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Published: September 6th 2011
Eating ants
This is one of Jess's photos. I couldn't work myself up to photographing the things.I had a pet spider once. His name was Jorge. Well, I guess I can’t technically use the term ‘pet’; he was more of an acquaintance who I had a good cohabiting relationship with. Jorge and I agreed upon two things: 1. That he could live in my room as long as he never left the window sill, and 2. That he could eat as many ants as he wanted. This arrangement worked out nicely for both us.
You see, I hate ants. They are horrible disgusting critters. A spider, with its 8 legs and more then enough eyes, is creepy but at least, in most cases, it works well independently. Ants, on the other hand, work in colonies. COLONIES. That’s a lot of ants. That’s a lot of ants. One bite may not hurt for more then a second or two, but where there’s one any there’s a thousand and a thousand can kill. They outnumber humans, thousands to one; in fact, according to worldometers.info the human population is currently 6,988,368,986 and rising every second… now it’s 6,988,369,018. Ants, on the other hand, populate the world with over a quadrillion of them (don’t ask where I got the stats)
with a billion births every second. One of my worst nightmares is to be eaten alive by ants. I know how unrealistic it is that that would ever happen but it still gives me the hibbie jibbies. Have you ever seen that episode of Castle? Or the 4th Indiana Jones? Ants freak me out.
And so I have discovered that along with His vast knowledge of the universe God has a sense of humour. My life in Mexico is infested with ants; little ones, big ones, red ones, yellow ones, all of them biting ones. They visit me in the shower, they fly into my face as I am trying to sleep, and they pour into my room by the dozens if the window was not shut properly and it is raining outside. And if this wasn’t humorous enough, God thought it would be a great idea to have one week where GIANT ants would appear on the property out of nowhere. I mean, these ants are HUGE and they FLY…..and the Mexicans think they are a delicacy. That’s right, they eat them. The kids run around catching the ants and then eat them. Alive or cooked, it doesn’t
matter. They think it’s great! Juicy. It was one of my worst weeks ever. But…it was only one week. One week from a total of 35!
Sadly, I have let another 3 months pass without writing an update of my times here. Since the end of May, we have seen 7 more work groups come and go and a bunch of short term missionaries. Jess visited Ottawa without me, leaving me to experience Mexico solo for the first time. I have hiked the Sleeping Lady, tried Mexican sushi, slept in a youth hostel in Oaxaca, hung out with an Australian wine connoisseur and a British actor in Puerto Escondido, made Beaver Tails to celebrate Canada Day, visited the home in Morelia, took care of an infant for 4 days/nights and…wait for it…tried surfing in Puerto Escondido. It has been a very jam-packed and busy three months which leads me to the word of the month(s)…
Eventful
Where have the summer months gone? I can hardly believe that we are already in September and that September 7, 2011 (tomorrow) will mark the end of 35 weeks for Jess and I in Tlacolula, Oaxaca. 35 weeks! That’s almost exactly 8
months. It’s crazy to think that every day passed is another day closer to when I will be returning home. I am not sure about how I feel about the idea of returning home. Part of me feels like it couldn’t come soon enough and that maybe I’ll look at coming home sooner then I had planned, but the other part of me feels like things aren’t done here. It’s hard to know or comprehend what God’s plan is; what my plan is.
Bible Verse of the Month(s)
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-7
I have found Ecclesiastes to be one of the most depressing books in the bible. “Everything is meaningless” the author continues to remind us with time and time again. Life is meaningless, he says, but make sure to live it to the fullest. There is a time for everything and there is enough time for anything as long as you put your mind to it. We only get one life so make sure you live it without any regrets.
Highlights
Here is an outline of my experiences the past three months:
JUNE - We had two groups led by Jim Hardman volunteer at the base in the month of June. Jim and his wife, Arlene, are parents of 4 kids that they have decided to homeschool. As part of a homeschool group in Chicago, Jim teaches Spanish. He is an excellent Spanish teacher as I got to experience first hand – he spent part
Father/Daughter day
All of the little girls got coupled with a father-figure. This was the kick-off dinner. of his ministry here giving Jess and myself Spanish lessons. He was very helpful and taught us as much as he could in the little time he had. I thought my head was going to explode with the amount of information he had to give. The teams that he brought were also exceptional. They consisted of home school students and their parents who were just very hardworking and willing to work on whatever was needed. I spent a good few afternoons gardening with Arlene and Val. It was very encouraging to see such a good group of people here to serve.
- On June 13, Krista Lundberg arrived at the home to work for a month. Krista is nineteen, Alaskan, and a violin player; or in summary: she is awesome. Krista got a long very well with Jess and I because we would joke that she is pretty much Canadian due to the fact that she is closer in proximity to us than the rest of the States.
- Jess and I had one day off between the second Hardman Group and another group who called themselves Pura Via. We decided to take the Saturday night and Sunday
Day and spend some time in Oaxaca City. We stayed at a youth hostel that we had discovered the week before with Jeff (another short term missionary here for a month) and met a bunch of young Mexicans from the Baja region. While out and about that evening we discovered that it was my half birthday AND that I shared a birthday with one of the Mexican boys. This was a very special occasion because it is rare that I meet anyone who has my December 26 birthday, let alone on our half birthday.
- The next Monday, June 27, a small group of 2 arrived. It was a mother and daughter duo who was travelling around Oaxaca and wanted to work at the mission for a week. The girls were actually very nice and did a lot of gardening and painting.
JULY - July 1 was Canada Day and Jess and I were determined to make something of the holiday. In fact, Krista who, as stated earlier, agrees that she is pretty much Canadian, wanted to celebrate with us. So, to honour our country we looked up a recipe and made Beaver Tails!! We thought
that all the American and Mexican staff should enjoy our Canadian delicacy so we made little flags and brought beaver tails to the entire staff.
- Not to outdo us, but the Americans had a nice barbeque on July 4th. We were invited. The Beaver Tails were still better.
- We had a group from Camrose, Alberta here from June 30 to July 8. This team was less the ideal. There were 5 youth and 2 adults but they were just very lazy.
- After the Camrose group, Jess and I were in need of another get-away. So, we took the weekend to go to Puerto Escondido!! Puerto Escondido was a blast. It is a small fishermans village that is very well known for their surfing. In fact, they have a HUGE worldwide surf competition that is held there every year in October/November. Rather then stay at a resort, Jess and I wanted to experience the beach from a more local perspective, so we stayed at a youth hostel. At the hostel, we made friends with a 23 year old British model/actor and a 21 year old Australian wine connoisseur who were backpacking through Mexico. They were
Puerto Escondido
Attempting to surf hilarious. The Australian also happens to be a very good surfer and promised that he would give us free surf lessons if we rented the boards! So, long story short, we went out the next day and attempted to surf! I say attempted because I never actually stood up…but I did board right into a huge tentacle and almost lost my swimsuit after being tackled by a wave. During the trip, we also met a different group of British backpackers and went on a boat tour with them to find turtles. We saw very few turtles, but we did run into a group of dolphins! We stopped the boat so everyone could jump into the water and swim with the dolphins. It was a pretty fun experience. We also caught a fish during the little adventure and got a man on the beach to prepare it so we could cook it for dinner. You meet a lot of interesting people staying in youth hostels. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an adventure.
- Soon after we got home from our Puerto Escondido adventure, Krista and Jeff left to return to their lives in the states.
- However, around the same time Michelle, Jess’s mom, arrived to spend 10 days in Oaxaca with us. Michelle was the first family member for either of us to arrive so it was pretty fun. We visited Monte Alban with her so we could see the ruins when they are green after the rainy season. We also got to visit Teotitlan, which is a town close to us that is mainly known for their rug making. Jess and I had been wanting to visit the town since we arrived in Tlacolula but hadn’t had a chance until then.
- On July 15th, we finally moved into separate rooms in a single ladies staff house. The separate rooms would be short lived, but it has been nice living with other staff women rather then the university girls.
*From July 16th to 23rd we had the Via Cordia group here from LA. They were a very random group with a wide range of age and personality style but they were fun.
- At the end of the month, Jess left me alone in Mexico so she could return to Ottawa for a visit. It was lonely but I ended spending
Saying goodbye to Peter
Peter was a member of the board of directors that was overseeing Oaxaca. He has decided to take some time off so we threw a special dinner for him. a lot more time with Andrea, Jill and Janelle.
AUGUST - We only had one group here in August because the second group cancelled. The group that was here was from Bridge Bible fellowship and they were at the mission from August 8th to 17th. They were great! Really hardworking and very helpful as we worked on finishing up tasks before school started.
*Since Jess was in Canada for her actual birthday, we had to take her out for an evening once she got back. We decided to go for sushi at a restaurant Jess and I hadn’t been to since we first arrived and then to McDonalds for desert. Oh, the luxuries we have in Oaxaca.
- On August 24th we opened the doors (officially) to the new school at the mission! The kids all look so cute in their uniforms.
- From August 21st to 29th, Ian, Elaine, Jess and myself we sent to the mission in Morelia to help them with a few things that they were getting behind on, including accounting and sponsorship. Jess and I spent the week working on getting all of the children’s histories and sponsorship update….but I
will get into more detail about this in my next post.
- The day we got back from Morelia, Jess and I volunteered to take care of 4 month old Nathan so Jill and Janelle could go on a baby-free vacation to Huatulco for a few days. It was really fun to spend some time with Nathan during the day. The evenings, for me at least, were not so fun. Nathan was sick and so would wake up repeatedly for me and want to be held and walked around. I was exhausted and now I am sick. Thanks Nathan.
Prayer Requests
1. The primary school has just opened! The first couple weeks have been a great success but I know the teachers and students are finding it a bit of a challenge as they get used to the new routine. Please pray for the teachers, the children, and the funding for buildings.
2. Jess is one of those teachers who is feeling challenged. She is teaching music twice a week to kids of two different age groups. I think she did a great job last week (which was her first week) but she could definitely use some encouragement! The kids have never had a music class before so this is all new to them.
3. Our next group does not arrive until October 1st. Please pray that I will find things to occupy my time around the home until them.
4. My Spanish is better…but could be much much better then it is. I’m beginning to wonder if I just don’t have a gift for languages.
5. We have three new babies at the mission. Lucas is now 6 months, is HIV and Hep C free and is very happy. He is being taken care of by Carmen and Fabien (The director of the school and the director of the mission) but has been showing signs of a cold since he got here 2 months ago. Nathan is now 4 months old and is free from HIV but has Hep C. He is being taken care of by Jill (the housemother for the older girls) and is super cute but is sick right now – as mentioned above. Amy is a week old now and is being taken care of by Alondra (the housemother of the nursery). She is very tiny and was born pre-me.
Drink Milk. Love life. And don’t play leap frog with Unicorns.
15 weeks to go!
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Amber Grobbelaar
non-member comment
Darn, Leah! I was totes planning on playing leap frog with unicorns tomorrow.. they are gonna be so dissapointed when I cancel ;)