Primeros

There is a first time for everything. Here are some of the "firsts" that I've experienced in the past 5 days:

I sweat through my shirt by 9:00 every morning. I swear I have never been so thankful for A/C in my entire life... we have it in the 3 bedrooms in our Puerto house.

I got the Mexican sickness last night. I'm better today, but very weak. I'm glad it was me and not any of the boys. David stayed home from school with me today and we played games all morning. Chris is a trooper and an amazing dad & husband. Sometimes it takes a good barf (or 2 or 3 or 4) to remind me of this fact.

I was drying my face after my first cold shower of the day and much to my surprise and horror, a huge cockroach crawled out of the towel. I was very disturbed to say the least. Chris came running and killed it. My hero.

Someone else did my laundry. The laundromats here have “full service” and we pay by the kilo. I drop it off and when I pick it up it’s clean and folded! It feels like magic.

I take at least two cold showers a day and I love them. We have officially joined Dennis Leon’s cold shower club.

I took a colectivo - a pickup truck with a blue tarp over the back that takes passengers to el mercado - by myself and did some grocery shopping for the family. I took a taxi home and had a great conversation with the driver. I can't pronounce his name so I won't even try to spell it. He was very nice and I was proud of myself for having a conversation in Spanish.

I eat and like raw tomatoes (at least the ones served at the best restaurant in Puerto - no name, but the owner's name is Kristina and she is the best cook I've ever met... sorry, Mom!).

I don’t blow dry my hair.

Chris and I share our room with 2 lizards (I’ve named my new friends Carlos and Pedro) and I like them. (They eat mosquitoes.)

I apologized for being blond. This was an accident though (but it turns out it needed to be said). We took a taxi ride home from the Super Che and Johnny wouldn’t stop screaming (he has a new habit of alternating between maniacal crying and hysterical laughing… I’m a little concerned about his sanity). When we got out of the cab, I said, “Lo siento que somos rubios.” Which means, “I’m sorry that we are blond.” What I MEANT to say was, “Lo siento que somos ruidos.” Which translates to, "I’m sorry we are loud." Nice. Gallo (I swear that’s what he said his name was – “rooster” in English) looked at me, smiled and said, “Es ok.” Chris looked at me and said, “You’re sorry we’re blond?!?” I felt like such an idiot, but all of us – including Gallo – had a good laugh.

I ate dinner surrounded by at least 60 disgusting flies. They are completely hideous and bother me so bad, but it was a first for me to continue eating while I swatted them away.

I have 2 bathrooms. Thank God for this because we aren’t supposed to flush the TP down the toilet; instead it goes into a trash can (with no lid) next to the toilet. Tres hijos = DISGUSTING!!!

I feel much more confident speaking Spanish.

Delia, Chris’ and my teacher, calls me “Guapa” (it means pretty). :)

Los animales

Here's a list of all the animals we've seen so far:

1. An extremely skinny cow tied to a tree on the side of the highway



2. Many horses - both on the beach and on the road



3. Screeching Lizards (inside our house)



4. Huge Iguanas (3 live in our backyard)



5. Cockroaches (Johnny calls them "crotch-roaches"... hmmm)



6. Ants - black and red



7. Way too many flies



8. Way too many mosquitoes



9. Lots of dogs with their private parts hanging down



10. Birds (one even flew in our house and pooped on the wall)



11. Chickens



12. Roosters (who think it's appropriate to "cock-a-doodle-doo" morning, noon, and night)



13. One cat

AND three crazy boys...

Language School

Today was our second day of language school. It is going very well so far. For this first week, we are attending school from 9 am to 1 pm. We pack lunch and eat as we study. Four hours is a long time for Johnny, and he keeps coming over to visit Krista and me (especially as we get near the end of our classes). But, I just read him a kid's book in Spanish or talk about all the animals we see in Spanish (including some nice big cockroaches right outside the classroom). Johnny especially likes cucarachas (cockroaches) and mariposas (butterflies). We (Krista, David and I) even did some homework (tarea) last night. Krista and I are in a class together for the first two hours, and we are in a class with another couple for the second two hours. Our teacher, Delia, is very helpful and we are learning a lot (and taking lots of notes). Andrew and Johnny are in a class together and David has been in a "group" class with a 13 year old. He seems to be keeping up well with the other boy, and David enjoys studying and doing homework.

Tomorrow Krista is going to go on a field trip after our class with one of the instructors (Carly) while I come back to the house with the boys.

We are enjoying the opportunity to use our Spanish with so many people that we meet. The taxi drivers have all been nice (and tolerant of my chatting), and we have met a very nice family who has a little restaurant right on the beach. They make wonderful huge smoothies for $2.

Krista and I are probably going to take a salsa class and a cooking class in Spanish (offered at the school) in the next couple weeks.

The weather has been pretty hot, and we have really enjoyed having air conditioning in our rooms.

Cristobal

Surfing in Puerto

My brother Brad wanted a surf report. Yesterday afternoon was my first session. I surfed at the beach break straight down from our house (Zicatela beach break). The sets were 10'+. Big A Frame peaks, but some waves were not makeable. It reminded me of Hawaii with the warm water and the power of the waves. One of the sets ripped one of booties right off my foot (which I was able to recover from the beach later). I got a few fun waves, but it was pretty crowded and I was still getting warmed up. I had my second session this morning before our school. It was nice that the weather was still cool. I did much better in this session. It was only slightly smaller than yesterday afternoon, but I was very glad that I had my bigger board (thick 6'10" McCoy pintail). I got some fun waves. There was one big left that I took off on in which I barely had time to slip into the tube after my bottom turn. It was a solid 8' face and it pitched hard. My timing was slightly off so I did not make it out of the tube. On my last wave of the session, I took off another big left and pulled in. I got a fun tube on this one. I was not real deep, but I was in there. This was a good wave to end on, and my confidence is up a bit now. I did not have a lot of time to surf in the couple months before our trip so I feel like it is going to take me time to get in a groove. I think that I will probably end up surfing this spot on a lot of the mornings before our school. The early mornings and late afternoon seem to be the best times to surf in terms of overall conditions and tide.

This afternoon we are going to Punta Zicatela. This is the famous "Mexican Pipeline" spot, but the waves are "small" for this time of year. I think I will bring my smaller board (6'7" Cordell). Vamos a ver...

Chris

Estamos Aqui...

We arrived safely with only one bag lost - of course the one with my root touch up kit in it. (And Chris' contacts and all of our bano stuff... nice.)

The boys were amazing travellers and we are now going to go out and have dinner in our new town. We're definitely feeling a little overwhelmed, but hopefully after a good nights rest, we will feel much better.

Hasta pronto.

!Feliz Cumpleaños, mi amiga buena Trish!

Trish, you are one-in-a-million and I'm so thankful to have you in my life.

Enjoy your special day today... I still can't believe how old you are, but I'll keep that number to myself as a special gift to you today.

Thank you for the sweet times of friendship, fellowship and encouragement. You're a shining star, a brave soul and a champion bamboo racer.

Like a Sister

Hannah Banana Banana Banana is like an older sister to Johnny and a younger sister to Andrew and David (in the best sense, of course). And, today, with wavy hair (from sleeping with 14 braids in her hair last night) she definitely looks the part of Johnny's sis. We'll sure miss you, Hannnah-girl. And your parents too! But, we will be taking you up on your offer to swim in your Papa and Nana's pool when we get home. Hasta pronto, mi hija...

The Most Important Item

Yes, we are packed and ready. Our house is move-in ready for the 5 different sets of renters. I have successfully purged our home of "another man's treasure" and delievered it to a local thrift store. Buddy-boy will have fun playing with his friend Romeo for the next 8 weeks. Chris is in the garage, as I write, making the very difficult decision of which surfboards to bring. Our fridge, freezer and pantry are cleaned out. Every drawer, closet, cupboard and shelf has been cleared out and scrubbed with unsentimental acceptance.

Today, I had an even better sense of success when I was able to procure a very important item at Longs. My good friend, neighbor and hair cutter, Lori Magno, informed me that there is an item for purchase for under $10 that will help me cover up the darkened shades of black and grey that may overtake me while in Mexico and away from her for 56 days. It's true. My hair roots are a very ugly shade of black (can black have varying shades?) and an even uglier shade of grey.

Call me vain. Say I'm not being true to my roots. I don't care. I will go to my grave with colored hair and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. See you in Mexico, blondie!

The Cutest Ring Bearer

Okay, this has nothing to do with Mexico... except the bride, Rachel Fabela (now Rachel Bechler), did go to Mexico for a semester abroad and has a love for the Mexican culture. It's a stretch, I know.

So, Andrew was in "his big friend, Kevin's" wedding over Memorial Day weekend. Kevin gave him a thank you gift for being their ring bearer and when Andrew opened it (a Lego race car and truck) he said, "Oh wow. Kevin is just perfect."

It was such a blessing to be a part of Rachel & Kevin's wedding. Happy marriage to our sweet, newly married friends!

The Big Question

Everyone asks us, "Why?... Why are you going to Mexico for 8 weeks?... Why do you want to learn Spanish?... Why now?" We don't have a profound answer except that we feel prompted. I hesitate to speak in the christian cliches that annoy me so much; however, I don't know how else to answer these questions except to say that we feel led to this place.


Our hearts continue to grow for the Latino culture. It's difficult to enjoy fellowship and community with a people group when the language commonality isn't there. And, as Dennis Leon, our friend and pastor of Pura Vida church says, "Spanish is the language spoken in heaven!" We don't want to miss out on communion with God when we get there. :)


Chris puts it best when he says, "There is choice in life. There is free will. And though it may seem otherwise to some observers, it is never too late to change course. All things are possible. How long have I felt the call, the nudge, the burden, the love for those in need, for the forgotten of the world? Will God's voice grow dull - harder to hear - the longer I do not act?"


Pray with us please. We are asking God to lead and guide us. We have no idea what is in store for us in this adventure. We want to be used as God's hands and feet in this world and yet we know we have nothing in and of ourselves to offer without His guidance.