Verbs, Missed Pictures, and Taboo-cowie

The river.
Adorable Jeffrey waiting in the van.
Rosalina.

Kedric.

I know, I know; I put up tons of pictures of this little guy. He's just too cute! Uriel.

On Sunday...I went prayer walking in the morning and met up with Marlen. When I got home, Ricardo came...very early. I think he was so excited about coming along to the baptismal service that he couldn't sleep in. He walked in with a fistful of candy. Donna asked him, "Is that your breakfast?" But he replied, "No. I got up at five this morning!" He walked around the house and peeked into the bedrooms as we readied ourselves for church. I had to leave his presence because I kept fighting the urge to laugh. Finally, the others arrived and we left for the river. Uriel sat beside me in the van. MariCruz turned around to look at us and exclaimed, "Que bonito! Uriel, estas sentando con la Tricia?" (How cute! Uriel, are you sitting with Tricia?). He looked up and gave me a shy smile. At the river, the men looked for the deepest place for the baptism. It was difficult because the river is pretty dry right now. Jesse played guitar for the songs and Rod talked about repentance and baptism. The children amused themselves by finding fish and tiny frogs in the water and trapping them in plastic cups and bottles. Both Rosalina and Kedric were baptized. The service was so beautiful that I overlooked the fact that the sun was beating down on me (and turned a little pink as a result). We had quite a bit of unexpected company for lunch, but Donna calmly added water to the soup and we ate. In San Pedro, we had lots of singing during the service. We got home early. Mario came back with us and stayed for dinner. I tried practicing some new verb tenses like "hubiera nacido" (would have been born) and "Caminaria si tuviera patas" (I would walk if I had feet). But they just laughed at me. Maybe those words didn't sound natural coming out of my mouth. (Note: This is taken from the first journal entry I've ever written in [pathetic] Spanish; I had to translate it for you!)

~~~

On Monday...I've been gone from home for exactly nine months. Today was a struggle to get out of bed. But I got up and ate a waffle and then sat down to study my Spanish. I almost blew my brain on those verbs. Wouldn't life be so much simpler if we would ever just use one verb tense? I go here today. I go here yesterday. I go here tomorrow. I go here if you want me to go. I was still very tired during my visit with Vanessa's family. I played a game with them, talked a little, and then came home. I walked up to the plaza for my time off and was almost instantly surrounded by people. First it was a lady who asked me all sorts of questions. Then it was her friends that came along a little later and offered to buy me ice cream. And then it was an elderly gentleman. I finally excused myself and walked home, selfishly upset that my quiet time had been so unsacred. Rod came and we piled into the hot van for the ride to San Pedro. Dust bulged in the windows and I was sweaty and dirty when we got there. But the enthusiastic class made it worth it. We had a mini prayer meeting at the orphanage this evening. It was Rach's last night in Mexico so we said our mournful goodbyes.

~~~

On Tuesday...My day was long, but good. I made cookies and lunch, did laundry, and cut up a pumpkin. After my time off, I stamped the new tracks while I listened to music. I finished up just in time for bean burritos for dinner. I then cleaned my room, did some typing, and called home. My family put me on speakerphone so I got to talk with everyone at once. I went to bed seeing Wednesday stretching out in front of me with nothing I had to do.

~~~

On Wednesday... I arrived in Mexico exactly eight months ago today. I didn't sleep good on Tuesday night, so I was tired for my day off. But, fortunately, it didn't really matter since I had practically nothing to do. I went for a walk, stopped by to see Lupita (Vanessa's sister), and then came home to eat breakfast. I walked up to the plaza and purposely chose a bench that was out of the way so people wouldn't come up and talk to me. I was sitting for only two minutes before a lady and her daughter joined me. I wanted to groan, but I shouldn't have worried because they only sat for about ten minutes. When I came home, I ate lunch and continued to be a bum. Somehow the afternoon flew by anyway. We ate cebiche for dinner and then people arrived for prayer meeting. Uriel came running through the front door and sat down beside me. After the meeting, I collected ciruelas (a type of fruit) with Tita and Miguel. Miguel shook the branches with a stick and the little hard fruits came raining down on us. I decided to move out of the line of fire and amuse myself with something else. Donna made our usual Wednesday night smoothies and we sat around on stools in the kitchen (the hottest room in the house) and sipped our smoothies and talked.

~~~

On Thursday...Lenn picked me up early because he was leaving to go dig a well in some village whose name sounds sorta like "Taboo-cowie" or something. Please don't ask me to spell it! Instead of making crunchy potatoes and greenbeans, I did laundry. Everyone felt safer that way. I missed three excellent pictures because I forgot to bring my camera. So I'll explain them to you: 1) Suzanne rinsing the poop out of Chuy's clothes. Miguel and Domingo were standing on either side of her, peering into the basin in disgust and burying their noses in their shirts. "Asco!" (Gross!). 2) Chuy playing with his toys in the bathtub, pausing only to give his crowd of adoring onlookers a cheesy smile. 3) MariChuy, Fernando, and Carol hanging out the clothes. MariChuy stood on a stool to reach the clothesline, Fernando handed her the articles of clothing, and Carol handed up the clothespins. It was adorable. Try to imagine these events since I have no digital proof. I helped finish lunch, but stayed out of the way enough to make everything run smoothly. After lunch, my human dishwasher tried to hide, but Johan found him. He came up with many excuses to not work until Lenn suggested "bad points." The children were good; I hoped it was because they were choosing to be and not because they were listless with Rach gone. After my time off, I took Chuy outside. But soon I was called inside to solve an argument. I'm not sure what I was really solving, but I ended up putting puzzle together with the twins. During the course of the conversation, Rosalina looked at me and asked, "Somos hermanas, verdad?" (We're sisters, right?). It was so sweet! I ended up being sort of in charge of dinner and was relieved when Debbie took over. Fernando came inside and asked if he could dry dishes for me. He took a long time but stuck at his job. Right after dinner, Debbie and a bunch of the kids hauled me into town. Maria gave me a crushing farewell hug. But I wasn't ready to settle down for the night yet, so I went for a walk. I met up with Marlen and talked until I had just enough time to get home before dark. I was in bed by 8:30 p.m...plenty of time to finish my book and start another.

~~~

On Friday...Since I did laundry on Thursday, I spent today at home. I made finger jell-O for the youth activity in the evening, covered some books, wrote out a song on posterboard, and made pumpkin pudding for dessert. During lunch, Caleb gave us a summary of a story he read for Literature...except his summary was likely longer than the actual story. During my time off, I got to talk with Grandpa! Then we went to Mochiqui. Maria and I had a nice visit with Ana before we went to study with Cyntia, Carla, Tita, and Alma. Carla was determined to catch up with her sister and actually focused on her lesson. She caught up with her sister all right, and was making plans to pass her up next week when we left. That night, I walked to Vanessa's house to pick up Lupita for the youth night. Let's just say that I was introduced to another level of Mexican culture and left, extremely frustrated...and without Lupita. Not many people came for the first youth night at Rod and Christa's. But it was a nice group and we had fun together playing volleyball, eating nachos, and listening to Rod and Ramon play guitar. We got home a little late.

~~~

On Saturday...I got up late and then helped get the house ready for the invaders...or visitors. During class, Maria picked me to hold the posterboard song. No amount of glaring at her could make her change her mind; I was forced to be the focal point of dozens of pairs of little eyes for three minutes. After class, I talked with Rhonda, trying to provide her with an island of English in a sea of Spanish. She dryly remarked, "Well, that didn't last long!" when I started talking Spanish baby-talk to Chuy. Teo begged me to tell him a story and I got all of "Cuando yo era una nina chiquita...pues, nunca era chiquita. Cuando era nina pues-" (When I was a little girl...well, I never was little. When I was a girl then-) before Lenn hollered "MOCHIQUI!" and we loaded up the van to head out to the orphanage. Rhonda and I made lunch. The worst thing that happened was that after confidently setting the timer for the rice, I forgot to press 'start.' See? Not at all disastrous! I made peanut butter once the boys weren't around to torment me (and they do torment me too! Johan has absolutely no sympathy for the poor, abused Salchicha! He accused me of picking a fight! Imagine! Me!). The other children were almost angelic this afternoon. Chuy went down for his nap with a big smile on his face and the others played together quietly. I took my time off after Chuy woke up. When I got back on duty, Rhonda and I made dinner. Then we cleaned up afterwards. Diego and Miguel kicked around a soccer ball after dinner, and Diego, as offense, kept a running commentary of his plays...I don't think I even tried not to laugh. It sorta brought back memories of "playing" American football in the living room with my brother (Remember that, Bradley? LOL). Maria and I were talking and watching Chuy when Loren came and picked me up to go home.

Rain, Rejoicing in Heaven, and a Rainbow

Ricardo helping Donna in the kitchen.
Playing "Snake Pit" at special activity.
Lenn and Jeffrey.

The girls' team in water balloon volleyball.

Chuy taking a ride in a box.

A pitaya (cactus fruit)...I told you it looks like an orange brain!

Cuddly little critter Roxina found outside.

Jackalyn. (This one is for you, Mom. Recognize that skirt?)

Janessa, Mari, and Magdaly in the rain.

Sunday, May 17, 2009.
I walked over to Vanessa's house this morning specifically to invite her family to church. But ten o'clock rolled around and they didn't come. I sat with Ana and kept an eye on Tita and Uriel since MariCruz was not there. I went to Mochiqui with the villagers and Martin and Alain. Alain told me he still knew all of the English he'd learned when he had been living at the orphanage. I didn't ask him to prove it. I spent my afternoon on the computer and talking with Janelle on the phone. Happy birthday, Janelle! Chispa, the Yoders' chihuahua (or part chihuahua...aka: yippy rat-like canine), started having her puppies and Donna stayed home from San Pedro to keep an eye on her. The rest of us had a hot, windy ride. Julian and Fransisca were very talkative and we stayed until almost dark.

Monday, May 18, 2009.

Monday was a day that nothing went particularly right or particularly wrong. I did language study in the morning and then took my practice sentences from my study over to Vanessa's house. They helped me correct the things I had wrong. I ate a greenish mango that made my teeth hurt. But I managed to avoid putting Huichol hot sauce on it, although they insisted that I try it. The blood in my veins is still from el otro lado (the other side) I guess. I read a book during my time off. I felt lazy, but it felt nice. We left for San Pedro in the heat of the day. I was covered in sweat when we reached the trench-riddled road of the village. Class was small. The wind blew great gusts of dust over us. When I got home, I washed my face three times before the grit disappeared. After dinner, I plopped down on my bed and was disgusted to see cat hair all over my sheets. Let's just say that I hate the cat even more than before. Give me a mouse or a cockroach any day. Janessa suddenly burst into the room to declare that it was raining outside. The big drops were heavy and cold...so refreshing. We stood in the rain with Magda and Mari, two of the neighbor girls, and bumped around the volleyball as thunder grumbled and lightning danced in the sky. I was cold enough to make myself a cup of coffee. Coffee and rain...two of my favorite smells in the whole world. Something else happened that night that I didn't find out about until the next day. Rosalina, one of the girls from the orphanage, asked Jesus to forgive her sins and to live in her heart. The angels greatly rejoiced in heaven...

Tuesday, May 19, 2009.

Our room still smelled like rain by morning. I made cookies and lunch and did my laundry (I wanted to wash the cat hair off of my sheets). In the afternoon, I worked on the invitations for the special activity on Saturday for the children that had memorized their verses. Rach and Rhonda came while I was still hard at work. Rhonda stayed for dinner. I felt like a German frau with my heaping plateful next to her tiny little salad. We had fun talking and talking. We moved outside eventually where it was much cooler. And then it began to rain again. Lenn stopped by to pick up Rhonda and I hopped into the van to give Rosalina, my new sister in Christ, a big hug. They're planning a baptism this Sunday before Rach leaves for the States. Pray for strength and wisdom for Rosalina; she's the first in her family to make this step. The electricity went out as I was cleaning my room. Outside, the air was cool, but the house was still muggy. The fan kicked back in around 11:00 p.m. and I slept good.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009.

I swept and mopped my floor. I had pretty much all day just to be lazy...and I took advantage of that. I spent time on the Internet and talking with my family. Then Rhonda came over and we walked uptown together. At both JLR and the dulceria, the cashiers talked to us in English. Rhonda was greatly comforted until I burst her bubble by telling her how rare the occurrences were. We walked up to the little ice cream parlor which is a Mexican version of Whit's End. The ice cream was delicious. When I withdrew money from the ATM, I turned around and saw the man behind me smiling at me hopefully; he probably was counting the bills in my hand. We had communion in the evening. The time together was refreshing. I felt like I could truly worship God through the Spanish songs. Afterwards, Rach and I went out for hot dogs and took them to the gazebo at the plaza. It stormed a little and rained a lot. Some other stragglers joined us under the protection of the roof. Rach and I were yacking away to each other when suddenly the newcomers began talking with us in English. After that, we felt a little nervous about continuing our conversation until they left. We bought [non-alcoholic] drinks on the way home and I drank my entire sugary Arizona fruit flavored drink before I went to bed.
Thursday, May 21, 2009.

Maybe that's why I was so tired this morning. I woke up deliciously cold and quickly took advantage of the situation to put on a sweatshirt and drink some hot chocolate. I worked on writing out verses, songs, etc all morning. By the time that we had lunch, I felt like falling asleep on my plate. I almost did, but I made it to my bedroom first. I slept my siesta time away and woke up as the Yoder family was leaving for San Pedro. Then I made desserts for fun night and wrote out more songs on posterboard. I walked to Vanessa's house to drop off her invitation for Saturday. It started to rain so I rushed home. Before long, the sun was out again as well as a huge rainbow. The colors were so beautiful and it reminded me that God always keeps His promises. I took a walk in the cool afternoon air and dropped by Marlen's house to chat. When I got home, the house was deathly quiet until the Yoders came home around 9:00 p.m.

Friday, May 22, 2009.
This morning it took all of my energy to pull myself out of bed. Dona Paula and Fermin from San Pedro stopped by during breakfast. I helped Donna in the morning with typing out verses and making the gift bags for the special activity. Marlen came by and stayed until after lunch. I walked uptown to buy a tortilla press and soon was surrounded by a big group of middle school girls. One of them remembered me; we met around Christmas, she said. So we re-made an acquaintance and her friend asked me for a peso to buy coke. I don't think she was too impressed when I laughed at her. After lunch I read my book and took a nap. When I got up, we left for Mochiqui. Maria and I had a nice visit with Ana and Rosa. Ana showed us many of her drawings; she is definitely an artist! At fun night, we celebrated (or mourned, depending on how you look at it) Rachel's leaving by eating her favorite dessert. After we cleaned up, we sat outside to watch the children play. I played tic-tac-toe in the sand with Leobardo. The evening was cool and peaceful.

Saturday, May 23, 2009.

Ricardo came very early to Saturday school. When he got his invitation to the afternoon's special activity, he was elated. He exclaimed dramatically: "Yo voy a ir! Ya dije todos mis versiculos!" (I'm going to go! I said all of my verses!). Then with rasping fake sobs he flung his arms around the person standing the closest to him. I cannot be around him with out laughing. Something about him makes laughter sort of bubble up and spill over. I talked with Ana for a long time after class. I made quesadillas for lunch and set out leftovers. I determined not to sleep during my time off as much as I wanted to. Instead, I read a little and then walked uptown to pick up a little gift for Ana. When I came back, I helped get things ready for the special activity. Ricardo came early and wandered through the front door after he got tired of watching us at the window. He insisted on helping Donna stir the tostada sauce and then tattled on me when I tried to sneak some chocolate out of the fridge. We finally left with a truck load of people and things. I helped with one of the games, but just had fun watching the children play. They got along pretty well for the most part which was a blessing. I gave Ana the gift and she almost got tears in her eyes. It was worth every peso! We came home and Aile and Marlen stayed for the evening and played games.

Tracts, K-Freezes, and Spankings

Sunday, May 10, 2009.
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers in the world! I wasn't with my mom today, but I made a cake for someone else's mom. The kids made Donna breakfast in bed as I mixed up a chocolate cake. Kyle came hopping into the kitchen to see what I was up to. I told him I would tell him what I was concocting if he could keep it a secret. Even as a 5-year-old, he recognized his weakness and blurted out, "Just TELL me!" I didn't, and he returned to the bedroom, bearing false reports that I was "making supper." I was in the midst of baking the cake when I noticed that we were out of gas. I think I have a strange body chemistry that makes gas vanish out of the tanks. Two times in four days! I was discouraged although Loren went almost immediately to get another tank. The cake, however, was not ruined and came out smelling ooey-gooey and delicious. Ana came to church and we sat together. The service was about madres (mothers). Loren called up different people to talk about their mothers. Ricardo came to church late. Then he sat in the front bench. I'm not sure why he sat up there, because he spent the entire service swiveling his head from side to side to make sure that he wasn't missing any action behind him. He waved his hand frantically when Loren asked questions, but he rarely knew the answer or said something really off the wall that told the rest of us that he hadn't been listening. Then he randomly reached back and yanked the tag off of his 'Lindolfo Reyes' T-shirt. After that, he had the tag in his mouth or was wrapping it around his finger as he watched the world around him. I love Ricardo; he's eccentric and adds a touch of humor to any situation. I was sitting behind him (which is why I can give a detailed account of his actions) and I kept laughing quietly at his tactics. After everyone left, we had lentil soup and chocolate cake. In the afternoon, I wrote a sappy e-mail to the best mother in the entire world. At the service in San Pedro, the service was a lot the same. Julian's mother applauded him after he gave his little speech. The wind in my face on the ride home made me very tired.

Monday, May 11, 2009.
I bought groceries and walked to Vanessa's house. At first, my visit felt like it was in vain; the family was distracted and not very friendly. But as I was preparing to leave they began to ask me questions about hell and salvation. I plunged in to explain the spiritual realm to them. The Holy Spirit was definitely with me, but I still came home to freshen up my spiritual vocabuarly a bit. In the afternoon, Rod and Christa came to pick us up for the San Pedro Kid's Club. We had a nice class; the children were well behaved. It may have been the heat; no one really has much energy to be naughty with this weather. After class, I talked with Fransisca and Gris. Fransisca informed me that if she had an available son, she would want him to marry me. The rest of the conversation ran along similarly humorous and ridiculous lines. We got back to eat Loren's cebiche and some pitayas that Rumaldo had dropped off earlier.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009.
I walked up to SuperChoix and ordered my usual 1/2 kilo of hamburger. The meat-guy gave me a smile of unconcealed mirth. I must be the only person in Choix who buys hamburger. I made bread, cookies, peach tapioca (Thanks, Mom! It turned out good!), and spaghetti. I now have a recipe to make bread FAST! It baked in 15 minutes when it was supposed to take 40-45 minutes. Never mind the crispy, black outside; it was the doughy inside that counted. Okay, it wasn't horrible, just discouraging. I tried to read in front of the fan during siesta time, but I fell asleep instead. We left to pass out tracts about 4:30 p.m. We rode through flying tar, stones, and dust on the way to Aguajito. As we pulled up to the side of the rode, Gris was just driving by in the car. She slowed up and rolled down her window. Then with a very confused look on her face, she surveyed our mighty number and asked, "Y eso?" (And this?). We all laughed as Loren explained. Passing out tracts when fast in both Aguajito and Colexio. We were standing around talking when we saw a boy ripping apart one of our tracts. We all stood and watched him perform this task. He noticed us and was embarrassed, but we didn't look away. I made a comment along the lines of "He should be embarrassed!" My head was pounding on the way home and I began to wonder what it would be like to get sick while trapped in the back of the truck with seventeen other people. When we got back, I couldn't eat much for dinner (that is a SURE sign that I was sick!). But I took a few ibuprofen and a shower and felt good enough to clean my room and sort my laundry.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
I woke up this morning realizing that I'd had enough sleep. That felt nice. I was up and at the plaza by 8:00 a.m. I started reading a very interesting book and finally dragged myself away by promising myself I'd stop for a K-Freeze before heading home. The ploy worked and I happily sipped my K-Freeze all of the way home. Kyle was intensely jealous and showed me all of his money. Together we figured out that he had enough money to buy K-Freezes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday...and a hamburger on Friday. He has a potentially blissful week coming up. He thought maybe he'd take my debit card to the bank and get even more money to buy even more K-Freezes. I quickly shot down that brainy idea. I did my laundry, ate lunch, and then talked with my family on the phone. It was so hot and my ear got all sweaty from the phone. After dinner was prayer meeting. After prayer meeting we took the Mochiqui villagers and some of the orphanage crew home (Lenn was in Mochis to pick up the new worker). We dropped off Ian and Jesse at the gate and then Loren stepped on the gas. I bent over backwards the bar in the truck. Jesse laughed at me as I cried out in pain. I was still rubbing my aching back when Loren slammed on the brakes and both Janessa and I flew to the front of the truck. But the ride got even more uncomfortable when Loren stopped to pick up three young men from Mochiqui and hauled them with us all of the way to Choix. The three guys plastered themselves against the back of the truck and we hugged the front after an obligatory "Buenas tardes" (Good afternoon). Janessa and I ran to Don Josecito's for milk and yogurt (in two separate trips, of course). I wanted to finish my book that evening, so I didn't think about going to bed until long after I should have.

Thursday, May 14, 2009.
Potato day at the orphanage. That should have been a clue to how my day would go. But it didn't even send off warning bells in my brain. The groceries were late which meant the potatoes weren't done on time which means a stressed Tricia...again. Thursdays are my thorn in the flesh right now. We ended up being only a few minutes late for lunch although everyone was sitting at the table waiting for us. The bright spot of my day was that I got to meet the new worker, Rhonda. Well, not exactly meet her since I knew her from before. I got to remake the acquaintance. The children were all excited over the new clothes that the social services gave them for children's day (social services came right before lunch, go figure). I iced the pumpkin whoopie pies and then exited the fray for some time off. In the afternoon, no visitors came so I spent my time talking with Rhonda and watching Chuy. Hearing Rhonda's questions made me remember my first week in Mexico. Debbie and I heated up leftovers for dinner and we ate. Then the boys passed out pitayas. We each got six of them! I helped start the clean up and then went outside to watch the kids play jumprope. The boys were showing off for Rhonda. Everytime they did something, they's look at her to make sure she was watching. It was hilarious. Again I had a tardy ride...that never came.

Friday, May 15, 2009.
I saw lots of people from Mochiqui as I biked out of town Friday morning. And yes, I actually rode my bike. I was walking it down the street when Rumaldo sped around me on his bike and said, "Subete!" (Climb on it!). Maybe it was pride that made me obey him just to prove that I could. When I got to the orphanage I started in with my work. The boys were still around, disrupting my piles of sorted laundry. Once things quieted down, I relaxed with the washing machines and read my book. It was a relaxing morning. I tried to remain optimistic as I clambored onto my bike under the scorching sun. And I was optimistic to a certain point. That point was when I was wearily cresting a hill. I glanced to my left and met the eyes of a jogger that was overtaking me. Startled, I swerved as he passed me. I would have fallen if I wouldn't have caught myself with my foot. He turned around and ran back to wherever he'd come from. As soon as he was out of earshot, I burst out laughing as I huffed and puffed the rest of the way into Choix. I chatted online with my two sisters, my mom, and Brianne. It was work to keep up with four different conversations! We left for Mochiqui and picked up Maria at the orphanage. In Mochiqui, Maria and I visited Ana as Donna made her own rounds. Two Jehova's Witnesses came by Ana's house. Afterwards, Ana began to ask me some spiritual questions. After trying to explain a few things, I resorted to having Maria translate for me. Then we walked up to MariCruz's to study with Carla and Tita. When we got home, I showered and then Rach and I walked up to the taqueria to meet the guys for our singles' night out. After tacos, we walked up to Oxxo to get ice cream. I saw my former little neighbor girl and talked with her for quite awhile. We finished our evening by eating ice cream under the air-conditioning at Yoders'.

Saturday, May 16, 2009.
I had two answered prayers on Saturday. One was that Salvador came to Saturday school. He only needed a little convincing before he came in and sat quietly. I was delighted by the way he listened to the Bible story. I sat between Rhonda and Ana. The afternoon was fairly relaxed. With Rhonda's help, lunch was simple. After lunch, Domingo and Miguel discovered a few of the buttons that make me tick. After their work, they went to wash up and came out of the bathroom with soap all over their faces and in their hair. I playfully tried to wipe it off of them, but they preferred to strut around and show off their ingenuity first. My second answered prayer came when I was grinding away at the peanuts to make peanut butter. Out of the blue, Rosalina began asking me questions about what it meant to be a Christian and baptized, etc. I was excited. Not only was it good for her to learn, but it was also good for me to practice my Spanish. I cleaned up after making the peanut butter and by then Chuy was awake from his nap. I took him outside to look at the cows before I went for my time off. I was back on duty just in time to heat up some beans and rice and feed Chuy before dinner. Diego and Miguel came in with pitayas for their personal desserts. I tried to talk them into giving one to Chuy. Miguel gave his to me. "Tengo tres mas" (I have three more) he consoled himself. I gave Chuy a taste of pitaya and after that he kept reaching for it and didn't want to finish his beans. The children were extremely traviersos (naughty) during dinner clean-up. I was worn out by the time that Domingo came in to sweep and mop. He whined and whined and then whined some more when I told him in no uncertain terms that if he didn't do a good enough job, he'd have to redo it. I tried teaching him how to say "I like to sweep the floor" in English. The I altered his favorite phrase ("I want a hundred cookies!") to "I want a hundred spankings!" He gave me a startled look that told me he knew exactly what I was trying to get him to say. Loren came to pick me up early. As I was leaving, the pile of boys by the porch bid me farewell by belching loudly. Such is life...

Flower Pots, Pitayas, and El Arroyo,

Caleb, Kedric, and Kyle playing for Sunday morning worship.
Loren soaking his feet. He didn't like how rough they were getting. J/K. I think he had a sore or a blister or something.
Maria Inez holding a lizard she found in the kitchen.
Miguel cleaning up the icing bowl.
Uriel with an apple.

Rumaldo, Tita, MariCruz, Uriel, and Carla.

Sunday~I woke up early this morning, and inspiration hit me. BAM! And I was up and ready to go on a walk. Why not? I decided. The rest of my day looked pretty dreary with this whole swine flu thing. I would get out and enjoy the world before the mercury jumped out of the top of the thermometer. I took a long walk too. Most of the town was still sleeping and I was almost alone. Someone tried to get me to buy flower pots. I said, "No tengo dinero" (I don't have money). "Son baratos!" (They're cheap!). "No tengo NADA!" (I don't have ANYTHING!). I pointed out the fact that I didn't even have pockets to hold my money. "You don't need money!" was the next helpful suggestion in English. I didn't even slow down my pace, just marched right by all of the dazzling hand-painted five-gallon flower pots. I could only imagine trying to bring one of those back to Illinois on the plane. When I returned home, the Yoders and I had our own church service. The boys were in charge of singing. We sang a few English and a few Spanish songs to the guitar accompaniment. Even Kyle pretended to play his guitar...so cute! We had a guest speaker for our service. His name was Allen Roth and he talked to us about church planting via recorded seminar on the Internet. We laid around on the benches and the floor to listen. It was the laziest church service I have ever attended. Donna made meatballs and mashed potatoes for lunch. It was deliciously American. I spent the long afternoon working on e-mails and talking on the phone. In the evening we walked to Rod and Christa's house just to visit. It was nice to get out. I wonder what people thought when they saw the drawn-out string of us marching through basketball courts, a hole in the wall, over a creek, almost through someone's backyard, and down a horse trail all for the sake of taking the "shortcut." We spent the evening talking and looking at pictures. It was fun. The evening had still not cooled off when we got home...so I parked myself in front of a fan.

Monday~I made my normal Monday morning trek to Vanessa's house with my armload of groceries. They had visitors..some sort of relatives that the family didn't seem too excited about having around. Vanessa, Gabi, and I played memory on the kitchen floor. Apparently, the relatives were cussing because Vanessa's mother kept telling them to stop using bad words. One time she pointed out that I was an "hermana" (sister, as in a Christian). The cousin apologized to me. I was very innocent; I don't know any Spanish cuss words so I can't understand them. I spent a lot of my time there praying that Vanessa's family would see the black and white of good and evil. After my siesta time in the afternoon, I went for a very hot walk uptown to buy things for the baby bundles. I found everything I needed. When I returned, I ate an helado (kind of like a popsicle in a bag) as I put the bundles together. I was so sweaty and hot, but the helado helped to cool me down. I helped Donna make dinner and we ate when the other children came home from playing soccer at the orphanage. That night, I started cleaning out the refrigerator in my quest for inspiration of what to make for lunch on Tuesday.

Tuesday~"El Cinco de Mayo." I called Rod and got his baked fish recipe and then walked uptown to get the ingredients. I made cookies for the prison as well as the fish for lunch. The fish was very lemony...and delicious. I cleaned up from lunch and then took my siesta time. Donna was laying down when I got up and I wasn't sure what to do...so I finished cleaning out the refrigerator. That job is so rewarding! Plus, we got to eat chocolate pudding and corn muffins from things I found in the deep, dark depths of the unknown. Okay, it wasn't that bad...*sheepish grin*. After dinner, some scampered off to attend a memorial service of a man who had died of cancer, Brother Pablo. I stayed home.

Wednesday~I slept in...a little. Then I went to the plaza to hang out in the shade and read my book. It was surprisingly cool. The temperature continues to climb and the nights don't cool off like they used to. Just thinking about the afternoon makes me break out in a sweat. But for those precious moments at the plaza, I enjoyed the cool breeze wrapping itself around me and the palm trees. And the pigeons strutting under the park benches. And the owl hooting in the tree above me. And the gentle hum of traffic as people got back into their normal lives after the swine flu scare. I went back home and made Indian rice. Marlen tasted the rice and worked on not freaking out. She said something akin to this (in Spanish): "Give me water! Give me something sweet!" I also ate my very first pitaya (a cactus fruit). It looked like an orange brain and tasted similar to a kiwi with lots of little seeds. It was delicious. I talked on the phone with my Dad for quite awhile. I tried to take a nap, but even with the fan blowing on me, it was too hot. I ate cold cereal for supper which was refreshing. The church had prayer meeting and it was great to see everyone again. Janessa and I went along to Mochiqui to drop off the villagers. On the way out of town we crossed paths with MariCruz's husband, Rumaldo, on his bike. Planted between the two handle bars with his ears straight in the air was Rocky, Rumaldo's and MariCruz's dog. It was a hilarious sight. We had our Wednesday night smoothies when we got home.

Thursday~Lenn picked me up on the moto and off we went to the orphanage. Suzanne was such a darling and had the scalloped potatoes ready to go in the oven. Memories of my last attempt of scalloped potatoes had everyone a bit nervous. But we were determined not to let it happen again. I mixed up the bread and we had everything in the oven and ready for the oven long before lunch. We chuckled to ourselves about how easy everything was and why had we been worried at all??? But it was close to noon before I realized that the stove was out of gas and the four pans of potatoes and green beans in the oven were not baking! Suzanne tried to call one of the guys down, but unfortunately, their radios weren't turned on. So she ran up on the hill to their dorm. Meanwhile the bread rose to immensity as it waited its turn for the oven. Sadly to say, we post-poned lunch 1/2 hour and STILL had crunchy potatoes and green beans. I really hate that meal! But no one complained; who dared to complain when we had leftover peanut butter pie for dessert? I had my time off after lunch cleanup. Then I mixed up biscuits for dinner and tried not to trample on the dozens of children underfoot (I'm only exaggerating a TINY bit). Lenn had lots of different evening plans, so he brought me home right before dinner to save a trip. I ate bean burritos with the Yoders and got into a lengthy discussion about books before I settled down to read one.

Friday~I was very sweaty by the time I got to the orphanage on my bike. I started the laundry, hoping that the "hair-dryer" breeze (as Debbie calls it) would dry me off. Using well water means only two loads of laundry per washer-full. (We can't quite de-sensitize ourselves enough to let water drain after each load.) That means that the clothes look and smell much cleaner! Roxina was hyper and wanted to tickle me while I waited in between loads. I was glad when I could put her to work hanging out the clothes. I set back out for Choix after lunch. I made it almost the entire way home on my bike. It was hot, but I must admit that the ride is getting easier as I--dare I hope?--get just a little more in shape. We left for Mochiqui a little after 4:00 p.m. We visited Ana and her family. Afterwards we visited MariCruz and studied with Carla and Tita. Maria and I walked down to the arroyo (literally means stream, but in this case, is more like a watering hole) with the girls who wanted to "bathe." The whole incident was hilarious as Carla and Tita dipped buckets of water out of the concrete whole (trying to avoid the fish) and proceeded to dump the contents over their heads until they were sufficiently wet enough to soap up. They were wading in mud puddles when they were done rinsing off for the last time. I got dirty just from helping to dump the buckets of water. Others were down at the arroyo too. A drunk man joined us towards the end. When he saw the bucket of water I was going to carry back to the house, he nicely offered to help me. I nicely turned him down and flexed my arm muscles just to prove to him that I could do it...okay the last part isn't really true. We walked over to the orphanage and made it just in time to eat nachos and Texas sheet cake. The children started a lively game of prisoner's base which ended while Miguel, Diego, and Domingo were rolling in and tasting the dirt. I thought it was ridiculous enough just to get covered in the clouds of dust that were floating past... When we got home, there was a man laying on our front porch. All I could see were his feet and I freaked out as I imagined this faceless person laying in a pool of blood from a crime committed on our front porch. Fortunately, it was just a man sleeping the night away because he didn't have anywhere else to go.

Saturday~I finished my Cheerios for breakfast. That was a sad moment. Donna declared a moment of silence as I cradled my last Cheerio lovingly in my spoon. Lots of children came for Saturday school. I helped Ana study her verses after class. We had fun together. I went home with the orphanage crew after class. We had 39 people packed into the 15-passenger van and it was HOT! I was squatting on the floor with a little girl in my lap. Roxina who was practically laying across the console kept moving and squishing me against the passenger's seat. We made lunch and I fed Chuy and put him down for his nap. He was surprisingly well-behaved. Domingo tried to dodge dish duty by hiding in the tree, but Miguel came without being told. The girls played together nicely during the afternoon which made my job easy. But the day stretched on and on. I took Chuy outside after I woke him up and let him touch one of the cows. His face lit up as he touched the cool, wet nose. Diego practiced his English after dinner. It was funny to hear his accent. As evening fell, I kicked a soccer ball around with Chuy; he's a true Mexican child! I waited for my late ride which never did come. LOL. Lenn took me home a little before 9:00 p.m.

Answered Prayer, Swine's Flu, and Dirty Feet

OLD and NEW pictures:

Domingo and his birthday cake (10 years old!).
Chuy on a seat he found in the playroom...Nutrileche milk boxes!
Ian, Johan, and Kedric using the wireless on the front porch...our Internet cafe.

Digging the well.

Lupita and with Alejito's 4-month "birthday" cake.

Sunday morning, I had another headache. But I felt much better than the week before. I got ready for church. I was sitting inside on a church bench, waiting for people to arrive when Janessa came rushing in, all excited. "Lupita is here with Alejito!" she told me. I was surprised...although Lupita (Vanessa's sister) had said she would come for the service (you just never really know when they are serious or want to pacify you). So I jumped up and greeted them in delight. Sitting with them during the service was an answer to prayer. Thank you to all who have been praying for that family...please continue to pray. After the service some of the girls fought over holding Alejito and exclaimed at how beautiful he was. Lupita felt proud, I think. After the service, I found that my headache was mysteriously gone, PTL. I went prayer-walking. It was good physical and spiritual exercise; I haven't had time to do it for quite awhile. When I got back I took a nap until it was time to leave for San Pedro. Rod had to drive a sick lady to El Fuerte and so 12-year-old Caleb led singing. Caleb, if you're reading this, you did a very good job. On the way back, Loren dropped me off at the orphanage to spend the night and all day Monday while Lenn, Debbie, and family had their day off in Los Mochis. Roxina was excited to see me and immediately wanted me to sit down and read a Bible story to her. My mind was tired and I had zero energy. The result was not good; I stumbled over nearly every word. Then we prayed together and I must insert proudly that I made it all of the way through a [short and sweet] prayer in Spanish.

Monday morning I was rudely awaken from blissful sleep. I can't say that I was surprised, just disappointed. Chuy threw a fit from 5:00-6:00 a.m. Nothing I did was good enough for him. Every time I thought he was settled and crept back to my bed, he would start up again. Finally I fell into a wary sleep until he decided he was done sleeping at 6:45 a.m. I smelled him before I even saw him. He had poop everywhere. I heated his bath water and tried to get ready for breakfast in my spare time. Breakfast was a quiet affair without the Millers. I started laundry, first soaking all of Chuy's clothes. Miguel walked up and looked in the bucket and exclaimed, "Asco!" (Gross!) and then retreated to the safety of the house. Laundry went fast without trouble. I even managed to get a lot of it folded before lunch. Chuy pooped his clothes again. During my time off, I tried to sleep, but Chuy was sleeping in the same room and the fear of hearing that screaming little voice kept me on the edge. Instead, I read my book. When he got up, I took him outside and fed him guamuchiles. The boys came down for soccer and some of the neighbor boys came over. Maria took over the Chuy-watch and I sat with Teo on the front porch and told him a story in Spanish. He tried to reciprocate by telling me a story in English, but switched to Spanish pretty quickly. Domingo told me that he had "siete mas dias" (seven more days) until his birthday and then was delighted when he found out that it was only "seis mas dias" (six more days). The Millers got home after dinner. Lenn and Regina took me home on the moto. I walked to my room to unpack and found chocolates and Cheetos on my pillow from the Millers as a thank you. Yippee!

Tuesday was a long day, but not a bad one. I made cookies and lunch. I only had to run to the store three times for the ingredients. Hmmm...I guess I have officially become a Mexican. Marlen came and hung out at our house for awhile. Johan came and sat on the front porch. Some ladies came, wanting to look at clothes to buy. Alma and her dad came; she stood at the window and talked with me for awhile. Loren came in to tell me about a man in Mochiqui who has just accepted the Lord. A lady from Mochiqui and all of her children came for water...water..."MAS AGUA, POR FAVOR!" (More water please!). I'm amazed at the amount of water they drink! We sat down to eat lunch without Loren or Donna. I ran into the kitchen to get the dessert and saw Salvador outside on his bike, waiting for water. I asked him: "Cuando vas a cortar tu pelo?" (When are you going to cut your hair?) Note: I think I ask him this almost every time I see him. He answered: "Cuando quieres" (When you want to). I was shocked. He told me to go get a scissors and I obeyed quickly, afraid that he would change his mind. He held out his long strand of hair and I whacked it off with a decisive snip. I called the others to come and admire my handiwork. Just then, Donna came home, and I asked if she noticed anything different about him. She exclaimed, "He cut his hair!" But I prize that stunned expression she gave me when I held up the scissors. "YOU cut his hair!" His long strip of hair in the front has been bugging me ever since I've met him, but no more...at least until he grows it back. I did up lunch dishes and then caught up with e-mails. I also wrote a letter home, assuring them that no, I have not caught the swine's flu. This week looks pretty boring...large groups of people are discouraged from meeting together which means doing practically nothing until May 6th. No tract distribution, no prayer meeting, no visiting the prison, no Children's Day celebration, no Saturday school, and maybe no church. I wrote some songs out on poster-board for the San Pedro Kid's Club. Then a helped a little with dinner then retreated to my room to sweep the floor and sort my laundry.

Wednesday morning, I woke up early. Donna teased me about getting up earlier on my days off than on a normal weekday. She's right, but I always make long lists for my days off. I was doing my laundry before 8:00 a.m. I worked on the computer most of the day...trying to get e-mails and a "homework" assignment from Ian finished. I had respites of Cheerios and chocolate and yogurt. I love days off. I called home and then went for a walk. On my walk, I met up with lots of people that I knew and/or wanted to talk. I got home just before sunset. We didn't have prayer meeting because of the swine flu virus which has yet to make its presence known in Choix, Sinaloa. The whole day was pretty uneventful and we were all feeling restless; it's like a snow day in Illinois.

Thursday we had Swedish pancakes to celebrate Kedric's birthday (which got lost in the shuffle in February). The pancakes are delicious; they melt in your mouth if they don't melt on your plate first. Loren took me to the orphanage. Rosalina broke her foot from falling out of a tree and had to go to El Fuerte with Lenn and Suzanne. I was in charge of laundry. All morning I oversaw the laundry and the dogs. The exciting news is that we're using water from our well as of Thursday! After lunch, I took my time off. Soon after I was back on-duty, the twins' family came although they weren't supposed to visit until Friday. Regina sat outside with them while I finished up the laundry and watched the beans on the stove. Their brother, Adrian, played ranchero-style guitar and was very good. Chuy pooped his pants twice in one hour. Fortunately for me, Suzanne was back...but was not impressed with her deviant charge. The twins were very affectionate today; I got several near-hit kisses to the mouth from Roxina and a big, slobbery smooch from Rosalina. The evening was beautiful. I sat outside with Chuy and watched the girls play a game and the boys play soccer with Lenn. After Lenn brought me home, Donna informed me that they had saved some shrimp for me. I was very excited. I haven't had shrimp since I came to Mexico!
Friday morning I didn't go to the orphanage since I did the laundry on Thursday and because they were celebrating Children's Day a day late. I went to Rod and Christa's house instead and cleaned house for Christa. It was fun to do something different and I went home, feeling relaxed. Julian, Fransisca, Jesus, and Nayely were at our house when I got there. The ladies ate lunch with us. When I got online during my time-off, I was shocked to see all of the news I'd missed by being away from the Internet for one day. It sorta made me nervous about how fast life can change. (FYI, I will not divulge all of that information publicly). We picked up Maria and went to Mochiqui in the evening. We visited at several different houses in Mochiqui. When we got back to the orphanage to pick up the kids from soccer, the soccer game was still in full-swing. When we got home, we showered and watched a movie together.

Saturday morning we didn't have Saturday school for the first time since I've been here. It was really strange. Loren dropped me off at the orphanage. I made Domingo's birthday cake to celebrate his 10th birthday (and first birthday that he can remember). Then I did the charming chores of cleaning the bathroom and keeping an eye on Chuy. I was very relaxed all morning; Rach had everything under control and I just glided along in her wake, having fun with the children. When the boys came down for lunch, we were ready for them. Domingo acted embarrassed that he was the center of attention, but he loved it. After I'd asked them to do dishes, Miguel and Domingo were disobedient and left the house, saying, "Ahorita venimos" (We're coming back really soon). I little bit later I saw them out playing American football on the soccer field. The incident launched a discussion about discipline with Lenn, Debbie, Johan, and I. Debbie stuck up for me against Johan while Lenn laughed at us and inserted an occasional humorous comments. But Lenn applauded me when I went to retrieve the two deviant boys. While they worked, Rosalina, Miguel, and Domingo were simultaneously singing three different songs. Miguel kept putting his foot on the table while he was drying dishes. Johan and I both got after him for that one, and he dutifully wiped off the table with his drying towel. That was even worse. I wiped off the table with a dishcloth and asked him where his foot was so I could wipe that spot extra-good. He showed me where his foot had been...pointing it out with his foot. I tried to explain to him how dirty and gross his feet were, but his mind had already moved on to other things. About that time, Diego marched in the front door with plastic bags tucked in the shoulders of his T-shirt. He looked like a football player (a short and skinny one). I think this new football craze is due to the fact that the children watched "Facing the Giants" on Friday. The twins spent the afternoon singing different songs in loud, ranchero-style voices. Other than that, my afternoon was pretty uneventful and relaxing...except that Chuy woke up from his nap, screaming bloody murder. Rach calmed him down and then I took him outside to look at the neighbor's cows. I'm taught him "Que dice la vaca?" "Muuuu!" (What does the cow say? Moooo!). He doesn't quite get the "M' out right and it sounds more like: "Oooooo!" I took my time off and relaxed. When I got up I fed Chuy mashed potatoes and then we ate and I helped with dinner clean-up. After Lenn brought me home, I showered and had good intentions of falling asleep...except I really wasn't tired. Janessa and I talked and talked until much later than my intended bedtime. But it was fun.