RachelsAdventure.com

I just finished a few days at camp in Puebla with my kids and kids from schools in Oaxaca and Puebla.  As we were leaving camp (it was a 5 hour bus ride home) I realized that there are 5 Ways to Tell That I Have Been to Camp:

1)      Friendship Bracelets – I cannot count the number of bracelets that I have received over the years.  They are a popular camp craft so when you work at camp…you get bracelets.  I always try to see how long I can wear them after camp (till they fall off). 

2)      Bruises – I think I bruise easily…and I’m slightly clumsy…so camp definitely results in some bruises.  This week at camp was no exception (in fact, I think my boys have been waiting for the chance to pounce on their teacher).

3)      A need for sleep – I never get enough sleep at camp.  Ever. 

4)      Renewed excitement and love for God – there’s something about a few days at camp with a bunch of kids laughing, singing, and playing a lot that makes me excited to spend time with God.

5)      A big, huge smile.  I truly love camp (hope to work at a few this summer) and every time I go it makes me love it more. 

Sorry I have been a bad blogger. 

When I first moved to Mexico everything was new, all of my senses were heightened... each interaction with a neighbor felt like an amazing accomplishment, each meal was prepared with exciting, exotic ingredients, teaching was a new adventure (teaching is still an adventure!).

It's not all like that for me anymore.  After 6 months in Mexico my "old life" in Portland seems like a distant (fond) memory...it feels normal for me to say that I live in Mexico. 

It was really nice to get to see family and friends for Christmas especially because after a trip back this summer, my trips to Portland will be few and far between for the next couple years (more on that in a later post).  One of the most interesting things for me as I left Portland was this really weird feeling that I was not only leaving home...but also going home. 

Flying into Mexico City actually felt familiar, not foreign. 

All of this to say: I am really settling down here.  I still have hard times and little things will catch me off guard and make me miss my friends and family in the States.  But, that's okay...I love all those people and I can take the time to miss them every once in awhile. 

So, now I get to learn how to blog about the normal, everyday things of life.  I think I can, I think I can...haha.

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad.

Blogging in the midst of a whirlwind tour at home has not been very sucessful (as you can tell by the lack of posts, it's like a ghost town here!).  BUT I did want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and catch you up a bit. 

It feels so good to be back in Oregon.  I think I have put enough miles on my mom's car (thanks mom) to almost make up for the 4 months that I didn't drive in Mexico.  haha.  So many people to catch up with (and STILL so many to catch up with).

Now that I'm officially in the last half of my trip I do have brief moments of sadness when I realize that this will all be over soon.  As I have said before, I love being in Mexico and I love the people I work with down there...but I have pretty amazing friends and family up here.  Part of this trip to Oregon will be another (hopefully shorter) time of adjustment (translation: tears.  haha) when I get back to Mexico. 

That quote from Tennyson keeps popping into my head...

"tis better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all."

I agree with Tennyson on this.  So, when a little sadness washes over me it just makes me realize how much I truly love the people around me and I thank God that I have so many people that I miss when I am away (and now I have people I miss in Mexico, too!).

Well, I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas.  I get to spend the whole day with my family and am excited to start reading one of my Christmas gifts...the Lonely Planet guide to Mexico.  Woo hoo.

The last time I did a count down  on my blog, I was counting down the days till I moved to Mexico and SOMEHOW I am now counting down the days till my Portland Christmas visit.  How did this happen?  Did I really just spend the last 4 months living in Mexico?  I honestly don't know where the time went.

There were times that it seemed to drag on and on (trust me...there were a couple crying-in-my-apartment-wondering-why-I'm-even-here nights that I'm glad are in the past)...but overall I cannot believe that a trip to Portland is so close.

Here's my schedule for the next week:
Monday: School, Spanish tutor, make cookies for teachers and board members
Tuesday: School, grade papers
Wednesday: School, Spanish tutor, packing
Thursday: School, English Club, finish packing
Friday: 1/2 day of School (yay!  Party Day!), 3:45 flight, in Portland by 11:20 (assuming it does NOT snow!)
Saturday: Correction: Starbucks with Mom and Anna (my first non-fat vanilla latte in 4 months!), speaking at Abundant Life Women's Brunch.

Phew!  I'm tired already.

As of this posting I am 12 days from getting to see my family and friends in Oregon.  I am so excited I can barely stand it.  For the first time in my life I truly understand the meaning of the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" because I miss everyone SO MUCH.  These past 4 months have gone very quickly and I cannot believe just how much my life has changed...and it's been amazing...but I do look forward to hugs from home.
Here's my (incomplete) list of things I miss:
1) my family and friends
2) driving
3) being able to buy books in English
4) cheez-its

haha.

Hey All!  I am so sad that I can't make it to the retreat this weekend so I'm sending a little love your way from Mexico.  Have fun.  Love you all.  Lots.

Con Mucho Amor
-Rachel

Life is good. 

Thought I'd post a quick update (never know how long we'll have internet access around here!). 

Teaching is a delightful challenge.  I love trying to figure out what makes my little monkeys tick and then helping them learn to be better people.  I read an article from the New York Times yesterday that was about self control (a common topic in my classroom) and learned that self control, not IQ, is the best indicator of long term success.  Now I have a new mission: teach 5th grade boys about self control.  Wish me luck.  haha.

Working with the church is great, too.  I love giving English lessons (surprisingly, it helps my Spanish a lot because I'm constantly having to translate).  I'm going to a youth conference November, should be interesting because it's all in Spanish (and I'm all in English, haha!).  Church is starting to feel more comfortable...more like home.

A lady stopped me on the way to school the other day and asked me (in Spanish) about the Homework Club and the English Club and I realized, about 3 minutes after parting ways, that I totally gave her the wrong time.  That's another one of those frustrating things about not being able to speak Spanish...had it been English I could have run back and corrected myself...but I didn't know the correct words in Spanish.  Long story short, the woman and her daughter did show up at Homework Club tonight...LATE.  Oops.  I apologized profusely (one thing I DO know how to say!).  The woman was very kind and her daughter even walked home with me.

Overall things are settling into a good routine.  I thought I would do a "Week in the Life of Rachel" post sometime soon so you can see what a typical week is like (complete with pictures!). 

Hasta Luego.

Okay, I realize I am here for a lot of reasons…but children have always had this pull on my heart.  It’s been easier to work with kids in Mexico in the past.  I’d go, play with the kids and fly home.  I’d learn their stories…and then leave.

I remember a trip to El Salvador.  My job was to keep the kids busy while they waited, sometimes hours, to see the doctor.  This was a great job for me.  I had lots of bubbles, stickers, crayons and balls and would play all day long.  These kids were from very poor families.  Almost every child we saw had some degree of malnutrition and most of them had parasites living off their tiny little bodies.  Lucky for me, I didn’t know that most of the time.  My job was to play…not to know all the details.   I could play with them and help them forget all the pain their little bodies were enduring.  Most of the time.

It was Thursday of a long and exhausting week.  Our last stop of the day was a very remote village where the people had been waiting for hours for us to arrive (without cell phones and other ways to communicate, people would just wait for us all day long. 

As I unpacked my arsenal of toys, José caught my eye right away because I had learned to pick out the really sick ones…they were the little ones who couldn’t muster the strength to play, color or even smile.  When José was called in to see the doctor I went with him.  I needed to see just how sick this little guy was. 

He was very sick.  He was severely malnourished and had a tummy full of parasites.  I probably would have guessed that Jose was 5 or 6, but in reality he was 10.  The bugs were sucking all the nutrients out of the small amounts of food that Jose did get.  At the time, my brother Jonathan was about the same age and I remember being overwhelmed by emotion when I compared the two boys in my head.  I had to hide in the next room and cry for a good 10 minutes before I could regain my composure enough to play with the kids again.  Why did I get so much and this precious boy get so little?

I still think about Jose.  I realize that he’s probably in heaven now.   

Now I find myself living in Mexico and seeing those same kids.  This week we had an Independence Day party at the church…there were kids running around everywhere all dressed up in their fancy dresses and eating lots of (amazing) food.  Then I saw them, 5 kids… wearing the same clothes I had seen them wearing the last time I saw them…and I suddenly had a flashback to Jose. 

These children are from the dump community (just down the hill from where I live).  Their parents sort (and live on) the trash that is collected from the area.  Sometimes they leave the kids for a week at a time and go to the dump on the other side of town. 

These children have the bony limbs and rheumy, starving eyes of malnutrition; I bought them tostadas and churros all night long. 

Now, when I play with the kids and learn their stories I don’t get to fly home…I just walk up the hill to my house.  I get to help these little kids know that Jesus loves them. 

If that isn't motivation to learn Spanish, I don't know what is.

I'm in Pachuca this weekend and I've had a great time.

Yesterday we had a little party with the YWAMers, or JUCUM (Juventud Con Una Misión) as they call is in Spanish, and it was fun.  I understood a lot more Spanish this weekend (it always helps when a Gringo is preaching...I can almost always understand them!).  I find myself understanding a lot of the Spanish around me but not being able to respond.  I think some of this understanding can be attributed to the fact that my brain doesn't freak out (as much) when someone asks me something in Espanol anymore...this gives me a chance to actually listen to the question and figure out what I understand instead of just panicking.

When I got here on Friday afternoon I was greeted at the car door by one of the most hideous dogs I have ever seen.  It's a Xoloitzcuintli (Mexican Hairless).  Supposedly these are very special, extremely expensive dogs.  The Aztecs believed these dogs protected their souls in the afterworld. 

But let me ask you this...why have a dog without hair?!

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Xolo...

Now, before you start thinking he's just misunderstood...that maybe there really is a cute dog in there...here's proof that dog's should not be hairless.  He has to SIT on the other dog all day to keep warm.  

Well, I have made it a month!

I just reread my first post and I can't believe it was only three months ago!  Just three months ago I was typing and crying in a coffee shop in SE Portland.  I had just given notice at Abundant Life and I had no idea what was ahead...now, just three months later, I've been living in Mexico for a month. 

How did all this happen?!  haha.

I had a great day at school today.  It was a test day and, I learned, test days are awesome.  I get to catch up on grading and lesson planning while the kids work quietly.  Tomorrow I'm having dinner with the other teachers.  This should be a great dinner because we are all excited to start our 5-day weekend (next Tuesday is Mexico's Independence Day).

To top it all off, I got a very special gift today.

A toilet seat.

I've been here a month and I haven't have a toilet seat.  I could have bought one a number of times...I've had many opportunities.  I guess I just got used to it.  haha.  I installed the seat this evening and am glad to report that it "works" (I know...TMI...lol).

Who would've guessed that I would ever be so excited about a toilet seat?