Random thoughts about Mexico #1
Well, reading Hannah's thoughts on Mexico has got me thinking! So I decided to share some of my own Mexico thoughts with you all. Some of this I posted as comments on her blog. Actually, I kept posting so many long ones filled with thoughts of my own that I decided to stop annoying her with it all, and that's the REAL reason for posting this here. ;) j/k!
I'd suggest you read Hannah's blog too so you're filled in on what we were doing, since I doubt I'll be stopping to explain all that much.
Well, where to begin?
Let's see... I remember the first night when we got to the mission. After supper we immediately set about bagging hundreds and hundreds of toys and candy and popcorn to give out during the week. It seemed to take hours even with all of us working! But we all set about it with a joy and vigor (weird word there, lol) that could only have come from one Source. By the last few bags my feet were so tired and achy, and all I wanted was to sit down. But God helped me stick with it joyfully until the end, even though it was hard work, and so soon into the trip!
The ride to Tecax was great, even though it took us like 8 hours! We all had so much fun playing mafia and catch phrase or just hanging out and talking. We went through a few rainstorms, and of course we kept the windows open! Now that was awesome. For those of you who haven't been down to that part of Mexico, it is EXTREMELY humid and hot down there. On just one of the days we were there, the temperature was 107° and the humidity was ninety-something percent. But when one of their rainstorms came through—usually just about every day at one time or another for 15 minutes—the temperature cooled down a bit, and the breeze was absolutely heavenly. Especially on the bus where, when all the windows and skylights are open, the wind blasts through at breakneck speed! It actually got a little chilly a few times! And of course, getting wet always felt wonderful.
The bathrooms by the church where we stayed in Tecax were... interesting. That is all I will say. Except for two things: It could have been worse. And I appreciate toilet seats a lot more now (and running water, and cleanliness, and toilets that flush, and sinks that work... well, I appreciate a LOT of things more now, let's just say!).
The church was nicer than I expected, considering I was expecting see-through walls made of bent sticks, a dirt floor, and a thatched roof, like a church we saw last year out in a remote village. It actually had concrete walls and a ceiling, as well as a TILE FLOOR! And it even had a stage sort of like at our church. It was a pretty big room, too, which was nice since most of us had to sleep in it. It had some fans that worked somewhat well on the ceiling, and during the day the front and side doors could be opened to let the breeze in. So we didn't get TOO hot, although it wasn't quite as nice as the breezeway back at the mission! I was just thankful that it was an actual building, and there were actual bathrooms! Yay!
I was in the drama team in 2 of the dramas. We're doing the one we did the most, Creation, in church on Sunday. I can't decide if I like that or not. It's a good drama that points to Christ, but #1. The music is REEEEEAAAAAALLLLYYYYY cheesy (it's done without words to a recorded tape) and #2. I have to play fight with a guy, which is a little weird. It was easier for most of the times we performed it during our program things in Mexico... something just sort of snapped in place for me. But every time we'd practice it it was really weird.
On our first night in Tecax after doing our first program thing on the town square, we climbed this huge hill to the Ermita of San Diego, this big church that was built in the 1600's. We got to see a wonderful view of Tecax—all the lights were sprinkled down far below us, surrounding us, and reaching out until they met with the blackness of the jungle. We went behind the church where it wasn't lighted for awhile. There were bats EVERYWHERE! It was so cool! They were constantly going this way and that over our heads. And the stars were amazing. So beautiful and bright, and so many of them! I stood there for the longest time just staring—trying to memorize all the stars that I didn't recognize that were lower on the horizon, because I knew I might be able to see the constellation Centaurus there, but I didn't know what it looked like. I've ALWAYS wanted to see the star Alpha Centauri in Centaurus... well just that whole constellation in general. And guess what? When we got home I looked it up, and that was the constellation I saw!!! I was so excited.
We walked a bit farther up the hill to this gazebo-like thing on the edge of the jungle. I forgot who was with me when we went back there, but there were only two of us, and everybody else was either already up there or hadn't come yet. So we sort of discovered the holes ourselves, lol. There were this big, black holes dotting the rock we were walking on. In the dark they just looked like these black pits of nothing here and there. It was so dark you really had to be on the lookout, they sort of came out of nowhere. Yeah, I was little scared of them, if you can't tell, lol. They really freaked me out. My apologies to whoever was with me—your hand must have ached for a long time afterwards! ;)
During the day in Tecax when we were sitting around waiting for this or that, something interesting happened. At first it was just the girls making necklaces and bracelets and anklets and things out of embroidery floss, but one by one, we converted all the guys. We soon had what we called our "knitting circle," where we'd all sit on these benches by each other just working away at our bracelets. By the end of the week, I'm pretty sure the guys had made more than the girls! They really got into it. It was funny. They rock.
On Saturday we actually went out to eat at a very fancy restaurant a few towns over. It was open air, of course, to let the breeze through. The food was delicious (except for this one VERY weird flavor of ice cream). It had the nicest restrooms we'd seen in days! It had a big mirror, one of the few real ones I saw all week (I walked in and screamed, lol). And it had nice toilets and sinks and all that! Sara took a picture of one of the toilets because she was so excited to see one with a seat, lol. We all were!
Saturday night was the night one little local girl gave me the really pretty silk flower. That was so sweet... it's one thing I'll keep around for the rest of my life, you can bet.
Every day we were in Tecax a group of local children would come to the church to play. We became fast friends! They were all so sweet! I will always remember Gabby, José Luis, Jasmine, Tirza and Gladys. I remember the streamers in the hair, dancing around in a circle, teaching them the hokey-pokey, playing hand-clap games (and making up our own!), their fascination with our cameras, our many attempts at communication, making embroidery floss jewelry with them, and José Luis' "aiyiyi"s. Saying goodbye to them was really hard. I miss them so much! But I hopefully will see them in Heaven.
It was SO neat being able to work with our fellow Christians in Mexico. Even though we don't speak the same language, or have the same background, we really are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we have a bond stronger than a language barrier. And one day, we will be able to speak to each other in Heaven! That'll be SO cool. I can't wait to see them.
I'd suggest you read Hannah's blog too so you're filled in on what we were doing, since I doubt I'll be stopping to explain all that much.
Well, where to begin?
Let's see... I remember the first night when we got to the mission. After supper we immediately set about bagging hundreds and hundreds of toys and candy and popcorn to give out during the week. It seemed to take hours even with all of us working! But we all set about it with a joy and vigor (weird word there, lol) that could only have come from one Source. By the last few bags my feet were so tired and achy, and all I wanted was to sit down. But God helped me stick with it joyfully until the end, even though it was hard work, and so soon into the trip!
The ride to Tecax was great, even though it took us like 8 hours! We all had so much fun playing mafia and catch phrase or just hanging out and talking. We went through a few rainstorms, and of course we kept the windows open! Now that was awesome. For those of you who haven't been down to that part of Mexico, it is EXTREMELY humid and hot down there. On just one of the days we were there, the temperature was 107° and the humidity was ninety-something percent. But when one of their rainstorms came through—usually just about every day at one time or another for 15 minutes—the temperature cooled down a bit, and the breeze was absolutely heavenly. Especially on the bus where, when all the windows and skylights are open, the wind blasts through at breakneck speed! It actually got a little chilly a few times! And of course, getting wet always felt wonderful.
The bathrooms by the church where we stayed in Tecax were... interesting. That is all I will say. Except for two things: It could have been worse. And I appreciate toilet seats a lot more now (and running water, and cleanliness, and toilets that flush, and sinks that work... well, I appreciate a LOT of things more now, let's just say!).
The church was nicer than I expected, considering I was expecting see-through walls made of bent sticks, a dirt floor, and a thatched roof, like a church we saw last year out in a remote village. It actually had concrete walls and a ceiling, as well as a TILE FLOOR! And it even had a stage sort of like at our church. It was a pretty big room, too, which was nice since most of us had to sleep in it. It had some fans that worked somewhat well on the ceiling, and during the day the front and side doors could be opened to let the breeze in. So we didn't get TOO hot, although it wasn't quite as nice as the breezeway back at the mission! I was just thankful that it was an actual building, and there were actual bathrooms! Yay!
I was in the drama team in 2 of the dramas. We're doing the one we did the most, Creation, in church on Sunday. I can't decide if I like that or not. It's a good drama that points to Christ, but #1. The music is REEEEEAAAAAALLLLYYYYY cheesy (it's done without words to a recorded tape) and #2. I have to play fight with a guy, which is a little weird. It was easier for most of the times we performed it during our program things in Mexico... something just sort of snapped in place for me. But every time we'd practice it it was really weird.
On our first night in Tecax after doing our first program thing on the town square, we climbed this huge hill to the Ermita of San Diego, this big church that was built in the 1600's. We got to see a wonderful view of Tecax—all the lights were sprinkled down far below us, surrounding us, and reaching out until they met with the blackness of the jungle. We went behind the church where it wasn't lighted for awhile. There were bats EVERYWHERE! It was so cool! They were constantly going this way and that over our heads. And the stars were amazing. So beautiful and bright, and so many of them! I stood there for the longest time just staring—trying to memorize all the stars that I didn't recognize that were lower on the horizon, because I knew I might be able to see the constellation Centaurus there, but I didn't know what it looked like. I've ALWAYS wanted to see the star Alpha Centauri in Centaurus... well just that whole constellation in general. And guess what? When we got home I looked it up, and that was the constellation I saw!!! I was so excited.
We walked a bit farther up the hill to this gazebo-like thing on the edge of the jungle. I forgot who was with me when we went back there, but there were only two of us, and everybody else was either already up there or hadn't come yet. So we sort of discovered the holes ourselves, lol. There were this big, black holes dotting the rock we were walking on. In the dark they just looked like these black pits of nothing here and there. It was so dark you really had to be on the lookout, they sort of came out of nowhere. Yeah, I was little scared of them, if you can't tell, lol. They really freaked me out. My apologies to whoever was with me—your hand must have ached for a long time afterwards! ;)
During the day in Tecax when we were sitting around waiting for this or that, something interesting happened. At first it was just the girls making necklaces and bracelets and anklets and things out of embroidery floss, but one by one, we converted all the guys. We soon had what we called our "knitting circle," where we'd all sit on these benches by each other just working away at our bracelets. By the end of the week, I'm pretty sure the guys had made more than the girls! They really got into it. It was funny. They rock.
On Saturday we actually went out to eat at a very fancy restaurant a few towns over. It was open air, of course, to let the breeze through. The food was delicious (except for this one VERY weird flavor of ice cream). It had the nicest restrooms we'd seen in days! It had a big mirror, one of the few real ones I saw all week (I walked in and screamed, lol). And it had nice toilets and sinks and all that! Sara took a picture of one of the toilets because she was so excited to see one with a seat, lol. We all were!
Saturday night was the night one little local girl gave me the really pretty silk flower. That was so sweet... it's one thing I'll keep around for the rest of my life, you can bet.
Every day we were in Tecax a group of local children would come to the church to play. We became fast friends! They were all so sweet! I will always remember Gabby, José Luis, Jasmine, Tirza and Gladys. I remember the streamers in the hair, dancing around in a circle, teaching them the hokey-pokey, playing hand-clap games (and making up our own!), their fascination with our cameras, our many attempts at communication, making embroidery floss jewelry with them, and José Luis' "aiyiyi"s. Saying goodbye to them was really hard. I miss them so much! But I hopefully will see them in Heaven.
It was SO neat being able to work with our fellow Christians in Mexico. Even though we don't speak the same language, or have the same background, we really are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we have a bond stronger than a language barrier. And one day, we will be able to speak to each other in Heaven! That'll be SO cool. I can't wait to see them.
posted by Rachel @ 10:58 PM
1 Comments:
At 7/12/2005 8:38 PM,
frisbeegurl said…
Yay I like the last bit you wrote about seeing all of them in heaven!! Wow.. I just didn't think about that!! THAT'LL BE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait to see Jose Luis again (Yeah.. shame on me.. I did have a favorite!!)
Post a Comment
<< Home