Martes en Mexico

Tuesday (martes)
Hello friends. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read my post. I'm sitting in bed exhausted from the day and yet still full of energy. You know that feeling you have after a really great day? Satisfied and content. That's me right now. And I'm so grateful because the last time I took a mission trip of this kind I was very frustrated at my inability to do anything tangible.
We started the day with breakfast at 7:30am. Some beans, cheesy eggs with sausage and hotdog bits in salsa. I'm pretty sure I will love everything they feed us here. This was followed by a brief devotion with Kathleen about whether or not we would choose a broom or a vacuum to clean the room we were in. The point of this seemingly random question? Well culturally more of us would vacuum a room than sweep a room but here they might choose differently. Just something to think about as we approached the day.
This morning was spent touring the different sites and facilities Manos Juntas runs. Another group here from Oklahoma was building a casita or little house for one of the workers at the community center. Another group of them were working a few houses down to complete a building to become more classrooms for the children. At the community center we peeked in on a preschool class, a 1-2 grade class and a 5-6 grade class. The preschoolers were about to color pictures of farm animals (or at least that's what I read on their papers). The 1-2 grade class greeted us in Spanish and then the teacher chided them and asked them to do it in English, which was adorable to say the least. So then we responded in Spanish because we were trying to learn Spanish!
We finally made our way to the community center where there was a sewing class going on. We were able to join the sewing or do some loom knitting. Some of the group used the classroom there to do a Spanish lesson which I'm told was very impactful and at least a little bit helpful. I joined the knitting circle with my own project I brought with me from home and enjoyed the conversation. We are getting to know each other pretty well and are learning lots from out interpreters Victor and Alex. I think knitting is very much my element and it is so calming and cathartic to be able to take time out of my day to do it. It was a great morning.
We returned to the main center where we are staying for lunch. Entomatadas were on the menu which were kind of like Spanish manicotti. Topped with queso fresca or fresh cheese they were again delicious. I could probably write a whole blogpost about how good the food is.
After lunch there was time for a quick nap and then we were back in van to accompany some of the carpentry students dropping off a bed frame. They had made it in their class and we're giving it to a family whose house caught on fire. The children were staying next door at the grandmothers when it happened but their mother unfortunately died. This was a way for the students to be able to see that their trade is not only a way to earn a living but a way to connect and give back to the community. We weren't there to give the bed frame to the family but to observe the impact that the programs at Manos Juntas had both on the students and the community.
The afternoon was spent back at the community center. They celebrated three kings day or epiphany today with us. There was a kings cake of sweet bread with plastic babies hidden inside that we all got to have. And the kids got to watch a movie after their exam. We also saw a slideshow of pictures of the center before the movie. We heard more about their programs and what they have been able to accomplish now that they had that space and the resources.
One of the things I'm trying to do is use my Spanish a bit more. I get really nervous speaking to people who are so fluent. But Victor (our translator) was nice enough to try a conversation with me in Spanish when we got back to the main center. Hopefully we can continue to practice so I'm not as awkward and shy talking to people throughout the week.
I followed that conversation by taking up residence in one of the rocking chairs in our common area. It's quite relaxing to come home to a rocking chair. In fact I'm currently writing from a rocking chair. I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone because we had been talking in the van earlier about Harry Potter. Kathleen has <gasp> never seen the movies and we were discussing ways to have a movie marathon including the possibility of turning it into a bible study culminating in seeing the new film coming out late this year. Anyway, before long I had friends come sit by me and disturb me from my reading. But in a sense that's probably a good thing as its more social to have a conversation.
Dinner consisted of beef with potatoes and more beans. It was of course very delicious. I'm not sure how the conversation started but we've been talking about churros basically since we got here. And all of a sudden at the end of our meal we are talking about churros. So Willie says we should all go out for ice cream and churros. Needless to say we were only in it for the churros. We piled in the van and drove downtown in search of churros. Tom treated us to the churros of three kinds, condensed milk, caramel, and chocolate, which is just what was drizzled on top. They were really good. The churros stand that we found was sitting outside of a carnival so we decided to walk through. The lights were so bright and colorful. Possibly from the sugar high, probably from the fact that I had such a great day, we reached the end of the strip and asked if we could ride the bumper cars. I believe 6 or 7 of us did and it was an absolute blast. We kept joking that this must be the youth mission trip because our inner child was coming out! I was screaming and laughing as we rammed the cars into each other. Just pure joy. And of course afterwards I was still happy and on a high which is just a wonderful feeling. Overall a great night out.
Tonight, Chelsea and I ran the devotions. I led the Branches song that I learned from Paige in the Philippines because no one from this group knew it. So everyone was up singing and doing the motions. Chelsea led the part where we shared our most impactful part of the day. We closed in prayer and headed off to bed. Well I wrote part of this first and finished it in the morning. Apologies for the lengthy post.