Wow! Two Months in Mexico!

That's right, yesterday was the two month mark! Can you believe it? I can in some ways, and can't in others. What can I say? I really and learning a lot and my confidence level is at an all time high. I'm speaking and writing and making a million and one errors, but that is just fine. At least I'm trying. We haven't done much this week except for take classes and teach classes. It's going to be a tough half, and I need to do well. I got a B in Grammer, which is about average for me and a B+ in Civilization so I need to get A's in this half to bring my GPA back up. Yikes! I think I've said that I am taking the 3 hour grammar class individually. It's a lot of work and it's kicking my butt, but I think I will learn a lot from it.

I'm posting pictures as a kind of composite of the last two months (well, trying, there seems to be a problem).

Great accomplishments:

• I have a permenent tank top on from my sun tan.
• I've lost almost 20 pounds! But there is still a lot more to come off!
• Even though I'm not super excited I still got a B+ in a history class taught in another language!
• I know more about the garbage in Cuernavaca than I ever dreamed possible.
• I know more about the history of Mexico than the U.S. (not sure if I should be proud of that).

Here are a few more things I've learned.

• If a bathroom has paper and soap, and is not a squat toilet, that's good enough for me!
• There are a number of ways to kill or evict insects from a room and some are better than others.
• If a wasp wants to live in your closet, short of killing it, there is nothing you can do.
• There is such a thing as being too friendly with the neighbors and it's OK to stop being friendly when it get's uncomfortable.
• There is no place like home.
• Always carry toilet paper and some cash (in case you have to pay for a toilet, or tip someone).
• You can stretch yourself really far without falling apart.
• If my food has eyes, I can't eat it, but if the head is removed all bets are off!
• Blonde is beautiful.
• Gone does not mean forgotten.
• Gardens are beautiful but other things not so beautiful come along with it.
• I love my friends and family so very much!

More photos from Terry Week.

Here are a few more pictures that we took. Unfortunately there is only one good picture of us together the whole week. We should have asked people to take our picture, but we didn't. Hind sight. Oh well. :)

Terry se fue ayer y ya se extrano!

Poor guy, I really think he had a miserable time here. For him, I'm glad he is home where he is comfortable. If I ever return to Mexico it will
be for a shorter period of time so he doesn't feel like he needs to come along and we won't miss each other so much. I may want to come here again some time for individual classes and for a brush up if I don't have enough opportunity to
speak spanish in Oregon.

I haven't uploaded all of the pictures from when he was here. I avoided taking his picture for the first few days since he was so ill. But, there are a couple of cute ones. We didn't do a whole lot, just
rested, took care of him. We went to a few museums and I showed him downtown. We didn't
get to go to the pyramids here because it is much cheaper to go with a tour because of the distance and the tour is only offered on Sundays, he wasn't here during the afternoon on any Sunday so it just didn't work out, probably just as well since the tour is in Spanish and quick
Spanish at that! Would have been difficult for me to translate! There is a picture here of him
reading the Spanish/English dictionary I brought with me. He actually did very well in some
circumstances. It was fun to watch him try. He really is a good sport, but I know it was difficult
for him. All in all it was a true gift to me that he was here and I'm so glad he came. I already miss him sooooo much! It was so nice to read the Bible together every night and to pray together each meal, at night and throughout the day.

He took some great pictures of me and the group. I am posting one of me teaching a small group about colors and shapes. We try to break the kids into smaller groups to teach certain things, it seems to work better that way. Cesia is the one hanging on to me. She is 7 and a real extravert!
Very demonstrative. I adore her. On my other side was Vanessa, she is a new student, and pretty quiet, but obviously intelligent. Cecilia and Jonathan are the other two. Terry caught us
in a good moment, those two fed off of each other and made that class quite challenging.

We started new classes today. I am in an individual grammar class. It was suggested for all of us and I was the only one who wanted it. So, I have a teacher all to myself 3 hours a day four days a week. I think it will be really good for me. The other class is literature de latino america. I think it will be hard but good. I already have a composition due tomorrow. I'm the only one
in my group that has homework already. D'oh!

Love you all, you are all in my thoughts and my prayers.

Terry's Post

I finally made it down to Cuernavaca, Mexico to visit Pennie. My amazing church family provided a plane ticket so I could visit my beloved wife during her Autumn break. Thank you! The trip here was uneventful for the most part. I flew from Portland, Oregon to Houson, Texas and then flew to Mexico City, Mexico.

Pennie gave me thorough instructions on getting through customs and everything went smoothly. When I got through customs and went out into the main airport concourse I noticed that Pennie and her school friends weren't there. I figured they may have been delayed so I waited a while... And waited some more... I checked the signs and noticed that the flight number I was on wasn't showing up which was odd. After waiting about an hour I eventually found a place that sold phone cards for the local pay phones and managed to fumble my way through and get Pennie's cell phone. It turns out I was at gate E3 and she was at gate E2 with her friends still waiting for me.

We finally found each other; seeing Pennie after so many weeks without her was so incredible! I also got to meet two of her fellow students, Kendall and Stephanie. It was so nice of them to accompany Pennie to the airport and back, thank you!

After we got caught up we went to the bus station at the airport and had a nice bus ride to Cuernavaca. It was right under two hours and it was nice because Pennie and I got to sit together.

This is my first time in Mexico. The most obvious differences are the narrow streets lined with different shops, the chaotic driving, and the signs in a different language--definitely a huge change from Oregon. It's a lot more difficult not knowing the language than I expected. I'm used to being able to read things and speak to people. Here I just know a few phrases that barely get me by. Thank goodness for Pennie!

She's doing quite well and I'm constantly amazed by her bravery. I sure wouldn't go to another country alone to learn how to speak another language. I respect her for doing so when I now know firsthand how different it is from America.

This past week has gone by so quickly. I have enjoyed my time with Pennie tremendously. It will be extremely difficult to go back home without her.

We have a few more days together. I've been sick most of the time down here, I caught a cold or something from the airport so I haven't been able to explore as much of the city as I would have liked to. We have managed to visit some of the museums and tour some of the city though. I also got to eat at a really nice Italian restaurant called the Marco Polo. I had the best Fettucine Alfredo ever there--delicious!

Pennie's host family has been extremely nice and she has already explained to them how picky I am when it comes to food. So far I haven't had any grasshoppers so that's good. Most of the time the food is black beans, cheese, tortillas, and spices. They have some sort of green sauce they put on everything that I haven't managed to get the courage to try yet. I'm not the adventurous sort so I've been sticking to the basics--tortillas, cereal, etc. My stomach still hasn't adjusted either so I have to be very careful about what I eat. As silly as it sounds, I miss Taco Bell--haha!

This is the most time I've been able to spend with Pennie and it has been absolutely wonderful! She is so amazing--I look forward to spending the rest of my life with her.

Taxco

We went to the Pueblo of Taxco on Saturday. It is the biggest Silver producer in Mexico and possibly the world. But I'm not sure. Cortes discovered the mines and they are still producting silver today. Also of significance to those who enjoy drinking now and again, this is
the town were the Margarita was invented. Bar Berta, is the place! We didn't have time to give it a taste, but who knows! The church here is beautiful and is still in it's original form. The organ here was brought up piece by piece by donkeys. It was raining most of the day and I was disappointed to find out that most of the silver pieces were still very expensive. I wanted to buy stuff for everyone, especially some native art for my sister Denise but, alas, I just couldn't afford to do it. I thought of just about everyone though. I hope that counts!

Terry came in last night and aside from a little mix up at the airport all went well. He is safe and sound. We shall see by lunch if he eats something besides cereal though! :D It's great to have him here and I can't wait to show him everything!

What I've learned in Mexico

-There doesn't have to be a special place in the bathroom for a shower
-If dogs can cross the street, so can I!
-Lemon cures everything!
-Take your shoes off to walk on carpet, but don't worry about the space under the door where the insects enter!
-Black scorpions are OK, it's the brown ones you have to worry about!
-Always shake your shoes and clothes before putting them on!
-Garbage? Don't worry about it, it decomposes, doesn't it?
-Everything natural tastes better here!
-White butterflies are beatiful but casi imposible to photgraph!
-Popcorn tastes better with salsa, chile and of course lemon!
-Honking is a courtesy, not rude.
-If you think you are sick, just drink Tequila.
-Bugs are food too!

Climb Ev'ry Mountain!

Oh Yeah, we climbed a mountain. It is a large hill above the pueblo Tepoztlan. It was a blast, but it was hard work! We climbed and at the top, if you can see it, there is a tiny pyramid. No one knows whose it was, but common belief is that it was the same people who built the pyramids that I last spoke of. It's amazing how many people climbed the mountain on the same day we did. Oh, and of course, this is Mexico, at the top of this grueling climb there is a small tienda que vende chips y agua. This of course means that there are animales. They are quite harmless, but they look a lot like badgers to me entonce me da un poco miedo! When we climbed back down the girls and Claudio ate grasshopper tacos. Since I already had eaten one, I easily didn't eat a taco. I'm glad!

On Sunday we had our first adult English Class. It went pretty well but I have to tell you it's going to be tough. There are distinct differences in ability and its going to be hard work to plan two different classes. It's a good group and I get to work with the ones who speak pretty well or can understand well, but are afraid to speak.

I'm super excited that Terry will be here in less than a week! It is a week off from classes, the halfway mark. We still will be teaching the English classes and doing a bunch of planning but I think he understands that.

This week is the end of our first group of classes. So there is a whole bunch of homework. When we get back from break it is likely that the grammar classes will be individual for each of us. I was about ready to hire a tutor so I'm glad for this. I notice some improvement in my Spanish but there is so much further to go! I can't believe we are halfway done. In some ways I am more than ready to go home and in others, I don't want it to end. The experience is so incredibly invaluable, I'm so glad that I have this opportunidad! I love you all and miss you tremendously. I'm having a lovely time, but I wish I were there with you!

Fear Factor? No, it's just Mexico!

I forgot to mention on my last post that I ate my strangest food last Saturday. Grasshopper. Yes, I can hardly believe it either! But it was not alive, it didn't have a head (unlike the shrimp). It was roasted and it was just a tiny one. Not sure what to say it tasted like but it wasn't like chicken! My family and many other Mexicans eat them rolled into a tortilla with hotsauce and whatever. I tried it so I don't have to try it this weekend because it is a specialty there. I can say I've done it. It wasn't bad but it gives me the creeps anyway.

I guess I should explain about the shrimp. It's not for the weak of stomach, I warn you. My first week here in Mexico my Mexican mother served up a soup that had a filet of fish, half of a crab (in shell) and shrimp complete with head, eyes and tenticles. Some eyes were floating around in the soup. I ate a little of the crab and some broth and it was delicious but I couldn't stand staring at the shrimp staring back at me. I quickly told them I was full and ran back to school to meet my friends where I completely broke down while giving them the description of lunch. I wanted to take a picture but it really wasn't appropriate.

Carmen is a very good cook and I really like most of the food they serve me quite a bit. Some things are just a little difficult to get past.

In other news, we are almost prepared for teaching our first English class tomorrow. It's starting to feel good. Our grammar teacher gave us some resources from her daughters English class. They will really help.

I've caught a bug or something that is going around campus. I'm sick, not from the grasshopper and can't think about eating. I guess that's why it's easier to talk about the stuff I won't eat. lol.

I hope you enjoyed the tales and weren't to grossed out!

Celebrating one month!

Wow, It's been a month (and a week or so). What fun! A lot has happened and I have a ton of pictures from this weekend alone!

Friday we went to the traditional town of Cuentepec, near Xochicalco (yeah, I've been spelling it wrong). This is a town where they still speak the indigenous language of Nauahtal. There was a Feria (or festival) there in celebration of San Miguel (or St. Michael Archeangel) who is the patron saint of the town. Every town has a patron saint and every saint has it's day. We visited with a family in Cuentepec and they shared traditional foods and lots of stories with us. They speak both Spanish and Nauahtal, but not Ingles, so it was a bit of a struggle at a time to understand but I felt like I've really learned a lot in the last month because we had pretty serious political discussions with them and we were able to understand each other. The town is very old and very humble. They have computers there, but internet is still a dream. It was an incredible experience and I'm so glad I had the opportunidad!

Saturday was a day of homework and descansado! I got a lot done, but there is a lot more to do.
Sunday, Stephanie and I went to D.F (Mexico city) with another school. We went to the house of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The museum of Frida Kahlo (the Blue House) and the Museum de Delores Olmega (I think, I always forget her last name!) and finally to Xochimilco! What a lot of fun. We made four new friends from the other school. They seem to have more free time than we do and know Cuernavaca much better and have made several suggestions of places to go and things to do. Xochimilco deserves some explanation. It is advertised as a floating botanical garden, but that is an extreme exaggeration! This body of water (I have no idea if it is a lake or a river or what) has tons of little launches that you ride in and venders have their own boats from which they sell drinks of all kinds, food of all kinds, jewelry, bonzai trees, music etc. We purchased drinks and hired a mariachi band to float along side us and seranade us with a song. I can't tell you how fun it was!

When I returned home Carmen, my Mexican Mother, had spent the last 24 hours or so preparing posole, a traditional Mexican dish made from Corn (of course). It was my first opportunity to try it and it was wonderful!

Last night as I went to bed my back hurt, I tried to stretch it out and I realized it was my kidney that hurt, not my back. Since I had a kidney stone a few years ago, I soon realized this was the same thing. I prayed to God for healing and tried to go to sleep, but I was in too much pain. I decided to drink a bunch of water in an attempt to flush things out. I realized from my last experience that this could backfire, but I was willing to take a chance. I slept fitfully running to the bathroom once in a while and at 4:30 the pain was so intense that I was ready to wake the family and ask to be taken to the Hospital. I went to the bathroom one last time and had a long talk with God in Spanish and in English which is our mode of communicating these days, more in Spanish than in English though. I reminded him that I could not afford anothe hospital stay and certainly couldn't afford surgery if it came to that. I asked him to please remove the stone immediately so that I wouldn't have to miss any school. For some reason I decided to thump my kidney three times, it hurt, but soon afterward I felt a scraping sensation inside of my abdominal area and, not to be gross but,I let loose some urine and the pain was pretty much over. I'm still a little tender, but I know that the stone passed and I am well. Thanks be to God!

I'm tired today, but not as tired as I would think after something like that.

Wednesday we start teaching English at a local church as "voluntary work" I'm a little stressed out about it but I think it will be a lot of fun once we get everything in place. We have researched resources, but the church has never had English classes before so they do not have a program in place. We will be establishing it. Kind of scary but I think we will do fine. We have three classes. Wednesday and Thursday with Children from age 5 to 12 or 13. and Sunday for older people from 16 to 61. There are about 10 in each group. There are four of us teaching. I think it will work out, but like I said, I'm a bit scared.

I'm having trouble posting pictures so I guess I'm going to have to do that later. You'll enjoy them, and I've been handing my camera over more, so I'll begin posting more pictures of myself.

Love you all and miss you terribly!