Hogar Dulce Hogar!

Home sweet home!  Soon!  I cannot believe I am coming home in less than 48 hours.  I have to admit that I am so torn with different emotions.  I think if I could just bring you all here, I could stay here forever.  There are so many things that I thought I would never get accustomed to and those are probably the things I am going to miss the most (well, some!).  I will not miss walking down the street and being whistled at or called "mamacita" or yelled to, "hey, girl, I love you" in a Spanish accent.  I probably will not miss taking cold showers or sleeping on a rock hard mattress, but those things are so worth being able to have the stuff I will miss so much.  I will so miss all of the great people I have met here.  I will miss just being able to do "whatever."  I have never been anywhere so relaxed with such a lack of plans!  People here just go with it, if you know what I mean!  I will miss the food!  I had the most delicious "lonche" I have ever had in my life.  There is a certain sandwich here called the "lonche" and I am in love!  I feel like I have finally become accustomed to so many things and have finally gotten comfortable here and it is time to come home.  Do you all just want to move here with me?  That would be great!  Bills are so much cheaper because no one here has air conditioning.  Wait, that is probably not talking any of you into coming here, right?  Well, I can't wait to show you all pictures and tell you my countless stories!  Talk to you soon!

I wonder if a Mexican child will fit in my suitcase??

Seriously, do you think I could fit one of these children in my suitcase?  I love going and hanging out with these kids.  I am so grateful I have been afforded the opportunity to serve in this orphanage while going to school here.  These kids are precious and will do almost anything just to have your attention (as you can see in most of these pictures).  It really has been so much fun and such a break from school to just go and run around with them.  I will see ya'll so soon!  I am excited but also so sad to leave this place.  I absolutely love Saturdays here where I have no plans!  I can get up, go run, have mi mama mexicana make me breakfast (although it does not even compare to when mi mama americana makes it!), and just come to Starbucks. Have a great weekend!

My little buddy Alejandro and su amigo!

I tell myself this is their way of telling me they love me!  I really don't think they know what it means to flick someone off (or maybe they do???)

This little guy posed for the camera all day!

They love turning us into "caballos"

He is precious and is always such a goof!

Juego de Futbol

Sorry two posts in one day, but I don't know when I can update again, so I am going to tell ya'll about the soccer game today too! The pictures I took of this soccer game do not do the absolute craziness surrounding this event justice!  I felt like I was going to a college football game!  We got off at the bus stop and all we had to do to find the stadium was follow the huge crowd that led us to a stadium that was built to host the World Cup.  It was enormous!  We had so much fun!  I absolutely loved going to a soccer game and being able to just sit back and enjoy. Although, every time someone stayed on the ground too long, I felt the need to run out on the field and assess what happened!  What was crazy was that every time one of the guys went down, it never failed the athletic training staff removed them on a stretcher!  The crowd was absolutely nuts!  Again, these pictures do not do it justice!  While the opposing team’s starting line up was announced the ENTIRE stadium, yelled “Puto!” which is a not so good word! Needless to say, soccer is huge here and it was such a fun experience! 

These people did not stop jumping or singing the entire game!

There were vendors everywhere around the stadium.  I really felt like I was at a college football game IN THE SOUTH!

Friends from CEA enjoying a Coca and some Futbol!

I expected smoke to start rising when the team came out onto the field.  It was nuts!

Cuando En Mexico!

So, last weekend didn’t turn out quite like we had hoped.  We arrived at “Central Viaja” which is the Old Bus Station here thinking we could catch a bus to Mazamitla.  When we went looking for the terminal for Mazamitla, we kept searching and searching and everyone there kept telling us there was no bus to Mazamitla, but we continued looking!  By the time we were ready to admit there was no bus there, it was too late to get to the New Bus Station, where the bus we wanted actual was.  We instead went to Tapalpa, which we had heard was beautiful.  After a 3 hour bus ride with no AC, sweaty people and Mexican music blaring over the speakers, we arrived at Tapalpa.  After about 10 minutes, we were done looking at all of the sites, which consisted of a cute little downtown area much like ones we have seen before.  Everything that is interesting about Tapalpa is about 10 miles from the center of town.  It would have been great if we had a car or even a bike, but no one wanted to walk 10 miles!  Everyone had told us Tapalpa and Mazamitla are known for a drink called “Rompope” (Mexican Eggnog) so we went in search of some.  After asking everyone in town where we could buy some, we ended up with these little bottles.  I was so excited!  I didn’t think about the fact that I don’t even really like eggnog, but thought I would love it since it was “mexican.”  I took one sip and was done! Nasty!  But the bottles are cute, aren’t they?  Ok, enough of the negativity!  If there is one thing I have learned here, which there are so many things I have learned, but I have definitely learned to adapt to change!  Change happens here more than ever and we have come to use the term, “Cuando en Mexico!” or “Ce in Ce!”  “When in Mexico,” things just sometimes don’t go according to plan!  Well, a lot of times in Mexico, things don’t go according to plan.  My teacher has at length explained to us that Mexicans under no circumstances make plans for anything.  I can completely understand why after being here for 2 months. 

We went to an orphanage on Tuesday and it was so much fun.  These kids are so hungry for love and attention.  I loved every minute of it.  Some of the kids there have no families and some do but their families cannot support them and only come pick them up on the weekends.  These kids beat up on each other like nothing I have ever seen, but a second later, will defend one another and take care of each other like brothers.   As I was sitting there looking at these precious boys (we are not allowed to go to the girls orphanage because many of them were abused my men and males are not allowed in the orphanage so our group cannot go) and their shoes ripped in pieces, clothes “put together” and at the same time huge smiles on their faces, I am reminded that no matter how much I think I love them, God loves them so much more. When I leave here and can no longer go and love on these children, God remains here and is taking care of them.  He loves His children so much more than we could ever imagine and I am grateful I am counted as one of them! 

Sorry this has been so long!  It has been a while since my last update and so much happens in only a few days here!  I also wanted to share some verses that have meant so much to me lately:

“See I have written your name on My hand.  Ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruin.”  Isaiah 49:16

“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys His servant?  If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.”  Isaiah 50:10

“For the Lord will go ahead of you, and the God of Israel will protect you from behind.”  Isaiah 52:12

“The servant who grew up before God…One look at Him and people turned away.  We looked down on Him, thought He was scum.  But the fact is, it was our pains He carried-ourdisfigurements, all the things wrong with us…He took the punishment, and that made us whole.  Through His bruises we get healed…And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on Him, on Him.”  Isaiah 53:1-6 (Message)

There was a festival of "Aztec Culture" going on in the street while we were eating on the balcony of a restaurant.  We had the perfect view!

No matter where you go in Mexico, there is always a huge church in the center of town!

"Rompope"

Topalpa was beautiful, just boring!

There were tons of street venders along this road, where we bought our "rompope."

More Pics

A lot of you have emailed me asking for more pictures so here you go!  We are going to a soccer (futbol) game tonight which I think will be crazy.  I have heard that the people in the upper decks don't want to have to walk to the bathroom so they go in a bag and throw it over on the people sitting in the lower decks.  Guess where I am sitting!!!  I am praying that I do not get a bag of pee thrown on me!  I will just die!  I appreciate so much everyone reminding me that I will miss this place when I leave and to be "all here."  God has been teaching me so much about that the last couple of days in themes.  I was sitting on my house's rooftop yesterday, which I get to do almost daily, and I started thinking, "when in the world am I ever going to get to do this on a daily basis?"  I was sitting in the kitchen this morning having a conversation (to the best of my ability) with mi mama mexicana, listening to the radio in another room blaring mexican music with Leo (one of mi mama's friend's sons) singing it to the top of his lungs and thought again, "don't let this pass you by!"  

I have been reading through Isaiah have learned through it that whatever the Lord says will be, will be.  His plans always come to pass no matter what.  We can seek our own ways, but ultimately we are accountable to Him.  This theme is throughout the book of Isaiah.  "The Lord Almighty has sworn this oath:  'It will happen as I have planned.  It will come about according to my purposes...The Lord Almighty has spoken-who can change His plans?  When his hand moves, who can stop Him?"  (14:24, 27)  God's message to Hezekiah in chapter 38:  "And this is the sign that the Lord will give you to prove He will do as He promised:  I will cause the sun's shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!  So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps."  (vs. 7-8)  God cannot lie!  What He says and promises always happens.  What a comfort to me!  Throughout Isaiah, He reassures His people that He has got them, that He is holding them up and will not let go.  Those are His promises to us as well and I am grateful. 

AJIJIC..

We went horseback riding and there a huge path covered in Oak Trees where the horses lived

Our breakfast buffet in Ajijic!

GUANAJUATO...

The view from our balcony.  We stayed in a hotel that was 300 years old and was formerly a convent.  

This cafe was on a little bridge overlooking a Cobblestone Street

The view from "Pepila."  We had to hike it up a lot of stairs to get all the way to the top but it was well worth it when we reached it!

"Have you never heard or understood?  Don't you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth?  He never grows faint or weary.  No one can measure the depths of His understanding.  He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; He offers strength to the weak.  Even youths will become exhausted and young men will give up.  But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.  They will fly high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  The will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40:  28-31

We have our midterms next Wednesday-Friday, so please pray I don't get super frustrated or grow impatient when studying for them!  I miss ya'll and am praying for you!