I have left WMT in Belize and returned to my home in Tennessee for a few days to prepare to leave for another adventure to Africa. I've been thinking a lot if my time away from home has helped me grow at all. I think it has. Whenever a person leaves what he or she is comfortable with, I believe there is growth. Sometimes a person has a choice whether or not he or she wants that change and sometimes not: a death in the family, a lost job, or maybe the other way around...a new addition to the family or a new job.
In my case concerning my experience with WMT I feel I was sort of nudged into making the choice to join the group. Even though I was hesitant to join the trip, the conditions were right. So I left, and my thoughts and experiences changed from just my stable friends and family at home to scattered contacts with people I now care very much for around the Americas.
I think of Church in a very global way now and the need to support people within it, as well as those who are not a part of it. I think a lot about team work, communication, culture, and how I represent myself, my God, my church, and my group to the world. It's a huge responsibility I'm not sure I'm worthy of.
Belize Mini-Blog
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Labels:
Belize,
travel,
world mission tour
Significant Events from Belize that I will flesh out later:
The girls painted the walls of Belize Adventist Academy while the Aaron and Ryan worked on cement benches, and Andrew and Jared worked on their water supply.
For Sabbath we went to a bilingual Spanish/English church, ate lunch at Anita's house, and went off-roading in Aaron's 4Runner in search of a beach.
The next week we spent on vacation on the tiny island of Caye Caulker during which I got to dive the Blue Hole.
We stayed in Belize City at the Conference office, went tubing through caves at Jaguar Paw, and then I flew back to the United States.
The girls painted the walls of Belize Adventist Academy while the Aaron and Ryan worked on cement benches, and Andrew and Jared worked on their water supply.
For Sabbath we went to a bilingual Spanish/English church, ate lunch at Anita's house, and went off-roading in Aaron's 4Runner in search of a beach.
The next week we spent on vacation on the tiny island of Caye Caulker during which I got to dive the Blue Hole.
We stayed in Belize City at the Conference office, went tubing through caves at Jaguar Paw, and then I flew back to the United States.
Cozumel, Car Trouble, Goodbye to Carlos, and Hello to Jared and Aaron
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Labels:
Mexico,
travel,
world mission tour
The guys woke up early, early to go help the church members we'd met the previous night clean up a wall that had been destroyed by Hurricane Wilma. The gals and I, therefore, prepared ourselves oatmeal and read on the beach. Suddenly Andrew came running towards us yelling, "We have to pack up everything. NOW!" He quickly explained that the Land Cruiser had broken down in the city and that a taxi was waiting to take us--and all of our stuff--back to it. We threw wet clothing and dishes in bins and bags, stuffed sleeping bags and tents, and lugged everything as fast as possible to the taxi. Andrew and Jessica got in the front seat while Joy and I pressed ourselves into the backseat, she on top of my lap. When we neared the city, Jessica and Joy got out so our driver woudn't get a fine while Andrew and I continued our journey.
Once we reached the Wal-Martesqe parking lot where our vehicle was parked, we decided to take the battery out and find a way to charge it for the time being, hopefully long enough to get us onto the ferry. Our taxi driver offered to take us to his house where he could charge it with another of his vehicles. We drove about five minutes to a neighborhood that looked like it was inhabited by mostly all taxi drivers because every garage or driveway had a taxi. Even our taxi driver's personal vehicle was a retired taxi.
We charged the battery, drove back, and, when we had all regrouped and repacked the Land Cruiser, we drove to the harbor to get it ready in line to catch the evening ferry. The only problem was that posted to the fence of the harbor was a sign that said something to the effect of, "Sorry, due to maintenance, no ferrys will be leaving until 3AM tomorrow morning." Well, that changed our plans a bit. We talked to some friendly ferry workers who let us park our vehicle first in line to get on the ferry. With time to kill and an ocean to explore we busted out our snorkels and masks.
But, first, we were all STARVING!!! We had promised a Turkish guy the previous night that we would come back to eat at his Greek restaurant The Garden of Eatin' located near the center of town. We didn't want to use our vehicle in case it would die again before getting on the ferry. So we walked, and walked, and walked. We could have stopped at a restaurant closer than the restaurant, but we had a goal, and we would not be swayed from it. We tried to get a taxi after thirty minutes or so of walking, but everyone wanted to charge us six dollars per person. That's what we eat on for a day!!! Finally we found a jovial guy that let us ride for a really good price. It's nice to know that kind people still take pity on young vagabonds, even in touristy towns.
We ate a glorious meal of falafels, pesto salad, and pizza and chatted with our Turkish friend. Only a little bit of daylight was left, so finally bid him farewell, and began our trek back close to where we started from. Taxis kept stopping to ask if we wanted to ride, but I told them all we only had two dollars, which was true. Finally a horse carriage stopped and the driver told us to hop in. I told him about the two dollars, but he said, "I'm heading in that directions anyways. Come on!" So Andrew sat in the front with the driver and the rest of us sat in the buggy. I felt like I was Cinderella, forced to walked the long streets and then suddenly saved by a fairy god..errm..horseman with a buggy.
A good way down the road, almost back to our vehicle, we had our new friend stop and let us out so we could snorkel!
Cozumel is funny because some snorkeling "companies" will lure unsuspecting cruise ship tourists to pay them to take them to great snorkeling. Everybody gears up, gets in a boat, and gets in the water about ten feet from shore. It's actually quite amusing to watch.
Because we knew better (or because we've already been duped in the past), we just walked to the shore in front of a bar and dove in. I loved it. I had been in these waters before with my knowledgeable father who had taught me the names of various fish. His enthusiasm for fish identification has slowly steeped into who I am, so I kept yelling at Jessica and Andrew about sergent majors, sea cucumbers, star fish, parrot fish, and other creatures I can't remember. Joy didn't think I would be in the water very long, because I get chilled easily, but I guess I forgot about the frigidness and was the last woman swimming.
I bought a virgin pina colada (The bar tender didn't use a blender. And it was shaken...not stirred.) and the rest of the group got orange juice as a sort of thank-you for the bar letting us use their entrance to the ocean. It also gave us energy to make the trip BACK to the center of town to the cheapest hotel we could find. We didn't even expend the extra energy to go back to the car to get a change of clothes (I think I slept in a damp t-shirt and board shorts.). It was definatly so far the most run-down residence in relation to money paid of our entire trip. It was only around seven or eight o'clock by the time we settled our room and took showers, but everyone except Ryan and I conked out almost immediately. We were tired, but couldn't allow ourselves to go to bed so early. We decided to walk around town and secure a taxi to take us to the ferry (I didn't want the huge voyage back to the dock, especially because we are all gringos and it was going to be 3AM. On the way back to our hotel, we ended up in the main plaza where a huge celebration was taking place. Apparently, Cozumel wasn't able to celebrate their day of indepence on September 20 due to hurricane Wilma, so they were celebrating now. We bought some horchata, listened to a wonderful live band playing Latin music, and watched couples, old and young, dance their shoes out.
Monday, September 28
Tired. So tired. Before the sun could even think about rising, we were loaded in a taxi riding to the dock. As soon as we got to the pier, I spread out my Therma-Rest and attempted to capture a few more moments of rest. A few moments later, they let us drive in through the gate to wait for the ferry to arrive. I laid out my mattress again, but ended up having a really good conversation with a guy who lives close to the El Tajin ruins which we visited earlier in our trip. He told me he and a group of other guys had traveled to Cozumel to work on electricity for the island. He told me he was a little happy the ferry hadn't left the previous day, because he and his buddies were able to play in the ocean a bit. I guess he'd been on the island for about a month, but had never really had a chance to play. He said, that even so it had been a good experience, but he was ready to return home to see his wife and newborn.
Our conversation was cut short, as we watched the ferry pull into the dock. We wished each other well, and I prayed that our vehicle would turn on. It did, and once again we drove into the mouth of the ship. Even if the vehicle stopped now, at least we would be back to Playa del Carmen
After about an hour or so of worship and sleeping on the ship, we tried to drive off the ship, and, indeed, it didn't start up. Crew members charged our battery again and we thankfully were able to make it back to Carlos' hotel. Things started to get really strange after our return. Andrew drove to Carlos' mecanic Mario and everything worked fine. He started the car various times and everytime it worked. Andrew drove back to the hotel confused and he and I drove everywhere in Playa del Carmen, starting and stopping it, trying to get it to die. After quite awhile, we went to a beach where we saw kiteboarders zipping along the waves. We decided to drive back to see if anyone wanted to come watch them with us. Joy joined us, so we went back to the beach, walked at bit, then drove to a store to buy Carlos a card because we had planned to take him out to eat later in the evening. After we bought the card, just around the time we were supposed to meet Carlos, the vehicle died. It was really bad timing, but a taxi driver jumped the battery, and we got back to the hotel just a little late.
We took Carlos, or rather Carlos drove us, to a restaurant called All Natural on the main tourist strip. We enjoyed smoothies and strange dishes that would have made our hippie friends proud.
Tuesday, September 29
This morning I thought about our group and how it would soon be enlarging. I've not always had the best experiences with groups of people with ten or more members. There are too many personalities, too many opinions, and too many hassels. Then I thought about Jesus and His disciples. Jesus had to deal with twelve disciples from VERY different backgrounds. He had fishermen, tax collectors, and a wealth, I'm sure, of other kinds of poeple. Currently our group has an electrician, a nurse, a communications degree gal, a business man, and me, the translator and Latin America history lover. We all--except Andrew and Jessica--each usually hang out with different groups of people back home and some of us have known each other for years, others for a few months. Soon we will have people with even more diversity--people I've never met. But, I reason that if Jesus could meld different types of people together to be his friends and aid Him in His ministry, He can meld us together, even if there are more than ten of us, as long as we keep Him the focus of our mission.
Anyhoo, after pondering, Andrew and I took the Land Cruiser to Mario who told us to come back a 4PM, hopefully with our car trouble solved. In the meantime, I got my laundry done, thought up t-shirt ideas for our group, and then we all went to the beach. Everyone was sort of lacksidaisical, so I went swimming in the ocean and then shopping by myself. Sometimes, even though I love my friends, I crave a little bit of alone time. Maybe it makes me appreciate them more.
I got a little involved in my window shopping and ended up jogging/speed-walking back to the hotel to meet Andrew to go pick up the Cruiser. I was a bit out of breath when I met him, but he told me it was no rush. We took a taxi to the mechanic who had placed a huge new battery in our vehicle for free. We insisted that we give him something, so he asked for a couple CDs, one in English and one in Spanish. I decided to represent the South by putting Bluegrass (he'd never heard of it) on the English CD.
Wednesday, November 30
In the morning Andrew and I said thanks again to Mario and gave him the CDs. Then we said a very long good-bye and thank-you to our dear Mexican Uncle Carlos Macias. He is definatly someone I will always remember and be grateful to when I think about this trip. Like I said before, he's such a wonderful example of how a caring man should be.
After three weeks in Playa del Carmen, we left for our next adventure--Belize. Along the way, the group was kind enough to stop at Tulum, because they know how much I love ruins. Joy looked around with me at the best coastal Mayan ruins in the world, while Andrew, Jessica, and Ryan enjoyed the bright blue ocean and white sandy beach. On their way to pick us up, they heard a loud noise of something hitting glass. When they got to the Cruiser, Andrew saw that someone had been trying to break one of our windows open. Andrew talked to a guy close by, but he said he was with his family and didn't do it. He said that he saw some guys on bikes pedal off. They picked us up and we reported the incident to the police on the side of the road, just so they'd be aware.
By the time we reached the Belizean border it was a few minutes after 5PM, the time we needed to get all of our Mexican car documents sorted out. A Mexican official told us we would have to come back the following day, but let us go across the border anyways. As soon as we got to the Belize side and checkpoint of the border, we could see Aaron and Jared waiting for us through the border fence. I sort of felt like I was in prison as I talked to them through the fence about their trip. I chatted with them for quite awhile while the authorities examened our vehicle. I left the rest of the group to sort things out, because, to their glee, English is the national language of Belize. I felt sort of uneeded and sad, but, I just had to look at the situation as a temporary break.
Once we reached the Wal-Martesqe parking lot where our vehicle was parked, we decided to take the battery out and find a way to charge it for the time being, hopefully long enough to get us onto the ferry. Our taxi driver offered to take us to his house where he could charge it with another of his vehicles. We drove about five minutes to a neighborhood that looked like it was inhabited by mostly all taxi drivers because every garage or driveway had a taxi. Even our taxi driver's personal vehicle was a retired taxi.
We charged the battery, drove back, and, when we had all regrouped and repacked the Land Cruiser, we drove to the harbor to get it ready in line to catch the evening ferry. The only problem was that posted to the fence of the harbor was a sign that said something to the effect of, "Sorry, due to maintenance, no ferrys will be leaving until 3AM tomorrow morning." Well, that changed our plans a bit. We talked to some friendly ferry workers who let us park our vehicle first in line to get on the ferry. With time to kill and an ocean to explore we busted out our snorkels and masks.
But, first, we were all STARVING!!! We had promised a Turkish guy the previous night that we would come back to eat at his Greek restaurant The Garden of Eatin' located near the center of town. We didn't want to use our vehicle in case it would die again before getting on the ferry. So we walked, and walked, and walked. We could have stopped at a restaurant closer than the restaurant, but we had a goal, and we would not be swayed from it. We tried to get a taxi after thirty minutes or so of walking, but everyone wanted to charge us six dollars per person. That's what we eat on for a day!!! Finally we found a jovial guy that let us ride for a really good price. It's nice to know that kind people still take pity on young vagabonds, even in touristy towns.
We ate a glorious meal of falafels, pesto salad, and pizza and chatted with our Turkish friend. Only a little bit of daylight was left, so finally bid him farewell, and began our trek back close to where we started from. Taxis kept stopping to ask if we wanted to ride, but I told them all we only had two dollars, which was true. Finally a horse carriage stopped and the driver told us to hop in. I told him about the two dollars, but he said, "I'm heading in that directions anyways. Come on!" So Andrew sat in the front with the driver and the rest of us sat in the buggy. I felt like I was Cinderella, forced to walked the long streets and then suddenly saved by a fairy god..errm..horseman with a buggy.
A good way down the road, almost back to our vehicle, we had our new friend stop and let us out so we could snorkel!
Cozumel is funny because some snorkeling "companies" will lure unsuspecting cruise ship tourists to pay them to take them to great snorkeling. Everybody gears up, gets in a boat, and gets in the water about ten feet from shore. It's actually quite amusing to watch.
Because we knew better (or because we've already been duped in the past), we just walked to the shore in front of a bar and dove in. I loved it. I had been in these waters before with my knowledgeable father who had taught me the names of various fish. His enthusiasm for fish identification has slowly steeped into who I am, so I kept yelling at Jessica and Andrew about sergent majors, sea cucumbers, star fish, parrot fish, and other creatures I can't remember. Joy didn't think I would be in the water very long, because I get chilled easily, but I guess I forgot about the frigidness and was the last woman swimming.
I bought a virgin pina colada (The bar tender didn't use a blender. And it was shaken...not stirred.) and the rest of the group got orange juice as a sort of thank-you for the bar letting us use their entrance to the ocean. It also gave us energy to make the trip BACK to the center of town to the cheapest hotel we could find. We didn't even expend the extra energy to go back to the car to get a change of clothes (I think I slept in a damp t-shirt and board shorts.). It was definatly so far the most run-down residence in relation to money paid of our entire trip. It was only around seven or eight o'clock by the time we settled our room and took showers, but everyone except Ryan and I conked out almost immediately. We were tired, but couldn't allow ourselves to go to bed so early. We decided to walk around town and secure a taxi to take us to the ferry (I didn't want the huge voyage back to the dock, especially because we are all gringos and it was going to be 3AM. On the way back to our hotel, we ended up in the main plaza where a huge celebration was taking place. Apparently, Cozumel wasn't able to celebrate their day of indepence on September 20 due to hurricane Wilma, so they were celebrating now. We bought some horchata, listened to a wonderful live band playing Latin music, and watched couples, old and young, dance their shoes out.
Monday, September 28
Tired. So tired. Before the sun could even think about rising, we were loaded in a taxi riding to the dock. As soon as we got to the pier, I spread out my Therma-Rest and attempted to capture a few more moments of rest. A few moments later, they let us drive in through the gate to wait for the ferry to arrive. I laid out my mattress again, but ended up having a really good conversation with a guy who lives close to the El Tajin ruins which we visited earlier in our trip. He told me he and a group of other guys had traveled to Cozumel to work on electricity for the island. He told me he was a little happy the ferry hadn't left the previous day, because he and his buddies were able to play in the ocean a bit. I guess he'd been on the island for about a month, but had never really had a chance to play. He said, that even so it had been a good experience, but he was ready to return home to see his wife and newborn.
Our conversation was cut short, as we watched the ferry pull into the dock. We wished each other well, and I prayed that our vehicle would turn on. It did, and once again we drove into the mouth of the ship. Even if the vehicle stopped now, at least we would be back to Playa del Carmen
After about an hour or so of worship and sleeping on the ship, we tried to drive off the ship, and, indeed, it didn't start up. Crew members charged our battery again and we thankfully were able to make it back to Carlos' hotel. Things started to get really strange after our return. Andrew drove to Carlos' mecanic Mario and everything worked fine. He started the car various times and everytime it worked. Andrew drove back to the hotel confused and he and I drove everywhere in Playa del Carmen, starting and stopping it, trying to get it to die. After quite awhile, we went to a beach where we saw kiteboarders zipping along the waves. We decided to drive back to see if anyone wanted to come watch them with us. Joy joined us, so we went back to the beach, walked at bit, then drove to a store to buy Carlos a card because we had planned to take him out to eat later in the evening. After we bought the card, just around the time we were supposed to meet Carlos, the vehicle died. It was really bad timing, but a taxi driver jumped the battery, and we got back to the hotel just a little late.
We took Carlos, or rather Carlos drove us, to a restaurant called All Natural on the main tourist strip. We enjoyed smoothies and strange dishes that would have made our hippie friends proud.
Tuesday, September 29
This morning I thought about our group and how it would soon be enlarging. I've not always had the best experiences with groups of people with ten or more members. There are too many personalities, too many opinions, and too many hassels. Then I thought about Jesus and His disciples. Jesus had to deal with twelve disciples from VERY different backgrounds. He had fishermen, tax collectors, and a wealth, I'm sure, of other kinds of poeple. Currently our group has an electrician, a nurse, a communications degree gal, a business man, and me, the translator and Latin America history lover. We all--except Andrew and Jessica--each usually hang out with different groups of people back home and some of us have known each other for years, others for a few months. Soon we will have people with even more diversity--people I've never met. But, I reason that if Jesus could meld different types of people together to be his friends and aid Him in His ministry, He can meld us together, even if there are more than ten of us, as long as we keep Him the focus of our mission.
Anyhoo, after pondering, Andrew and I took the Land Cruiser to Mario who told us to come back a 4PM, hopefully with our car trouble solved. In the meantime, I got my laundry done, thought up t-shirt ideas for our group, and then we all went to the beach. Everyone was sort of lacksidaisical, so I went swimming in the ocean and then shopping by myself. Sometimes, even though I love my friends, I crave a little bit of alone time. Maybe it makes me appreciate them more.
I got a little involved in my window shopping and ended up jogging/speed-walking back to the hotel to meet Andrew to go pick up the Cruiser. I was a bit out of breath when I met him, but he told me it was no rush. We took a taxi to the mechanic who had placed a huge new battery in our vehicle for free. We insisted that we give him something, so he asked for a couple CDs, one in English and one in Spanish. I decided to represent the South by putting Bluegrass (he'd never heard of it) on the English CD.
Wednesday, November 30
In the morning Andrew and I said thanks again to Mario and gave him the CDs. Then we said a very long good-bye and thank-you to our dear Mexican Uncle Carlos Macias. He is definatly someone I will always remember and be grateful to when I think about this trip. Like I said before, he's such a wonderful example of how a caring man should be.
After three weeks in Playa del Carmen, we left for our next adventure--Belize. Along the way, the group was kind enough to stop at Tulum, because they know how much I love ruins. Joy looked around with me at the best coastal Mayan ruins in the world, while Andrew, Jessica, and Ryan enjoyed the bright blue ocean and white sandy beach. On their way to pick us up, they heard a loud noise of something hitting glass. When they got to the Cruiser, Andrew saw that someone had been trying to break one of our windows open. Andrew talked to a guy close by, but he said he was with his family and didn't do it. He said that he saw some guys on bikes pedal off. They picked us up and we reported the incident to the police on the side of the road, just so they'd be aware.
By the time we reached the Belizean border it was a few minutes after 5PM, the time we needed to get all of our Mexican car documents sorted out. A Mexican official told us we would have to come back the following day, but let us go across the border anyways. As soon as we got to the Belize side and checkpoint of the border, we could see Aaron and Jared waiting for us through the border fence. I sort of felt like I was in prison as I talked to them through the fence about their trip. I chatted with them for quite awhile while the authorities examened our vehicle. I left the rest of the group to sort things out, because, to their glee, English is the national language of Belize. I felt sort of uneeded and sad, but, I just had to look at the situation as a temporary break.
Ah, the Mexican routine
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Labels:
Mexico,
travel,
world mission tour
I´m living in a Mexican resort town, but strangely I´ve stepped into somewhat of a routine. Everyday on the way to the beach I pass my Argentine friend Luis at his pizza shop, then feel myself unusually ginormous because I´m like the tallest gal in town, I pass the same blind beggar playing guitar, the shoe shinners, and the money exchangers. Most days I do yoga in the morning, eat, then paint, paint, paint. The only difference from the USA type of routine is that my time off is peppered with walking on the beach, swimming in cenotes, or going to jazz concerts instead of rock-climbing and seeing Nickle Creek in concert. Really, it´s all the same...right.
For those who want details, here is my journal:
Saturday, November 19
Since we’ve been going to a lot of worships that the whole group hasn’t been understanding, we decided to have our own Sabbath School and read the lessons of the week. We then went to church and then gave out invitations with some young people of the church for a campaign the church began tonight. We went up and down streets avoiding dogs and talking to neighbors. Jessica and Andrew would just go up to random people and put the flyer in their hands. I had a few extra flyers when we drove back to the hotel so they did the shoved them to unsuspecting pedestrians. Afterwards, everyone in WMT went walking on the beach while I caught up on some writing. I was still writing when they returned.
We decided to support the church by going to the evening campaign. We enjoyed pastor Isaias’ message about the three steps to be happy: 1. decide to be happy 2. Treat others with happiness 3. Make Jesus your friend
On their walk, Joy had seen a stage so she wanted to check it out. We walked with her, but the jazz band was having technical difficulties. We waited on the beach looking a man on stilts half naked with white pants and a white Italian mask and other interesting characters. It was getting late, so Andrew and Jessica left. Joy and I sat on Ryan’s feet like little penguins until we gave up as well. Of course, they band started playing when we left. Joy admitted it wasn’t her best decision, but I’m glad we at least got a good walk.
Sunday, November 20
Today we returned to finish the second coat on the church walls. Once again I was up on the scaffolding trying to reach the highest places. Carlos brought us hot tamales again, but a special treat of mango juice. When we were done with the walls I didn’t want to sit around, so Ryan taught me how to chisel out places for the electrical boxes or chalupas and then how to wire them.
Joy cooked us a multi-cultural meal of American burgers and a Zambian dish, chips mayai—fried potatoes and fried eggs mixed together. Then we went to the campaign meeting to learn about how to have a happy home. I tried to maintain my happy by home by spending some time at the internet café. Apparently it was too much time, because Ryan and Joy ended up waiting for me while I spent around two hours typing and putting up photos.
Monday, November 21
Today we woke up, ate corn flakes, and watched CNN news. It’s Ryan’s week to have morning worship, so he read to us from Luke 6.
Back to Getsemani Church we returned for more painting. The guys didn’t have the material needed to finish their electrical job and there were only three brushes, so it was their turn to wait around for us. They did a good job by playing with Brenda and David a.k.a “Smiley” kids that are living beside the church because their houses were destroyed in the hurricane. Ryan took Joy’s part for a little bit while she read to us about pirate history from my Belize guidebook. Blackbeard was a pretty intense pirate.
During the morning I also talked a couple people from the church. One brother has pure Mayan background; his parent don’t even speak Spanish. He had a Mayan Bible and he, along with some other brothers, taught me a few words.
I also talked with Enrique, my favorite old guy of the church, for quite a while. He is a fascinating guy. He showed me pictures of his five daughters and his old ranch in Chiapas. His land was robbed from him in 1994 by Zapatistas. I had studied about them before and knew they were for indigenous rights, but I didn’t realze how intense they were. The things people do are a lot more poignant when one knows someone who has been affected by them. Enrique had cows, beautiful tropical land, and a nice house. He looks as his loss as really a gain, however, because he said that if it hadn’t happened he wouldn’t now be in Playa del Carmen and probably wouldn’t be part of the church. He would instead be drinking on his ranch. He said he had been healvily into drinking and hunting. Now, although he lives in a shack, he’s grateful and wants to share Christ with his daughters and divorced wife. He’s going to visit them in December, and I pray fervently that God allows him to be successful. He’s such an awesome guy and is always smiling.
We painted a ceiling and trim until around noon when we had finished the paint. We bought food on the way back to the hotel, but Carlos was there and invited us to lunch (what a nice guy!). We went to restaurant beside the hotel for typical Mexican food. Carlos and the waiter convinced me to get a cactus dish. I was very skeptical, but I like to try new things. It was delicious! Carlos says that they grow the cactus all over Mexico, but a lot of Mexicans don’t know one can eat it. They are missing out. It is sort of sweet with a green pepper texture. They mixted it with eggs, rice, and beans, and then I put it in a tortilla with a little bit of HOT sauce. I was so full by the end of the meal because we also had soup, fried plantains plantanos machos, and chocolate licuados,.
Thankfully for our stomachs, we spent most of the rest of the day walking. We explored the shore side for a long, long time. Occacisonally we had to wade through the turquoise transparent water. Along the way we say dogs and lots of tourists playing volleyball, sailing, laying out, etc. We also saw a lot of construction. The houses are built right against the water and many were heavily destroyed by the hurricane.
Eventually we stopped to swim in the ocean and work on our water gymnastics. Someday Ryan and I will get a hand-to-hand. Until then we just keep laughing while I’m bent over on his shoulders and he tries to stay out of the waves.
We walked to the hotel by the road passing lots of beach houses mostly owned by people with license plates from Texas, Oregon, Wisconsin, etc. When we got to the main part of town, Jessica, Andrew, and I decided to check our email.
Jessica was telling me some stuff on our six block walk back to the hotel and was so entrhlled that she almost walked into a beggar lady sitting on the ground. We met Joy and Ryan at the room and decided to do a little shopping. Ryan and I bought some clothes, we looked at various shops, and then returned for rest.
Thanks
Andrew: time at the ocean:
Ryan: good food
Joy: a bed to rest her weary feet
Lorelei: ocean inspired tranquility
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Mexican snow fell upon us all as we chipped away paint flakes from one of Carlos’ hotel walls that was affected by the hurricane. I looked like I had overflowing dandruff. Then the guys put sealer over the wall while I helped paint around the pool area with some Mexicans and the gals. It’s painted red and yellow which makes me think of McDonalds, which makes me think of Ronald McDonald, which makes me think of clowns, which make me uneasy, which makes me a little stressed when I see the pool. Other than that I think it looks nice.
Around noon everyone sat around trying to convince me to come back after Christmas. It seems that this is the place I should be. I’m using my major, traveling, meeting people, and we are using donated money so the mission work has to continue. We also discussed careers and they all don’t think I would be happy as a nurse. Honestly, I think I would rather do something like physical therapy or dentistry if I go the medical route. Nursing basically draws me because there is always work and it’s so flexible (although Jessica says it’s really not so much).
At one o’clock we had “dinner” with Carlos, Carlos’ wife, Anabel, and Yolanda, his sixteen year old receptionist. Her mom was the cook. She chefed up a tasty meal of vegetable soup, fruit salad, rice, and tortillas. While we ate, Anabel’s parakeet Paco whistled, sang, and even cried at us. The family loves animals. They also have two German shepherds and two Giant Snausers.
After lots of laughs, we left Carlos’ hacienda and took a quick dip in the ocean (he lives 100 meters from it) before returning to work. Around five o’clock we finished up all our painting and sealing, so we got ready for the campaign meeting.
Everyone was so happy to meet us. They met us at our car, and, like every night, shook all our hands. The talk tonight was “God has a Purpose for Your Life.” Very fitting for the discussion I had earlier with the group. After the meeting people were so fervent to talk to us and make sure we are coming back tomorrow. Berinice, a little girl that loves hugs, latched on to me like a rabbit when I was leaving.
Andrew: happy faces at church and the little kids; we feel needed and appreciated; feels like a family
Jessica: Her mom
Ryan: bought rash guard and Joy figured out email for grandma
Joy: God’s guiding us and sleep; good laughing session
Lorelei: friends that don’t mind contemplating my future with me
People at Playa
Augustine: jefe at hotel
Sandy: singer
Brenda: little pig-tailed girl
Berinice: girl that loves to hug
Enrique: sixty-six year old man from Chiapas
Mike: young guy with flyers
Wednesday, November 23
Painting, painting, and more painting. I was an Jackon Polluck painting today; I was the embodiment of action painting. In the morning I stood on a double ladder with a roller pulled out as far as it would go, and primed a whole upper side of Carlos’ hotel. After a couple hours I finished and joined Jessica and Joy painting the wall orange. Amazing how much more satisfying it was because I could actually see my progress. Plus, I felt true Tennessee pride as the wall became a conglomerate of orange and white. Go Vols!
A little after noon I went to see my Argenitne friend Luis at his pizza stand. I bought three vegetable empanadas and we talked about Argentine history with another one of his customers. When I got back the gals, they told me some guys had been hitting on them. Apparently one asked Joy is she wanted to go out dancing all night long at a club. She said, “No, I am going to church.”
We did some grocery shopping before returning to the paint. Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we want to prepare something special for ourselves and Carlos. His wife and daughter left for Los Angeles, so we want to give him a special treate.
The guys got back around four o’clock form wiring the church and shortly thereafter Carlos stopped by. Ryan and Jessica helped me finish paint the bottom part of the wall and then Carlos gave us all free soft drinks. I had one called that tastes just like my favorite soft drink of all time: Ting from Jamaica. We tahnaked him for his kindness and he ate one of our grilled cheese Jessica and Andrew had prepared.
At the meeting Isaias talked about how to have eternal life. He said that a person can’t just say they believe in God. They must also repent and convett, desiring that God help us change our lives. We chatted with David and Brenda’s mom and dad ahile and they gave us come rice pudding. The mom taught me how to make it: boil water, put in the rice and candela. Then mix with any kind of milk and that’s it. I am determined to learn how to cook!
For those who want details, here is my journal:
Saturday, November 19
Since we’ve been going to a lot of worships that the whole group hasn’t been understanding, we decided to have our own Sabbath School and read the lessons of the week. We then went to church and then gave out invitations with some young people of the church for a campaign the church began tonight. We went up and down streets avoiding dogs and talking to neighbors. Jessica and Andrew would just go up to random people and put the flyer in their hands. I had a few extra flyers when we drove back to the hotel so they did the shoved them to unsuspecting pedestrians. Afterwards, everyone in WMT went walking on the beach while I caught up on some writing. I was still writing when they returned.
We decided to support the church by going to the evening campaign. We enjoyed pastor Isaias’ message about the three steps to be happy: 1. decide to be happy 2. Treat others with happiness 3. Make Jesus your friend
On their walk, Joy had seen a stage so she wanted to check it out. We walked with her, but the jazz band was having technical difficulties. We waited on the beach looking a man on stilts half naked with white pants and a white Italian mask and other interesting characters. It was getting late, so Andrew and Jessica left. Joy and I sat on Ryan’s feet like little penguins until we gave up as well. Of course, they band started playing when we left. Joy admitted it wasn’t her best decision, but I’m glad we at least got a good walk.
Sunday, November 20
Today we returned to finish the second coat on the church walls. Once again I was up on the scaffolding trying to reach the highest places. Carlos brought us hot tamales again, but a special treat of mango juice. When we were done with the walls I didn’t want to sit around, so Ryan taught me how to chisel out places for the electrical boxes or chalupas and then how to wire them.
Joy cooked us a multi-cultural meal of American burgers and a Zambian dish, chips mayai—fried potatoes and fried eggs mixed together. Then we went to the campaign meeting to learn about how to have a happy home. I tried to maintain my happy by home by spending some time at the internet café. Apparently it was too much time, because Ryan and Joy ended up waiting for me while I spent around two hours typing and putting up photos.
Monday, November 21
Today we woke up, ate corn flakes, and watched CNN news. It’s Ryan’s week to have morning worship, so he read to us from Luke 6.
Back to Getsemani Church we returned for more painting. The guys didn’t have the material needed to finish their electrical job and there were only three brushes, so it was their turn to wait around for us. They did a good job by playing with Brenda and David a.k.a “Smiley” kids that are living beside the church because their houses were destroyed in the hurricane. Ryan took Joy’s part for a little bit while she read to us about pirate history from my Belize guidebook. Blackbeard was a pretty intense pirate.
During the morning I also talked a couple people from the church. One brother has pure Mayan background; his parent don’t even speak Spanish. He had a Mayan Bible and he, along with some other brothers, taught me a few words.
I also talked with Enrique, my favorite old guy of the church, for quite a while. He is a fascinating guy. He showed me pictures of his five daughters and his old ranch in Chiapas. His land was robbed from him in 1994 by Zapatistas. I had studied about them before and knew they were for indigenous rights, but I didn’t realze how intense they were. The things people do are a lot more poignant when one knows someone who has been affected by them. Enrique had cows, beautiful tropical land, and a nice house. He looks as his loss as really a gain, however, because he said that if it hadn’t happened he wouldn’t now be in Playa del Carmen and probably wouldn’t be part of the church. He would instead be drinking on his ranch. He said he had been healvily into drinking and hunting. Now, although he lives in a shack, he’s grateful and wants to share Christ with his daughters and divorced wife. He’s going to visit them in December, and I pray fervently that God allows him to be successful. He’s such an awesome guy and is always smiling.
We painted a ceiling and trim until around noon when we had finished the paint. We bought food on the way back to the hotel, but Carlos was there and invited us to lunch (what a nice guy!). We went to restaurant beside the hotel for typical Mexican food. Carlos and the waiter convinced me to get a cactus dish. I was very skeptical, but I like to try new things. It was delicious! Carlos says that they grow the cactus all over Mexico, but a lot of Mexicans don’t know one can eat it. They are missing out. It is sort of sweet with a green pepper texture. They mixted it with eggs, rice, and beans, and then I put it in a tortilla with a little bit of HOT sauce. I was so full by the end of the meal because we also had soup, fried plantains plantanos machos, and chocolate licuados,.
Thankfully for our stomachs, we spent most of the rest of the day walking. We explored the shore side for a long, long time. Occacisonally we had to wade through the turquoise transparent water. Along the way we say dogs and lots of tourists playing volleyball, sailing, laying out, etc. We also saw a lot of construction. The houses are built right against the water and many were heavily destroyed by the hurricane.
Eventually we stopped to swim in the ocean and work on our water gymnastics. Someday Ryan and I will get a hand-to-hand. Until then we just keep laughing while I’m bent over on his shoulders and he tries to stay out of the waves.
We walked to the hotel by the road passing lots of beach houses mostly owned by people with license plates from Texas, Oregon, Wisconsin, etc. When we got to the main part of town, Jessica, Andrew, and I decided to check our email.
Jessica was telling me some stuff on our six block walk back to the hotel and was so entrhlled that she almost walked into a beggar lady sitting on the ground. We met Joy and Ryan at the room and decided to do a little shopping. Ryan and I bought some clothes, we looked at various shops, and then returned for rest.
Thanks
Andrew: time at the ocean:
Ryan: good food
Joy: a bed to rest her weary feet
Lorelei: ocean inspired tranquility
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Mexican snow fell upon us all as we chipped away paint flakes from one of Carlos’ hotel walls that was affected by the hurricane. I looked like I had overflowing dandruff. Then the guys put sealer over the wall while I helped paint around the pool area with some Mexicans and the gals. It’s painted red and yellow which makes me think of McDonalds, which makes me think of Ronald McDonald, which makes me think of clowns, which make me uneasy, which makes me a little stressed when I see the pool. Other than that I think it looks nice.
Around noon everyone sat around trying to convince me to come back after Christmas. It seems that this is the place I should be. I’m using my major, traveling, meeting people, and we are using donated money so the mission work has to continue. We also discussed careers and they all don’t think I would be happy as a nurse. Honestly, I think I would rather do something like physical therapy or dentistry if I go the medical route. Nursing basically draws me because there is always work and it’s so flexible (although Jessica says it’s really not so much).
At one o’clock we had “dinner” with Carlos, Carlos’ wife, Anabel, and Yolanda, his sixteen year old receptionist. Her mom was the cook. She chefed up a tasty meal of vegetable soup, fruit salad, rice, and tortillas. While we ate, Anabel’s parakeet Paco whistled, sang, and even cried at us. The family loves animals. They also have two German shepherds and two Giant Snausers.
After lots of laughs, we left Carlos’ hacienda and took a quick dip in the ocean (he lives 100 meters from it) before returning to work. Around five o’clock we finished up all our painting and sealing, so we got ready for the campaign meeting.
Everyone was so happy to meet us. They met us at our car, and, like every night, shook all our hands. The talk tonight was “God has a Purpose for Your Life.” Very fitting for the discussion I had earlier with the group. After the meeting people were so fervent to talk to us and make sure we are coming back tomorrow. Berinice, a little girl that loves hugs, latched on to me like a rabbit when I was leaving.
Andrew: happy faces at church and the little kids; we feel needed and appreciated; feels like a family
Jessica: Her mom
Ryan: bought rash guard and Joy figured out email for grandma
Joy: God’s guiding us and sleep; good laughing session
Lorelei: friends that don’t mind contemplating my future with me
People at Playa
Augustine: jefe at hotel
Sandy: singer
Brenda: little pig-tailed girl
Berinice: girl that loves to hug
Enrique: sixty-six year old man from Chiapas
Mike: young guy with flyers
Wednesday, November 23
Painting, painting, and more painting. I was an Jackon Polluck painting today; I was the embodiment of action painting. In the morning I stood on a double ladder with a roller pulled out as far as it would go, and primed a whole upper side of Carlos’ hotel. After a couple hours I finished and joined Jessica and Joy painting the wall orange. Amazing how much more satisfying it was because I could actually see my progress. Plus, I felt true Tennessee pride as the wall became a conglomerate of orange and white. Go Vols!
A little after noon I went to see my Argenitne friend Luis at his pizza stand. I bought three vegetable empanadas and we talked about Argentine history with another one of his customers. When I got back the gals, they told me some guys had been hitting on them. Apparently one asked Joy is she wanted to go out dancing all night long at a club. She said, “No, I am going to church.”
We did some grocery shopping before returning to the paint. Tomorrow is thanksgiving and we want to prepare something special for ourselves and Carlos. His wife and daughter left for Los Angeles, so we want to give him a special treate.
The guys got back around four o’clock form wiring the church and shortly thereafter Carlos stopped by. Ryan and Jessica helped me finish paint the bottom part of the wall and then Carlos gave us all free soft drinks. I had one called that tastes just like my favorite soft drink of all time: Ting from Jamaica. We tahnaked him for his kindness and he ate one of our grilled cheese Jessica and Andrew had prepared.
At the meeting Isaias talked about how to have eternal life. He said that a person can’t just say they believe in God. They must also repent and convett, desiring that God help us change our lives. We chatted with David and Brenda’s mom and dad ahile and they gave us come rice pudding. The mom taught me how to make it: boil water, put in the rice and candela. Then mix with any kind of milk and that’s it. I am determined to learn how to cook!
Get Ready for a Big Catch Up on Mexican Memories-took me all afternoon to write!
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Labels:
Mexico,
service,
travel,
world mission tour
Ryan and I woke up early to go jogging around the deportiva area. We rounded the circle two times, which is about 3600 kilometers, around 2.2 miles. On the way back we stopped at a playground in La Ceiba, Pastor Vesquez’s neighborhood. By the time we got back, everyone had already eaten breakfast. I was embarrassed and knew I would have to regain rapport. I learned my lesson to always ask what time we are having breakfast or are leaving the next day when I’m at somebody’s house.
We went to la Iglesia de la Nueva Esperanza, one of Pastor Vasquez’s thirteen churches, to help renovate a baptismal area. Some other workers were there already, and we were introduced to the “jefe” Augustine. The baptismal had rocks and concrete all along the floor, so we cleared it out and made the floor even so they could later cement it. We also made a drain for the baptismal, Jessica painted the baptismal blue with clay without a brush, and the workers plastered the wall.
I discovered the art of making plaster. First two workers sift sand through a wooden frame with mesh. Second they dump some cement on the sand and mix it together by shoveling all the sand into two piles, shoveling it all back together, then shoveling all the sand in one pile while all the workers move in a circular motion. Finally they a volcano-like structure from the mixture. Last, and most precarious, one pours water into the volcano while the other workers furiously try to keep the sand-cement walls from breaking. If they do, it’s a big mess. Believe me, I know because it happened to us a couple times.
During the morning I chatted a long time with a veterinarian elder of the church who loves adventure and travel. He said he would go with us on our trip if he were younger. Instead he’ll just continue working with the Pathfinders of the church. He also said he loves tourism and told me a little about Villa Hermosa, its Olmec history, and the native drink pozol. He had Marcos, a guy working with us, bring us a pitcher to try. Pozol is made of soaked corn and cacao. The Tabasquenos drink it without any sugar. It was too bitter for most of us, but Joy liked it. Apparently they have a similar drink where she is from in Zambia, Africa.
Soon we consumed more widely appreciated vittles. Mama, a tiny, older sister of the church cooked us a huge lunch of vegetables and rice. She also brought Jamaica juice. I asked if it came from Jamaica and she said that no, it’s a type of tabesqueno flower boiled down to get the juice.
By the afternoon, all that was left to do was wire the contacts and switches—not a lot for Jessica, Joy, and I to do. So we just watched and “supported” the guys with songs and stories. I also met Roger “Roco,” Mama’s son who studied English in Belize and has a Japanese girlfriend living there. Eventually the sun started setting, so I let some workers plastering the walls use Ryan and I’s head lamps. They were fascinated by them.
The girls finally got a little excitement as we helped wire six electrical wires through a tiny manguera tube. All the Mexicans thought we couldn’t do it, but in the end we were successful and had only ripped out wall plaster two times.
When we returned to the Vasquez house, no one was home so we walked to an internet café to catch up on emails.
Friday, November 11
This morning Ryan and I woke up a little earlier so we could go jogging and still be ready for breakfast. We ate scrumptious cereal and fruit and returned with the rest of the group to the church. We arrived around nine. Roger was there to help, but the jefe wasn’t so we played hacky-sack for thirty minutes until someone came with the church key.
Today was honestly kind of slow. The previous night we asked Nancy, Neftali’s wife, if she knew anything we could do in the community because there wasn’t really anything besides wiring to finish at the church. She said she didn’t, so I scrubbed some fungus off a few walls with Roger, we talked a bit, and occasionally made cement when it was needed. Of course, Ryan was working like a beast. There seems to never ending need for electrical work wherever we go.
Roger’s mom brought us lunch again and almost started crying because we liked her food so much. She gave us tortilla chips and a guiso stew made with vegetables and soy fake meat. She is so cute. She told me yesterday that she is waiting for a visa to go to the United States. Her husband is working there already in Florida and she wants to be with him. Jessica wrote her mom who lives in Florida, so maybe she can help her find her way around. It’s a little intimidating to go to another country by yourself without knowing the language.
The girls continued watching and trying to help the guys work until they did all the wiring they could. Since there was nothing left to do with the available materials, Roger took us to La Venta Zoo and Olmec archeological site. We enjoyed looking at the spider monkeys, birds, snakes, jaguars, and especially the otters. Ryan was later dubbed “Otter Boy” because his beard makes him look like an otter and because he can imitate the “cheep, cheep” otter bark.
Having studied Mexican history I was super excited to see some of the best Olmec stone carvings in the world. A Mexican poet arranged the archeological park so the large stone pieces and jade, the Olmecs’ “gold,” would be preserved. We walked passed a jaguar face made of jade and then by various stone carvings. The biggest were the Olmec heads. The Olmecs carved them after leaders who had won a ceremonial ball game. The winner would be honored by having his head cut off and then having a large boulder carved into his likeness mixed with jaguar features. They carved the nose flat, only showed two teeth, and enlarged the ears. Jaguars were very important and godlike to the Olmecs.
Well culturally satisfied, we dropped of Roger, and returned to the Vasquez house to get ready for vespers. We went to, according to Roger, the young people’s church at La Gaviota Norte. There certainly were many young people. One girl talked to me afterwards non-stop for about thirty minutes about being a Catholic but still going to the Adventist church, studying English, etc. She was talking so fast I didn’t quite catch everything and wondered why she didn’t want to practice more English. Quien sabe? Pastor Vazquez had to leave vespers early, so we squeezed in Nancy and her two daughters in our Land Cruiser to go back home.
We ate supper after church and then Neftali brought out his guitar so we could figure out something we could sing for church. It was looking bleak until he started playing “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” The guys couldn’t remember any words to any other songs. I discovered Neftali and his daughters knew a lot of the songs I’d learned in Argentina, so I delightfully sang some of them with them until sleep time.
Saturday, November 12
We went with Pastor Vazquez to yet another church—that’s three we’ve been to so far in Villa Hermosa—for church. The church isn’t quite finished and is covered with tin and billboards for a roof. Apparently it was a special Sabbath for the club of laypeople. Therefore the service went from 8AM until 2:30PM when we stopped for lunch. During the service we sang a lot, there were various seminars, and the church had us come up front to tell about our mission and sing. Not to be cawky, but I think I’m the only one that can carry a tune in the group, so nobody else really desired to sing—especially because there was a professional group that had already sung a few songs. But we told the church we were there to praise God and sang “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” anyways. They seemed to enjoy it (sing a song in another language and it’s all good).
The meeting continued after the lunch of rice and beans, but we left with our jefe Augustine to relax in the Tabasco 2000 Park. We chatted with him about the six months he spent in Oregon working on an onion farm for seven dollars an hour. He had to travel five to seven days to get to Oregon. Then when he started working, he didn’t always know where there’d be work. Many times he’d travel over an hour to get to work, and still he had to pay rent and transportation. I wonder if he feels it was worth all the trouble. He just said that it’s hard to find a good job in Mexico. Now he works for the government and can at least be near his five children. We went to his house for coconut and then he took us to yet another church for Sociedad de Jovenes. We were a bit pooped, but enjoyed doing Bible exercises with the little kids. One of the exercises we lost, so we had to get up front and sing three songs. We sang “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” “Avancemos,” and then we taught everyone the “Halelu/Praise Ye the Lord” song that had been such a hit at La Vida, New Mexico. Again the kids (and adults) loved it, although they didn’t know the words. Like I’ve said before, kids like action.
Sunday, November 13
During the week Jessica became more and more excited for today because we were going to be helping at an SDA health fair. For that reason we decided to wait to drive on to Playa del Carmen. Unfortunately, they didn’t really need us. Oh well. In the end we supported the fair by buying popcorn, pastelitos, and horchata from the food stands set up by the various SDA churches. I also spent a long time playing with kids and talking with some nurses, Roger, the veterinarian from the church, and a guy who gave us some contacts of people who can maybe help us get from Panama to Colombia. The latter was greatly appreciated because I think that portion of the trip could logistically be our greatest challenge.
Since there was nothing for us to do, the guys went to the Vazquez’s house to do some electrical and handy-man jobs. I was really glad, because there family has done so much for us. Jessica, Joy, and I went with Roger, his sister Alex, and some of their friends to a pool outside of Villa Hermosa. We had so much fun swimming, basking in the sun, teaching pool gymnastics, eating, and chatting in the sun with Alex. We asked her what type an ideal woman is for Mexican guys. She said that unlike the Barbie waif of the states, Mexican guys prefer a thicker woman with large legs, butt, love handles, and boobs—algo para agarrar, “something to hold on to.” Maybe I need to move down here.
Above all the other activities, all of us had the most fun sliding down the tabagones! Two hours before the pool closed, we discovered a huge slide. Sliding rules aren’t nearly as stringent as they are in the USA, so we could slide down however we wanted. Nevertheless, I kept getting stuck in the middle of the slide due to my clothing. I eventually found I could fly down the tube with Joy and Jessica attached to my feet. Out we tumbled all together.
Trying to save money for the way back home, we all walked a bit, then took a tiny public transport bus to town. From there we hopped on a bus to Roger’s house. The bus had a massive, white crucifix and booming Latino club music. The club bus dropped off various friends and finally stopped near Roger and Alex’s house. While we waited for the Andrew and Ryan to pick us up, Roger let us use his computer for internet. The guys arrived, and, like so many times before, Roger and Alex’s mom fed us delicious food: quesadillas and horchata. While we waited for them to check email, Roger taught me some new words, slang, and hand signals they use in Mexico. That is the sort of thing I learn when I hang out with a native young person, and I love it. I’m just glad I had my notebook and pen to write everything down (the group always makes fun of me because I have to write down everything. I’m sure you aren’t surprised, because my emails are so long. I just don’t like to forget anything.)
After many kisses on the cheek and good-byes, we left my favorite family of Villa Hermosa. Still energized, I busted out my Yoga DVD to do with Jessica and Joy. We all laughed as we tried to “Keep our faces soft” and “Find equanimity.”
Jessica and Joy went to bed, but I stayed up until Neftali and Nancy got home. We talked about the church, Chiapas (They’d lived there for thirteen years. Apparently everyone thinks it is dangerous because there were some fights in 1994 with the guerrilleros. According to them, however, there isn’t any more danger now.), and how they often warn Mexicans not to go to the USA. They said that many separate from their families and/or leave the church. They’ll send their money back to Mexico so their families can have nice houses, but many in the end lose their faith and relationships. Others may even die because the work is so arduous. One has to decide if those risks are really worth it. For them, it seems to be a question of what is most important—money or family and faith.
Monday, November 14
We had our last extravagant meal of tacos at the Vazquez house, prayed, and then left Villa Hermosa for the ruins of Palenque—one of the greatest and accessible Mayan ruins. We drove about an hour until we reached the turn off for the ruins and came upon a great mob of people. They had signs that said things like “Money for the indigenous.” Apparently the Mayan descendants want more money—I’m not really sure. I asked a cop, but he didn’t understand why the mob was there either. He eventually told me another route to get to the ruins. Andrew was a little frustrated by the situation and all the traffic, but the route involved some off-roading which I quite enjoyed. We were all dying laughing as we drove through a mud puddle ad then later over a curb right behind the mob. Full of glee, we decided to pick up some hippie hitchhikers in the national park. Apparently Palenque is the place to be for Mexican and American hippies alike. One Anglo gal sat up front. She told us she had been studying metal working in college, but was now was in Palenque riding horses with people from all around the world. She said they were riding around Mexico “spreading seed,” whatever that means. I sat next to a Mexican hippie with four piercing in his lower lip. We drove a little and picked up a few more of their friends. My nose was suddenly strangely reminded of a boma in Masai Mara, Africa. They were really nice and friendly though. I really don’t think I’ve ever met a hippie I didn’t like. I just don’t think I could be one; only because I prefer to have bald armpits.
At the ruins, once again Joy, Andrew, and Jessica scurried quickly through the ruins while Ryan and I took our time. To tell the truth, I spent some extra time listening to a guide talk about various buildings and their history. One of the tombs in Palenque is really interesting because one can still see red paint on it. The Mayans believed the paint was toxic, so they buried their royalty in it so they wouldn’t be disturbed. When archeologists found the tombs, the bodies were still covered in red. Ryan and I looked at the Temple of Inscriptions that tells the entire story of the Mayans. Then we climbed steep stairs to the Temple of the Foliated Cross and other temples like it that overlook the whole of Palenque. They also have carvings on them that tell about various kings and serpent-jaguar gods. Like the ruins of El Tajin, Palenque has a ball court. Ryan and I decided to be super cheesy and video tape ourselves playing hacky-sack in it.
After an unmentionable event involving Ryan climbing the “Queen’s Bath,” (ask me about it when I’m back home) we met the other members of our group at the car and continued on our journey towards Playa del Carmen.
Trying to keep to our “no driving after 6PM” policy, we stopped at a town called Escarcega for the night. We were all starving, so we spent a dollar on five churros (they are kind of like donuts), to hold us over while we shopped for tomatoes, cereal, beans, tortillas, and bread. We ate peanut butter and jelly tortillas and beans and tortillas for supper and then watched my 30 Years of National Geographic DVD. I have a feeling we’ll be watching it a lot because it, besides my yoga DVD, is the only one I brought.
I had a hard time going to sleep because it was loud outside and I kept thinking about my future decisions. Whenever I start thinking about careers I get really stressed out and can’t sleep. I’m just glad God has blessed so far with what I’m doing right now.
Tuesday, November 15
Jessica, Joy, and I found a great place to do yoga in the hotel so we twisted ourselves around until my computer died. Then it was back to the road. On the way were stopped a few times for police checkpoints, but the police were always friendly and the most searching they did was looking through Andrew’s binoculars.
We arrived in Playa del Carmen a few hours before sundown. For some reason I was a little irritable from the long drive, so I walked with Andrew and Jessica to our next contact, Carlos Macias’ place at the Maranatha hotel while Joy and Ryan found a parking spot. We sat down in Carlos’ office, explained what we’d been up to, and he and his daughter told us a little about the history of his hotel and the Adventist church in Playa del Carmen. I think Andrew and Jessica were thrilled that they spoke English.
Eventually Joy and Ryan came in looking frazzled. The roads are all torn up due to the hurricane so it took them a long time to find a place to park. They were also tired, so Carlos gave us a room with three beds and he and Anabel invited us to relax and explore the town. They are such awesome people and have gone way above expectations in hospitality. (I really respect Carlos and the more people I meet who talk about him, the more exemplary he seems to be of how a man of means should support the church. He has helped monetarily construct over ten churches in the area.).
We decided our hunger and nerves were so great that we deserved our second meal out of the trip. We stopped at a miniature pizza restaurant beside our hotel. I was ecstatic because the owner was super friendly and from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I couldn’t help but chat with him a bit while Joy and Ryan tried to subtly get me to put in the order. Anyways, we became fast friends and now every time I pass him we wave to each other. He told me he’s going to return to Argentina in a year or so. He’s had his foreign travel experience, and is ready to go home. I wonder if that’s how I’ll feel in a month.
Just as Andrew and Jessica got to the restaurant with some lemonade, our pizzas came out of the oven. You know how I said there was road construction? Well, during our supper we had to yell over a guy drilling in a hole beside us. It was hilarious.
Sometimes a little separation is needed when one is in a group like ours. We haven’t had any tiffles, but it’s needed. Andrew and Jessica walked the beach and Jessica got some much needed chocolate ice cream. Joy and I roamed the shops looking a clothing, hammocks, hats, and diving shops. When then checked our email. Ryan walked about alone.
We all rejoined at the hotel and decided to call Jared. We all crowded in one tiny phone cabin. Ryan’s bum kept opening the door. The Mexican ladies had a good laugh and we went back to rest up for the morrow.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
I’m so glad I brought my hacky-sack. It has aided our group in the virtue of patience as we’ve accustomed ourselves to Mexican time. We were supposed to meet Carlos at 10, but he showed up at 11. We discussed how WMT is like the television show Survivor and how we would be the Mayan tribe of the group.
I rode with Carlos while the rest of the group followed behind. At the church we sat down with other workers of the church and discussed what needed to be done and what materials would be needed. Carlos told us we could take the day off and go to his personal cenote while he purchased materials. Cenotes are underground caves and springs that flow to the ocean. A lot of people go snorkeling and SCUBA diving in them.
Carlos’ cenote is beautiful. We had a big frank picnic by the water and then snorkled around. I had the most fun jumping off the top of the cave with Andrew, Joy, and Ryan. I actually got a little scared to dive in, but eventually did. Then I impressed the lifeguards by climbing one of the cave walls. They actually gave me a high-five. The climb was envigorating.
On the way back to the hotel, Andrew and Jess dropped the rest us off at a grocery store. We bought a ton of rice, beans, vegetables, tortillas, bread, jelly (which unfortunately dropped on the way back to the hotel), etc.
We quickly changed and ran to the ocean. Jessica, Ryan, and I dove. We felt like we were swimming in a painting because the sky was pink and the sea was bright turquoise. Then Ryan, Joy, and I walked on the beach and into town. We had a supper of pasta, Ryan and I did push-ups, and we all went to sleep content.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Joy and I woke up at 6:30 and did yoga on the upstairs deck of the hotel. Guys kept walking by. We later asked Carlos why there were so many guys and so few women. He said they are telephone company workers staying in Playa del Carmen to fix the telephone lines. Carlos must strike a deal with these companies because he said when a hurricane his in 1987, he had electricians staying in the hotel. He was the first one to get electricity in the entire city.
Ignoring his present guests, we continued our prayer twists and downward-facing dogs as we ignored them. Joy then cooked eggs and big franks to prepare us for our first work experience in Playa del Carmen.
We were so thankful for work that we could all do. While we were in Villa Hermosa, the gals were sometimes frustrated because we had nothing to do. Not so this time. We primed all the parts of the church possible. Most of the time I spent on a rusty scaffolding standing tip-toe on top of a chair with a paintbrush. For all the donors reading this, we are spending your money so we can go climbing—climbing around churches. I had fun, but by five o’clock the sun was setting and I was pooped. Thankfully we had a few breaks during the day. One was when Carlos brought us soft drinks and fruit, and another when a lady from the church brought us tamales—corn meal with chicken or peppers cooked in corn leaves. The tamales came with some really spicy sauce. Now everyone in the group knows that we aren’t the only hot tamales in town.
Back at the hotel, after a curry supper without the curry (we forgot the powder, Jessica and Andrew fell quickly asleep. We had worked really hard. Even the brothers of the church were really impressed. I was tired too, but I couldn’t let myself go to sleep like them at 7:30PM. Instead Ryan and I went to a free concert in the central park. We listened to one song, but it was too Kenny G.-esq for me. We returned down the touristy streets until we arrived at a gelato stand. We spent our own money on overpriced three dollar gelato. It was worth every penny. Ryan had coconut and tutti-frutti while I ate Oreos and cream and Nutella. Yum. Ryan said it was the best ice cream he’d ever had in his life. With sugar highs, we walked to a gazebo and I taught Ryan some swing-dancing moves. He learned really quickly and we had fun entertaining the people waling around us. Some even took pictures!
Friday, November 18, 2005
I was tired from the night before—it’s crazy how I’m dead if I go to bed after ten o’clock now—and couldn’t wake up to do yoga. Instead I ate the pancake breakfast with bananas Joy prepared. Then we started painting at the church at eight o’clock; I think I was a cranky, because I was being possessive of the roller paint brush. I think I was just sick of painting from the scaffolding, and I certainly didn’t want to use the small brush again. Thankfully I didn’t get into any squabbles over it because God gave me patience when someone would take it from me. Eventually my height won me possession of the tool, and I painted with it until we finished painting the first coats on the walls. Meanwhile Carlos Macias brought us coke, fresh orange juice, vanilla milk (that Andrew loved), and some sweet bread. We continued painting and jamming to the saxophone and dramatic Christian singing one of the workers played on a CD player. The only problem with the music is that it kept scratching and became ghetto-style.
Around noon a 23 year-old gal stopped by to clean the church. Apparently she didn’t know there was major renovation being done. She was shocked, but like all the good people we’ve met, just introduced herself, we chatted about the church, and then she grabbed a brush and big stick, and started helping us paint. At 12:30PM a group of church ladies brought us lettuce, salsa, and, one of my favorite foods from Argentina, empanadas. Unlike the Argentine empanadas of corn, lettuce, etc., these simply had beans or cheese inside, but they were very tasty.
When we’d been refreshed, we continued our work until two o’clock. We helped the cleaning lady clean the chairs and sweep out the church. Jessica couldn’t believe Latinos sweep and mop at the same time. As I swept and all the dust and trash was blown back in by the breeze she said, “Por eso, borramos con agua” (“See, that’s why we sweep the floor with water.” )
Another day of painting and we were once again covered in paint. We decided the best method to get rid of it was sand. Therefore, back at the hotel we speedily put on our bathing suits and power walked to the ocean. I was quite pooped from the past two days, so I videotaped and had everyone bury me in sand. They made me into a ginormous man with ginormous arm muscles and tiny chicken legs. Afterwards I had fun watching Jessica, Joy, and Ryan role into the ocean. Then Ryan dove into the water, except he didn’t swim out far enough and ended up diving in about a foot of water. Eventually I washed off in the ocean and we ran back to be ready for vespers at five o’clock.
I was so happy to see how bright the church looked and see the members worshipping after all of our work. Carlos had the church thank us. I just hope their church grows in unity and long-term members. The cleaning girl told me their church membership and unity has gone down recently. She says it’s difficult to get long-term members because a lot of people come to Playa del Carmen, sometimes separating from their families, and work awhile. But the city is somewhat Americanized and most people prefer the culture of their home towns, so they eventually return.
I find it hard to imagine the church having any problems. The members we’ve met and worked with are some of the nicest people with whom we’ve come in contact.
After church we returned for some Ramen noodles and fried eggs and vegetables. I read to the group about Elisha from Prophets and Kings. The chapter speaks about how the little tasks we have prepare us for the future. I think our experience now is preparing us for future mission work whether at home our in foreign lands.
Thanks for the week
Andrew: Carlos Macias and all the people he’s met here at Playa del Carmen; cenote; big franks
Joy: a nice place to stay
Ryan: for a bed (his first one on the trip)
Jessica: free hotel by the beach and that we are all working for the Lord
Lorelei: the beach and all the people I’ve met in the church and outside the church
We went to la Iglesia de la Nueva Esperanza, one of Pastor Vasquez’s thirteen churches, to help renovate a baptismal area. Some other workers were there already, and we were introduced to the “jefe” Augustine. The baptismal had rocks and concrete all along the floor, so we cleared it out and made the floor even so they could later cement it. We also made a drain for the baptismal, Jessica painted the baptismal blue with clay without a brush, and the workers plastered the wall.
I discovered the art of making plaster. First two workers sift sand through a wooden frame with mesh. Second they dump some cement on the sand and mix it together by shoveling all the sand into two piles, shoveling it all back together, then shoveling all the sand in one pile while all the workers move in a circular motion. Finally they a volcano-like structure from the mixture. Last, and most precarious, one pours water into the volcano while the other workers furiously try to keep the sand-cement walls from breaking. If they do, it’s a big mess. Believe me, I know because it happened to us a couple times.
During the morning I chatted a long time with a veterinarian elder of the church who loves adventure and travel. He said he would go with us on our trip if he were younger. Instead he’ll just continue working with the Pathfinders of the church. He also said he loves tourism and told me a little about Villa Hermosa, its Olmec history, and the native drink pozol. He had Marcos, a guy working with us, bring us a pitcher to try. Pozol is made of soaked corn and cacao. The Tabasquenos drink it without any sugar. It was too bitter for most of us, but Joy liked it. Apparently they have a similar drink where she is from in Zambia, Africa.
Soon we consumed more widely appreciated vittles. Mama, a tiny, older sister of the church cooked us a huge lunch of vegetables and rice. She also brought Jamaica juice. I asked if it came from Jamaica and she said that no, it’s a type of tabesqueno flower boiled down to get the juice.
By the afternoon, all that was left to do was wire the contacts and switches—not a lot for Jessica, Joy, and I to do. So we just watched and “supported” the guys with songs and stories. I also met Roger “Roco,” Mama’s son who studied English in Belize and has a Japanese girlfriend living there. Eventually the sun started setting, so I let some workers plastering the walls use Ryan and I’s head lamps. They were fascinated by them.
The girls finally got a little excitement as we helped wire six electrical wires through a tiny manguera tube. All the Mexicans thought we couldn’t do it, but in the end we were successful and had only ripped out wall plaster two times.
When we returned to the Vasquez house, no one was home so we walked to an internet café to catch up on emails.
Friday, November 11
This morning Ryan and I woke up a little earlier so we could go jogging and still be ready for breakfast. We ate scrumptious cereal and fruit and returned with the rest of the group to the church. We arrived around nine. Roger was there to help, but the jefe wasn’t so we played hacky-sack for thirty minutes until someone came with the church key.
Today was honestly kind of slow. The previous night we asked Nancy, Neftali’s wife, if she knew anything we could do in the community because there wasn’t really anything besides wiring to finish at the church. She said she didn’t, so I scrubbed some fungus off a few walls with Roger, we talked a bit, and occasionally made cement when it was needed. Of course, Ryan was working like a beast. There seems to never ending need for electrical work wherever we go.
Roger’s mom brought us lunch again and almost started crying because we liked her food so much. She gave us tortilla chips and a guiso stew made with vegetables and soy fake meat. She is so cute. She told me yesterday that she is waiting for a visa to go to the United States. Her husband is working there already in Florida and she wants to be with him. Jessica wrote her mom who lives in Florida, so maybe she can help her find her way around. It’s a little intimidating to go to another country by yourself without knowing the language.
The girls continued watching and trying to help the guys work until they did all the wiring they could. Since there was nothing left to do with the available materials, Roger took us to La Venta Zoo and Olmec archeological site. We enjoyed looking at the spider monkeys, birds, snakes, jaguars, and especially the otters. Ryan was later dubbed “Otter Boy” because his beard makes him look like an otter and because he can imitate the “cheep, cheep” otter bark.
Having studied Mexican history I was super excited to see some of the best Olmec stone carvings in the world. A Mexican poet arranged the archeological park so the large stone pieces and jade, the Olmecs’ “gold,” would be preserved. We walked passed a jaguar face made of jade and then by various stone carvings. The biggest were the Olmec heads. The Olmecs carved them after leaders who had won a ceremonial ball game. The winner would be honored by having his head cut off and then having a large boulder carved into his likeness mixed with jaguar features. They carved the nose flat, only showed two teeth, and enlarged the ears. Jaguars were very important and godlike to the Olmecs.
Well culturally satisfied, we dropped of Roger, and returned to the Vasquez house to get ready for vespers. We went to, according to Roger, the young people’s church at La Gaviota Norte. There certainly were many young people. One girl talked to me afterwards non-stop for about thirty minutes about being a Catholic but still going to the Adventist church, studying English, etc. She was talking so fast I didn’t quite catch everything and wondered why she didn’t want to practice more English. Quien sabe? Pastor Vazquez had to leave vespers early, so we squeezed in Nancy and her two daughters in our Land Cruiser to go back home.
We ate supper after church and then Neftali brought out his guitar so we could figure out something we could sing for church. It was looking bleak until he started playing “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” The guys couldn’t remember any words to any other songs. I discovered Neftali and his daughters knew a lot of the songs I’d learned in Argentina, so I delightfully sang some of them with them until sleep time.
Saturday, November 12
We went with Pastor Vazquez to yet another church—that’s three we’ve been to so far in Villa Hermosa—for church. The church isn’t quite finished and is covered with tin and billboards for a roof. Apparently it was a special Sabbath for the club of laypeople. Therefore the service went from 8AM until 2:30PM when we stopped for lunch. During the service we sang a lot, there were various seminars, and the church had us come up front to tell about our mission and sing. Not to be cawky, but I think I’m the only one that can carry a tune in the group, so nobody else really desired to sing—especially because there was a professional group that had already sung a few songs. But we told the church we were there to praise God and sang “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” anyways. They seemed to enjoy it (sing a song in another language and it’s all good).
The meeting continued after the lunch of rice and beans, but we left with our jefe Augustine to relax in the Tabasco 2000 Park. We chatted with him about the six months he spent in Oregon working on an onion farm for seven dollars an hour. He had to travel five to seven days to get to Oregon. Then when he started working, he didn’t always know where there’d be work. Many times he’d travel over an hour to get to work, and still he had to pay rent and transportation. I wonder if he feels it was worth all the trouble. He just said that it’s hard to find a good job in Mexico. Now he works for the government and can at least be near his five children. We went to his house for coconut and then he took us to yet another church for Sociedad de Jovenes. We were a bit pooped, but enjoyed doing Bible exercises with the little kids. One of the exercises we lost, so we had to get up front and sing three songs. We sang “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” “Avancemos,” and then we taught everyone the “Halelu/Praise Ye the Lord” song that had been such a hit at La Vida, New Mexico. Again the kids (and adults) loved it, although they didn’t know the words. Like I’ve said before, kids like action.
Sunday, November 13
During the week Jessica became more and more excited for today because we were going to be helping at an SDA health fair. For that reason we decided to wait to drive on to Playa del Carmen. Unfortunately, they didn’t really need us. Oh well. In the end we supported the fair by buying popcorn, pastelitos, and horchata from the food stands set up by the various SDA churches. I also spent a long time playing with kids and talking with some nurses, Roger, the veterinarian from the church, and a guy who gave us some contacts of people who can maybe help us get from Panama to Colombia. The latter was greatly appreciated because I think that portion of the trip could logistically be our greatest challenge.
Since there was nothing for us to do, the guys went to the Vazquez’s house to do some electrical and handy-man jobs. I was really glad, because there family has done so much for us. Jessica, Joy, and I went with Roger, his sister Alex, and some of their friends to a pool outside of Villa Hermosa. We had so much fun swimming, basking in the sun, teaching pool gymnastics, eating, and chatting in the sun with Alex. We asked her what type an ideal woman is for Mexican guys. She said that unlike the Barbie waif of the states, Mexican guys prefer a thicker woman with large legs, butt, love handles, and boobs—algo para agarrar, “something to hold on to.” Maybe I need to move down here.Above all the other activities, all of us had the most fun sliding down the tabagones! Two hours before the pool closed, we discovered a huge slide. Sliding rules aren’t nearly as stringent as they are in the USA, so we could slide down however we wanted. Nevertheless, I kept getting stuck in the middle of the slide due to my clothing. I eventually found I could fly down the tube with Joy and Jessica attached to my feet. Out we tumbled all together.
Trying to save money for the way back home, we all walked a bit, then took a tiny public transport bus to town. From there we hopped on a bus to Roger’s house. The bus had a massive, white crucifix and booming Latino club music. The club bus dropped off various friends and finally stopped near Roger and Alex’s house. While we waited for the Andrew and Ryan to pick us up, Roger let us use his computer for internet. The guys arrived, and, like so many times before, Roger and Alex’s mom fed us delicious food: quesadillas and horchata. While we waited for them to check email, Roger taught me some new words, slang, and hand signals they use in Mexico. That is the sort of thing I learn when I hang out with a native young person, and I love it. I’m just glad I had my notebook and pen to write everything down (the group always makes fun of me because I have to write down everything. I’m sure you aren’t surprised, because my emails are so long. I just don’t like to forget anything.)
After many kisses on the cheek and good-byes, we left my favorite family of Villa Hermosa. Still energized, I busted out my Yoga DVD to do with Jessica and Joy. We all laughed as we tried to “Keep our faces soft” and “Find equanimity.”
Jessica and Joy went to bed, but I stayed up until Neftali and Nancy got home. We talked about the church, Chiapas (They’d lived there for thirteen years. Apparently everyone thinks it is dangerous because there were some fights in 1994 with the guerrilleros. According to them, however, there isn’t any more danger now.), and how they often warn Mexicans not to go to the USA. They said that many separate from their families and/or leave the church. They’ll send their money back to Mexico so their families can have nice houses, but many in the end lose their faith and relationships. Others may even die because the work is so arduous. One has to decide if those risks are really worth it. For them, it seems to be a question of what is most important—money or family and faith.
Monday, November 14
We had our last extravagant meal of tacos at the Vazquez house, prayed, and then left Villa Hermosa for the ruins of Palenque—one of the greatest and accessible Mayan ruins. We drove about an hour until we reached the turn off for the ruins and came upon a great mob of people. They had signs that said things like “Money for the indigenous.” Apparently the Mayan descendants want more money—I’m not really sure. I asked a cop, but he didn’t understand why the mob was there either. He eventually told me another route to get to the ruins. Andrew was a little frustrated by the situation and all the traffic, but the route involved some off-roading which I quite enjoyed. We were all dying laughing as we drove through a mud puddle ad then later over a curb right behind the mob. Full of glee, we decided to pick up some hippie hitchhikers in the national park. Apparently Palenque is the place to be for Mexican and American hippies alike. One Anglo gal sat up front. She told us she had been studying metal working in college, but was now was in Palenque riding horses with people from all around the world. She said they were riding around Mexico “spreading seed,” whatever that means. I sat next to a Mexican hippie with four piercing in his lower lip. We drove a little and picked up a few more of their friends. My nose was suddenly strangely reminded of a boma in Masai Mara, Africa. They were really nice and friendly though. I really don’t think I’ve ever met a hippie I didn’t like. I just don’t think I could be one; only because I prefer to have bald armpits.
At the ruins, once again Joy, Andrew, and Jessica scurried quickly through the ruins while Ryan and I took our time. To tell the truth, I spent some extra time listening to a guide talk about various buildings and their history. One of the tombs in Palenque is really interesting because one can still see red paint on it. The Mayans believed the paint was toxic, so they buried their royalty in it so they wouldn’t be disturbed. When archeologists found the tombs, the bodies were still covered in red. Ryan and I looked at the Temple of Inscriptions that tells the entire story of the Mayans. Then we climbed steep stairs to the Temple of the Foliated Cross and other temples like it that overlook the whole of Palenque. They also have carvings on them that tell about various kings and serpent-jaguar gods. Like the ruins of El Tajin, Palenque has a ball court. Ryan and I decided to be super cheesy and video tape ourselves playing hacky-sack in it.
After an unmentionable event involving Ryan climbing the “Queen’s Bath,” (ask me about it when I’m back home) we met the other members of our group at the car and continued on our journey towards Playa del Carmen.
Trying to keep to our “no driving after 6PM” policy, we stopped at a town called Escarcega for the night. We were all starving, so we spent a dollar on five churros (they are kind of like donuts), to hold us over while we shopped for tomatoes, cereal, beans, tortillas, and bread. We ate peanut butter and jelly tortillas and beans and tortillas for supper and then watched my 30 Years of National Geographic DVD. I have a feeling we’ll be watching it a lot because it, besides my yoga DVD, is the only one I brought.
I had a hard time going to sleep because it was loud outside and I kept thinking about my future decisions. Whenever I start thinking about careers I get really stressed out and can’t sleep. I’m just glad God has blessed so far with what I’m doing right now.
Tuesday, November 15
Jessica, Joy, and I found a great place to do yoga in the hotel so we twisted ourselves around until my computer died. Then it was back to the road. On the way were stopped a few times for police checkpoints, but the police were always friendly and the most searching they did was looking through Andrew’s binoculars.
We arrived in Playa del Carmen a few hours before sundown. For some reason I was a little irritable from the long drive, so I walked with Andrew and Jessica to our next contact, Carlos Macias’ place at the Maranatha hotel while Joy and Ryan found a parking spot. We sat down in Carlos’ office, explained what we’d been up to, and he and his daughter told us a little about the history of his hotel and the Adventist church in Playa del Carmen. I think Andrew and Jessica were thrilled that they spoke English.
Eventually Joy and Ryan came in looking frazzled. The roads are all torn up due to the hurricane so it took them a long time to find a place to park. They were also tired, so Carlos gave us a room with three beds and he and Anabel invited us to relax and explore the town. They are such awesome people and have gone way above expectations in hospitality. (I really respect Carlos and the more people I meet who talk about him, the more exemplary he seems to be of how a man of means should support the church. He has helped monetarily construct over ten churches in the area.).
We decided our hunger and nerves were so great that we deserved our second meal out of the trip. We stopped at a miniature pizza restaurant beside our hotel. I was ecstatic because the owner was super friendly and from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I couldn’t help but chat with him a bit while Joy and Ryan tried to subtly get me to put in the order. Anyways, we became fast friends and now every time I pass him we wave to each other. He told me he’s going to return to Argentina in a year or so. He’s had his foreign travel experience, and is ready to go home. I wonder if that’s how I’ll feel in a month.
Just as Andrew and Jessica got to the restaurant with some lemonade, our pizzas came out of the oven. You know how I said there was road construction? Well, during our supper we had to yell over a guy drilling in a hole beside us. It was hilarious.
Sometimes a little separation is needed when one is in a group like ours. We haven’t had any tiffles, but it’s needed. Andrew and Jessica walked the beach and Jessica got some much needed chocolate ice cream. Joy and I roamed the shops looking a clothing, hammocks, hats, and diving shops. When then checked our email. Ryan walked about alone.
We all rejoined at the hotel and decided to call Jared. We all crowded in one tiny phone cabin. Ryan’s bum kept opening the door. The Mexican ladies had a good laugh and we went back to rest up for the morrow.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
I’m so glad I brought my hacky-sack. It has aided our group in the virtue of patience as we’ve accustomed ourselves to Mexican time. We were supposed to meet Carlos at 10, but he showed up at 11. We discussed how WMT is like the television show Survivor and how we would be the Mayan tribe of the group.
I rode with Carlos while the rest of the group followed behind. At the church we sat down with other workers of the church and discussed what needed to be done and what materials would be needed. Carlos told us we could take the day off and go to his personal cenote while he purchased materials. Cenotes are underground caves and springs that flow to the ocean. A lot of people go snorkeling and SCUBA diving in them.
Carlos’ cenote is beautiful. We had a big frank picnic by the water and then snorkled around. I had the most fun jumping off the top of the cave with Andrew, Joy, and Ryan. I actually got a little scared to dive in, but eventually did. Then I impressed the lifeguards by climbing one of the cave walls. They actually gave me a high-five. The climb was envigorating.
On the way back to the hotel, Andrew and Jess dropped the rest us off at a grocery store. We bought a ton of rice, beans, vegetables, tortillas, bread, jelly (which unfortunately dropped on the way back to the hotel), etc.
We quickly changed and ran to the ocean. Jessica, Ryan, and I dove. We felt like we were swimming in a painting because the sky was pink and the sea was bright turquoise. Then Ryan, Joy, and I walked on the beach and into town. We had a supper of pasta, Ryan and I did push-ups, and we all went to sleep content.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Joy and I woke up at 6:30 and did yoga on the upstairs deck of the hotel. Guys kept walking by. We later asked Carlos why there were so many guys and so few women. He said they are telephone company workers staying in Playa del Carmen to fix the telephone lines. Carlos must strike a deal with these companies because he said when a hurricane his in 1987, he had electricians staying in the hotel. He was the first one to get electricity in the entire city.
Ignoring his present guests, we continued our prayer twists and downward-facing dogs as we ignored them. Joy then cooked eggs and big franks to prepare us for our first work experience in Playa del Carmen.
We were so thankful for work that we could all do. While we were in Villa Hermosa, the gals were sometimes frustrated because we had nothing to do. Not so this time. We primed all the parts of the church possible. Most of the time I spent on a rusty scaffolding standing tip-toe on top of a chair with a paintbrush. For all the donors reading this, we are spending your money so we can go climbing—climbing around churches. I had fun, but by five o’clock the sun was setting and I was pooped. Thankfully we had a few breaks during the day. One was when Carlos brought us soft drinks and fruit, and another when a lady from the church brought us tamales—corn meal with chicken or peppers cooked in corn leaves. The tamales came with some really spicy sauce. Now everyone in the group knows that we aren’t the only hot tamales in town.
Back at the hotel, after a curry supper without the curry (we forgot the powder, Jessica and Andrew fell quickly asleep. We had worked really hard. Even the brothers of the church were really impressed. I was tired too, but I couldn’t let myself go to sleep like them at 7:30PM. Instead Ryan and I went to a free concert in the central park. We listened to one song, but it was too Kenny G.-esq for me. We returned down the touristy streets until we arrived at a gelato stand. We spent our own money on overpriced three dollar gelato. It was worth every penny. Ryan had coconut and tutti-frutti while I ate Oreos and cream and Nutella. Yum. Ryan said it was the best ice cream he’d ever had in his life. With sugar highs, we walked to a gazebo and I taught Ryan some swing-dancing moves. He learned really quickly and we had fun entertaining the people waling around us. Some even took pictures!
Friday, November 18, 2005
I was tired from the night before—it’s crazy how I’m dead if I go to bed after ten o’clock now—and couldn’t wake up to do yoga. Instead I ate the pancake breakfast with bananas Joy prepared. Then we started painting at the church at eight o’clock; I think I was a cranky, because I was being possessive of the roller paint brush. I think I was just sick of painting from the scaffolding, and I certainly didn’t want to use the small brush again. Thankfully I didn’t get into any squabbles over it because God gave me patience when someone would take it from me. Eventually my height won me possession of the tool, and I painted with it until we finished painting the first coats on the walls. Meanwhile Carlos Macias brought us coke, fresh orange juice, vanilla milk (that Andrew loved), and some sweet bread. We continued painting and jamming to the saxophone and dramatic Christian singing one of the workers played on a CD player. The only problem with the music is that it kept scratching and became ghetto-style.
Around noon a 23 year-old gal stopped by to clean the church. Apparently she didn’t know there was major renovation being done. She was shocked, but like all the good people we’ve met, just introduced herself, we chatted about the church, and then she grabbed a brush and big stick, and started helping us paint. At 12:30PM a group of church ladies brought us lettuce, salsa, and, one of my favorite foods from Argentina, empanadas. Unlike the Argentine empanadas of corn, lettuce, etc., these simply had beans or cheese inside, but they were very tasty.
When we’d been refreshed, we continued our work until two o’clock. We helped the cleaning lady clean the chairs and sweep out the church. Jessica couldn’t believe Latinos sweep and mop at the same time. As I swept and all the dust and trash was blown back in by the breeze she said, “Por eso, borramos con agua” (“See, that’s why we sweep the floor with water.” )
Another day of painting and we were once again covered in paint. We decided the best method to get rid of it was sand. Therefore, back at the hotel we speedily put on our bathing suits and power walked to the ocean. I was quite pooped from the past two days, so I videotaped and had everyone bury me in sand. They made me into a ginormous man with ginormous arm muscles and tiny chicken legs. Afterwards I had fun watching Jessica, Joy, and Ryan role into the ocean. Then Ryan dove into the water, except he didn’t swim out far enough and ended up diving in about a foot of water. Eventually I washed off in the ocean and we ran back to be ready for vespers at five o’clock.
I was so happy to see how bright the church looked and see the members worshipping after all of our work. Carlos had the church thank us. I just hope their church grows in unity and long-term members. The cleaning girl told me their church membership and unity has gone down recently. She says it’s difficult to get long-term members because a lot of people come to Playa del Carmen, sometimes separating from their families, and work awhile. But the city is somewhat Americanized and most people prefer the culture of their home towns, so they eventually return.
I find it hard to imagine the church having any problems. The members we’ve met and worked with are some of the nicest people with whom we’ve come in contact.
After church we returned for some Ramen noodles and fried eggs and vegetables. I read to the group about Elisha from Prophets and Kings. The chapter speaks about how the little tasks we have prepare us for the future. I think our experience now is preparing us for future mission work whether at home our in foreign lands.
Thanks for the week
Andrew: Carlos Macias and all the people he’s met here at Playa del Carmen; cenote; big franks
Joy: a nice place to stay
Ryan: for a bed (his first one on the trip)
Jessica: free hotel by the beach and that we are all working for the Lord
Lorelei: the beach and all the people I’ve met in the church and outside the church
The Non-Cruisified Cozumel
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Labels:
Mexico,
travel,
world mission tour
I am currently in Cozumel for the first time not coming off from a cruise ship. It´s completely different because I´m getting to meet lots of people and the island much more in depth. Also, the Disney Landish tourism I remember from my last trip has been replaced by remnants of the hurricane. I talked to a Turkish restaurant owner tonight who told me the silver shops had merchandise fall in the water and police having to guard it while divers went to recover it. He also told me fish were flopping in the street.
Also different from all my other trips is the fact that I´m spending the night on the island. We are camping on a beach on the back side of the island. The breeze was blowing, it was warm, and Joy and I walked the sandy beach enjoying the peace of it all. It was definatly a great way to welcome in the Sabbath. I slept outside in my sleeping bag read Joy a few chapters from Prophets and Kings. Then I gazed up at numerous shooting stars. One had the largest tail I´ve ever seen in my life. The whole experience made me think of Chris Rice´s song Hallelujas:
The purple sky to close the day
I wade the surf where dolphins play
The taste of salt, the dance of waves
And my soul wells up with hallelujas
Oh, praise Him all His mighty works
There is no language where You can´t be heard
Your song goes out to all the world
Hallelujas, Halleluja, Halleluja
Por fin, Mexico!
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Labels:
Mexico,
travel,
world mission tour
Posing with our mascot "Speedy" in MexicoWe have finally been in Mexico for a few days. Already the adventures have been numerous. Here´s a shake down
Sunday
We woke up around five in the morning to cross the border into Mexico. God blessed us because Pastor Andrew had to go to Mexico anyways, so he went with us. At the border, the authorities started questioning the title of our vehicle because it´s not in our name, but, blessings again, Andrew just signed it and we were okay to go on.
We followed Pastor Andrew to la Universidad de Montemorelos where he introduced us to his wife Fanny and her family. They provided us with an amazing breakfast of bread with beans, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, and onions on top. They call it polleta. After talking a bit, Pastor Andrew and Fanny gave us a tour of the university (it reminded me a lot of the Universidad Adventista del Plata in Argentina) and we returned to Fanny´s family´s house. They gave us some directions of friends we could stay with along our drive to Playa del Carmen. All this was great, but my enthusiasm rose ten fold because it was a little one-year-old girl´s birthday and they were going to hit the PINATA!!! Oh, how excited I was. Now we were going to have a truly Mexican experience.
Amidst a song about hitting the pinata, they had the girl ¨hit¨the pinata (it was really her father), and then let everyone else give it a try-even their dog! They stuck the stick in its mouth and it actually hit it a few times. Wow, then they gave me a try, and I was all over the place hitting in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, we have video :). Joy finally broke through the pinata and it was glorious dulces for all. Then we said our good-byes and headed for the South.
We drove until a bit after dark, because we couldn´t find a safe looking hotel. Finally Andrew and I convinced the group to stay at a place that had air conditioning, a safe place to park the truck, and *du, duh, da* Mexican television. As we cooked Ramen noodles over our gas stove and alternated taking needed showers, we watched Mexicans compete against each other using the best dancing skills they had. It was so emotional!
Monday
We continued driving until we came to the ruins of El Tajin. Archeologists aren´t sure what indigenous people lived there, but they built massive pyramids. One is called the the Pyramid of Niches and was painted in bright reds and greens. They also had ball courts. Visitors can still see a few murals on the walls of the courts. One mural has a depiction of what many believe to be Quezacoatl, the Aztec god, as well as a man piercing his penis. I´m not sure why they painted the latter, but it looks quite painful.
At El Tajin, five men climb to the top of a hundred foot pole. One man sits at the top playing a drum and flute, while the other four dive off upside down of the pole and circle it thirteen times each. We wanted to see this, but the jumpers wanted us to pay sixty dollars. Well, something we´ll just have to return someday to see (we later learned that they aren´t supposed to charge anyone to see it). We resorted ourselves to our first supper out in Mexico. Ah, the frijoles! We tore into tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, quesadillas, mole sauce, onions, and more. It was so yummy.
We continued driving revived and ready to tackle more driving. We arrived at our next stop, Tecolutla, around six at night. We thought we had a contact there, but I lost the paper and we couldn´t find our contact. Two young guys ended up leading us on their bikes to various hotels and finally to an American who has a place for camping on the beach. We were so excited. We agreed on a price, set up our kitchen tent, threw on our bathing suits, and ran for some night swimming in the sea. It was deliciously warm, and we enjoyed diving through the waves and body-surfing.
We finally extracted ourselves from the ocean and took showers. Joy, Ryan, and I played a few games of Rook, but we were extremely tired so we fell quickly into a deep sleep. That is, until the rain started downpouring. Our poor kitchen tent from Wal-Mart isn´t quite fit to withstand water. We ended up setting up Ryan´s three-person tent inside the kitchen tent while more and more water collected on the roof.
Tuesday
When we woke up, the kitchen tent had fallen down. We discovered one of the poles bent during the night--probably due to the weight of the water. We spent most of the day cleaning up and getting our clothes dried at a lavanderia in town. We knew our day was shot. While we waited, we organized our stuff, explored the town, went to an internet cafe, and enjoyed the beach. At night, we got a room from the American so we could have all of our stuff ready to leave the next day.
Wednesday
We woke up at six in the morning and drove off quickly towards Villa Hermosa, our next destination. We left early because I wanted to do some history sight-seeing at La Antigua. This city used to be called Vera Cruz and was were Hernan Cortez landed and changed the history of Latin America forever. I convinced everyone to stop at the first Catholic Chapel to take pictures. Then we went to Cortez´s house. This was probably my favorite part of the entire day because the house is now covered in ficus trees (which happen to be my favorite tree). They were great for climbing, so Ryan and I scurried up to the top of the walls that people back in the 16th century built. Isn´t that amazing!?! I really can´t express my enthusiasm. They ladies at the loncheria next door could see us, and I could tell the thought we were crazy.
After the ramblings, we went across a bridge to see the landing spot of Cortez. I´m not sure if we exactly saw it, but at least I know it was the right river and the correct river bank.
On we went again South until Villa Hermosa. I contacted Pastor Velasquez´s relatives with whom we would be staying, got directions, and made our way to La Ceiba--their neighborhood. They live right next to a massive sports complex. Yet another blessing! After we met the family and had supper, we all went on a long walk around the perimeter of the area. We passed by soccer games, fencing, a baseball game, volleyball, raquetball, etc. They have everything.
Thursday
Ryan and I went jogging on the complex perimeter, did some pull-ups in La Ceiba´s playground, and returned for another tasty breakfast of polleta and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
We spent the day fixing up a baptismal pool and area at an SDA church with some friendly locals. I enjoyed learning new words I hadn´t learned for various tools, while we made cement, leveled floors, put in electricity, etc. Tomorrow we will continue working and enjoying time with our new friends.
Back to the Southeast
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Labels:
service,
Texas,
travel,
world mission tour
No, we aren't back in Tennessee. We are in Edinburg, Texas on the border of Mexico. God has continued to bless us. Joy found a pastor on for us to stay with here, and he has been super nice. In fact, I have seen him before about years ago--in Poland! We attended the same camp meeting in Poland, he being Polish and me being with on a choir mission trip. Again, more connections everywhere. Today we went to church and Joy happened to meet some of her friends she went to highschool with in Africa.
Let me catch you up on the past few days.
Wednesday Evening
Even though I was sick, my mood turned upwards. My sister Jessica and her boyfriend Brad drove from Loma Linda, California to come see me one last time. We all ate a luxurious supper with Auntie Alice. Then we realized that Ben and Kim lived in the same town we were in. We found out the number and visited them at their house. We chatted a bit cracking up at Kim's wit and Ben's booming pastor voice. Jess and Brad had class the next day, so we said our farewells and eventually I was back at Auntie Alice's without them both. I was so happy to see them, even for a little bit.
Thursday
We had figured that it would be cheaper to drive back across the States and go down to through Mexico on the eastern coast, especially when we heard rumors of gas being $4.50/gallon. Auntie Alice, of course, had a special breakfast prepared for us. After final preparations we took off at noon for the East. We drove and drove and drove while I finished reading the final half of Out of the Silent Planet. We kept driving until four in the morning. Joy, the driver at the time, finally became exhausted. We pulled into a picnic exit about seventy miles from San Antonio. Ryan, Jessica, and I ended up sleeping outside between the car and the curb. The smell of urine wafted over from the grass to our noses. A little nasty, but we were too tired to care.
Friday
We drove and drove and drove. Along the way we made a few stops to get a gasket and bolts for our truck at a Toyota dealership and some bagels, cream cheese, and apple sauce from a grocery store. We got to Edinburg, Texas around five in the afternoon. Pastor Andrew, a nice Polish pastor who let us stay at his place, met us at Wal-Mart. Again, the guys were dying of hunger, so we told Andrew wed meet him later and we ran off to Taco Bell one last time. I was still feeling really sick, but I tried to eat a little taco and coleslaw. I still hadn't eaten half of either one when everyone else was finished, but Jessica and Joy were determined for me to finish. They left Ryan in charge to watch me while they got some errands done at Wal-Mart. He failed miserably and we followed quickly behind them. When we arrived, I had to visit Wal-Marts bathroom quickly, so a bored worker took me himself. There I stayed while they finished everything, listening to the retching of a girl pucking in the stall beside me. When I came out, they called me on a walkie-talkie asking where I was. I met them outside and we went to the Pastor's house. He had to run help a church with some technical stuff, so we waited for him outside in the warm, breezy night. There we met Noah, a talkative cute boy who kept climbing the brick mail boxes outside of their house. He brought us out some candy and some of his pictures he made. A few neighbors came by. Unsurprisingly, everyone seemed to know Noah. Pastor Andrew returned and we went to his church to watch a satellite broadcast of '05Revival by Doug Bachelor. It was about drawing close to God, and He in turn drawing close to us. Ryan, Jessica, and Andrew stayed at Pastor Andrews house, while Joy and I stayed at June's house, an older lady of the church. I took a glorious shower. Joy was very congested, so I shoved in some earplugs and dropped off to sleep.
Saturday
Today we did a Sabbath School presentation for Pastor Andrew's church. I joined a little class and had fun discussing the Church with fellow believers, especially because I've been thinking about the Church a lot. Then I met Polo who asked me all sorts of questions about our trip and if I knew what to tell people when they asked me what the gospel was. He's planning on meeting me in heaven.
At potluck we met a few Mexicans, showed some pictures, and talked with the young people of the church. Afterwards we relaxed all day at Pastor Andrews house. Joy had randomly met some of her old classmates from Africa, so they came by for some pictures and talking.
Let me catch you up on the past few days.
Wednesday Evening
Even though I was sick, my mood turned upwards. My sister Jessica and her boyfriend Brad drove from Loma Linda, California to come see me one last time. We all ate a luxurious supper with Auntie Alice. Then we realized that Ben and Kim lived in the same town we were in. We found out the number and visited them at their house. We chatted a bit cracking up at Kim's wit and Ben's booming pastor voice. Jess and Brad had class the next day, so we said our farewells and eventually I was back at Auntie Alice's without them both. I was so happy to see them, even for a little bit.
Thursday
We had figured that it would be cheaper to drive back across the States and go down to through Mexico on the eastern coast, especially when we heard rumors of gas being $4.50/gallon. Auntie Alice, of course, had a special breakfast prepared for us. After final preparations we took off at noon for the East. We drove and drove and drove while I finished reading the final half of Out of the Silent Planet. We kept driving until four in the morning. Joy, the driver at the time, finally became exhausted. We pulled into a picnic exit about seventy miles from San Antonio. Ryan, Jessica, and I ended up sleeping outside between the car and the curb. The smell of urine wafted over from the grass to our noses. A little nasty, but we were too tired to care.
Friday
We drove and drove and drove. Along the way we made a few stops to get a gasket and bolts for our truck at a Toyota dealership and some bagels, cream cheese, and apple sauce from a grocery store. We got to Edinburg, Texas around five in the afternoon. Pastor Andrew, a nice Polish pastor who let us stay at his place, met us at Wal-Mart. Again, the guys were dying of hunger, so we told Andrew wed meet him later and we ran off to Taco Bell one last time. I was still feeling really sick, but I tried to eat a little taco and coleslaw. I still hadn't eaten half of either one when everyone else was finished, but Jessica and Joy were determined for me to finish. They left Ryan in charge to watch me while they got some errands done at Wal-Mart. He failed miserably and we followed quickly behind them. When we arrived, I had to visit Wal-Marts bathroom quickly, so a bored worker took me himself. There I stayed while they finished everything, listening to the retching of a girl pucking in the stall beside me. When I came out, they called me on a walkie-talkie asking where I was. I met them outside and we went to the Pastor's house. He had to run help a church with some technical stuff, so we waited for him outside in the warm, breezy night. There we met Noah, a talkative cute boy who kept climbing the brick mail boxes outside of their house. He brought us out some candy and some of his pictures he made. A few neighbors came by. Unsurprisingly, everyone seemed to know Noah. Pastor Andrew returned and we went to his church to watch a satellite broadcast of '05Revival by Doug Bachelor. It was about drawing close to God, and He in turn drawing close to us. Ryan, Jessica, and Andrew stayed at Pastor Andrews house, while Joy and I stayed at June's house, an older lady of the church. I took a glorious shower. Joy was very congested, so I shoved in some earplugs and dropped off to sleep.
Saturday
Today we did a Sabbath School presentation for Pastor Andrew's church. I joined a little class and had fun discussing the Church with fellow believers, especially because I've been thinking about the Church a lot. Then I met Polo who asked me all sorts of questions about our trip and if I knew what to tell people when they asked me what the gospel was. He's planning on meeting me in heaven.
At potluck we met a few Mexicans, showed some pictures, and talked with the young people of the church. Afterwards we relaxed all day at Pastor Andrews house. Joy had randomly met some of her old classmates from Africa, so they came by for some pictures and talking.
The Wild, Wild West
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Labels:
Arizona,
service,
travel,
world mission tour
Monday
Joy called into my tent early in the morning to wake me up. Feeling exhausted from the previous night's adventure in the bathroom, I tried to resist her beckonings, but she said that the Grand Canyon is best seen at sunrise and sunset. I extracted myself slowly from sleeiping bag, grabbed my camera, and tried to keep up with Joy, Jessica, and Ryan as we walked to an overlook. Just before we got to it, I put my contacts on my eyes, and stepped forward to see the grandness of the Grand Canyon. I now can testify to its verity. Jessica and Joy speedwalked off along the rim's pathway, while Ryan and I went about more slowly taking pictures and admiring the elks eating just off the path. I couldn't believe how tame they were. Eventually we met up again, took a few more pictures, and huddled together at a bus stop for a heated bus to take us back to our camp site. Did I mention it was freezing?
Back at camp, everyone ate breakfast except me, because I was becoming more and more nauseus. Jessica, being the nurse, told me I had to get energy from somewhere if I wanted to do any more walking around the Grand Canyon, so I sucked down some Gatorade.
We sat on a picnic table in the sunshine and Joy had worship for us. Then we took off to look at more of the canyon. Jessica and Andrew separated from us to have a little alone time (They ARE newlyweds...and they have spend 24-7 with us. I would want to alone too.), while Ryan, Joy, and I walked a bit, took the park bus to the end of the South Rim at Hermit's Rest, then returned on the bouncy seats to the Land Cruiser.
We left the park around two o'clock in the afternoon. Ideally I would have like to spend a couple days at the Grand Canyon. However, in my sick condition I was more than happy to drive on to Phoenix and stay with Ryan's great aunt, Auntie Alice. Also it was Ryan's birthday, so she was preparing a huge dinner for us.
The first impression I had of Auntie Alice was of a stylish, talkative woman. She met us at a Walgreens with her blue Mercedes, white outfit, and red lips. We followed her to her house in a retirement area. Because we are in Arizona, the yards are filled with rocks and bushes instead of grass. The houses are round and completely white. They reminded me of a white-washed Spanish mission.
Auntie Alice fed everyone mounds and mounds of food and then a beautiful prailines ice cream cake. I couldn't eat much due to my condition, but I was happy Ryan got such a great birthday feast. Everybody went out afterwards to some Halloween/covered wagon party, but I was feeling worse, so I stayed at the house and called some friends. When they got back, they shared funny stories about Ryan getting rejected by a couple fifteen year olds. Apparently he wanted to take a picture with them because it was his birthday or something, but they told him he was drunk and gave him the cold shoulder. Ouch.
Tuesday
I had another rough night and ended up spending today relaxing, writing (Hence, how I've been able to catch up on all of my journal. If the blogs are boring, I blame it on my sickness.), and being comforted by Peaches, Auntie Alice's toy poodle. I never thought I could love a toy poodle, but this dog is the most loyal canine I've ever met. It sat on my lap almost the entire day.
While I remained out of commission, everyone else did some final errands we needed to get done before leaving the country. Then Auntie Alice took them to Cheesecake Factory where the boys thoroughly gorged themselves. They were so full that they had to take a walk afterwards. Andrew, the biggest dog lover of the world, found a couple newfies and was happy the rest of the night.
Wednesday
Aw, finally I have caught up on my writing! I'm still sick and I'm still at Auntie Alice's house. I guess I'll have to return to Phoenix if I want to claim that I've ever really been here. The only part of Phoenix I've really seen has basically been the many figurines and family photos in Alice's house. Like I said before, I'm just glad this happened now and not in the middle of Mexico. I've never had such a ferocious stomach ache in my life. Yesterday my stomach felt like a couple of mice were having a boxing match inside of it. At one point my stomach emitted a sound exactly like thunder.
Tomorrow we are planning to leave for Mexico. Ever since I started being interested in going on this trip, I have been pushing to get into Latin America as soon as possible. Ironically, I might be the reason for a delay if I don't feel better soon.
Joy called into my tent early in the morning to wake me up. Feeling exhausted from the previous night's adventure in the bathroom, I tried to resist her beckonings, but she said that the Grand Canyon is best seen at sunrise and sunset. I extracted myself slowly from sleeiping bag, grabbed my camera, and tried to keep up with Joy, Jessica, and Ryan as we walked to an overlook. Just before we got to it, I put my contacts on my eyes, and stepped forward to see the grandness of the Grand Canyon. I now can testify to its verity. Jessica and Joy speedwalked off along the rim's pathway, while Ryan and I went about more slowly taking pictures and admiring the elks eating just off the path. I couldn't believe how tame they were. Eventually we met up again, took a few more pictures, and huddled together at a bus stop for a heated bus to take us back to our camp site. Did I mention it was freezing?
Back at camp, everyone ate breakfast except me, because I was becoming more and more nauseus. Jessica, being the nurse, told me I had to get energy from somewhere if I wanted to do any more walking around the Grand Canyon, so I sucked down some Gatorade.
We sat on a picnic table in the sunshine and Joy had worship for us. Then we took off to look at more of the canyon. Jessica and Andrew separated from us to have a little alone time (They ARE newlyweds...and they have spend 24-7 with us. I would want to alone too.), while Ryan, Joy, and I walked a bit, took the park bus to the end of the South Rim at Hermit's Rest, then returned on the bouncy seats to the Land Cruiser.
We left the park around two o'clock in the afternoon. Ideally I would have like to spend a couple days at the Grand Canyon. However, in my sick condition I was more than happy to drive on to Phoenix and stay with Ryan's great aunt, Auntie Alice. Also it was Ryan's birthday, so she was preparing a huge dinner for us.
The first impression I had of Auntie Alice was of a stylish, talkative woman. She met us at a Walgreens with her blue Mercedes, white outfit, and red lips. We followed her to her house in a retirement area. Because we are in Arizona, the yards are filled with rocks and bushes instead of grass. The houses are round and completely white. They reminded me of a white-washed Spanish mission.
Auntie Alice fed everyone mounds and mounds of food and then a beautiful prailines ice cream cake. I couldn't eat much due to my condition, but I was happy Ryan got such a great birthday feast. Everybody went out afterwards to some Halloween/covered wagon party, but I was feeling worse, so I stayed at the house and called some friends. When they got back, they shared funny stories about Ryan getting rejected by a couple fifteen year olds. Apparently he wanted to take a picture with them because it was his birthday or something, but they told him he was drunk and gave him the cold shoulder. Ouch.Tuesday
I had another rough night and ended up spending today relaxing, writing (Hence, how I've been able to catch up on all of my journal. If the blogs are boring, I blame it on my sickness.), and being comforted by Peaches, Auntie Alice's toy poodle. I never thought I could love a toy poodle, but this dog is the most loyal canine I've ever met. It sat on my lap almost the entire day.
While I remained out of commission, everyone else did some final errands we needed to get done before leaving the country. Then Auntie Alice took them to Cheesecake Factory where the boys thoroughly gorged themselves. They were so full that they had to take a walk afterwards. Andrew, the biggest dog lover of the world, found a couple newfies and was happy the rest of the night.
Wednesday
Aw, finally I have caught up on my writing! I'm still sick and I'm still at Auntie Alice's house. I guess I'll have to return to Phoenix if I want to claim that I've ever really been here. The only part of Phoenix I've really seen has basically been the many figurines and family photos in Alice's house. Like I said before, I'm just glad this happened now and not in the middle of Mexico. I've never had such a ferocious stomach ache in my life. Yesterday my stomach felt like a couple of mice were having a boxing match inside of it. At one point my stomach emitted a sound exactly like thunder.
Tomorrow we are planning to leave for Mexico. Ever since I started being interested in going on this trip, I have been pushing to get into Latin America as soon as possible. Ironically, I might be the reason for a delay if I don't feel better soon.
La Vida Loca: Wednesday-Sunday
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Labels:
New Mexico,
service,
travel,
world mission tour
Wednesday
Yesterday the group had listened to one of the staff members vocalize her concerns for La Vida Mission. They are greatly understaffed, and because of this, had to turn away students this school year. She was writing an article for the school's newsletter stating her concerns, but she wasn't sure if it was too harsh. She let us read the article and we all thought that it could be much stronger.
This morning, while Joy, Jessica, and the boys fixed electrical problems or helped teach, I spent editing the newsletter and making suggestions for her article. I also wrote six pages about some thoughts I've had inspired by our trip so far. It was sort of a prewriting exercise, because I'd like to write some articles for various publications about this trip. Foremost on my mind would be for my university's newspaper trying to inspire student missionaries to come to La Vida. I've fallen in love with the school and kids, and I think it would be a great place for a missionary to come especially if they are considering teaching elementary school, don't want to do mission work internationally or can't afford to do international mission work, and are interested in another culture.
At lunch I explained my editing to the newsletter writer and she was very thankful. I'm not saying I am the best writer or editor, but it's exciting to be able to see my college education actually help someone else.
The rest of the school day I helped Jessica clean out the school's hogan, a typical Navajo round structure. It looks similar to a Mongolian house, and in fact, many people think the Navajo came from the same area as the Mongolians and therefore share many similarities. Originally the school's hogan had been used as a place to display and sell Navajo art, but slowly deteriorated into a storage shed. We cleaned it up so that it could be returned to its original state. While patching up one of the windows with cardboard (until they get a new window) and duck tape, I met Raul, the Panamanian husband of the boy's houseparent. We spoke glorious Spanish while I continued working. Yet another person at La Vida who has a beautiful heart. I really don't want this school to go under.
As I was sweeping out the last of the dust out of the hogan, the girls I had taught gymnastics yesterday came running across campus to fetch me for another lesson (Again, if there are any people thinking about mission work and know gymnastics, the kids would love it if you came!). We had more participants this time around, so after going through all of the tumbling I'd taught the previous day, I had them do some pyramids. They were so excited! Afterwards, I did wrap-arounds with a few of the kids. From then until suppertime, I, along with Ryan, never had a moment where my arms weren't flinging around a child--of course in a safe manner.
We ate supper and played on the playground with the kids again until it was late and they had to go to their dorms. I've never seen so many monkeys on the monkey bars. We returned to our house for some relaxation, but the boys left to go somewhere. We didn't ponder their absence until after we'd finished watching a Shirley Temple movie ("Oh my goodness!"). Then we let our imagination run wild. Maybe they we're finishing up some electrical stuff? What if they were on fire? Irrational thoughts maybe, but we sprinted over to the school to find out that the boys were indeed finishing electrical work, but thankfully were not human torches. While they finished up, we made a list of all the things we would need to do before leaving the United States, then left them so they could finish.
Thursday
The next day the 5th-8th grade teacher, Miss Charity, returned to teaching (she had had strep) and was extremely thankful to the boys because now the television had power. We first met her in staff worship. She prayed for her friend working in Cameroon and I realized she was talking about the same person I know working in Cameroon. I'm telling you, the Adventist system is incredible for making connections.
Lara, the editor of the La Vida newsletter, needed our help folding the 5,000 newsletters they send out every month, so Jessica, Joy, and I got a rotation, assembly line going and folded, folded, folded until lunch. Like normal we ate with the kids. Already they are becoming attached to us and beg each of us to sit with them. After eating, I had numerous children asking over and over for me to swing them around again. We went into the gym and I played sit-on-the-shoulders basketball with Diedra, a cute little girl about eight or nine years old with big brown eyes and short brown hair. She seems the most attached to me than any of the other kids.
The kids returned to school, so, while the guys worked on laying tile and Joy finished folding newsletters, I helped Jessica collect the art items for the hogan and arrange them in the different showcases inside. While she did the final decorating touches, I tracked down the phone number of the boyfriend of one of my friends who has just returned from driving down to Central America. Come to find out, he is currently teaching in Korea. I called him on his cell phone way on the other side of the world, so the international minutes on my phone card went from one thousand-something to ninety. I really think it was worth the time and money because he gave me a lot of useful information and encouragement.
Quinton and Lara invited us over for supper, so we enjoyed fellowship, yummy food, and their daughter Rosie had me show them her wrap-around (throw around a kid and they'll love you forever).
We wanted to do something out of the ordinary for the kids, so our group put together a bonfire worship. Ryan and I played guitar and we all sang. We learned an important lesson for the future: little kids prefer to sing loud songs full of hand motions over the praise songs we sing at my university. Once we figured that out, the kids had a lot of fun, and were engaged as Andrew told them a story about when he was a student missionary in Africa.
When the kids had left, we cleaned up, but didn't put out the fire. Bob, the art teacher, explained that there isn't enough foliage for anything to catch fire. Apparently trees are scarce in the dessert :).
Friday
The other group members who are meeting us on our trip said they would be leaving to meet us in Phoenix early next week, so in order to meet them, today was our last work day at La Vida. The housemother for the girls, one of the nicest ladies I've ever met, invited us over to the girls' house for smoothies and quesidillas with the gals. Again little Diedra sat next to me. We had worship with them and then the housemother talked to us for awhile. Then everyone in our group worked together to finish tiling the school floor. At lunch Diedra and Jaime begged me to sit with them, so I did so and then later we had our final gymnastics session. We then continued laying tile until, YEAH, we finished! Just about that time, the kids were leaving to go home for the weekend. Hugs and repeated hugs came over and over. We waved to each other until the van went off into the distance.
Quinton and Lara invited us over again along with Charity and Bob to eat supper and welcome in the Sabbath. Our group then returned to our house for our own special vespers. We've been having daily worship with the staff members or with one or two other members in our group, so I was really missing our group's personal fellowship. It was refreshing to get together again, just us, to learn about God and discuss our blessings.
Saturday
Our group woke up and walked through the wash to the church. Joy and I went to the Navajo Sabbath school. I delighted in hearing the strong, Asian sounding tones of their language. Although Bob in not Navajo, he has spent over twenty years in the area and considers the people and place his home. He was in charge of Sabbath School and let me borrow his Navajo/English Bible. Being a lover of linguistics, I was fascinated with the structure of their sentences and their vocabulary. I learned, for example, that "diyin" means "holy" in English.
The church was to have communion that week and Charity had asked if we would occupy the kids while the adults washed each other's feet. Learning from our experience on Friday, we sang with them some hand motion songs. Then we played the telephone game using a Bible verse to show that a person must read the Bible for themselves, that they just can't let others tell it to them. Jessica picked a verse in Psalms that said something about trusting in God, but the end result of the chain was, "He said, 'feed me.'" I think we proved our point.
We had potluck at the boy's house (Raul and Celeste's house) and talked to Pastor Herra and his wife about our trip. They have traveled to Mexico on various mission trips, so they gave us some useful contacts and information. We chatted and chatted till most people left and then returned so we could all go hiking at Denazen.
Denazen is a beautiful area of New Mexico filled with mesas, plateaus, and buttes. Charity thinks it looks like the moon. Quinton, Lara, their three children, Charity, Bob, and our group explored the varied geography taking pictures and eventually exploring little caves.
In the evening, the staff came over to our house for supper, we played volleyball in the gym, Quinton interviewed us for the newsletter, and then our group relaxed and watched the Princess Bride. By the time we were finished with everything, it was still only about nine o'clock.
Sunday
We woke up early to start the packing process, but took a short detour to go hiking with Bob. He led us about one and half miles up to a mesa to look for shark teeth. Joy, although feeling very sick, was the most successful discoverer. She found a tooth and a shell fossil.
Back at the house, we continued packing and cleaning while periodically saying good-bye to staff members. After we'd finished smushing everything in the Land Cruiser, we drove over to Bob's house so Andrew could give him his boots and we could say bye. The Bible worker David prayed with us and we drove off to another destination: the Grand Canyon. Only Joy had been, so we felt like it would be a good thing to do on our way to Phoenix. Also on the way we passed by Four Corners and found out that we could indeed be in four places at once: New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. We took lots of pictures and then sampled some indian flatbread (sidenote: these side excursions are coming out of our own pockets. We aren't spending donated money for anything non-mission related). It tastes very similar to funnel cake and the Navajo even use powdered sugar to top it.
We drove for hours until it became dark and we finally reached our campground in the park. It was to be our first night camping. Unfortunately it wasn't the most pleasant experience for me. I was up most of the night in the bathroom. I won't get too specific, but for all you medical people, I think it was the first signs of Gheiardia. The first day at La Vida I had drunk a lot of water from the drinking fountains and the faucets. We found out later that sometimes the water is contaminated, so everyone drinks bottled, purified water. Well, if I have to be sick, at least it's still in the United States.
Yesterday the group had listened to one of the staff members vocalize her concerns for La Vida Mission. They are greatly understaffed, and because of this, had to turn away students this school year. She was writing an article for the school's newsletter stating her concerns, but she wasn't sure if it was too harsh. She let us read the article and we all thought that it could be much stronger.
This morning, while Joy, Jessica, and the boys fixed electrical problems or helped teach, I spent editing the newsletter and making suggestions for her article. I also wrote six pages about some thoughts I've had inspired by our trip so far. It was sort of a prewriting exercise, because I'd like to write some articles for various publications about this trip. Foremost on my mind would be for my university's newspaper trying to inspire student missionaries to come to La Vida. I've fallen in love with the school and kids, and I think it would be a great place for a missionary to come especially if they are considering teaching elementary school, don't want to do mission work internationally or can't afford to do international mission work, and are interested in another culture.
At lunch I explained my editing to the newsletter writer and she was very thankful. I'm not saying I am the best writer or editor, but it's exciting to be able to see my college education actually help someone else.
The rest of the school day I helped Jessica clean out the school's hogan, a typical Navajo round structure. It looks similar to a Mongolian house, and in fact, many people think the Navajo came from the same area as the Mongolians and therefore share many similarities. Originally the school's hogan had been used as a place to display and sell Navajo art, but slowly deteriorated into a storage shed. We cleaned it up so that it could be returned to its original state. While patching up one of the windows with cardboard (until they get a new window) and duck tape, I met Raul, the Panamanian husband of the boy's houseparent. We spoke glorious Spanish while I continued working. Yet another person at La Vida who has a beautiful heart. I really don't want this school to go under.
As I was sweeping out the last of the dust out of the hogan, the girls I had taught gymnastics yesterday came running across campus to fetch me for another lesson (Again, if there are any people thinking about mission work and know gymnastics, the kids would love it if you came!). We had more participants this time around, so after going through all of the tumbling I'd taught the previous day, I had them do some pyramids. They were so excited! Afterwards, I did wrap-arounds with a few of the kids. From then until suppertime, I, along with Ryan, never had a moment where my arms weren't flinging around a child--of course in a safe manner.
We ate supper and played on the playground with the kids again until it was late and they had to go to their dorms. I've never seen so many monkeys on the monkey bars. We returned to our house for some relaxation, but the boys left to go somewhere. We didn't ponder their absence until after we'd finished watching a Shirley Temple movie ("Oh my goodness!"). Then we let our imagination run wild. Maybe they we're finishing up some electrical stuff? What if they were on fire? Irrational thoughts maybe, but we sprinted over to the school to find out that the boys were indeed finishing electrical work, but thankfully were not human torches. While they finished up, we made a list of all the things we would need to do before leaving the United States, then left them so they could finish. Thursday
The next day the 5th-8th grade teacher, Miss Charity, returned to teaching (she had had strep) and was extremely thankful to the boys because now the television had power. We first met her in staff worship. She prayed for her friend working in Cameroon and I realized she was talking about the same person I know working in Cameroon. I'm telling you, the Adventist system is incredible for making connections.
Lara, the editor of the La Vida newsletter, needed our help folding the 5,000 newsletters they send out every month, so Jessica, Joy, and I got a rotation, assembly line going and folded, folded, folded until lunch. Like normal we ate with the kids. Already they are becoming attached to us and beg each of us to sit with them. After eating, I had numerous children asking over and over for me to swing them around again. We went into the gym and I played sit-on-the-shoulders basketball with Diedra, a cute little girl about eight or nine years old with big brown eyes and short brown hair. She seems the most attached to me than any of the other kids.
The kids returned to school, so, while the guys worked on laying tile and Joy finished folding newsletters, I helped Jessica collect the art items for the hogan and arrange them in the different showcases inside. While she did the final decorating touches, I tracked down the phone number of the boyfriend of one of my friends who has just returned from driving down to Central America. Come to find out, he is currently teaching in Korea. I called him on his cell phone way on the other side of the world, so the international minutes on my phone card went from one thousand-something to ninety. I really think it was worth the time and money because he gave me a lot of useful information and encouragement.
Quinton and Lara invited us over for supper, so we enjoyed fellowship, yummy food, and their daughter Rosie had me show them her wrap-around (throw around a kid and they'll love you forever).
We wanted to do something out of the ordinary for the kids, so our group put together a bonfire worship. Ryan and I played guitar and we all sang. We learned an important lesson for the future: little kids prefer to sing loud songs full of hand motions over the praise songs we sing at my university. Once we figured that out, the kids had a lot of fun, and were engaged as Andrew told them a story about when he was a student missionary in Africa.
When the kids had left, we cleaned up, but didn't put out the fire. Bob, the art teacher, explained that there isn't enough foliage for anything to catch fire. Apparently trees are scarce in the dessert :).
Friday
The other group members who are meeting us on our trip said they would be leaving to meet us in Phoenix early next week, so in order to meet them, today was our last work day at La Vida. The housemother for the girls, one of the nicest ladies I've ever met, invited us over to the girls' house for smoothies and quesidillas with the gals. Again little Diedra sat next to me. We had worship with them and then the housemother talked to us for awhile. Then everyone in our group worked together to finish tiling the school floor. At lunch Diedra and Jaime begged me to sit with them, so I did so and then later we had our final gymnastics session. We then continued laying tile until, YEAH, we finished! Just about that time, the kids were leaving to go home for the weekend. Hugs and repeated hugs came over and over. We waved to each other until the van went off into the distance.
Quinton and Lara invited us over again along with Charity and Bob to eat supper and welcome in the Sabbath. Our group then returned to our house for our own special vespers. We've been having daily worship with the staff members or with one or two other members in our group, so I was really missing our group's personal fellowship. It was refreshing to get together again, just us, to learn about God and discuss our blessings.
Saturday
Our group woke up and walked through the wash to the church. Joy and I went to the Navajo Sabbath school. I delighted in hearing the strong, Asian sounding tones of their language. Although Bob in not Navajo, he has spent over twenty years in the area and considers the people and place his home. He was in charge of Sabbath School and let me borrow his Navajo/English Bible. Being a lover of linguistics, I was fascinated with the structure of their sentences and their vocabulary. I learned, for example, that "diyin" means "holy" in English.
The church was to have communion that week and Charity had asked if we would occupy the kids while the adults washed each other's feet. Learning from our experience on Friday, we sang with them some hand motion songs. Then we played the telephone game using a Bible verse to show that a person must read the Bible for themselves, that they just can't let others tell it to them. Jessica picked a verse in Psalms that said something about trusting in God, but the end result of the chain was, "He said, 'feed me.'" I think we proved our point.
We had potluck at the boy's house (Raul and Celeste's house) and talked to Pastor Herra and his wife about our trip. They have traveled to Mexico on various mission trips, so they gave us some useful contacts and information. We chatted and chatted till most people left and then returned so we could all go hiking at Denazen.
Denazen is a beautiful area of New Mexico filled with mesas, plateaus, and buttes. Charity thinks it looks like the moon. Quinton, Lara, their three children, Charity, Bob, and our group explored the varied geography taking pictures and eventually exploring little caves.
In the evening, the staff came over to our house for supper, we played volleyball in the gym, Quinton interviewed us for the newsletter, and then our group relaxed and watched the Princess Bride. By the time we were finished with everything, it was still only about nine o'clock.
Sunday
We woke up early to start the packing process, but took a short detour to go hiking with Bob. He led us about one and half miles up to a mesa to look for shark teeth. Joy, although feeling very sick, was the most successful discoverer. She found a tooth and a shell fossil.
Back at the house, we continued packing and cleaning while periodically saying good-bye to staff members. After we'd finished smushing everything in the Land Cruiser, we drove over to Bob's house so Andrew could give him his boots and we could say bye. The Bible worker David prayed with us and we drove off to another destination: the Grand Canyon. Only Joy had been, so we felt like it would be a good thing to do on our way to Phoenix. Also on the way we passed by Four Corners and found out that we could indeed be in four places at once: New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. We took lots of pictures and then sampled some indian flatbread (sidenote: these side excursions are coming out of our own pockets. We aren't spending donated money for anything non-mission related). It tastes very similar to funnel cake and the Navajo even use powdered sugar to top it.
We drove for hours until it became dark and we finally reached our campground in the park. It was to be our first night camping. Unfortunately it wasn't the most pleasant experience for me. I was up most of the night in the bathroom. I won't get too specific, but for all you medical people, I think it was the first signs of Gheiardia. The first day at La Vida I had drunk a lot of water from the drinking fountains and the faucets. We found out later that sometimes the water is contaminated, so everyone drinks bottled, purified water. Well, if I have to be sick, at least it's still in the United States.
Livin' La Vida Loca: Sunday-Tuesday
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Labels:
New Mexico,
service,
travel,
world mission tour
Here's a quick look at the past week:
Sunday morning we loaded up our truck, taking a bit of time to try and improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle to improve our ten mile-per-gallon gas average. The camp manager at the foregrounds gave us a bunch of Gatorade and some granola bars. Everyone is so nice!
We ate breakfast the new Waveland Cafe--the Rainbow kitchen--and stocked up on Special K breakfast bars,cliff bars,and more Quaker Oat bars.We said good-bye to our Rainbow friends and then had an emotional farewell with Roberto. Then we began a long, long journey to Mesquite, Texas.
We spent the drive listening to Ryan's ipod. I also forced everyone to listen to Roman History (they are actually starting to admit they like it a bit). Besides that it was just stops for gas (It costs us more than sixty dollars every time) and eating lots and lots of granola bars.
Around 10:30PM we arrived at Mesquite. Mike, a guy Andrew and Jessica met on their honeymoon cruise this past summer, met us at a gas station and took us Henry and Anita's house, a couple who had also been on the cruise. These people are good ole southern folks. As soon as the door opened I was enveloped with cigarette smoke and the sight of numerousknick knacks.We sat down andlistenedto stories about the cruise and numerous other things. I think they think we are crazy for going on our trip. Ryan taught Henry's son a little guitar, while the chatting and drinking (not by us) continued late into the night.
Eventually we followed Mike to his house. We rolled out our sleeping bags all in a row on the living room floor. Andrew and Mike conversed until around 2AM. I was in my sleeping bag, but heard most of it--quality issues about the end of times, our trip, and the difficulty it is to break out of one's niche, even if one knows it's not the happiest, nor best place in which to be.
Monday
The endless driving continued the next morning around 10:30AM. We said good-bye to Mike and met his and Cindy's kids or pseudo kids. Then it was on the road again. We first took a small detour to the city library to try and find out directions on the internet to get to La Vida Mission. When one of the librarians saw Ryan using the internet she got all huffy puffy, called someone on her phone, and told him to get off the computers. The rest of us took off when we saw the drama beginning. So much for unity.
We then stopped to buy groceries, but the first place we went to was just a glorified gas station without anything nutritional. We moved on to a Kroger, bought cheap bread, peanut butter, and jelly. In all it cost us about five bucks.
Next it was a stop at Wal-Mart for purchasing video tapes and getting an oil change. While we waited for the Land Cruiser to get lubed, we played a long, glorious game of hacky-sack in the parking lot. Occasionally the hacky-sack would fall in oil or some other nasty, unidentifiable liquid, but Ryan would just try to get off as much as possible by throwing it against a wall. Then it was "GAME ON!" Whenever we'd get a hack we would all stop, cheer, and hack--you know, cough. *ha'e, ha'e* I'm glad I'm traveling with some other cheesy people. They are what makes the world interesting.
On and on we went. I read out loud around ten chapters of Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. It is a very descriptive book with Lewisian vocabulary, but to my glee, everyone seemed to love it. Finally we stopped in Alburquerque, New Mexico long after the sun went down. We stopped at the biggest trucker's gas station I have ever seen in my entire life!To get to the bathroom I had to pass by a small theater-like area where around 20 truckers were watching a movie. As I passed (and the other girls too) about two thirds of them turned their heads to watch us walk by. Kind of strange.
Andrew was becoming strange, or better said angry. Little did we know that just before stopping at the gas station he had been so hungry and therefore so angry that he was grinding his teeth. We had to find the man some real food and fast! We zipped back the way we came four miles until we got to a Taco Bell, Joy ordered ten burritos straight up, and we feasted for seven bucks.
Around 12:30AM we arrived at La Vida Mission. We had called them to tell them we were coming, so they had a house and food waiting for us. We were so ecstatic. We never expected anything so nice.Andrew and Jessica got their own room (I'm sure they were super happy about that), Ryan slept on the living room floor even though we had two free rooms ("So I can know when everyone's up!")and Joy and I shared a room. We have been living in a decent sized house and lacking in no way.We were later to find out in the week that this was just the beginning of the La Vida staff's kindness.
Tuesday
We woke up around eight o'clock, ate breakfast--real cereal--, and went to staff worship at La Vida's Medical clinic. Everyone introduced themselves and then we got going with the day. The 5th-8th grade teacher, Miss Charity, was sick, so Quinton, the administrator, asked us gals to help himsubstitute. I found out that I'm best at teaching physical stuff. I lead out in stretching for the day. Then the kids began reading or something.We all felt kind of unuseful, so slowly we migratedto the hallway where the boys were laying tile. We helpedfor a while until lunch. After eating, I helped put together sack lunches for all the kids for the next day with Joy and Jessica. The cook was so thankful for the help. Then I helpedthe physical education class with Ryan by playing soccer. My team was excellent.We had two littleboys around eight or nine years old whoactually passed it to eachother and could shoot. Ryan and I were amazed! After killing the other team, 4-0, I took some pictures ofJoy teaching computer class. Then I had to teach Health Class--like Isaid, I'm better at teaching physical stuff.
I felt much more comfortable getting outa couple mats after school and teaching Rhiannan and Latifah forward rolls, straddle rolls, backward rolls, and two-highs. Joy was our "crash-test dummy" who"demonstrated" all the moves, or, rather, showed all the other kids that there was no way they coulddo the moves any moresloppily than she. Ryan helpedme spot, demonstrate, etc. Except for the occasional dog that would run across the mats,gymnastics was asuccess. We stopped only because it was supper time.Ryan and I put away the mats and he taught me how to properly shoot lay-ups.
The playing continued after our tummies were full--probably not a good idea...especially for what happened on the playground. We tried out all the equipment with the kids, sliding down the slides, going up-and-down on the teeter-tooter, and eventually heading to the *da,duh,da!* monkey bars. Poor Ryan.
That's all I have to say. We were all demonstrating how we could swing and hang from the bars happily until he decided to hop from bar to bar with two hand. Then it was *WHAM!* Down Ryan fell. He looked like a murdered victim, appendages spread out in all ways from his body--like a muppet tossed in the air.
Ryan recovered and we walked over to the church for Tuesday night worship at the Church. The kids all sing hymns, and actually know the number of the songs (hymn number one being their favorite). I was impressed. After worship, we met the pastor, Mr. Herra. The boys know his brother. Crazy to find that sort of connection out in the middle of the desert, but then again we are in SDA community. We told Pastor Herra about Roberto and how he had wanted to study Revelation, but how all of us felt that we needed auxillary materials to delve into it with him. Pastor Herra told us he'd try to help us find something by next Sabbath (he has three churches so he wouldn't be around all week), and we said our thanks and good-byes.
Oh my...then the drama began. Ryan's hair was becoming mushroom-like and somehow he felt confident to have us cut it. Big mistake, but boy did we have fun! Every single one of us took a turn at snipping off large locks, more than half of us never having cut anyone's hair. Andrew's massacre was the most severe. I think he was inspired by theDumb and Dumber movie we had watched our first night in Mississippi because he chopped Ryan's bangs straight across his forehead. During this process, Ryan slowly metamorphized from his normal cheerful self into the face of mixed depression and apathy. While Ryan felt the unevenness of his hair, Andrew kept responding, "It's layers!" Thankfully Joy helpedeven up hisabstractlocks, but he still did not have any hesitations about declaring it to be the worst hair cut he has ever had.
Sunday morning we loaded up our truck, taking a bit of time to try and improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle to improve our ten mile-per-gallon gas average. The camp manager at the foregrounds gave us a bunch of Gatorade and some granola bars. Everyone is so nice!
We ate breakfast the new Waveland Cafe--the Rainbow kitchen--and stocked up on Special K breakfast bars,cliff bars,and more Quaker Oat bars.We said good-bye to our Rainbow friends and then had an emotional farewell with Roberto. Then we began a long, long journey to Mesquite, Texas.
We spent the drive listening to Ryan's ipod. I also forced everyone to listen to Roman History (they are actually starting to admit they like it a bit). Besides that it was just stops for gas (It costs us more than sixty dollars every time) and eating lots and lots of granola bars.
Around 10:30PM we arrived at Mesquite. Mike, a guy Andrew and Jessica met on their honeymoon cruise this past summer, met us at a gas station and took us Henry and Anita's house, a couple who had also been on the cruise. These people are good ole southern folks. As soon as the door opened I was enveloped with cigarette smoke and the sight of numerousknick knacks.We sat down andlistenedto stories about the cruise and numerous other things. I think they think we are crazy for going on our trip. Ryan taught Henry's son a little guitar, while the chatting and drinking (not by us) continued late into the night.
Eventually we followed Mike to his house. We rolled out our sleeping bags all in a row on the living room floor. Andrew and Mike conversed until around 2AM. I was in my sleeping bag, but heard most of it--quality issues about the end of times, our trip, and the difficulty it is to break out of one's niche, even if one knows it's not the happiest, nor best place in which to be.
Monday
The endless driving continued the next morning around 10:30AM. We said good-bye to Mike and met his and Cindy's kids or pseudo kids. Then it was on the road again. We first took a small detour to the city library to try and find out directions on the internet to get to La Vida Mission. When one of the librarians saw Ryan using the internet she got all huffy puffy, called someone on her phone, and told him to get off the computers. The rest of us took off when we saw the drama beginning. So much for unity.
We then stopped to buy groceries, but the first place we went to was just a glorified gas station without anything nutritional. We moved on to a Kroger, bought cheap bread, peanut butter, and jelly. In all it cost us about five bucks.
Next it was a stop at Wal-Mart for purchasing video tapes and getting an oil change. While we waited for the Land Cruiser to get lubed, we played a long, glorious game of hacky-sack in the parking lot. Occasionally the hacky-sack would fall in oil or some other nasty, unidentifiable liquid, but Ryan would just try to get off as much as possible by throwing it against a wall. Then it was "GAME ON!" Whenever we'd get a hack we would all stop, cheer, and hack--you know, cough. *ha'e, ha'e* I'm glad I'm traveling with some other cheesy people. They are what makes the world interesting.
On and on we went. I read out loud around ten chapters of Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. It is a very descriptive book with Lewisian vocabulary, but to my glee, everyone seemed to love it. Finally we stopped in Alburquerque, New Mexico long after the sun went down. We stopped at the biggest trucker's gas station I have ever seen in my entire life!To get to the bathroom I had to pass by a small theater-like area where around 20 truckers were watching a movie. As I passed (and the other girls too) about two thirds of them turned their heads to watch us walk by. Kind of strange.
Andrew was becoming strange, or better said angry. Little did we know that just before stopping at the gas station he had been so hungry and therefore so angry that he was grinding his teeth. We had to find the man some real food and fast! We zipped back the way we came four miles until we got to a Taco Bell, Joy ordered ten burritos straight up, and we feasted for seven bucks.
Around 12:30AM we arrived at La Vida Mission. We had called them to tell them we were coming, so they had a house and food waiting for us. We were so ecstatic. We never expected anything so nice.Andrew and Jessica got their own room (I'm sure they were super happy about that), Ryan slept on the living room floor even though we had two free rooms ("So I can know when everyone's up!")and Joy and I shared a room. We have been living in a decent sized house and lacking in no way.We were later to find out in the week that this was just the beginning of the La Vida staff's kindness.
Tuesday
We woke up around eight o'clock, ate breakfast--real cereal--, and went to staff worship at La Vida's Medical clinic. Everyone introduced themselves and then we got going with the day. The 5th-8th grade teacher, Miss Charity, was sick, so Quinton, the administrator, asked us gals to help himsubstitute. I found out that I'm best at teaching physical stuff. I lead out in stretching for the day. Then the kids began reading or something.We all felt kind of unuseful, so slowly we migratedto the hallway where the boys were laying tile. We helpedfor a while until lunch. After eating, I helped put together sack lunches for all the kids for the next day with Joy and Jessica. The cook was so thankful for the help. Then I helpedthe physical education class with Ryan by playing soccer. My team was excellent.We had two littleboys around eight or nine years old whoactually passed it to eachother and could shoot. Ryan and I were amazed! After killing the other team, 4-0, I took some pictures ofJoy teaching computer class. Then I had to teach Health Class--like Isaid, I'm better at teaching physical stuff.
I felt much more comfortable getting outa couple mats after school and teaching Rhiannan and Latifah forward rolls, straddle rolls, backward rolls, and two-highs. Joy was our "crash-test dummy" who"demonstrated" all the moves, or, rather, showed all the other kids that there was no way they coulddo the moves any moresloppily than she. Ryan helpedme spot, demonstrate, etc. Except for the occasional dog that would run across the mats,gymnastics was asuccess. We stopped only because it was supper time.Ryan and I put away the mats and he taught me how to properly shoot lay-ups.
The playing continued after our tummies were full--probably not a good idea...especially for what happened on the playground. We tried out all the equipment with the kids, sliding down the slides, going up-and-down on the teeter-tooter, and eventually heading to the *da,duh,da!* monkey bars. Poor Ryan.
That's all I have to say. We were all demonstrating how we could swing and hang from the bars happily until he decided to hop from bar to bar with two hand. Then it was *WHAM!* Down Ryan fell. He looked like a murdered victim, appendages spread out in all ways from his body--like a muppet tossed in the air.
Ryan recovered and we walked over to the church for Tuesday night worship at the Church. The kids all sing hymns, and actually know the number of the songs (hymn number one being their favorite). I was impressed. After worship, we met the pastor, Mr. Herra. The boys know his brother. Crazy to find that sort of connection out in the middle of the desert, but then again we are in SDA community. We told Pastor Herra about Roberto and how he had wanted to study Revelation, but how all of us felt that we needed auxillary materials to delve into it with him. Pastor Herra told us he'd try to help us find something by next Sabbath (he has three churches so he wouldn't be around all week), and we said our thanks and good-byes.
Oh my...then the drama began. Ryan's hair was becoming mushroom-like and somehow he felt confident to have us cut it. Big mistake, but boy did we have fun! Every single one of us took a turn at snipping off large locks, more than half of us never having cut anyone's hair. Andrew's massacre was the most severe. I think he was inspired by theDumb and Dumber movie we had watched our first night in Mississippi because he chopped Ryan's bangs straight across his forehead. During this process, Ryan slowly metamorphized from his normal cheerful self into the face of mixed depression and apathy. While Ryan felt the unevenness of his hair, Andrew kept responding, "It's layers!" Thankfully Joy helpedeven up hisabstractlocks, but he still did not have any hesitations about declaring it to be the worst hair cut he has ever had.
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