I'm pretty sure our host mom here (Doña Mago) wants us to leave here fifty pounds heavier. Two minutes into every meal, it's "Sírvate más tú Colín" or "¿Te traigo un plátanito?" ("Get yourself some more, Colleen," and "Can I bring you a banana?"). I really am loving the eating schedule here. We eat pretty much right when we get up, a meal called almuerzo. Usually it's eggs, frijoles, tortillas, and nopales (cactus), and it usually fills me up. When we get back from English class at 2:00, we eat comida, which is usually about as heavy as almuerzo. At night, our cena is usually some avena (oatmeal) and a banana or mango. It's perfect!
Things are going well here. I am loving teaching English to my class of 6 kids ranging in age from 12 to 14. Today, for something fun to do on a Friday, we spent half of class playing Hangman, or Orcado, with English words for fruits and animals. We're also tutoring the students in different subjects afterschool, so I'm getting a refresher in geometry and algebra....in Spanish.
I'm also getting to know some of the younger kids here, and I love spending time with them. An hour of my Wednesday night was spent playing a game that Yesenia and I made up called ejercicio (exercise) because it literally is just that. We sit facing each other, holding hands, and do crunches back and forth. It gives me an ab workout, and it makes them laugh, so it must be a good game.
Living here is so tranquilo. I've loved having time to be in the Word and in prayer, and I pray that God would do big things here. I'm enjoying reading "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper, and he's reminded me to live in a way that magnifies Christ. He says, "The way we honor Christ in life is to treasure Jesus above life's gifts." I have to remember that while I'm here. God has given me so many gifts (for example, the opportunity to be here), but I have to remember to glorify the Giver, not the gifts.
Paz y amor!
"Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him." -Philippians 3:7-9
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
he is my victory and he is here
Greetings from Tamaula, Guanajuato, Mexico!
I finally have a chance to sit down and share what´s been going here. The past two weeks have been absolutely locas! I´ve been blessed to see a few different parts of Mexico and hang out with some really amazing people.
The first few days were spent in Puebla and Cholula (a smaller town outside of Puebla) with three other americanos and our friend Miguel. We stayed in a hostel and at the house of a friend of his. We saw a ton of churches, rode a double decker tour bus (superturista, I know), ate great food, and enjoyed the nightlife. While in Cholula, we got to hang out with some exchange students from the U.S. and from France that are studying at UDLA (Universidad de las Americas). On Saturday, we left there for Mexico City, where we joined up with other UNCers from the project and our D.F. friends Kari and Kike. In a city that is home to more than 20 million people, there was a ton to do. We cheered on the Mexico team as they beat Chile 1 to 0 at the Estadio Azteca (the largest stadium in Latin America). We enjoyed more nightlife, walked around the city, took another superturista tour bus, climbed to the top of Castillo del Chapultec, and visited Iberoamericana, the university that Miguel, Kari, and Kike are about to graduate from. Jake and Tomás even played in a soccer game with some students and profes!
Within 24 hours, we transitioned from the second largest city in the world to a rural community of 218 habitantes. It´s hard to believe that we´ve already been living here in Tamaula for a week! Tamaula is a small community at the top of a mountain, about 30 minutes from Irapuato (the closest city). I´m here with Caroline and Tomás from UNC, helping with the Fundación Comunitario del Bajio. We´re basically hanging out in the community and helping out in whatever way we can. So far, that means teaching English to students in the secundaria everyday for an hour and tutoring them in physics, chemistry, math, and more English after school. We´re also doing some other activities with them, like playing fútbol and teaching them computer skills.
Another project that I´ve decided to pursue is editing their English textbooks. There is a huge amount of errors in their books that a nonnative speaker probably wouldn´t pick up on. So, I´m finding all the errors and sending them to the textbook company with a hope that they will fix them for the next edition! I´ll also be teaching the secundaria teachers English so that they can better teach their students next year.
It´s been a real blessing to be able to hang out with people from the community. The first night we were invited to play fútbol with some of the guys here, and I scored 2 goals, thank you very much! The other day, we played a game called balote with some of the girls from the prepa. It´s like baseball and kickball, but you use your arm as a bat. Because the campo is so rocky and uneven, I fell and unfortunately resprained my ankle, but all is good!
I can´t wait to spend even more time in the community. I´ve been a little discouraged not being able to understand everything everyone says, but I continue to pray for clarity, in understanding what they are saying, in understanding their lives, and in understanding what our role here is. I pray that in the midst of what we´re doing here, we would be able to shine Christ´s light in the community.
"Shine on, shine on, and let the others see you´ve got your victory."
I finally have a chance to sit down and share what´s been going here. The past two weeks have been absolutely locas! I´ve been blessed to see a few different parts of Mexico and hang out with some really amazing people.
The first few days were spent in Puebla and Cholula (a smaller town outside of Puebla) with three other americanos and our friend Miguel. We stayed in a hostel and at the house of a friend of his. We saw a ton of churches, rode a double decker tour bus (superturista, I know), ate great food, and enjoyed the nightlife. While in Cholula, we got to hang out with some exchange students from the U.S. and from France that are studying at UDLA (Universidad de las Americas). On Saturday, we left there for Mexico City, where we joined up with other UNCers from the project and our D.F. friends Kari and Kike. In a city that is home to more than 20 million people, there was a ton to do. We cheered on the Mexico team as they beat Chile 1 to 0 at the Estadio Azteca (the largest stadium in Latin America). We enjoyed more nightlife, walked around the city, took another superturista tour bus, climbed to the top of Castillo del Chapultec, and visited Iberoamericana, the university that Miguel, Kari, and Kike are about to graduate from. Jake and Tomás even played in a soccer game with some students and profes!
Within 24 hours, we transitioned from the second largest city in the world to a rural community of 218 habitantes. It´s hard to believe that we´ve already been living here in Tamaula for a week! Tamaula is a small community at the top of a mountain, about 30 minutes from Irapuato (the closest city). I´m here with Caroline and Tomás from UNC, helping with the Fundación Comunitario del Bajio. We´re basically hanging out in the community and helping out in whatever way we can. So far, that means teaching English to students in the secundaria everyday for an hour and tutoring them in physics, chemistry, math, and more English after school. We´re also doing some other activities with them, like playing fútbol and teaching them computer skills.
Another project that I´ve decided to pursue is editing their English textbooks. There is a huge amount of errors in their books that a nonnative speaker probably wouldn´t pick up on. So, I´m finding all the errors and sending them to the textbook company with a hope that they will fix them for the next edition! I´ll also be teaching the secundaria teachers English so that they can better teach their students next year.
It´s been a real blessing to be able to hang out with people from the community. The first night we were invited to play fútbol with some of the guys here, and I scored 2 goals, thank you very much! The other day, we played a game called balote with some of the girls from the prepa. It´s like baseball and kickball, but you use your arm as a bat. Because the campo is so rocky and uneven, I fell and unfortunately resprained my ankle, but all is good!
I can´t wait to spend even more time in the community. I´ve been a little discouraged not being able to understand everything everyone says, but I continue to pray for clarity, in understanding what they are saying, in understanding their lives, and in understanding what our role here is. I pray that in the midst of what we´re doing here, we would be able to shine Christ´s light in the community.
"Shine on, shine on, and let the others see you´ve got your victory."
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