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Published: January 15th 2011
Casa Hogar
This is the entrance to the home Well the rest of week 1 brought more time to adjust and experience more of life within the home - and Oaxaca for that matter. Tuesday night we did make it into Oaxaca City. We parked and got to walk around the Zokolo (city center) a bit. We were on a bit of a time constraint because we were set to meet Ricardo (one of the house parents here) and his father-in-law Keith, who had just driven back down from Seattle! Ricardo's wife Andrea also works here at the home, and she had her baby 2 months early when they went to visit family at home in Seattle. So it was a big reunion night for everyone. We met Ricardo and Keith for dinner at Don Juanito's, which was a nice little restaurant right near the city center. It was quite beautiful inside. There was a big fountain in the middle and everything! I love the open concept of things in warm countries. They just have the breeze coming in to the restaurants and have such a relaxed atmosphere about them! I know some of you have been very curious about the food we have been eating here...so I will tell
The home and the mountains!
This is what I live in the middle of! you that I did enjoy some tacos de pastor for dinner. They are basically these mini tacos with seasoned pork in them. Then they bring out the tray with all your salsas, pico de guillo, guacamole and all the good stuff! Yum! My taste buds are getting adjusted to the spiciness of the salsa down here. Let's just say it puts Taco Bell's fire sauce to shame! haha. It was also good to have a diet Coke there! The mystery juice we get with our lunch and dinner sometimes gets a bit old! It was nice to have something fizzy! However, as good as the tacos were there, we had the same thing for lunch today here at Casa Hogar....and I have to say Flor and her staff in the kitchen make some mean tacos! Yum! Between the tacos and getting fresh cucumber today (we don't get too many vegetables with out meals - to today was a big, exciting day for my stomach!) we were golden!
Anyways, after we went to dinner, the crew headed off to the airport to grab Andrea, her mum and baby Micah! Leah and I got dropped off at a store called Soreanas along
Sunset
Love it. the way. We had a couple things we wanted to grab for the visitors center...and a couple things for ourselves as well (such as coffee!) We quickly realized once we were in there that there was no need to bring the massive amounts of toiletries that Leah and I each brought from Canada. Oops! haha. We know better for next time 😉 We ended up having to kill about an hour and a half there...so we ended up doing some grocery shopping and got ourselves a couple odds and ends to stock up our recently cleaned kitchen in the visitors center! (Man it took a lot of work to get this place cleaned up! haha - no wonder Leah and I are passing out HARD at night!) We didn't end up getting back to the mission till about 11 that night - which at home would never have been an issue - but it felt so late for here! Definitely time to just crawl in bed and pass out!
Wednesday brought about more cleaning and sorting - however it also brought another very exciting discovery. In addition to finding a couple pictures of the first KBC team that came down
Tlacolula
On top of the hill coming into Tlacolula. The picture is complete with smoke coming from one of the local farmers burning their fields - a very old agricultural practice which is still very common here about 5 years ago (Dad - you had more hair and it was so blonde! hehe - love you!), I found a guitar in the storage room! Elaine said it was left by one of the groups that came down, but has just been sitting in storage for the last 3 years. She said they had brought a couple guitars over to the children's home in the past, but they always end up getting ruined or disappearing, so they have been keeping it there for safe storage. However, after hearing that I play, she gave me full rights to the guitar for the year! Woo! What an answer to prayer. It was literally earlier that day that I was wishing I had a means to play guitar and bust out some worship music! That one was answered quickly! Its a red sunburst-esque Yamaha...with 3 year old strings. They kinda hurt my fingers - and turn them green - but I am so excited to have it! So if anyone is compelled to send me strings, let me know and I will give you the address to the home! haha. I am the designated mail-picker-upper for the next year anyway! Ooooh....that
Las ninas!
At the church with Sol y Veronica leads to another story - driving in Tlacolula! AHHHHH!!!!
So I believe last time I had updated, I had gone to the post office with Janelle and the Urvan. Well....I needed to go to the post office again to mail about 20 more letters to the Baja to then be sent out to the sponsors. That meant it time to see if I could remember where to go in Tlacolula. I brought Leah along with me as moral support. Thankfully I didn't have to take the gray van (I drove it around the home on Wednesday to fill up all the water jugs and haul them back an forth - that thing is stinking huge!) I did however take the standard pick-up truck with this tent-like cover on the back bed of the truck - making visibility a little bit tricky. Yeah...that was fun! We made it into town...and made the correct first couple turns...then missed the one by the bank. That's right - I got lost. We kept driving down the street, and I started recognizing less and less. We ended up making our way back out of town...pulled a U-turn (in one of the designated turn-arounds - I'm
Celina's photography
Lina and I....she took the photo. She's pretty good! (not to mention adorable!) not driving like the crazy Mexican drivers just yet!) and headed back for round 2. It was much more successful, except for the fact that one of the primary schools had just let out, meaning there were kids everywhere! Add that to these three wheeled moto-taxi things, big trucks, random traffic cops, and nothing to indicate who has the right away at an intersection and you have a very flustered Jessica! (I later learned rules about the right aways - its pretty much whoever takes it! Usually the bigger vehicle. Fun eh? At least that means that often times it will be me as all the vehicles here are so much bigger than my little civic at home!) We found the correct turn and soon found the bright pink post office! (gotta love the fact that its at least recognizable!) So I parked the thing on this tiny one-way street where there is no shoulder. I had to shimmy out of the truck since it was parked so close to one of the buildings! Leah stayed in the truck while I ran in because I couldn't figure out how to get the key out of the truck! Talk about flustered!
Driving in Tlacolula
Its all about the FOCUS! So in I went to the post office where they speak only Spanish. Fun! I got by ok - Picked up the mail, sent the package to the Baja, got my nota (receipt) and made my way back to the truck - just in time to get honked at. Gotta love being a white girl! haha. Ah man.
I got back to the truck and Leah was sitting there with the doors locked with this look of terror on her face. I got back in and she told me about how this HUGE truck had passed by and totally almost taken us out! They were within inches of hitting the side mirror. Yikes! Perhaps bigger streets are in order! Wishful thinking, I know. But with that, we took off and headed back for Casa Hogar. The ride home went smoothly. The truck actually drives pretty nice - when I actually see the signs for all the "topes" (massive speed bumps) and don't send us flying. Oops! - It only happened once I swear! Anyways, I will post a couple victory pictures as I'm calling them - where I have successfully retrieved the mail...and Leah clings to the seat belt in
fear of more big trucks!
Leah and I got back pretty much right in time for lunch - and honestly after that experience we were spent! It was so stressful - but it can only get easier as we get more used to everything here. Practice makes perfect, right?
We spent the rest of the afternoon translating some of the cards I had picked up at the post office. That is such good practice for my Spanish! The grammar is starting to screw me up though! Jill gave me this book of 501 verbs and their 14 different conjugations. Yeah. You read that right. 14. Gah! But I got a little Spanish 101 from Janelle today though as she looked over our translations before we gave them our to the kids. I think that will be really helpful. I found out that you cant really use the verb gustar when you are talking about people - unless you have a thing for them. Oops! Good to know. Only use gustar with inanimate objects. Check!
I have definitely picked up a fair bit of Spanish this last week though. Well, a fair bit might be stretching it a bit...but I am
Hold on tight!
Leah fearing for her life...hehe getting somewhat better! I have more words that I can use and string together sentences. Tonight before dinner I spent some time chatting with the older girls - a couple in high school and couple of the University girls. They are so helpful because a lot of them are studying English! Tonight I was chatting with Maribel, Zenaida and Erika. Maribel played guitar at the mini service they did at the home last night and also plays drums at church on Sundays! Talk about a talented girl! I feel like she and I will get along well. At least I hope so! Zenaida is also a sweet heart. She and I bonded because I was able to tell her about my coworker who shared her same name, which as you can see is not very common. It gave us something to talk about anyways to kinda break the ice.
The majority of the day today was spent doing office work. I had to recreate a bunch of the sponsorship documents that had been lost in the computer system. That, finishing up/editing the translations, getting a bit of the gift stuff in order, and starting to learn who some of the muchachos are (boys in the home) - made today fairly busy. Not nearly as exciting as yesterday's driving adventure though!
Tomorrow I plan to get pictures of all the kids, and then Leah and I are thinking of heading to Oaxaca city to really get a chance to explore the Zokolo and see some of the churches and monuments and feel free to take pictures! Also, because we will be responsible for taking groups there, we figure we should get ourselves acquainted with the city. It should be a good day! Now the question is - taxi or bus it to the city center? There is no way I'm driving yet! haha. Plus, taking public transit in other countries is always an experience. I kinda love it! It should be an adventure. Details to come soon!
Until then!
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aunt mel
non-member comment
love you!
oh Jess! What an adventure you have had so far!I can sitll hear the last words uncle paul said to you...DON"T DRIVE IN MEXICO! HA%$#!! little did he know that was exactly what God had planned for YOU! Well for a girl that will jump out of planes and off bridges and fly to Ghana all by herself, driving in Mexico should be a breeze! Love having the pictures with your blog. Herre is a great idea! A really good friend of mine (kim and mike petersen....reg petersen's daughter in law) blogged their 5 year sailing journey around the world and turned it into a book that even won some awards. That would be fantastic for you to do too! You have such a great writing skill! Get Leah to add some stuff to from her perspective! I can't wait to read more! Today we had our first real snowfall of the year in Cambridge. It is beautiful and Dolly and Donaghue love it! They run and dig their heads into the snow then throw it over their shoulders! Do you have acess to your photos from home so that you can show the "muchachos" what snow looks like? We have grandma and grandpa saunders here too, one week down one to go! It is going fine and I do believe they love it here! They are certainly getting well fed in any case! I miss you Jess, but getting your blog makes it so fun. Take care honey and know we pray every day for you and Leah! xoxoxoxoxo