Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Life goes on....
Kristine and I are having a lot of fun but we are both missing the comfort and support of home and friends. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our journey here in Mexico.
On a more upbeat note, Kristine and I have continued to attend our Aerobics class despite the embarrassment it always brings. Kristine told me that it must be hilarious to the teacher that we still continue to come because, "No. 1 We absolutely suck (excuse the language) and No. 2 We're sassy about it." Every time we begin an exercise that requires coordination we give the instructor a look like, "are you kidding me?" The instructor has taken note of our attendance and now knows are names. The other day I was completely unable to do one of the exercises so she stopped the class and asked me to move forward so that I could see. I shrunk further back and kindly protested by saying that I could see perfectly from where I was at. I definitely did not figure the exercise out even when the teacher came and stood right next to me showing me the exercise. Sometimes I just stand there with a puzzled look and wish that I were somewhere else. And other times I just do what I can do and I smile at the Instructor. I think that Kristine and I are comic relief for her. We are the youngest in the class and yet we are the least coordinated. I so wish that you were there to get a laugh out of it yourself.
As far as my family goes, they are amazing. I am truly blessed to be a part of this family. When I am sad they always remind me of everything that I have and that I should be happy. They remind me that above all I have Christ and I should be happy and loving. It's not always easy to hear this when you're having a pity party, but it reminds me again and again where my heart and mind should be. This experience truly is a blessing from God and I should seek to get the most from it. I think the thing I'm most excited for in the remaining time is building stronger relationships with my family. They are so loving and Mirna and I have amazing conversations. She challenges me to defend my faith and beliefs and to explain them thoroughly. Although I'm at a point in my faith journey where I'm asking questions, I'm being challenged to push past that and seek answers so that I myself can provide solid proof and answers to Mirna. Right now, she is at a point in her faith journey where she is asking very difficult questions about God. She doesn't attend church because of the conflict it brings in her family, but she does believe in Christ and she is craving to know more and more. I hope that God continues to give me the strength to minister to her and be the listening ear that she needs.
Tomorrow, Kristine and I begin teaching English to children at a local church. I am super excited for this new experience for I feel that I will learn so much. We don't have any materials to work with so I'm being challenged to use my creativity. Please be praying for this experience. We will be teaching for the next twelve weeks!!!!
Well, I don't have any other exciting news at the moment so I'll bring this to a close. This week is a busy week so I probably won't update my blog until next Monday. Once again, thank you thank you thank you!!!! You don't know how much joy it brings me to know that my friends and family are journeying with me.
Mexico City
This last weekend Kristine and I traveled to Mexico City. We were accompanied by our Culture and Civilization teacher, Carlos. I kind of felt bad for the guy because Kristine and I were wandering all over, taking forever to shop. He was sooooo patient with us and he told us to take as much time as we wanted. We'll be spending the entire next weekend with him, too. We have a three day excursion and at this point, it looks as if it will just be the three of us!
We first went to visit the Palacio Nacional but were unable to because they were doing some preparations for the Presidents arrival. He will be speaking on September 15th. Their Independence Day is the 16th. We won't be in Mexico City but we will be shouting, "Viva México." I really want to go back when we can go inside because there is a mural there by Diego Rivera that tells the History of Mexico. I was fascinated by his last mural and I would love to see this one. We wandered around a little bit on the plaza and did a little shopping. There are so many indigenous people selling things and they all cost relatively the same. You just want to buy something from everyone. We got to see the remains of a Aztecan Pyramid and we got to go into a really old Cathedral. Part of the building was originally constructed by the Aztecas.
After we finished near the plaza we visited the Museum of Anthropology. Our teacher took us through the Aztecas & Olmecas. It was interesting but there was just soooooo much information that it was a bit draining as well. We got to have our picture taken under the ORIGINAL Aztecan calendar and that was pretty neat. Kristine and I took some time to go through the Mayas and a few others. We then moved on to the upstairs which consisted of the different Indigenous groups today. I was kind of bummed because there was so much information and I did not have the time nor the energy to read it all. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a descriptive overview soon. I'm so fascinated with the different Indigenous groups and their way of living.
For those of you who prefer to look at pictures rather than read, I have uploaded some pictures to my Flickr account. Just click on the picture above and it will take you to the other pictures, too. There is a pretty comical picture there and also the one with us beneath the Aztecan calendar. I hope you enjoy! =)
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