In my Shoes

Well...in reality if you would wear my shoes these days, you would have very wet feet. It is currently the rainy season here in Guadalajara, and my feet are often damp as I traverse the streets in my flip-flops. But a day in my shoes is really not so bad. I have been amazed by how many incredible people continue to enter my life. After such a blessing of a summer being surrounded by irreplacable buds who immediately bonded, I was uncertain of what I would find when I came to Mexico. But to give you a taste of some of the people that are now a part of my life, I thought I would tell you about my life outside of school and teaching as I have now been here in Mexico for over a month - wow!

Wednesday nights - we are always invited by our new Mexican friends to the movies because Wednesday nights the movies only cost $4! So we usually try to go and enjoy a good film during the week.

Thursday nights - we either go home and make some good grub or we have gone out with our new friends to play some basketball and soccer! (I love being active even if I nearly die every time I attempt any activity with this altitude of 5000 feet!)


Friday nights - On Fridays we go to the church we have started calling home and we attend the youth service. We love this time as this service brings a bunch of 20-something year olds together to worship and get a challenging word of encouragement from the Word. The night doesn't end at the church though, we usually find ourselves going out someplace for cena (supper) - usually we go to a taco stand or if it is raining Burger King is ironically the place of choice. Lately we have been going to a lit-up park to play soccer on a basketball court there. Note that this game of soccer usually starts around 11pm and finishes around 2am. :)

Saturdays - We like to try to sleep in, but have been waiting for our water delivery guys to show up (which hasn't been happening - ugh!) between 8am - 10am. We usually try to get to the market to buy our fruits and veggies since they are much cheaper there than at the store. We often make a trip to the grocery store as well to stock up our one cupboard at home. Also note that going to the grocery store does not mean driving there, it means walking and trying to walk home with arms full of bags. :)

After the morning errands we usually receive a phone call from one of our new friends and we go with them wherever they decide to go. This past Saturday found us at the orphanage that we have been able to visit a few times. It was fun as we went to the park with all the kids and just played in the sun. We then helped serve the meal and cleaned up. A trip that was very much worth it as we made some new friends with the kids who do not know what it is like to have a family that loves them and takes care of them. They are so sweet!


After the orphanage trip we went to a fun pueblo called Chapalas. Here we were able to see the lake here by Guadalajara which is full of lilypads and little fishing boats. They also had a mariachi band performing Saturday night - so fun! By the way, if you don't want to stick out in Mexico as a tourist, please avoid sailor hats, Hawaiian shirts, cameras around your neck and fanny packs. They are dead give-aways to anyone with an eye to see that you are not from here. :) quite humorous though!



Sundays- Our church service here doesn't start until 11:30 which is nice as Saturday nights usually get a little late. We love going to our church as that is where all of our new friends attend as well and we have gotten to know some of the older crowd too. The people are so welcoming and generous to us. It is a blessing to see God's faithfulness provide for us once again in the hearts of the people at the church. After the service we spend time visiting and greeting everyone (which means a kiss on the cheek and a big smile saying "hola"), we then slowly make our way to some place to eat, usually for tacos. This week we also went for a stroll around a park full of paintings for sale and found some delicious snow cones. Never do we feel as if we are in a hurry here in Mexico and never do our friends either. This can be a good or a bad thing, it just depends on how you look at it.

Life here is fantastic and a nice break from the busyness found back in the States. Relationships are savored and placed as the number one priority. I hardly ever look at my watch and feel the need to hurry as we hang out with our friends here. I am learning a lot about patience and about taking it easy. So though my shoes may be wet down here in Mexico, they are enjoying the slow pace of life as we quickly pass through the days.