Feeling more at home every day!

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I can not believe it has been a week since the last time I've updated! In some ways, that's a good thing - for me anyways because it means I am keeping busy. This week has been all about assimilation (that is my word for the day...so im using it as much as I can!) Things here at the home were pretty busy over the last week. Leah and I had our first group come in on Wednesday. Then over the next day and a half, we had several board members and another couple come in to town including Charla and Peter. It was great to meet some of these people that I have heard such great things about! But I will get to that in a moment.

The first group of girls who came in on Wednesday were great. It was so good to get started and adjusted to having groups to care for with such great people! Two of the girls were from Alberta and work there as nurses. The other was their friend from Maryland who met them in Mexico to spend 12 days here - 3 of which were here at Casa Hogar. They had such great attitudes and were so willing to jump in and help wherever needed. That attitude is so greatly appreciated here as a lot of times the jobs that need to be done are not all too pleasant. (I can attest to this from first hand experience - we cleaned the little boys house before their house mom Carmen returned on Friday and it was DISGUSTING! Their room smelled like a gym bag, the counter and tables were covered in goop and don't even get me started on the bathroom! Between my gagging and finding out that the boys haven't been using soap lately (as there was NONE in any of the showers) it was by far the dirtiest job undergone yet! haha) Regardless, they were wonderful, and even though they were only here for 3 days, we were sad to see them go!

When they arrived on Wednesday, it was a good thing Leah was out looking for them and ready to greet them. I, on the other hand, had been sucked into Korean soap operas with Spanish subtitles. The teenage girls here absolutely LOVE this one show for some reason. I dont quite understand it, but all I know is that they invited me to sit and watch with them for a while, so I did, and quickly got sucked in! And I'm even worst than the rest of them because I don't understand everything that I was reading, and I definitely didn't understand a THING I was hearing. Ahh well. I think its the bad acting. Its like the Twilight movies - absolutely horrible, but you can't help but watch them.

Anyways - enough with the random tangents. Peter arrived late Wednesday night and then on Thursday, Leah and I went with him to the airport to pick up Charla, Janice and Chuck. Leah and I needed to take some notes on the directions to the airport - and it was great to get to chat with Peter some more. He and my dad had really clicked a while back - so it was neat talking about that and the months he and his wife lived down in Oaxaca. The airport pick-up went smoothly. Everyone's luggage arrived, and soon we were off to dinner. I had initially thought we would just return to the home, but the travelers were hungry - so Leah and I were not about to complain! We ended up heading to El Tule, home of the world's largest tree! We had dinner at this fantastic restaurant across the street. Leah and I shared a salad and some tacos - both of which were fantastic! It was so good to eat the fresh vegetables. We were so happy! One of the neat things about this restaurant was that they made the tortillas by hand right outside the restaurant. There was a press with the hot coals underneath to shape and bake the tortillas. Yum! It was a great dinner, coupled with great conversation. We learned so much about the Foundation and some of the incredible people in the area. The history of this home is just surrounded by miracles everywhere you look - both little and big. God definitely has a special hand on this home. It was so neat to hear the details and histories from Charla and Janice and people who have been involved in this ministry for 44 years now. Absolutely incredible.

After dinner, we walked over the the Tule tree, but it was to dark to really get a good idea of what it looked like and grasp the concept of its grandeur. But the fact that it took a while to walk around the fence on the outside of the tree gave us some indication. Also because it is still so close to Christmas, they still had a full nativity set up right on the tree trunk near its base. This is definitely one place we will be taking groups though, so there will be good pictures so come! (And I will get the salad again - so I will get more pictures of the food too!)

Friday was a fairly big cleaning day. Ick. At night, however, Nick (one of the guys who has been down here for the last 6 months and is the brother to one of the house moms) showed us all his pictures from when he hiked from the Mexico-California border all the way to Canada. In the dining hall, they have one wall with a white screen painted on it. Thats where he set up shop - and all the kids cam in and sat down to ask questions and see the pictures. They were pretty fantastic! It would have been quite the trip. Not for me though - 5 months of hiking, sleeping in a tent, freezing at night, and fending off snakes - no thanks! I will enjoy my new Mexican casa with wireless internet thank you! (I am so spoiled!) I enjoyed the pictures though!

After the presentation, I went back to the teenage girls house for a bit. Estela and Laura had asked about borrowing a movie, so we all watched Step Up together. One of my favs! And it has been so neat to just hang out with those girls and get to know them better. They are sweeties - even though some of them cause trouble sometimes I'm sure. I know the expression is boys will be boys - but let's be honest here: girls will be girls!

Saturday was fantastic. Elaine and Ian invited us over for breakfast at their house and then we went on a buying trip with Elaine to fill up her tienda (gift shop at the home) We enjoyed french toast with real Canadian maple syrup (yum!) and then took off for San Bartola, which is a town on the East side of Oaxaca famous for its black pottery. the first place we stopped was Dona Rosas, who was the lady who started the black pottery production. She has since passed, so her shop and store are now bring run by her grandchildren. The pottery is absolutely gorgeous though! So unlike anything I had ever seen before. We spent some time looking around that shop and then took off to one of the little hidden markets where there were lots of stalls set up with great prices! We bought about 20-25 pieces to fill up the shop - things ranging from little boxes to vases to candle covers. It was all really beautiful stuff though! I picked up some little jewelry boxes shaped like turtles. The shells come off - that's the lid. So cute!

After the afternoon in the market, we headed over to the town of Zaachila to this restaurant that specializes in these MASSIVE tortilla pizzas. I like Mexican pizza! It was very different than Willy's and I have to say, the tortilla does not quite compare to the soft crust at home, but it was an experience. I think the craziest thing about the restaurant were their menus. They were absolutely huge! It took two of us to hold up! The weirdest part about that is that people here are typically a lot smaller (I actually feel tall here) - so why would the menus be so huge?

Sunday brought another morning at church, which was only 2 hours this week. The crew from the board had headed up to Chiapas to see the ministry taking place there. They took the pastor and his wife who is the worship leader with them - so that meant that some of the kids from the home here lead the worship and Enrique - the man who heads up some of the prison ministries - spoke. It was actually a very nice service, despite still not understanding much of it. 3 of the songs we did Leah and I knew in English, so that was great. We even did Revelation Song. Loved it. The one challenging thing was that it was incredibly hard to find a harmony. Every song they seem to do here are in very high keys, the music is cranked up so loud, and then there is a very tone deaf lady singing quite loudly behind us. Gotta love Mexican church! Overall, still a good morning. I'd have to say the funniest part was the ride home. Because the big gray van was off in Chiapas, we were one vehicle short to get everyone to church. That meant that to get home, everyone piled in the bus. To drive, it would be massive, but it is still just a mini bus. I would say it is supposed to seat about 24. Well we had at least 42 people in that thing! There were 4 of us in the seat I was in - including Leah and I. Talk about some different concepts of personal space! The kids are cute though. It has been so neat hanging out with them this week and getting to know them better. I now have all the names down! Two and a half weeks and I learned 58 names. Doing the sponsorship stuff is definitely helping.

In the afternoon we headed in to the Tlacolula market again. We picked up some fresh coffee, some bananas and some Jamba Jamba (who'd a thunk I would be drinking a mocha frappachino in Oaxaca? Not me!) Some of the kids headed in with us as well. For a scary moment, we thought one of them was going to drive. Ricardo has been teaching the teenage boys how to drive - so they get the chance to drive up the dirt road to the main street. They love it - and as long as their driving stays in the driveway - I'm good with it! After the market, we loaded up the Urvan again and headed out to go play soccer with some kids from the home and from the church youth group. The first field we went to was full, so we headed over to a different one. The term field is used loosely here. A field is really just a big sand pit with lines around it and goals at the end. The first game we played on a basketball court! haha. It was still fun. One of the kids, Jose, he's pretty shy for the most part, but he and I have chatted (or at least attempted to) a few times. As we were walking over to the field with the group of about 20 kids, he asked me if I was going to play. I said maybe and asked him the same question, to which he said no and that he doesn't really play. Well the second game that got started, they needed more players so he jumped in. The kid is fantastic! He's fast and definitely knows what he is doing in terms of playing soccer. What a goof. I attempted to give him a hard time later. I can not wait till I know enough Spanish to be sarcastic in two languages. That will be an exciting day.

As the new week rolls around, I have been very busy trying to get some of this sponsorship stuff finished up before the groups get here! It's a lot of work though. I just got through a whole whack of translation yesterday, only to go to the post office and pick up hours of more work! Its so good for the kids though. I am so happy that so many of their sponsors write them and send them gifts. It is neat to see them involved in the kids lives even from hundreds of miles away. Also, I found out this week that I am being put on a driving rotation to go pick the kids up from school. Janelle is being very nice and will have me go to the private school where only 5 of the kids go. That means I can bring one of the smaller cars and wont have to take the big gray van into tiny Tlacolula. I went with her on Monday to go get the kids and we ended up taking one of the trucks. This thing I think is as along as the big gray van! haha. It is huge. But it is automatic, so was easier to drive. I am definitely getting more comfortable with the area because driving is not as scary as it used to be. I also took Keila into the hospital this week because her baby, Ileana, needed to go in for some immunizations. After that we went to the store and got to weave my way into town. Practice makes perfect! And spending that one on one time with the kids is so great! It goes so far in building those relationships. Keila still asked me my name about 3 times on Friday - but she has been so much more warm towards me and we chat more then we had before. She is a pretty incredible young woman for 17. Its so hard to comprehend what some of these kids have been through and then to see them overcoming these challenges and reaching out to people - its absolutely amazing. I can definitely say that I have enjoyed my time here so far. There are definitely people and things I miss from home, but I am getting more comfortable here. As I said at the beginning, assimilation is key - with the staff, with the kids, with the town, with the culture - with everything! Maybe that's why I have just been passing out at night. All these new things are exhausting, but exciting. I am excited to see what the next week brings! (Apparently a potential stop at a sushi restaurant on Saturday night - I'm stoked!)

Well, I am going to close this entry with a quote Charla told Leah and I as we were saying bye (they all head out in the morning) She told us that "The best thing we can to is to live more simple - that way others can simply live." That struck me because it's so true! As I talk about things that I miss from home and all this, I am reminded of how blessed I am and how it wouldn't hurt to give some of what I have been given so that others can experience having some of the things we take for granted - like blankets. Something we view as so small and so simple can make such a huge difference in another person's quality of life and overall spirit.

Well, that is it for now! Until next time!

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Photos

Mexican Pizza
This was our delicious Mexican pizza on a fresh baked tortilla

Comments

[E. P.]

Thank You!
Hi Jessica, thank you so much for sharing. Please keep the blogs coming!!!