"Obsessions with self-preservation..."

...Faded when I threw my fear away"- OtR

Have you ever had to put on your brakes while only going 10 mph to prevent hitting a chicken while it’s owner watches it cross the road? actually, have you ever even SEEN a chicken cross a road? I have. And I thought the “why did the chicken cross the road?” was only a joke….

I now know what it feels like to be in the minority at school meetings and not “speak the language”. It’s total chaos when all the parents are talking at once in Spanish! It makes you more nervous to volunteer to be involved, when you aren’t exactly sure about what you’re committing to. I went to one the other week and it made me really appreciate that our parents that didn’t speak English still came to the meetings and tried to be involved at the school where I used to teach.

Overheard the other day... “Luis, you left your shorts in the silverware drawer.” Then we resumed the conversation it interrupted because it seemed completely normal. That’s how life is with kids.

Another funny thing that happened with Luis…
I wasn’t watching where I was walking and I gashed the top of my head.
Julia and I were taking care of the bleeding, cleaning it out and things (it was dripping onto my forehead) when Luis came home from school. Apparently while playing at recess he had scratched his wrist, no blood no scab, just that white skin that happens.
He comes over to us, oblivious that I’m bleeding, shows us his “wound” and says, “Julia, Jennifer look what happened to me at school today.” In that moment he realizes I’m bleeding and all of sudden his eyes got wide and without even stopping he says, “what happened to YOU?” It was hilarious. He had totally moved from self-centered to concerned in the same breath.

Oaxaca cheese and Oaxaca salsa is very popular around here. I think I like both. Oaxaca cheese is like string cheese, but it tastes less fake/processed, and more natural. Oaxaca salsa is very spicy, but it has this great nutty tone. I’m working on being a person that enjoys spicy food.

I’ve also discovered how much I enjoy brown sugar on oatmeal! Yummy!

We leave next Sunday for our Youth Trip. My girls still don’t have permission from the gov’t to go… ☹ But we are praying really hard that it’s granted. Please pray with us. EDIT: 11:00 AM. I just got the call that they have permission!!!!!! Their paperwork was sent to another city, so this is a big blessing!!!!!

Mexico hasn’t had it’s time change yet! So now ya’ll are even one more hour ahead of us. We don’t change till April or something.

I ended up translating part of a church service on Thursday. Normally I’m very cold during church, but the responsibility to faithfully repeat what the pastor is saying made me pretty warm.
I ended up taking off my scarf and my hoodie.
(I just sat behind the family that didn’t speak English, a local Mexican pastor, and tried to be just loud enough for them to understand. Luckily, Hannah was sitting behind me, and I could tag her for any words I didn’t know. I ended up asking her to take over partway through because my mouth was tired from talking so fast!)

Rich had the good will to take me to the Salt Flats on Saturday. But then we got his car stuck :/ oops! We were only like 25 feet from hard ground. (Mom and Dad, we drove near where we walked to the beach when your feet were getting stuck in the mud.) While we waited for people to come rescue us we sat in the car enjoying the view and Simon and Garfunkel. I have sweet pictures of me “walking on water” now. It was totally worth it.



Living down here, I realize how much I love off-roading and adventuring.

It’s getting warm out, finally! Yay! (and my ankle is almost all the way better.)

Apparently, a few posts ago, this link didn't work, so here it is again!

Photos from Mexico, Feb 2008

And here are some photos I put up today...
(walking on water, sand dunes, birthdays...)
Photos from Mexico, Feb/March 2008