Hola amigos y amigas! On Tuesday morning (the morning after the wedding), we were going to go back to the orphanage to help clean up after the big hoopla. We woke up and got ready as per usual. Shelli was running late (also not out of the blue), so we were just hangin’ out in the apartment awaiting her arrival. We weren’t complaining - with Facebook, fruit loops, and air conditioning, we had everything we needed to be happy on that steaming hot morning. At 9:45, an hour later than expected, Shelli called to inform us that Greg was in the hospital. During the American football game earlier in the week, he cracked one of his ribs (he has cracked it before). He woke up Tuesday morning and was having great difficulty and pain breathing. Shelli told us to pack a bag because she needed to stay with him in the hospital that night. We learned that in Mexico, if patients need to go to the bathroom or are hungry or need a drink, it is the responsibility of a family member to tend to that person’s needs. So we packed some stuff and went to her house to hang out with Talson, their oldest kid, who is home schooled. We spent the day relaxing there and even had the opportunity to call loved ones on the Neufelds’ Calgary phone line. Hearing familiar voices was a scrumptious delight. The other two kids eventually came home from a friend’s house, and shortly after Shelli arrived. She told us that she was actually going to stay home that night, so we could go back to the apartment. So, alas, that’s what went down on Tuesday.
On Wednesday we decided to get a little taste of the Mexican heat by walking aaaallll the way from our apartment to the church. Let’s just say that all the Mexicans thought that we were absolutely crazy. They told us that not even the native Mexicans walk around at that time of day. The 43 degree sun made us sweat more than we thought was possible. The walk took a little over an hour, and in the last few blocks we weren’t so sure that we were going to make it. What do y’all reckon would be the best way of welcoming the two melting Canadian girls after walking all that way? A locked church, perhaps? You got it! And since we had no church keys at that point, we were left with no choice but to bang on the church gates in the hope that someone, anyone, would answer. A young lady working in an office at the church let us in, which relieved us temporarily. Through some challenging translating, we realized that she didn’t have keys to unlock the door of the Compassion Room so that we could finish cleaning it. With Greg and Shelli busy, we had no choice but to go upstairs and sit around (with air conditioning) until they came to rescue us. The rest of this day was spent relaxing at Greg and Shelli’s until 7:30, at which point we attended a prayer meeting at the church. The people here are very passionate about prayer. It’s a beautiful thing to watch them as they openly share their prayer requests as well as pray for each another. Felix, who is one of the leaders here in the church, asked everyone for prayer requests which he then wrote down on pieces of paper and handed out. In between getting prayer requests he would share a story from the bible, which directed them into the next topic of prayer.
You’d think that one day walking out in the heat would be a good enough lesson for us. But it seems that we’re slow learners ;). Once again, we made the painful walk from the apartments in the 40+ degree heat. We decided to stop and visit one of our Mexican friends at work. Shelli happened to be nearby and picked us up to take us to her house. We appreciated the break from the sun! Every Thursday there is a ladies' Bible study at the church, so we agreed to "watch" their kids... turn our bedroom into a jungle gym! With mattresses sprawled across the floor, kids hanging from bunk beds, pebbles being thrown at our window by the neighbor kids, hair being pulled, and the noise level rising, it made for a very relaxing afternoon... After the Bible study some of the youth got together for music lessons. Emily sat in on the lessons and helped the kids learn a bit of harmony. Shelli was invited to a baby shower that evening, and forced Emma to go along too. Sitting around with a bunch of Spanish-speaking elderly ladies isn't the most fun that we could have in Mexico - but it's a close runner up. Their generosity and warmth always amazes us.
That day we also came to the conclusion that living at the apartment was too much of an inconvenience. Either we had to make the long journey by foot every day, or take the bus (which we didn't know how to do). So Shelli told us we could move BACK to the church. We moved in that evening and will hopefully live here for the rest of our stay.
Friday: THE ROOM IS CLEAN!! Our hard work has finally paid off. We spent the morning down in the dungeon, shining every last scuff mark off of the Compassion Room floor. We scrubbed harder, and cleaned faster, than Cinderella before her big ball. Below we've inserted a picture of Emma, hard at work, as well as the finished product!
Friday night was the youth ministry night, called La Semilla. That was a pretty laid-back night because there were lots of helpers, as well as the fact that the kids are all older and can entertain themselves with a game of futbol or by blasting music outside.
On Saturday morning we went and helped out with the soup kitchen ministry again. We met the same girls that we met the week before, and it was nice to see that many of them remembered our names. We played a few rounds of pato, pato, ganzo with them again, and we also introduced them to the game Stella Ella Ola, which they loved. Even though the kids that go there come from poor homes and broken situations, we continue to be amazed by their gentle and loving spirits.
At 5:00 that night we had youth! We really enjoyed the music once again. With the help of our trusty translator Lizeth, we were able to pick up a little of what they were laying down. One of the things that we talked about was needing to know who or what something is in order to define it. For example, we can describe the beauty in the things around us, because we see them and are familiar with them. But when it comes to defining/describing who God is, it's impossible without being familiar with who He is first. After that, the youth invited us out for supper to celebrate the 18th birthday of one of the girls from the youth group. We were planning on going to this, but we have been learning that in Mexico, when they say they're leaving "soon", it means that they're actually going to sit around and talk for a couple hours first, and THEN go. So, alas, it was too late for us Canadian girls by the time they actually left, so we stayed back... and ate froot loops. Shelli asked if Emily would prepare something for special music the next day at church, so we both decided to spend some of the evening playing and singing. We thought about doing a round together, but with a lack of practice time, Emma wasn't feeling up for it in such short notice. So Emily decided to sing Only You by David Crowder Band.
On Sunday we sat in on the Mexican church service once again, where we decided to spend more time reading our respective books. After church we went to David Sauceda's house with some of the young adults from the church, where they treated us to some delicious home-made Mexican tacos with ice cream to top it off! Yum yum. David kindly drove us to Wal Mart to get some much-needed groceries. (In case you're wondering: no, we did not buy more froot loops... Emma wouldn't allow it). Then we went back to the church and watched the movie Leap Year, which is set in Ireland (we're preparing ourselves). We spent the night relaxing, and we were even able to talk with friends and family over Skype :D. Later on we came to the sad realization that there was NO running water in the church!! This meant that we were not able to shower, nor brush our toofers, nor flush our urine down the toilets. All of this made for two very sweaty stink heads.
Today Emma woke up at 9:00. Emily woke up at 10:00 (sound familiar?). We took the liberty in calling Greg to see if he could fix our problems. Turns out that he could only fix our water problems. Shelli and Greg met us here at the church, and we were happy to find out that we had water in the church once again. Then we both went downstairs and finished up a couple last-minute things in the Compassion Room. After, Shelli asked Emma to paint a child-like garden mural on the wall in the nursery of the church. She then went on to ask Emily if she liked to color. Shelli said that she could help Emma paint if she stayed in the lines. We will get started on this tomorrow once Shelli buys us paint.
Right now we are just waiting for Shelli to pick us up to babysit their kids while they go on their weekly date night. We hope that this blog has satisfied your Em'n'Em cravings for now.
Hasta luego!
Em'n'Em
Us and some of the girls at the soup kitchen!
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