Las Cuevas

Thursday was the Day of the Revolution here in Mexico, so on Monday (the official day off), we went to an area known as Las Cuevas. It was about a 25 minute ride out into the country to the middle of nowhere where there happens to be a sand mine (or processing plant and a cave. The young groups started out to the caves with plans to arrive for the sunrise, but didn't leave on time at all and got out there in time to enjoy the cool wind and a fire.

We journeyed on to the cave and venture deep into the dark depths of the caves. Really only about 75 yards deep.

Here is a picture of the soon to be married Matt and Ruth at the entrance of the cave.




Next we found the big piles of sand. It turns out that it is both fun and slightly dangerous to play in the sand. We spent a significant amount of time filling our clothes with sand as we rolled down the hill and tried to see how far we could jump off the top of the hill. A couple of us ended up will a few bumps and bruises and sore muscles, but we all survived just fine.


Flying isn't easy...for most people.


Landing could be a little rough...


...but climbing was usually worse.

We ended with a late breakfast of tortillas and guisadas (see the picture below). It was very tasty and satisfying. I was even able to practice my tortilla making skills a little. None one was terrible impressed with the gringos' tortilla skills. More on that in a later post.

Here is a picture of the food. It was quite tasty (no, Spencer, Matt, and I didn't make any. we were in charge of the 'safer' things - anything you didn't have to cook.)



It was a realy great time for the young group to be able to have some time together and to get to know each other better. The fellowship is priceless when there seems to me so much going on down here. A day off can make all the difference in the world when it is spent with the right people.

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On a very different note. We ask that you pray for the school here. We hope to start a elementary school here next August and we need teachers to be able to continue with the accreditation. So far we have not found any. So we are praying that God would provide, that He would bring licensed, Mexican, primary teachers, that are also Christian. It seems like a long list of prerequisites, but we know that God is in control and He can provide abundantly for us.

A lot can happen in a month.

So, a lot can happen in a month. Sometimes it feels like nothing has happened besides get ready for class, teach, grace, get ready, etc. It is pretty amazing that I ever had any time in the states. That being said. I feel like I am starting, finally to get the hang of teaching English a little better. (You would think I should know already since I did go to college for that. Of course there is a broad difference between teaching English to seventh graders and teaching English to people who don't speak the language.) If anyone ever tells you that English is an easy language to learn you have my permission to call them a liar to their face. I find that suddenly I don't know the Enlgish language well enough. There are hundreds, I'm pretty sure it will end up being millions, of small intricacies of the English language. I never knew how much count and non-count nouns ruled our lives. (look it up sometime if you don't know what that means, I am not going to explain all the funn things about them here. No one would ever return.

So, you might ask what has actually happened in the past month. Dr. Loren Shrenk came with a group to do eye surgeries. I stayed out of the way and hid in my classroom as normal. It was a fine week and everything went smoothly. Praise God for many lives that could be touched that week.

We also had Peter and Penny Shroeder here with their two kids, Jonah and Jared. Penny spent two years here in Ixtlan several years ago and it was nice to have her and Peter here to visit. We made a lot of memories and even had my first bonfire since leaving the states. Can you believe it Milford folks, I actually went through almost the entire fall season without a bonfire.

There was also an unfortunate incident where I lost the vast majority of my clothes and ended up with, well, not much left. Don't worry. I was able to restock and am getting along just fine. I will say that my hands are kinda cold today. I am in the office so the sun hasn't hit it to warm it up yet. So it's a little chilly. I am going around in a T-shirt today. So, the weather is pretty nice. It warms up quite nicely during the day. Beautiful weather actually.

I will save more information for what will hopefully be another post in the near, a couple of days, future. I will leave you with a couple of things.

First, some pictures from Jovenes, more correctly called Ninos as of late.

Some of the 'older' kids playing volleyball.



Pedro and I. As you can see we get along great.



Here are some of the girls, deceitfully calm



A final note on the last month in Ixtlan. I have discovered, well several things, but they all boil down to this. If you look at Jesus and His teachings in the gospel, He presents a pretty radical message, one that we fight against all the time. I have to think that we spend too much time trying to figure out the right way to do things instead of just living them. We need to live out what the gospel says and do what it teaches. Not sit down and discuss how it should be and then live by a list of guidelines for giving or for solving interpersonal relationships. We need to live the gospel. Not that I can do that.

I challenge you all to read the gospels, a gospel, or the sermon on the mount and see it as anything but radical. If we lived like that, we would be noticed by the world. We would make a difference. There wouldn't be any way that the world could ignore us.

Well, until next time.

Still here...

Well, it seems like I haven't posted here for a while, but it was just last week. The festival here in Ixtlan is getting ready to get roaring. It has been going all week, but this weekend is the big weekend. I have been busy enough that it hasn't bugged me that much, but I also sleep on the side of the house away from the plaze, where all the noise is. It goes quite late (1-2 o'clock) and Spencer has to deal with all the noise. The fireworks do start at about 5:30 every morning which can be annoying (they apparently don't want you to miss out on anything, they don't realize that by shooting off the fireworks I am missing out on sleep - no, I don't get up at 5:30).

I never thought I would be quite so busy with the English classes. I manage to spend most of my time working with that in one way or another. I have some time to take breaks, but I am looking forward to when I start to get things more nailed down, like maybe next year (although there is a large chance I will be teaching in the school as well, which means new curriculum). The classes are enjoyable, even if I daily make a fool out of myself in one way or another. Speaking another language is a good way to get a good start on that.

The big news around here lately is that Rudy, Rosario and Natan have left to spend about two months in Barra Vieja with the small group of believers there. They will have a lot of opportunity there to work that group as well as develop some other connections with the people in that community. It is tough to see them leave, but we know that God will be glorified and that their presence in Barra Vieja is an answer to many prayers.

The dry weather is coming, we haven't had rain for a couple of weeks maybe, a big difference compared to every night, and that means it is cooling down too. I haven't opened my window at night for the past week probably. Mornings are nice and cool and evenings make me thing of campfires. Milford group, have a campfire for me some night and take some funny pictures, someone else will have to step up to the plate for that one (I'm sure that won't be a problem).

Festival

If you follow the CVE blog, this will sound extremely familiar.

The town of Ixtlan is celebrating their patron saint San Fransisco, this week as well. It is a time of loud fireworks early in the morning and late at night (5:30 in the morning), loud parties at night, and overall not-to-penatent behavior. It is a time when the spiritual confusion and evidence of poor Biblical teaching is very evident.

It is a time when we are reminded of the importance of our prayers for the people here. Pray that their eyes could be opened to the truth. They are blind and don't know it. They are thirsty and are trying to get water from broken cisterns. They are seeking God, but missing him. Pray that their eyes would be open. Pray that they could recognize their thirst. Pray that the deception would be lifted from their eyes.

Happy Birthday, Mexico

Today, the 16th of September is Mexico's Independence Day. The young group here celebrated yesterday by having a potluck of authentic Mexican food. We had a lot of fun together. It was good to have a chance to talk and spend time together as a young group. Jovenes has been full of really young kids lately and it was nice to be able to just have the young group together without all those other distractions.

Here are some pictures from the festivities.



This is the food for the evening. We had plenty and everything was extremely tasty. The Cervantes Chiles Rellenos, we especially spicy. The cake over on the side was Matt and I's work. We spent a lot of time laboring over it. (It was a difficult choice between that and all the other cakes at Aurrera, our Wal-Mart.) I think we're still actually missing a dish or two. Oh, and notice please the tri-colored drink options we offered.



Here is the whole group. In front: Me, Lalo, and Spencer. Row 2: Alvaro, Maggie, Ana, Claudia, Marcie, Gige, Christy, and Lupita. Row 3: Matt, Lupita, Issa, Ruth, and Gloria. (Welcome back to Ixtlan, Gloria)



Here we are in a more normal setting. It took us a long time to get into that formation for the group picture. You can see a few of our beautiful Red, White and Green decorations as well.



Lastly, we finally got the happy couple together for a photo. Here are Matt and Ruth. I have to say, Matt looks pretty good in that sombrero. He makes a dashing, but still extremely tall, Mexican.

Anyway, we all ended up very full, but happy, I do believe. It was a very nice evening, one I hope we can repeat often.

Tomorrow we have classes again. I it was nice having a two day break, but I know that I need to get back to the classes. The good news is that after this week, we should have all the student books and teacher books that we need. That will be a nice accomplishment, and make life a little bit easier.

Currently: Still alive and kicking

I have been having technical difficulties with my Internet lately and so I have been off on the updating thing. I keep having ideas about what to write about, but then I forget them when I sit down to write.

School: Things have been going well and I am excited to be teaching. I have a bit of a teacher's dream job. I teach three classes a day. I don't start until 2:30 in the afternoon. I only teach for days a week. On the other hand I am teaching in a different language. That is a little more difficult. I also have a kid, Diego Alejandro, I am tutoring in English on Saturday mornings for two hours and next Wednesday we are starting a conversation hour at noon (it will be Monday through Thursday as well). So, the days are really pretty full. I have a lot to do with planning and all that. It is fun and exciting through.

Even better is the fact that I know have both my teacher's books and can actually teach a little better using the books. There is a lot of stuff that is just confusing and difficult without the books.

Life: Yes, this is a separate section than school. I have to congratulate myself on a pretty significant accomplishment. I can cook and eat eggs (over-easy) in the morning with a total of 6 dishes. That is without washing any for reuse and that isn't eating out of the skillet either. This is the way guys live, always trying to find new ways to do fewer dishes.

Other news: The river almost flooded here the other day. It was hitting the bridge on the way to Limon and La Plaza which was a pretty big deal. A little higher and there would have been some farmers having some problems. Thankfully, it didn't rain anymore and the river didn't flood.

That was the big news this week.

Keep praying for us. Life keeps going and there is always more Spanish to learn.

Love is in the air.

Yes, yes, love is floating around in the air here in Ixtlan. Marshall anounced the engagement of Matt Gerber and Ruth Cervantes yesterday. Perhaps some of you faithful readers have heard this already from other sources, but I suppose there are some that have yet to hear.

I know that I am failing miserably in my job as a blogger in not posting a picture of the couple, but I don't have one. There, it's as simple as that. Spencer and I are going to have to get used to living with a googly-eyed Matt. At least he takes the jokes well.

Pray for them both as they begin to grow together. Pray that their relationship would be a testimony to the community here in Ixtlan as well.