For the first weekend in March (also my fated 21st birthday), a bunch of friends and I headed to the farms of León to camp out. My friend Rafa had invited a bunch of us to come with him--when he said "camping", we had in mind woods, maybe some bugs and bears. Nope! We drove out to the country and asked a random farmer if we could set up tents in front of his house for the world rally. :) The rally is basically a timed race in which drivers from all over the world bring in souped up little cars and race around curvy dirt roads as fast as they can. The drivers from Norway and Japan were sick wit it---aaand the driver from the U.S. brought some shame upon us gringos. So slow! But funny nonetheless. :) The night before, we set up by the light of a bulb hooked up to a truck motor, & made s'mores (don't recommend the marshmallows). My favorite part was singing and playing guitar around the fire. We were about half Americans and half Mexicans, and we took turns singing songs from each of our countries. It was a great moment of togetherness. I love how alike we all are, even with such completely different cultural backgrounds and life stories. And when I officially turned 21, they shoved my face in my 'cake' (little debbie) to keep with Mexican tradition! The next day we ate lots of tortillas and watched cars kick up dust and hiked and it was just great.
On a hike with my buddy Noe, I couldn't help but just be overwhelmed with the beauty of the nearly untouched land, the fresh air and the hugeness of it all.
Here's our fun group! ¡Viva México!
--The language school took a day trip to Dolores Hidalgo, a city about 1.5 hours away, where we met with students from the college there to speak English and Spanish, perform skits, and make friends. :) THEN we went to the center of town, where we all experienced the best icecream of our lives. They have allll kinds of flavors, for example: lobster, guava, avocado, chincharron (pig stuff), hawaiian, and mole (a traditional Mexican meat dish). The avocado was my favorite of all time! Mm mm.
--I moved out of my family's house because of distance and money. It was a little sad (alright, really sad), but I love living independently here, too. I get to make my own food and have another great view of the city! The huge market (Mercado Hidalgo) is right out my front door, and I find that I don´t need to carry pepper spray with me everywhere I go.
--I began spending time at a former church called Calzada de Guadalupe. Now it's a place for girls to go if their families are unable to take care of them during the week, due to time, money, personal addictions or relationships, etc. The girls definitely have more baggage they carry around than the average girl of their age (most are between 8 and 13). They have experienced a lot of hardship, and so are hardpressed to trust anyone or to really open up. I am excited to love on 'em some more.
--A group of about 30 of us made the 10 hour journey by bus to Puerto Vallarta, a beach on the pacific (my first time in the pacific ocean!!) We were just there for the weekend, but were able to experience a totally different Mexico than the one we know here in Guanajuato. It is definitely more touristy, with lots of Americans coming in for vacation. There is something of a boardwalk filled with restaurants and night clubs and sand statues, and there are palm trees taller than 3 of my house. We spent our days playing in the water, playing volleyball and backyard football, and dancin.
--I finally made the hike with friends up to a huuuuuuuge statue in Guanajuato called Pípila, whose real name was Juan José de los Reyes Martínez. He overlooks the whole colorful city, armed with a torch. The majority of Guanajuatans believe that he was a real man from the time of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. According to the story, he was a man with both mental and physical deformities, an object of ridicule. But he became a hero when he committed an act of heroism, lighting on fire the door of the large building we call Alhondiga, where the Spanish soldiers were staying. The Mexicans stormed inside and killed all of the Spanish soldiers. What we learned from one of our very intelligent professors, though, is that he is a fictional man, created to portray a hero of the independence. A weak man (Mexico) who triumphed over the strong Spanish army. Interesante, ¿no?
--We've all been improving in our ability to give and receive "the cheek kiss" at once. But the trick is, it's not actually a cheek kiss. It's just a cheek touch, making the kissing sound as you touch cheeks gently. You should wait until you at least have a hand on the shoulder of the other person, so as not to slam cheek bones.
--Friends Arturo, Checo and I went to the BEST concert of our lives in El Teatro Principal. It was a band called "Radaid." They are from Guadalajara, a city about 4 hours away--but their music is from EVERYWHERE. They used every instrument known to man (each of the 7 or 8 people in the band played 2-4 instruments during the show), and must have sung in at least 4 different languages. Their presence just showed a complete excitement and absorption in what they were doing. I recommend the crap out of them!
--One day, a few Germans and Mexicans and one American friend and I went to play volleyball at on of the other campuses in Guanajuato. I don't know why, but it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I just LOVED being there in the sun, laughing and hearing 3 different languages spoken on the sand. We had a few games of Gueros vs. Mexicanos *the Mexicans kicked me off their team in good humor* and the gueros prevailed. The Mexicans were having too much fun. To make the day even better, afterward we picked up our Italian friend, Claudio, and headed to Rafa and Johanna's apartment to make a meal of chicken enchiladas and rice. It took us about 3 hours, so we didn't eat until 11 at night, but it was just such a perfect time, all nationalities putting in their two cents, listening to music and whipping each other with dish towels.
It's been a busy time of discovery and new friends and landscapes and also, of great humbling. Coming to Mexico, I knew that it would be hard. I feel like I am living the dream--everything is easy here, beautiful, cheap, delicious, rich in culture. It's exciting and I have truly loved it. But along with comfort seems always to come laziness and pride. I am, by nature, someone who loves being independent. I love being able to do everything on my own. But I've been learning again that it causes a lot of pain. Christ is all: my love, my song, and my life--I can't do it alone, nor do I ever desire to--and I believe it now more than ever. Once one has tasted of His goodness, everything else pales in comparison. And once His, he never lets go. I came across this quote recently--it seemed like exactly what I needed to hear:
"You must ask for God's help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity or courage or truthfulness or any other virtue may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."
--C.S. Lewis
I feel so unbelievably blessed by this beautiful Jesus--who goes after the wayward and hard-hearted and pours His love over our heads freely.
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