For some reason my time here seems to be an eternity. I have officially been in Mexico during 3 calendar months: July, August, and September. Usually when time passes slowly, it is when you are miserable and want something to end. That is certainly not the case but so much happens each day that a day seems more like a week and a week more like a month.
Last week was a fairly ordinary week. I went to work in the mornings and came home to rest and help with homework in the evenings. On Thursday, Myrtille had been waiting all day for a certain man to come that she needed to meet with. He had told her that he would be coming in the early afternoon of this specific day. We were planning on going to Sam’s after he came but he didn’t show and she sent me home. The next day was the day that Sarah, the new intern, was arriving. Flexibility is key while living in Mexico. The plan was for Myrtille and me to go to Sam’s early that morning to get the rest of the school supplies for the kids since we were not able to do it the first time we had tried and then go straight to the airport to pick up Sarah and her dad but slight changes had to be made along the way. Sam’s ended up having hardly any of the items on the list so we had to make a side trip to another store which is basically a school supplies store on serious steroids. It has everything you could ever dream of needing for school. Much to our dismay we ended up spending about 3 hours there after we had cleared the shelves and run into some trouble as we tried to pay. Thanks to Myrtille’s husband Tolo, Sarah and her dad were not left stranded at the airport since we obviously could have never made it there in time to get them. Sarah’s dad flew down with her to help her get settled in and this was the first time in Mexico for both of them. We went to lunch with them and showed them around Acapulco as we drove back to Casa Hogar. Sarah finally coming put an immediate end to my time as a loner American living here. Needless to say I was quite pleased to get the company. I don’t even enjoy being at my house alone much less living alone in Mexico:)
Sarah’s dad left Saturday morning which left the two of us with the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. She had never been here so I thought she might like to see more of Acapulco. We took the bus to one of the malls and walked around. We wanted to see a movie but unfortunately nothing very appealing was playing. We ended up walking quite a bit up and down the main street just looking and talking.
Sunday morning we went to church as always with the kids. I have always enjoyed going to this church despite the fact that I can hardly understand what the preacher is saying. The people are very friendly and welcoming and I am starting to feel more and more comfortable the more I attend. Don’t get me wrong I miss my church terribly but they aren’t too bad as a substitute for now. Since I struggle really getting something out of the message, I thrive on the worship music. When I left home, that is something that I specifically said that I would miss at my church. Being here, I have learned that when talking to God, there is no language barrier. It does not matter what language it is in, but worshipping Him is worshipping Him.
Myrtille is going out of town next week so she wanted Sarah and I to come in yesterday on our day off so she could tell us exactly what we would be doing while she is gone. She ended up not being able to come because of a flat tire so Sarah and I were able to leave early and go to Wal-Mart. Who knew that I could enjoy a trip to Wal-Mart so much? There is something about being there, and I felt the same thing being in Sam’s too, that makes me feel at home. We took our time walking up and down all the aisles filling our basket with items to restock our pantry shelves. We were very successful I might add…
Yesterday afternoon I helped a little boy named Raul with his homework. He is very new to Casa Hogar and has never attended school. He is 9 nine years old and in the first grade and is unable to read or write. This made it interesting when his homework was to write in cursive 4 short names and 4 long names. They teach cursive very early here so as if it weren’t hard enough for him to write at all, he had to do it in cursive! I ended up writing the names for him in dotted lines and had him trace over them. I tried to be encouraging even though he continuously connected the wrong dots or went the wrong way but the more he wrote, the more I could see the sense of accomplishment on his face. He was very proud that he had completed it with ‘just a little’ help from me.
The past few days I have taken on the job of a cafeteria lady. All I need is a hair net and a white uniform and I would be the perfect fit. Preparing plates for over 60 kids gets a little boring for the kids that have kitchen duty so I’ve tried to help them out whenever possible.
Two brothers left the orphanage on Friday. It was the first time for me to have someone that I was really close to leave. Their names were Gama and Guillermo. Gama is 11 and Guillermo is 12. I had no idea that they were leaving on Friday morning when I left Casa Hogar for the day and when I returned I thought the girl that told me about it was playing a joke. It turns out that their mother decided she wanted them back and when it was encouraged that the boys stay she got upset so in order to prevent unneeded trouble, she was able to have them back. My first reaction was tears. I loved them so much and had really gotten close with them while I have been here but when I talked to my mom she made me realize that their home may be the best place for them to be because every child desires to be with their mother. So really, my tears were selfish. Regardless of the financial situation in their family, I think they will be happy just being with their mommy and that makes me happy. The week before I had arrived here, Gama had surgery on his leg. He had broken it playing soccer with the other boys. When they took the x-rays, they found a tumor that needed to be removed, fortunately not cancerous. He ended up having 48 stitches and a serious scar from his knee all the way up his thigh. He was unable to walk for weeks and still is not able to which kept him from starting school. They will certainly be missed by me and the all of their friends at Casa Hogar but you can only hope for the best for their futures.
I feel like I am at a good place as far as getting myself around the city and my Spanish is, as I said before, improving daily. I am immensely enjoying the kids and getting to know them and the staff here on a new level. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support. There have been many times that I have needed them and so many have been there to lift me up. Hasta la vista baby:)
Ok so maybe I won't be able to keep the number of paragraphs to a minimum.....sorry!!!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
One month already gone by
How do I begin a blog after being in Mexico for a month? I guess that's something I should have thought about when I decided to procrastinate on getting one started. In just a month I feel like I have learned far more about myself, a new culture, and my relationship with Christ than I ever could have imagined.
My first 3 weeks here were conveniently step up as stepping stones to prepare me for where I am right now. The first week, I had the Orangewood youth group here with me which was so nice having familiar faces around as I came to grips with the fact that this place would be my new home for the next 5 months. The following week, an intern named Virginia that had been at Casa Hogar with the Orangewood group as well had one more week with me before she left. That week was great getting to know her and really having time to get settled in but also really busy because 2 groups came in the same week that Virginia and I were "in charge" of. They weren't familiar but they were friendly faces that became another step in my adjustment. The following week 2 women that had previously worked at Casa Hogar and Sobre el Puente (a street child ministry associated with the same church as Casa Hogar) for 3 years came back for a visit. After living here for 3 years, they were obvioulsy very familiar with the city and were able to take me around and allow me to get a better feel for life in Acapulco. I was able to go to dinner with them multiple times and meet some of their friends that live here. I was so thankful for that because the more familiar faces in a big unfamiliar city, the better! Their departure brings me to week 4/beginning of week 5 which is where I am now.
For a while I was in kind of a limbo with what exactly my role here would be. I did not have any sort of schedule at all of where I should be or what I should be doing which made me feel useless. But in the past 2 weeks I have definitely been put to use. On Sundays I go to church with the kids and pretty much have a free afternoon to spend with them. Monday is my day off which would be today. I have been at Starbucks sitting in the AC playing on my computer for about 2 and a half hours and it has been delightful! Tuesday through Friday I work in an office at the church with a woman named Myrtille who plays a huge role in making the orphange run as it should. Unfortunately, it is quite a hike getting there. I have about a 10-15 min. walk down a mountain/hill to get to the bus stop, then I ride a bus, usually un-airconditioned:), for about 45 min.-an hour, and then on the other side take another 10-15 min. walk up a mountain/hill to arrive at the cool air-conditioned office! My work pretty much consists of paper work for the kids and filing which I do not have a problem with at all because I am able to see my progress and it is not physically difficult:) In the afternoons I go back to the orphange and help the children with their homework. Last week the middle schoolers started school and today everyone is in school. I have definitely become a useful tool when it comes to English homework. When the teacher sends home a take-home English test, I don't think they expect that an American will be the one helping! Saturdays are free to do whatever since the kids are free as well.
As far as the language goes, after living here for a month I can't help but know more than I started with. I am still so far from fluent but it is improving daily. I have also found people at the orphanage to talk to that know some English that are very helpful and very patient with me.
I have only had one little mishap with directions so far which for me, isn't too shabby. It happened on my way to work on the first day. This was my first time out alone so I was a little nervous but was fairly confident that I had understood the directions given to me, in Spanish of course. Well, apparently I was far from understanding and ending up getting off of the bus about 75 stops too soon:) So here I was on the main road in Acapulco standing on the side of the road alone. I did have a cell phone with me so I shamefully gave Myrtille a call and she came and picked me up. When I returned to Casa Hogar I was literally laughed at because I guess the directions should not have been difficult. The next day one of the kids was sent to go with me to make sure I arrived at the right place. Since that day I have made it to the office everyday all by myself and have not made that mistake again! Thank goodness!
This is my fifth time to come to Casa Hogar so I was fairly familiar with the place and people when I got here but I was also only used to being here for 1 week at a time. Being here for an extended time has definitely allowed me to see the good, the bad, and the sometimes really ugly. I've realized that my picture of the kids was unrealistic after only being here for 1 week at a time in the past. The kids here are the same as the kids anywhere. I love them to death but they can certainly be quite the little, ummm, rascals...This past week I have been incredibly convicted of how I love people. There are certain kids that I could spend hours with and never get sick of but there are also kids that I can hardly spend 5 min. with. I am realizing how incapable I am of genuinely loving these children on my own. I am seeing the importance of loving the "unloveable" especially in many circumstances where some of these children didn't even know what love looked like before coming to Casa Hogar. My job here is not so much to share the gospel in words because the already know what the Bible says but it is to actually act out the gospel and make Christ's love so evident that they can't ignore it. My constant prayer during my time here has been that I might be made invisible so that the children do not even see me but simply see Christ through me. My own sinfulness has become very obvious to me and I know that if I were here on my own, Christ's work would never come close to getting accomplished thanks to my impatience, pride, and flat out nastiness that I am without Christ. I don't think that I will come to a complete conclusion while I'm here on how to deal with the issure of loving others as Christ did. Actually, I'm pretty convinced that it is going to be a lifetime of learning but I just hope I can continue to make progress while I'm here and be able to apply it to my life back at home when I return.
Please excuse the length of this first blog. Hopefully I will be able to minimize the amount of paragraphs in the future. One last thing, I decided to name this blog "My time in between" because to me, that is exactly what this time is. It is the time in between high school and the rest of my life and who would have thought that I'd be spending it at an orphanage in Mexico...
My first 3 weeks here were conveniently step up as stepping stones to prepare me for where I am right now. The first week, I had the Orangewood youth group here with me which was so nice having familiar faces around as I came to grips with the fact that this place would be my new home for the next 5 months. The following week, an intern named Virginia that had been at Casa Hogar with the Orangewood group as well had one more week with me before she left. That week was great getting to know her and really having time to get settled in but also really busy because 2 groups came in the same week that Virginia and I were "in charge" of. They weren't familiar but they were friendly faces that became another step in my adjustment. The following week 2 women that had previously worked at Casa Hogar and Sobre el Puente (a street child ministry associated with the same church as Casa Hogar) for 3 years came back for a visit. After living here for 3 years, they were obvioulsy very familiar with the city and were able to take me around and allow me to get a better feel for life in Acapulco. I was able to go to dinner with them multiple times and meet some of their friends that live here. I was so thankful for that because the more familiar faces in a big unfamiliar city, the better! Their departure brings me to week 4/beginning of week 5 which is where I am now.
For a while I was in kind of a limbo with what exactly my role here would be. I did not have any sort of schedule at all of where I should be or what I should be doing which made me feel useless. But in the past 2 weeks I have definitely been put to use. On Sundays I go to church with the kids and pretty much have a free afternoon to spend with them. Monday is my day off which would be today. I have been at Starbucks sitting in the AC playing on my computer for about 2 and a half hours and it has been delightful! Tuesday through Friday I work in an office at the church with a woman named Myrtille who plays a huge role in making the orphange run as it should. Unfortunately, it is quite a hike getting there. I have about a 10-15 min. walk down a mountain/hill to get to the bus stop, then I ride a bus, usually un-airconditioned:), for about 45 min.-an hour, and then on the other side take another 10-15 min. walk up a mountain/hill to arrive at the cool air-conditioned office! My work pretty much consists of paper work for the kids and filing which I do not have a problem with at all because I am able to see my progress and it is not physically difficult:) In the afternoons I go back to the orphange and help the children with their homework. Last week the middle schoolers started school and today everyone is in school. I have definitely become a useful tool when it comes to English homework. When the teacher sends home a take-home English test, I don't think they expect that an American will be the one helping! Saturdays are free to do whatever since the kids are free as well.
As far as the language goes, after living here for a month I can't help but know more than I started with. I am still so far from fluent but it is improving daily. I have also found people at the orphanage to talk to that know some English that are very helpful and very patient with me.
I have only had one little mishap with directions so far which for me, isn't too shabby. It happened on my way to work on the first day. This was my first time out alone so I was a little nervous but was fairly confident that I had understood the directions given to me, in Spanish of course. Well, apparently I was far from understanding and ending up getting off of the bus about 75 stops too soon:) So here I was on the main road in Acapulco standing on the side of the road alone. I did have a cell phone with me so I shamefully gave Myrtille a call and she came and picked me up. When I returned to Casa Hogar I was literally laughed at because I guess the directions should not have been difficult. The next day one of the kids was sent to go with me to make sure I arrived at the right place. Since that day I have made it to the office everyday all by myself and have not made that mistake again! Thank goodness!
This is my fifth time to come to Casa Hogar so I was fairly familiar with the place and people when I got here but I was also only used to being here for 1 week at a time. Being here for an extended time has definitely allowed me to see the good, the bad, and the sometimes really ugly. I've realized that my picture of the kids was unrealistic after only being here for 1 week at a time in the past. The kids here are the same as the kids anywhere. I love them to death but they can certainly be quite the little, ummm, rascals...This past week I have been incredibly convicted of how I love people. There are certain kids that I could spend hours with and never get sick of but there are also kids that I can hardly spend 5 min. with. I am realizing how incapable I am of genuinely loving these children on my own. I am seeing the importance of loving the "unloveable" especially in many circumstances where some of these children didn't even know what love looked like before coming to Casa Hogar. My job here is not so much to share the gospel in words because the already know what the Bible says but it is to actually act out the gospel and make Christ's love so evident that they can't ignore it. My constant prayer during my time here has been that I might be made invisible so that the children do not even see me but simply see Christ through me. My own sinfulness has become very obvious to me and I know that if I were here on my own, Christ's work would never come close to getting accomplished thanks to my impatience, pride, and flat out nastiness that I am without Christ. I don't think that I will come to a complete conclusion while I'm here on how to deal with the issure of loving others as Christ did. Actually, I'm pretty convinced that it is going to be a lifetime of learning but I just hope I can continue to make progress while I'm here and be able to apply it to my life back at home when I return.
Please excuse the length of this first blog. Hopefully I will be able to minimize the amount of paragraphs in the future. One last thing, I decided to name this blog "My time in between" because to me, that is exactly what this time is. It is the time in between high school and the rest of my life and who would have thought that I'd be spending it at an orphanage in Mexico...
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