I finally think it's safe to say that the worst of winter is over!!! Phew, what a huge relief. At the beginning of the month I wore five layers of clothes to bed with four blankets and a heater trained right on me. Nowadays it's one layer, one blanket and no heater. Gosh it makes me so grateful. I won't take warm weather for granted again!
Plant sales at the park to celebrate la candelaria. Spring is coming!
Warm weather means the mosquitoes are back, but no matter. The key is to cover all your extremities (pants and long sleeves all the way)...then you only get bites on your hands. Yah, I'm basically becoming a survival expert when it comes to slight life inconveniences.
It's been actually really helpful to try and cultivate my friendships outside of the volunteers. I've been spending more time with people from church and trying to attend more evening meetings on weeknights, and reaching out to friends and family back home in the United States and making a plans with Becca, who is wrapping up her time as Volunteer Coordinator with the girls' orphanage. A month or two may seem like a long time for volunteers to be here, but really, it goes by really quickly and then they're gone! So I feel much more stable choosing to spend more time with people that aren't going to up and leave before I know it. ;-)
It's also been interesting to witness the comings and goings of the kids at the daycare. The program is quite structured here, in that the mom's need to complete their hour of service to the daycare, pick-up and drop-off their children on time, label their kids' clothes with their names, make sure their nails are cut, etc. So in the time we've been here we've lost a couple of handfuls of children because their mothers couldn't/didn't want to keep up with all of the rules. Or others have been suspended for a month because they still haven't become potty training despite months of trying to teach them. Of course, it's sad when your favorites suddenly disappear, but that's life, I guess! I hope Aldo comes back soon... I miss him.
Anyway, I'm just so relieved that the cold snap is over. It's kind of a metaphorical reminder that whatever difficult times may come, they won't last forever. It's a season, and spring will come soon enough.
In terms of prayer requests, I've been struggling with a knee injury since November that keeps hanging on. I went to see the doctor yesterday and am using a knee brace and limiting my walking as much as possible. Please pray for full healing! It's kind of necessary to walk everywhere in this town and it would be super inconvenient to have chronic knee pain here of all places.
You know the saying, 'Time flies when you're having fun?' Well, time is slow as molasses when you're not. Gosh, I've only been back in Mexico for two weeks but it feels like an eternity. I'm learning so much about prayer, and the importance of continuing to pray for what I want even if I don't see God's response immediately.
My heart is definitely still in Seattle, though I'm figuring out how to cope better with being so far away as my family continues to deal with the many crises. It is agony to sit by and watch the people I love suffer, so I all I can do is pray, send notes of encouragement, and pray some more. When it seems like everything is falling apart, I feel as if it's God and God alone who knows how it will ever be knit back together again.
I am so thankful for the support of friends and family during this time. I have called upon members of my American and Mexican church to be interceding on my grandparents' behalf, and they have been faithful to respond. On Friday I went to the church prayer meeting and ten women lifted my family up in prayer...it meant so much to me; I had tears in my eyes. I've been Skyping with people back in the States, too, to talk and pray, and that has also helped immensely.
It's so uncomfortable to be inept and helpless while members of my family are in acute pain, drained, stressed, at the end of their rope. I can't fix the situation or heal the illnesses. I'm not necessarily angry at God that this is happening... but it's so tragic to feel like someone dear to you is slipping away from you, and you can't do anything. And so I surrender to God's will and his plan.
Those of you not privy to what's actually going on may find these ramblings to be far too abstract and non-specific, but I don't want to be publicly sharing a family matter for all of the world to see. But if you believe in God, please send a prayer up to him on my family's behalf if you can. We need your prayers.
Week four down! This week was especially exhausting because all three of the kids who were out with the chicken pox (Emilio, Yoselín and Roberto) came back, guns blazin'. Let me tell you, there is a big difference between having six kids, and having nine kids. Please see Exhibit A:
Sometimes the days start like this and just keep on going. So much craziness.. I think the most chaotic times are eating (they hit with their forks, throw plates, spit up food, you name it), toothbrushing time (I call them one by one to step up onto a wooden crate--sometimes they're cooperative, a lot of the times they're not) and nap time (the day this video was taken three refused to sleep and ended up running around the room for two hours instead). Seriously, I don't know how Maestra Marisol does it every day. Seriously. Here are some pictures from this week!
Dance Practice
L to R: Emilio, Dayron, Juan Pablo, Kevin, Beto (Roberto), Jair, Jose Maria, Jael
Every day this week the kids have been practicing a special performance for the graduation ceremony on August 18th. They'll be honoring the kids who will be entering kínder. All three boys from the orphanage--Ángel, Erik and Fernando--will be graduating!! They will be singing a sentimental song about spreading their wings and flying to new horizons. :) The remaining kids, though, as pictured above, will be doing a special dance to a song from the popular sitcom show "El Chavo de Ocho," dressing up as the different characters. They have to place their hands behind their backs and kick out their legs in rhythm to the music. It's really adorable. However, getting them to dance takes a lot of threatening of punishment from the teachers if they don't (being put up in one of the high chairs for the babies) and reminding them of the reward they get if they do (gummy bears).
A Child's Imagination
Dayron and Erik pretending to be babies
I've been struck by how imaginative the kids are! After dance practice Erik and Dayron asked to be put into the wooden high chairs in order to be babies, saying "Nyeh-nyeh!" to each other as their form of baby talk. When we went to the park this Friday Erik pretended to be a dad with Dayron as his son. "¡Hijo!" ("Son!") he called out in his high-pitched, scratchy voice. "¡Sí, Papá!" ("Yes, Father!") Dayron answered in return. And basically, the kids can make a casita (little house) out of anything--underneath tables, in corners, on the playground. Ask them what's in the house and they'll tell you everything: carros (cars), caballo (horse), on and on and on.
L to R: Erik, Emilio, Beto and Martitia enjoying their fruit snack before nap time
Things that keep me sane..
If you can't already tell by all the videos and all that I've been posting about, work can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. Here's a list of the things that have been keeping me sane:
1. Excursions!
Last Saturday I went with the director, Miguel, and a group of volunteers from Illinois to go horseback riding in the mountains! It was epic--in three hours we crossed rivers, dodged cacti, made it through rocky terrain and even galloped through a small lake! The mountains are beautiful and wonderfully untouched by civilization. Also, if you yell really loud, your voice echoes. All that bumping along and holding on for dear life really bonded us all together, and after all that riding we drank beer and ate cactus with gusto.
2. Conversation Practice
This Thursday I started going to "Conversaciones con Amigos" at the public library which give both English and Spanish speakers an opportunity to help each other out! Being able to practice Spanish was great, but even better was meeting people in the community. I met three girls (one of whom is from Portland!) who are down here taking Spanish classes. I met Magdalena, José and Alberto, who have all lived in San Miguel de Allende all of their lives. The meetings are twice weekly and I'm hoping to go as much as humanly possible!
3. Church
Hotel Misión El Molino, meeting place of Gente con Propósito--
continue down the path and enter the doors to the right
About a couple of weeks ago I started going to a small, bilingual church that meets up at the top of a big, big hill Sundays at 11am. The Martinez family that leads is wonderful. Tomás, the father, is the pastor of the church and his wife Cristina does a fair bit of shepherding as well. Their three kids Cristi, David and Rebeka comprise a majority of the worship team and all speak both English and Spanish. From the beginning they have welcomed me with open arms, going to lunch with me after church and inviting me to their youth group, which meets on Friday. This past Friday we visited one of the retirement homes to talk with the people, sing some songs and hand out a buttload of cookies. :) Then we played soccer and watched The Princess Bride. It seems like youth groups are identical around the world. Haha!! But I'm so thankful for this faith community. The Martinez family is such a strong family of God and are so united in their ministry. On Sundays I am really moved by just how THANKFUL they are to the Lord for everything and how they just PRAISE him with such sincerity. It really is like having a home church--what a blessing!
4. Family
It's been so nice to talk with my parents miles away from Skype! My dad's birthday was this past Monday and even though it was sad not being in Seattle, through technology I was able to talk with him and to see pictures from his birthday party! And it's been a pleasure receiving letters, hearing about what my aunts & uncles & cousins are up to. :) I'm so thankful for my family! My Auntie Sharon set up a prayer schedule so every day someone in my family is praying for me. Isn't that awesome??
Prayer Requests
1. To Remain in Christ (John 15)
With so much going on and exhaustion from work, it's been hard to really take the time to sit and listen to the Lord and enjoy his presence. And yet, this is so necessary. Without the Lord I can't do a thing: I burn out, I end up just trying to "get through" each day instead of living fully, gratefully with him.
2. To Learn to Wash Feet (John 13)
Sometimes I get these thoughts that I am "above" the work that I should be doing--that what I'm doing is inconsequential because heck, these kids aren't going to remember me. Or sometimes I wish I were doing "real" work, talking with the mothers, being a social worker and advocating for them, etc. Anyhow, my prayer is that I would be content with the spoon-feeding and urine-soaked clothes-changing and tooth brushing that is the day to day of what my volunteer position is, and to not underestimate small acts done with great love (--Mother Teresa, you are incredible).
Thanks to all who are reading this and accompanying me on this incredible journey!
