping for the best and believing for the name of God to be glorified even through the garden.
I got back to Zapo yesterday evening, after almost a week in Mexico. Although I didn’t think I was looking forward to coming back, I’m glad to be here. Israel and family left last night to go to Mexico for a week, leaving Ben and I in charge of 3 prayer meetings, youth group, and a church service. It should be interesting. .. at least it will give some of the people chances to use their leadership skills. They’re doing the preacher, worship, offering, etc. I think it will be a good time for them to practice some of the gifts God has given them.
Today is the first day that Ben and I are in alone in the house. He decided it would be a good day to be in silence. It makes me laugh because I think after just a few hours of me being back in the house, he was ready to not have to listen to me anymore. In any case, what a huge difference it makes when you remove 2 adults and 2 kids from the house. Israel and Aby like to play very loud music all the time, not having that alone makes a big difference. Although in some ways I think the music makes me feel more at home because, well, I live in Reading where there’s always some kind of noise, usually Reggaton music, happening. Well, I’m still playing music. Today’s choices are Innocence & Instinct by Red, various stuff by Jesus Adrian Romero, and of course always some IHOP. My new favorite IHOP worship leader is Tim Reimherr. I first noticed who he was at One Thing last year, but never really researched his stuff until recently. I haven’t found many songs by him, but I really love his sound so I listen to what I have over and over again.
Most of my morning was spent cleaning and doing laundry….no, that’s a lie, let me try again. Most of my morning was spent sleeping, the little bit that I was awake for was spent cleaning and doing laundry. It’s important to do laundry in the morning so that it dries before it rains. It’s now almost 2:30 and I’m bored. I need to find something to do with my week. I planned a couple of English class lessons, but the youth haven’t been coming for class so I don’t need to prepare any more lessons until they start showing up again. I guess tomorrow when I’m allowed to speak to Ben I can ask him what needs to be done in the garden, or help him the chicken house, if he’s up for that. Ben was very sick yesterday, and I don’t know if he’s feeling better today because I can’t ask him. (Because of the whole silence thing, if you’re not following along very closely.)
Ben and I made friends with a woman, Ana, who lives down the street. I ran into her today on my way to the store. She’s very nice and friendly, and seems to like to talk to me. She was asking me when I came back from Mexico, where Benjamin was and of course where I was going. It’s normal for a woman to stop you to ask you where you are going. And if you tell them the store, they’ll probably ask what you’re going to buy. Ana was also talking to me about the weather and how nice and cool it is right now. She’s right, it’s so nice here right now. It would be good if I could talk back to her, but at least I mostly understand and can answer the things she asks, even if it’s just with a 1-word answer. Once in a while I forget myself and speak to someone in English, but not very often. Usually if I’m talking to someone, like Ben or Eliezer, in English then I quickly try to say something to someone in Spanish, it often comes out in English. But last night I was at the store chatting with the man who works there in Spanish. (Ok, maybe not chatting, just asking for items.) While I was getting out my money to pay he asked me if I wanted a bag, and I looked up at him and said “Yes. (pause) Sorry! Uh….uh….si. Um, yeah….” Or it was something like that. My favorite is that when I realize I’ve just spoken in English, my gut reaction is to say “sorry” because that makes the whole thing better. Hehehehe. :-)
Oh, as if I haven’t had enough excitement for the past 2 days, I have another exciting story. Also on my way to the store this morning a man stopped me and asked me a question. I think he may have been asking directions, but I don’t really know. I had to explain that I don’t speak much Spanish, but I was happy to be mistaken as someone who looks like they belong here. I’ve gotten used to looking like I don’t belong, and getting looked at, so that was a nice change.
We usually travel 1 ½ hours once a week, on Tuesday, to go grocery shopping and shopping for other stuff. This week since the family is in Mexico, we won’t be going grocery shopping. Ben said they bought extra stuff for us for this week, but they pretty much ate it all. So, Ben and I have yogurt, 1 box of cereal, milk, pasta and rice (with bugs in it) to last us this week. The good thing is that I brought 4 cans of tuna, a box of mac n cheese, and a jar of alfredo sauce from Mexico. But I’m really hoping that one of the ladies around here, maybe Tia, will want to feed us at some point this week. Really, we’ll be ok because we can always buy stuff some stuff here. Unfortunately I still don’t know how to cook too many things that are made from ingredients available here, so we may be eating tacos de pollo, tacos de papas, tacos de frijoles, gorditas, and rice for the next few days.
I had a very girly moment 2 weeks ago, which I’m willing to share with anyone who wants to hear about it. This line is now my second disclaimer. If you don’t want to hear about a girly moment, don’t read this paragraph. I’ve warned you, what you do is on you. I’m not really the kind of girl who falls for the rugged cowboy type guy, usually. But the one day we were driving back from Zacapoaxla (the town we do our grocery shopping in) and we passed a guy on a horse. It’s not too uncommon to see a Mexican man on a horse in rural Mexico. But this man was FINE. And just for a second, I thought about jumping out of the over-crowded car and onto the back of that horse. He was riding in the opposite direction of the sunset, but I’m sure he could have turned the horse around and rode off into it.
So, as I was saying…Dios es bueno. Yup, that’s what I saying…God is good. Most of my focus is on Him, but once in a while I fall off the wagon and check out a guy or 2. :-) I’m in a story writing mood. I think I’m going to put my blog down for now and write a story.
It’s 7:15 p.m. and the silence day has gotten to me. I’m ready to talk. I’m ready to talk to anyone. I’m ready to talk to anyone about anything. But maybe it’s good, because I’m saving all my talking for my blog. I mean there’s not really much to say, because well, nothing happens when you’re in a small town where you can’t speak the language, in a house with someone who’s not talking and doesn’t want to be talked to. Normally I’d say to Ben, “do you wanna go downtown?” or “do you wanna go to the store?” or “do you wanna go for a walk?” But today all I said was, “wanna eat?” and “do you want this?” I’ve gone out like 3 or 4 times today, as mentioned earlier in my story about my conversation with Ana. But I doubt Ben wants to go out because that would mean he’d have to talk to people. You can’t walk down the street without saying “buenas noches” to everyone. And I do mean EVERYONE. Aby told me that Israel was here before her, and when she got here she would tell him to stop saying buenas dias, buenos tardes, and buenas noches to everyone. That’s the same thing Eliezer said when he was here. But you just need to accept that it’s the custom. Now Aby says it to everyone, like a good Zapotitlanian…. Zapotitlano… Zapotitlanite…whatever. (I think I like Zapotitlanian the best.) Oh, and just to clarify, when I ask Ben to go downtown that means the park that’s in the center of town. There’s nothing to do but walk around, but it’s something to do…more or less. Oh, or sometimes we go out for hot chocolate. That’s not a lot of fun when it’s 80 degrees out, tonight it would be good but the whole silence thing would diminish my fun.
I just did something dumb. It’s 11 p.m. and I decided to go for a walk. Zapotitlan is so safe that I really thought I’d be fine. But when everything is eerily still, not a soul around, it’s probably not a good time to go out. It’s probably a good time to pop in a movie or go to bed. This is the only time I can remember actually being afraid. It’s funny, put me in the middle of Mexico City alone and tell me to find my way home, and I wouldn’t be afraid. (Unless it was after midnight and the metro wasn’t running.) But let me step out of the house in Zapotitlan late at night when no one’s around, and I get scerred!
There are a lot of stray dogs in Zapo, and mostly they have a you-don’t-bother-me-and-I-don’t-bother-you attitude. However, late at night when no one else is around, they seem to think a gringa might make a good, white meat, late night snack. On the first ½ of the trip I was rather angrily approached, or chased by a few of them. To avoid the dogs on the way back during my little stroll around the block, I decided to go home the other way. That’s ok, except that the other way goes around a bend through a wooded area where there aren’t any houses. There’s a small area you come to that is not lit at all, it’s very dark and God knows what is lurking in there. Well, I made it around the bend, and through the darkness. With the house in view, I came upon a dog. It was a large black dog that was trotting towards me, in a not so friendly fashion. Not sure what to do when approached by a large, black dog at night in the middle of a small Mexican town, when no one else is awake, I crossed to the other side of the road. It’s not much of a road, but it put an extra 5 ft in between us. As my heart started pounding, the dog veered off the road and into our garden. Now I really should have shooed the dog out of our garden, that’s what Ben would certainly want me to do. But really, I was just hoping it would be so distracted by Al (the scarecrow) that it wouldn’t notice me sneaking by. If it did notice, it didn’t seem to care. I need to stop carrying steak around in my pocket.
I better go to the internet café tomorrow to post this, it’s already 3 pages long.
I got back to Zapo yesterday evening, after almost a week in Mexico. Although I didn’t think I was looking forward to coming back, I’m glad to be here. Israel and family left last night to go to Mexico for a week, leaving Ben and I in charge of 3 prayer meetings, youth group, and a church service. It should be interesting. .. at least it will give some of the people chances to use their leadership skills. They’re doing the preacher, worship, offering, etc. I think it will be a good time for them to practice some of the gifts God has given them.
Today is the first day that Ben and I are in alone in the house. He decided it would be a good day to be in silence. It makes me laugh because I think after just a few hours of me being back in the house, he was ready to not have to listen to me anymore. In any case, what a huge difference it makes when you remove 2 adults and 2 kids from the house. Israel and Aby like to play very loud music all the time, not having that alone makes a big difference. Although in some ways I think the music makes me feel more at home because, well, I live in Reading where there’s always some kind of noise, usually Reggaton music, happening. Well, I’m still playing music. Today’s choices are Innocence & Instinct by Red, various stuff by Jesus Adrian Romero, and of course always some IHOP. My new favorite IHOP worship leader is Tim Reimherr. I first noticed who he was at One Thing last year, but never really researched his stuff until recently. I haven’t found many songs by him, but I really love his sound so I listen to what I have over and over again.
Most of my morning was spent cleaning and doing laundry….no, that’s a lie, let me try again. Most of my morning was spent sleeping, the little bit that I was awake for was spent cleaning and doing laundry. It’s important to do laundry in the morning so that it dries before it rains. It’s now almost 2:30 and I’m bored. I need to find something to do with my week. I planned a couple of English class lessons, but the youth haven’t been coming for class so I don’t need to prepare any more lessons until they start showing up again. I guess tomorrow when I’m allowed to speak to Ben I can ask him what needs to be done in the garden, or help him the chicken house, if he’s up for that. Ben was very sick yesterday, and I don’t know if he’s feeling better today because I can’t ask him. (Because of the whole silence thing, if you’re not following along very closely.)
Ben and I made friends with a woman, Ana, who lives down the street. I ran into her today on my way to the store. She’s very nice and friendly, and seems to like to talk to me. She was asking me when I came back from Mexico, where Benjamin was and of course where I was going. It’s normal for a woman to stop you to ask you where you are going. And if you tell them the store, they’ll probably ask what you’re going to buy. Ana was also talking to me about the weather and how nice and cool it is right now. She’s right, it’s so nice here right now. It would be good if I could talk back to her, but at least I mostly understand and can answer the things she asks, even if it’s just with a 1-word answer. Once in a while I forget myself and speak to someone in English, but not very often. Usually if I’m talking to someone, like Ben or Eliezer, in English then I quickly try to say something to someone in Spanish, it often comes out in English. But last night I was at the store chatting with the man who works there in Spanish. (Ok, maybe not chatting, just asking for items.) While I was getting out my money to pay he asked me if I wanted a bag, and I looked up at him and said “Yes. (pause) Sorry! Uh….uh….si. Um, yeah….” Or it was something like that. My favorite is that when I realize I’ve just spoken in English, my gut reaction is to say “sorry” because that makes the whole thing better. Hehehehe. :-)
Oh, as if I haven’t had enough excitement for the past 2 days, I have another exciting story. Also on my way to the store this morning a man stopped me and asked me a question. I think he may have been asking directions, but I don’t really know. I had to explain that I don’t speak much Spanish, but I was happy to be mistaken as someone who looks like they belong here. I’ve gotten used to looking like I don’t belong, and getting looked at, so that was a nice change.
We usually travel 1 ½ hours once a week, on Tuesday, to go grocery shopping and shopping for other stuff. This week since the family is in Mexico, we won’t be going grocery shopping. Ben said they bought extra stuff for us for this week, but they pretty much ate it all. So, Ben and I have yogurt, 1 box of cereal, milk, pasta and rice (with bugs in it) to last us this week. The good thing is that I brought 4 cans of tuna, a box of mac n cheese, and a jar of alfredo sauce from Mexico. But I’m really hoping that one of the ladies around here, maybe Tia, will want to feed us at some point this week. Really, we’ll be ok because we can always buy stuff some stuff here. Unfortunately I still don’t know how to cook too many things that are made from ingredients available here, so we may be eating tacos de pollo, tacos de papas, tacos de frijoles, gorditas, and rice for the next few days.
I had a very girly moment 2 weeks ago, which I’m willing to share with anyone who wants to hear about it. This line is now my second disclaimer. If you don’t want to hear about a girly moment, don’t read this paragraph. I’ve warned you, what you do is on you. I’m not really the kind of girl who falls for the rugged cowboy type guy, usually. But the one day we were driving back from Zacapoaxla (the town we do our grocery shopping in) and we passed a guy on a horse. It’s not too uncommon to see a Mexican man on a horse in rural Mexico. But this man was FINE. And just for a second, I thought about jumping out of the over-crowded car and onto the back of that horse. He was riding in the opposite direction of the sunset, but I’m sure he could have turned the horse around and rode off into it.
So, as I was saying…Dios es bueno. Yup, that’s what I saying…God is good. Most of my focus is on Him, but once in a while I fall off the wagon and check out a guy or 2. :-) I’m in a story writing mood. I think I’m going to put my blog down for now and write a story.
It’s 7:15 p.m. and the silence day has gotten to me. I’m ready to talk. I’m ready to talk to anyone. I’m ready to talk to anyone about anything. But maybe it’s good, because I’m saving all my talking for my blog. I mean there’s not really much to say, because well, nothing happens when you’re in a small town where you can’t speak the language, in a house with someone who’s not talking and doesn’t want to be talked to. Normally I’d say to Ben, “do you wanna go downtown?” or “do you wanna go to the store?” or “do you wanna go for a walk?” But today all I said was, “wanna eat?” and “do you want this?” I’ve gone out like 3 or 4 times today, as mentioned earlier in my story about my conversation with Ana. But I doubt Ben wants to go out because that would mean he’d have to talk to people. You can’t walk down the street without saying “buenas noches” to everyone. And I do mean EVERYONE. Aby told me that Israel was here before her, and when she got here she would tell him to stop saying buenas dias, buenos tardes, and buenas noches to everyone. That’s the same thing Eliezer said when he was here. But you just need to accept that it’s the custom. Now Aby says it to everyone, like a good Zapotitlanian…. Zapotitlano… Zapotitlanite…whatever. (I think I like Zapotitlanian the best.) Oh, and just to clarify, when I ask Ben to go downtown that means the park that’s in the center of town. There’s nothing to do but walk around, but it’s something to do…more or less. Oh, or sometimes we go out for hot chocolate. That’s not a lot of fun when it’s 80 degrees out, tonight it would be good but the whole silence thing would diminish my fun.
I just did something dumb. It’s 11 p.m. and I decided to go for a walk. Zapotitlan is so safe that I really thought I’d be fine. But when everything is eerily still, not a soul around, it’s probably not a good time to go out. It’s probably a good time to pop in a movie or go to bed. This is the only time I can remember actually being afraid. It’s funny, put me in the middle of Mexico City alone and tell me to find my way home, and I wouldn’t be afraid. (Unless it was after midnight and the metro wasn’t running.) But let me step out of the house in Zapotitlan late at night when no one’s around, and I get scerred!
There are a lot of stray dogs in Zapo, and mostly they have a you-don’t-bother-me-and-I-don’t-bother-you attitude. However, late at night when no one else is around, they seem to think a gringa might make a good, white meat, late night snack. On the first ½ of the trip I was rather angrily approached, or chased by a few of them. To avoid the dogs on the way back during my little stroll around the block, I decided to go home the other way. That’s ok, except that the other way goes around a bend through a wooded area where there aren’t any houses. There’s a small area you come to that is not lit at all, it’s very dark and God knows what is lurking in there. Well, I made it around the bend, and through the darkness. With the house in view, I came upon a dog. It was a large black dog that was trotting towards me, in a not so friendly fashion. Not sure what to do when approached by a large, black dog at night in the middle of a small Mexican town, when no one else is awake, I crossed to the other side of the road. It’s not much of a road, but it put an extra 5 ft in between us. As my heart started pounding, the dog veered off the road and into our garden. Now I really should have shooed the dog out of our garden, that’s what Ben would certainly want me to do. But really, I was just hoping it would be so distracted by Al (the scarecrow) that it wouldn’t notice me sneaking by. If it did notice, it didn’t seem to care. I need to stop carrying steak around in my pocket.
I better go to the internet café tomorrow to post this, it’s already 3 pages long.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I know I need to update my blog, but I just don't really want to do it. But I'm determined to accomplish this task today!
Right now I'm in Mexico City. For reference, if I say Mexico or DF that's Mexico City. I'm heading back to Zapotitlan this weekend. On Monday Israel & his family are coming to Mexico and leaving Ben and I in charge of the home, and church for 6 days. That should be interesting. :) Thankfully, Ben's Spanish is better than mine.
I know I'm supposed to be learning a lesson about self-sacrifice, but I don't get it. It's a hard lesson for me to learn, and I'm ok admitting that because I'm trying. I believe that trying is important, especially since God knows that sometimes the doing is hard.
At the end of October, I plan to come back to Mexico for most of the remainder of my time here. I may go spend 1 more week in Zapo at the end. But I really want to take some Spanish classes before I leave. Unfortunately, it's not looking like I will be able to afford classes, so I'm going to see how the church can help out. I figure, if I'm able to teach English, someone should be able to teach me Spanish...right? Hopefully.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Randomness
It's been one week since we got back from Zapotitlan, and what a week it's been! September 16 is independence day and a pretty major holiday. Lots going on, lots to see. Mexico City is a great place to be all the time, but especially at this time of year.
I've been trying to write this post for a few days and haven't known where to go with it. I decided I have so many random thoughts floating through my head, I'm going to express them all here.
On Friday evening, there was a shooting on the Mexican metro. It happened on the same day I decided to ride it alone for the first time. There's an image from the news that keeps haunting me. The shooter was doing graffiti and when a guard asked him to stop, he shot guard. Everyone fled the scene. Except this one guy. I can't seem to shake the image of this man, he wasn't uniformed and I don't know if he was a cop or not. He just kept running at the shooter. Again, and again, even though he was apparently unarmed, he kept running at him. That man had to know he was going to die to save all those people. He had to know that eventually the gunman would shoot him. But all alone, next to the metro train, he charged at the man several times. I have to wonder what was going through his head as he laid down his life. Perhaps he knew some people on that train, but most he doesn't. It was possibly one of the greatest displays of love I've ever seen. Maybe he didn't know it was love, but it was because John 15:13 says Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Last night papa Roberto stopped me from putting something in the microwave because he thought I was putting something metal in it. I wasn't. Why would he think I don't know any better?
Because Ben is so smart, a certain Mexican who is learning English wanted to ask him if he got good grades in school. (I'm going to use a bad word, so if that offends you don't read the next sentence.) But the person mispronounced A's, and asked Ben if he got a lot of ass in college. I try not laugh when Mexicans mess up English, but that time I laughed hard.
Faith. I hear people say things like, "I wish I had your faith" or "pray for me because I need more faith." Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think faith is given out in quantities. I don't think one person has more faith than another. I think it's more like muscles. Like I have as many muscles in my arms as, say...Ben, but his are bigger because he has used them more. I think we all have faith, but you have to use it for it to get bigger. You can argue with this in all kinds of ways, but generally I would say if you think God is telling you to do something, take a step. If you don't have enough faith to go any further, take another step. If you're worried that God won't meet your needs, take a step to glorify him. Eventually it's easier to take leaps because you meet him at every step you take. Well, it's something like that. But that also doesn't mean I think you should run like crazy not knowing if you're in God's will. In those times, you need to seek his face. Well, all the time you need to seek his face like crazy!
I've been trying to write this post for a few days and haven't known where to go with it. I decided I have so many random thoughts floating through my head, I'm going to express them all here.
On Friday evening, there was a shooting on the Mexican metro. It happened on the same day I decided to ride it alone for the first time. There's an image from the news that keeps haunting me. The shooter was doing graffiti and when a guard asked him to stop, he shot guard. Everyone fled the scene. Except this one guy. I can't seem to shake the image of this man, he wasn't uniformed and I don't know if he was a cop or not. He just kept running at the shooter. Again, and again, even though he was apparently unarmed, he kept running at him. That man had to know he was going to die to save all those people. He had to know that eventually the gunman would shoot him. But all alone, next to the metro train, he charged at the man several times. I have to wonder what was going through his head as he laid down his life. Perhaps he knew some people on that train, but most he doesn't. It was possibly one of the greatest displays of love I've ever seen. Maybe he didn't know it was love, but it was because John 15:13 says Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Last night papa Roberto stopped me from putting something in the microwave because he thought I was putting something metal in it. I wasn't. Why would he think I don't know any better?
Because Ben is so smart, a certain Mexican who is learning English wanted to ask him if he got good grades in school. (I'm going to use a bad word, so if that offends you don't read the next sentence.) But the person mispronounced A's, and asked Ben if he got a lot of ass in college. I try not laugh when Mexicans mess up English, but that time I laughed hard.
Faith. I hear people say things like, "I wish I had your faith" or "pray for me because I need more faith." Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think faith is given out in quantities. I don't think one person has more faith than another. I think it's more like muscles. Like I have as many muscles in my arms as, say...Ben, but his are bigger because he has used them more. I think we all have faith, but you have to use it for it to get bigger. You can argue with this in all kinds of ways, but generally I would say if you think God is telling you to do something, take a step. If you don't have enough faith to go any further, take another step. If you're worried that God won't meet your needs, take a step to glorify him. Eventually it's easier to take leaps because you meet him at every step you take. Well, it's something like that. But that also doesn't mean I think you should run like crazy not knowing if you're in God's will. In those times, you need to seek his face. Well, all the time you need to seek his face like crazy!
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