Lessons from Mexico

So I'm finally getting past the denial that I won't be seeing all of my people in Mexico again... or at least for a long time. I can talk to them on Facebook, which is great, but for all of you who know me... I'm a face to face conversation kind of person. Phones and internet just can't compare.

So what did I get from being in Mexico? So So much!!

#1- No matter what someone looks like, where they are from, where they live, their mental state, the number of people on Earth who love them, the contributions they've made to society, their IQ, the bad choices that they've made, the language that they use, their outlook on life... Despite all of that- They are still a child of God, created by him, and are deserving of love. No one can take that away.

#2- Actions speak louder than words- no, but for real. I never felt like I had the perfect words to say. I was always jumbling around my sentences. Lots of times I didn't completely understand what was going on. However--- I could comb lice out of a girl's hair for 3 hours listening to her life story. I could hang out with super rough street guys and ignore the BO and their dirt caked clothing and play a game of UNO. I could keep a positive attitude at camp when it was pouring down rain and cold and my last long sleeve shirt got soaked. In those moments I just had to be and rely on God to use me how he wanted because it was obvious that I wasn't the person doing anything. It was all up to God to work through me and let his light shine through me.

#3- That leads to the third- God's doing the doing... not me.

#4- You never know what you're getting into. I thought I was going to work with kids- ended up working with 20/30 yr olds. I never expected to be able to help out the missionaries I was living with or give my input in meetings about the future of the Drop in Center at La Raza.

#5- It's okay not to have everything all planned out. I don't need to know what I'm going to do next after school yet. When it's time for me to know, I'll know. But until that point, there's no use in me fretting over what my next step will be because I just don't know yet. I'm going to live in the moment and enjoy where I'm at. If I end up in Mexico, in the US, going to grad school, whatever, I just want it to be what God wants me to do.

#6- Don't be afraid of your emotions. They're part of who you are and how you were created.

#7- The things you think you need, you really don't need. People live with so much less and are content and still give so much to everyone else.

#8- Mexicans are great.

There is so much more, but that's all I've got for now.

That's a Wrap

I apologize for the huge delay in this post. It was so hard getting worked up to write it after I already did it once

I got in late Monday night and was it a long emotional ride home. I was starting to get sick from a week at camp in the rain on little sleep and was completely torn about how I felt about coming home.

Last week I was at a camp outside of Cuernavaca, Mexico at a YMCA camp called Camhomila. It was absolutely beautiful there. In the mountains... all green. I wish I would have taken better pictures, none of them really turned out well.

It was the church camp for all of the youth in the district that works with the OMS missionaries. I'd met some of the people before but for the most part, I was there on my own. There were a few other missionaries that were going to be there, but their Spanish skills were limited therefore, I was the only non Mexican to be a counselor. Therefore, I was in Spanish mode all day long. All last week I maybe spoke in English for 4 hours haha. But it was great. I was surrounded by such an amazing staff and was totally blessed by their friendships and their excitement to be serving God as counselors in the camp. We were in between two tropical storms at the time so it rained. A lot. So we arrived Monday and by Thursday most of my clothes were wet. Dry clothes were a cherished possession. Nothing dried. And it was cold. So when I got home, let's just say I had a bit of a head cold. Buuuut the week was soooo much fun. I had three groups of campers. Little kids, middle school, and high school. Each group was there for 2 days... the high schoolers for 3 days. I had a group of them each time. Here are some pictures to kind of show you some of the things we did throughout the week.

This is all of the counselors going into town for a dinner. They are so much fun and I miss hanging out with them.


Counselors had to compete in all of the competitions, so here I am in the sack race.


This is my first group of girls. They were all so cute.


And we had to make a tower out of straws. Let's just say it's obvious that I'm majoring in a non scientific/ mathematic discipline. It tipped over.


This is one of the games we played with them.


Since I was the tallest, I got to hold onto the innertube for the tug of war. It was pouring down rain and we were WET, on the mud. Everyone was linked to me like a big chain of hugs.


Which team is longest- This was day one or 2 before the rains came.


Here are some of the awesome people I was working with


Some more of the sessions.


Here's my first group of girls again.


I learned soooo many Mexican cheers it's not even funny. I might even know more in Spanish than I do in English at this point :)


My height got me volunteered again for the goalie during this game. The kids were blindfolded and had to tear down the wall. It was hilarious when they got turned the wrong way and started chucking the balls at all of us.


And this was the ropes course. You can see that we were soaking wet. I'm in there somewhere. We had to make it through all of the ropes while holding hands. We couldn't let go and had to find all of our country's flags (each cabin was a country).


And this is my group of teenagers. We were Italy.


I'll write again sometime in the near future about all that I'm thinking about now that I'm back. It's been a long summer and who knows what I'll do next. :)

So I wrote a big old entry last night... pressed publish... went to bed... and now it has disappeared into the abyss of the internet. But I guess that will just add to the suspense about what my last week of camp was like. But I am home safe and sound :)

Camp

So I've spent my last day here in Mexico City. I'm leaving for camp which is in Cuernavaca. I'll be internet free for the next week. I get back to the city here at midnight on Sunday and then I have to leave for the airport at around 8 Monday morning. So, the next time I write I'll probably be in the States.

Thanks so much for all your support!!!!

Another Funny Story

So as I was talking to my mom on Skype this morning, I realize that I'd never written about this little occurrence that happened last week.

As you know if you've been reading my blog, I've been working in the kitchen with a blind ex chef, Memo. He has pretty much no fear despite his disability. He's worked in a kitchen all his life and the whole phrase "I could do it with my eyes shut" is how he lives every day.

This being said, it was my first day in the kitchen with Memo. We work with gas stove tops at La Raza. I personally had only used one once before coming to Mexico. One of the ranges lights itself, but the other range you have to light with a lighter. Well, all of the first set of burners were filled this particular morning. I was cutting up something on one side of the kitchen not paying much attention to what Memo was doing. I thought he was stirring something. All of the sudden I hear a FFWOOOSHFF. I look over and the flame is so big that it is swallowing the pan in tongues of orange and yellow. Memo is standing there about to catch on fire and is feeling for the pan, looks back in my direction, and asks, "Did it light yet?" I run over there to turn it down telling Memo, "Yes! Yes! Back up! Wait a second! You're not going to have any eyebrows." All the time Memo is just standing there with his little smile on his face. And that is how our work together began. It's been an adventure. From then on, I always stepped in to light the burners.

I Almost Forgot

I was attacked by some kind of crazy bug or something. I woke up this morning and my lip was numb and swollen. Right now there's no more swelling, but it's still numb. It's crazy what some little animal can do to you. I have just looked all around my room including in my bed for the culprit and I didn't find anything abnormal. It looks like this one will remain a mystery.

Last Day at La Raza

The past week's been super busy. All kinds of meetings and goodbyes. I got to go to their mini Olympics for street kids. There were probably 200/ 300 people there. It was crazy. But I knew like 40 of them so it was kind of fun. We caught up with a bunch of them that hadn't been to the Center in a long time. The next day, we had 25 people show up at La Raza. We can only take in 16, but it just goes to show how many people are in need and find a place in our center.

Today was my last day and Paty and Alex made me Pazole which is a super traditional Mexican dish. It's basically giant corn soup with shredded beef. They eat it with tortilla chips and sour cream. So good! Mexican food in the states is nothing like what I've eaten here. Tortillas are the same... Rice also... but everything else is completely inaccurate. It's way better the legitimate Mexican way.

Here's some pictures from this past week.

This was today after my goodbye meal.


And these are from my last few days with the Chavos.