RachelsAdventure.com

I’ve been thinking a lot about convenience these days.  I guess there is something about not having a car (a dishwasher, a washer, a dryer, a bank account, a mailbox, a consistent internet connection, reliable electricity, occasionally warm water...um, I think you get the point) that makes a girl think about convenience, or rather, inconvenience.

I lived a very convenient life in the States.  When Sar (Hi Sarah!) and I lived in our apartment if I needed something it was nothing to hop in the car and drive across to New Seasons or down the street to Target (oh how I miss Target!).  Our hot water always worked, we washed clothes in the washer and dryer in our apartment and when I bought things I didn’t have to think “can I get this back on the bus with me?”.   

I took for granted how easy my life was. 

Now I experience inconvenience on a whole new level.  Now hear me, people.  I’m not complaining.  This is just something I’ve been processing so I thought I would share it.  I never realized how much my life centered around convenience until, suddenly, everything in my life became a bit more complicated.  The cool thing is, since I’ve been down here I’ve learned that I can shower without hot water, I can teach without electricity,  I can get around without a car and (gasp) I can even find things to do without an internet connection. 

And it feels good.

I have always liked the IDEA of becoming a person who isn’t inconvenienced by inconvenience, but I’m learning the steps to BECOME that person are not necessarily fast and easy (well, of course not, that would be too convenient!). 

This is the view from my bedroom window.

I realize that these trucks look deceptively quiet in this picture...almost pleasant...but they are not.

Every day, Monday-Saturday, they (the 'evil men') load and unload gravel trucks right outside my bedroom window.  Sometimes the gravel doesn't want to leave the truck gracefully so they (the 'evil men') pound and pound and pound on the truck until every last grain of sand is out.  Apparently every grain of sand is important.

Why do I tell you this?  Only so you can know something that I did not...if you come to visit (and you should!), bring ear plugs!

It's been awhile.  Sorry. 
The internet at the school is down (except in the office) because of a broken cable and my connection is dependant on the school...so I'm internetless (at home) for the time being.  (I'm not going to lie, I am about 1000% more productive at home without internet!  All my dishes are done, my bed is made, I've moved the furniture in my apartment around about 5 times and I've read...A LOT!  haha.)

So, what did I learn during my second week in Mexico?  A lot. 
1)  To live without a car, you have to be confident on the bus and I'm getting a lot more confident on the bus.  I'm even planning a excursion out to the Carpenters which will involve a couple bus changes.  The bus system in Portland intimidated me (and there I could at least understand the driver!) so it feels pretty cool to hop a bus in Mexico City and have a (slight) idea where I am are going! 
2)  Teaching is hard...and incredibly amazing.  Even after one week I have so much more respect for my teacher-friends.  Keeping little people engaged and learning (instead of distracing eachother) is an artform, and I need practice!  haha.  I also learned that in a few areas I am, in fact, not smarter than a 5th grader :)  I have a few books to review this weekend!  I will post pictures from my class and a complete school update this week.
3)  I work with really great people.  I have met so many wonderful new people in the past couple of weeks and I am really excited to get to know everyone better.  The teachers who live near me (Hello Julie and Claire!) and I have breakfast together every Saturday.  Today was my week so I made french toast and bacon (I know, very Mexican!).   
4)  I have my first CMF team meeting this Friday, Saturday, Sunday (here).  I've met a few other people on the team and this weekend I'll get to spend sometime with everyone! 
5)  I am getting Rosetta Stone!  I have a tough time during the week (especially when the internet is down) practicing Spanish because I have been so tired after school so I have set up a couple "let's let Rachel practice Spanish" dates with friends AND I'll be using Rosetta Stone. 
6)  The final thing I learned is this: when you are ordering food and you know what you want but you let the lady at the cash register tries to sell you anything extra, just say..."No Gracias!"  haha.  I went to lunch this week and knew exactly how to order, but the lady asked if I wanted cheese (and something else I didn't understand) so I just said "si".  Well, I ended up getting every topping they had for the the flautas and my 70 peso lunch (about $5.25 ) became 110 pesos (about $8.25).  haha.

I occasionally have these moments when everything that has happened in the last two months catches up with me...I had one of those moments this week while I was reading to the class after lunch.  I looked up and realized that I was a teacher...reading to MY class...in Mexico City.  Whoa.  How did this all happen again?!

Okay, I've officially made it through my first week here (as of yesterday!) and I've decided to start an ongoing post of important things that I learn while I'm here.  Here are the first four:

1) If someone helps you, tip them.  This seems like a simple concept, but in Mexico there are a lot of willing helpers and you have to be prepared to tip everyone.
2) Do not flush toilet paper.  Enough said.
3) I was very blessed to have a car.  Now that I am car-less, I have a new appreciation for how difficult life is when you have to think, "can I bring this on the bus with me?"
4) Futbol is awesome.  I can't wait to go to a game!

more to come...

There are those times in your life when you realize that if you would have just paid a little bit more attention in class you would have probably learned something really useful instead of just "making the grade".

The first time I realized this was when I started taking on more responsibility at Abundant Life.  My new responsibilities included a lot of accounting and finance and I had a flashback to my accounting class in college in which my teacher said "if you want to go far in business, you need to understand accounting".  Um yeah, NOT ME.  Or so I thought.  There were so many times that I would have LOVED a tutoring session with that teacher once I started working on reporting and the budget.

I'm feeling the same way now about Spanish.  I took Spanish for a long time.  I did a couple years in high school, a year in college, I've been to El Salvador and Oaxaca, Mexico a couple times and I worked at Hispanic Family camp for almost 10 years.  I could be a lot more comfortable with the language, but I never gave it "my all".

So, here I am...living in Mexico, wishing that all these words around me made sense.  Wishing that when I turned on the TV I would be able to understand enough to enjoy the show, wishing that I could tell the lady at Walmart that she charged me too much, wishing I could buy tamales from the guy on the corner without worrying that he'll ask me a question that I totally don't understand, wishing that when I had to read aloud in front of the youth group on Sunday (wow, that's a funny story I'll have to tell) that I didn't sound like a 3rd grader reading (no offense to any 3rd graders reading my blog!). 

But that's just not the way it is.  Instead of understanding, I get to sit and smile and nod (a lot) and hope that one day, with enough practice, these words will make sense! 

Can that day be tomorrow? :)