2 Peter 1:3

Thursday, May (Apparently I am far too reliant on my cell phone to tell me the date)

At the moment, I am rather humbled at how much grace God has given our team so far… I mean this in particular with getting along agreeably and bearing with one another. We may have small rough moments and such, but as of the moment as far as I know, none of us have any standing issues of bitterness or aggravation with any of the others, which is great. It makes an incredible difference to have a team unified to support and encourage one another in ministry, something I’ve missed for a while (although indeed FCC youth staff and such are great, it’s just stronger and more noticeable here). Communication flows (except when it is miscommunicated, but that is expectable). Lord, this unity is perhaps the one thing I most desire for our team, which I have so longed for in times past… I can’t thank you enough, God, for this blessing. Please continue it and mature us to be your servants… and seasoned with salt!

UPDATE: First Lesson at the Lincoln, Albania

Its been chillly and rainy the past two days, but this morning the sun is out again. forgive my spelling as i'm typing without looking at the screen much because of its angle...

Last night at 5:00 (which is 9 hours before California's 5:00) was my very first lesson! I am glad to say i think it went quite well. we spent the earlier part of teh day having an orientation, planning our lessons and chatting as a group. i was a bit nervous before... it was diffcult to know what to expect on my first night... i didn't know my students, i didn't know how enthusiastic or antagonistic theywould be, and even more so i have little experience teaching, and never on the very first night of a class. i've never been my best speaking in front of groups, and even as some of you know better than others, my spoken words just don't always flow as well as written words do for me. Albanians expect their teachers to be expert enough to teach... so i didn't want to tarnish the reputation of the lincoln center or my God. before class i read the story of shadrach, meshach, and abednego, who were thrown in the fiery furnace for their obedience to God, but God preserved them--of course because he loved them and rewarded their obedience, but perhaps especially because he would not show himself to be a God who is not faithful, like the others of the day. and by his miraculous actions through average young people, he was shown as he is, great and powerful. so this was what i had to trust God would do for me, for his reputation (although a classroom is no fiery furnace ;) ). i was just a little bit awkward and nervous at first, but God made it all flow and the lesson went at least as well as i could have hoped! i had six students--originally i had four, but one did not show up, and then three more who registered only last night

showed up. they're all women, mostly in their thirties and forties, with one 16 year old. the focus of the class is conversation (speaking and listening more than reading and writing). i was glad to find that my students were willing enough to speak and practice...that will be helpful! ;)

Stef, one of the girls in our group, sat in to help me with reading dialogues, etc...it was nice to have her, she will teach her first lesson tonight. we were both excited after the end of the lesson and gathered our things and started downstairs, only to be stopped by one of my students, Mylinda (i'll use the english spelling). She is an accountant at a business here, and wants to improve her english so that she can better communicate with her boss, who is not albanian. pray that we will be able to meet her need and relieve this stress in her life. She asked if she could come to the english church service held here on sundays (for more english exposure), which we of course agreed to. she also asked if we would like to go to coffee right then, so we happily joined her! the restaurant was all smoky but it was worth it to spend time talking with her. although we have money set aside to take students to coffee, she would not be convinced to let us pay (as is typical Albanian fashion--they are extremely hospitable and generous people). she hopes to spend more time with us, and i am eager to help her and get to know her. We are all very excited to get started on our work, and it is going well so far. keep praying that it will continue to!

forgot to mention that on saturday we had a good time playing with the youth at the beach at Durres, even though there was stronger wind than we've ever seen and a tree fell on our empty bus ;) without much damage. it was fun to play games and get to know them, and try albanian pizza. (Laura's account of that day)

Well, i know that probably most of you, even if you enjoy hearing from me, don't like reading long emails, so i'll sign off for now. ;) love to you all.

So that you may know my God is faithful,

Jessie

P.S. we are filming minute-long video updates each week, but they'll be sent by snail mail to our school so it will be awhile til they're posted. i'll let you know when they are. (some are here, others may be on facebook)

P.P.S. for any of you who have heard of the protests going on here, don't worry for us. they are close to us i suppose but we are not affected by them in the least (we heard the crowds once)... and the protests don't seem violent or anything at all so far (only a hunger strike). but these things do affect albanians much--they really want to finally have a democratic government with elections free of corruption, so that they can join the european union--but it seems the government still has a long way to go. (Please pray for the government and people of Albania, as similar problems continue today... recent news video)

Reflection on the first day teaching

5-17-10

At times I really think that I enjoy God’s greatness nearly as much upon eating a delicious and longed-for meal as I do upon singing a great hymn... ;) and tonight was such a night. It was a chilly, cloudy, and showery day; and we got lost a bit on the way home, and walked a bit longer in the cold as dusk came. But we were safe, and Eva fed us some incredible soup, some meat with gravy, and a smoothie of kiwi and strawberry for desert. Yum!

Anyway. Today was a long day (at least it feels so now, after walking home) & I had my first lesson, finally! It went well, I think. I was worried a little during lesson planning that I would not fill the time well, but it filled perfectly. I happened before upon the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, for whom God did the miraculous for His name’s sake. I was convinced God would glorify his name even through me—“I have glorified it and will glorify it again!” It is for his glory and kingdom, these classes, it is his own glory to be shown in my teaching. I felt mostly calm and confident, & it came along mostly naturally. Teaching is a stretch for me, but stretching is good.

My class is 6-7 women, mostly 30-40 years old, and one 16-year-old. They were rather willing to talk, which is nice. After class, when I had breathed a sigh of having conquered the first lesson and ended on time (my biggest prayer was that they trust my competence, & aside from their laughter when I said I was only 20 years old, I think they did), Stef smiled at me and we started down the marble stairs… who would meet us near the bottom but my student Majlinda (“Mylinda”). She spoke to us and asked to come to the English church service we have here on Sundays, in order to get more English exposure… of course, we gladly agreed! Also she asked us to coffee, and so we went, full of joy and adrenaline.

She tells us she is an accountant, and wishes to learn English to communicate better with her boss, who is not Albanian. It obviously distresses her, she says that she gets nervous and freezes up and is afraid to lose her job—I hope we can meet this need. She says she is a Muslim, but she most often goes to an orthodox church with her husband.

Sunday 5-16-10

Church today J I’ve been reading the book “Stepping Heavenward”… it’s a great story, and of course also full of much good spiritual lessons. One seemingly repetitive theme is our sin and what our reaction to it should be—the book explores our human tendency to get focused on our sin and badness, thinking we can never recover or be profitable for God… this is indeed a temptation for me at times! The character whose journal it is encourages instead (as she learns) that we look to Christ instead in realization that we can never be perfect, but already are in him, who loves us…

It has rained a lot today, off and on, even poured at times. Nice. Church was good, and so was young professionals (college group like). Talked about femininity… I told Laura she ought to show her affirmation to Stephen’s leadership by showing him little kindnesses like giving him a shoulder rub, etc… she thinks my awkward jokes hilarious.

Yesterday we went to the beach at Durres with the youth group, which was tons of fun despite the CRAZY wind. Laura's story of the day here.

Eva’s kindness hospitality is indeed humbling. She is most content when we are, and insists we treat her home like our own… leave our things on the tables and drawers, eat whatever, etc. She is wonderfully kind. And we eat so healthy and well!

Tomorrow is teaching… I shall trust.

UPDATE: The City, and Preparing to Teach

THE CITY

perhaps i shall tell you a bit more about the city (there's much that can be told!). as i said, it is bustling with people and cars and noises and so many smells and merchandise. after communism fell, MANY of the lower levels of buildings have been transformed into shops of all kinds--from clothes to food to perfumes, deorations, postcards, everything. street vendors sell vegetables and any merchandise they've gotten their hands on (not really pushy or anything, just there). we've seen a few gypsy (Roma) beggars as well.

the cars honk all the time, as if it will help ease traffic, and we are told that we must never expect them to wait for us... one of our translators joked that they'll only stop for you if they're afraid you'll dent their car. the other day i laughed to see a car, as if its brakes were out (but i doubt it) honked feverishly and went straight through a crosswalk. but the native albanians know what they're doing in crossings (and we are very careful and watch them), and the city is very walkable. it's not to hard to get around, except that not all streets have names or signs.

i could maybe say that the city looks a bit like you might expect an italian town to look like, with colorful but old & somewhat crumbly buildings, often with balconies that have flower gardens and clothes hanging from the line. There is old tirana and new tirana. although i'm not sure of the dividing line, it is easy to tell the difference. the new buildings are tall and nice, often this is what we see on postcards. the city is more colorful than many american cities, which is nice. it also seems not so different from a mexican city at times, though it is paved usually and has sidewalks, and is not quite so dusty.

old tirana shows its age and the wear of communism and troubles. the area our appartment (eva's) is in is older, the stairs have holes or uneven dips in the cement, and the house below us has decaying clay/pottery shingles. that house also has a turkey (i laughed as it sounded much like dad's funny turkey call) and chickens, and we can hear dogs also. inside eva's appartment though, as i think i've said, is very nice and clean and decorated beautifully, as i think i've told you, although it is small. she tells us that before communism, they had a big beautiful house with a yard. another told us that during communism many houses were taken away (perhaps destroyed or made into government buildings) and many people instead ended up living in the 5-story appartment complexes that went up. there were not many tall buildings at all before this. Eva said that the current mayor of Tirana has done a good job fixing up the city a bit, even if his motives are suspect.

CURRENT EVENTS

right now there is election drama going on, though i'm still trying to find out more (difficult issues to understand when asking those with broken english). as far as i know there are two parties, "democrat" (with mostly democratic ideals) and "socialist" (remnants of communist i think). our host eva tells us she finds it suspicious that the current prime minister, who now insists he is democrat, used to be the secretary of the communist government. i believe that this is the 13th day of a hunger strike by the socialists, i think, who are protesting because, from what i can gather, they believe there was a miscount of votes. if you wish perhaps you could research it more. but it is troubling for many who know what goes on. although i hear that socialist is the minority.

TEACHING

We do not start teaching til monday, although there is an orientation today in which we hope to find out more about the classes will be teaching.

i suppose that's enough for now, i will try to write just a bit later this week if possible when i hear about our teaching, and then i will proabbly write near the beginning of next week.

please pray for me as we go in to teaching... the lincoln center says "learn from the experts" but i do not feel like an expert. in english, in that i speak it, maybe. but not in teaching. i have never really taught english before at all. pray for God's continued grace for me and patience as i learn and practice.

much love to you all and thank you for your interest and prayers.

Jessie

Romans 8:28

5-13-2010

Tonight as I look with much uncertainty towards my task of teaching ahead, I am faced with the verse in Romans 8 that tells me that God not only knew the story of our lives before time, but purposed every part of our lives ahead of time according to his will.

Tirana by Photo

Our street

Colorful buildings!

These guys noticed laura taking pictures, and started waving... She was embarrassed.

Not like it was anything new for her though, really. ;)

The mannequins in these stores always scare me... they are too realistic, I jump when I realize they're fake!

Olives galore!!

Teehee ;)

The pyramid, a remnant relic of communist days.

The mosque

I like this one.

Pretty balcony staircase

A government building, I think

A salesman in the park

A child of the Roma people, napping as he begs.

A favorite (and really lucky) shot

The bushes in this one area always made me chuckle. Not a single one was trimmed in the same shape...all so unique and unusual!

Old men talking in the park... a very common sight ;)

walking the streets with the girls

One of the many "Coffee bars"--for tasty drinks and lots of conversation

Lincoln Center 2, our home base.

First UPDATE--Albania

Hi!

I arrived safely in Tirana, Albania last night (tuesday) after flying (with no hitches at all--except for one short delay--and even short lines!) from LAX to London, Switching airports from heathrow to gatwick, and then on to Tirana.

we arrived last night at dark, took a little bus with Genci, the pastor who is working with us, to our different host homes. i am staying with kendra, we live with a kind single woman named eva. she speaks a decent amount of English, enjoys travel and cooking, and is a wonderful cook so far--which of course delights me. ;) we woke this morning, not too early, for some orientation, and then lunch at a restaurant (delicious pasta etc, nice, and not expensive at all compared to america). then we were given a map of the city and explored it a bit in groups with a couple of Tirana natives as our guides.

i am trying to learn bits of albanian as i can--today i tried to tackle pronunciation, and found out that the albanian alphabet has 36 letters. even some of the ones they do share with us are completely differenty from our pronunciation-- found out q is pronouced ch, and y like u or "oo."

the city is bustling, full of a million sights and sounds and smells. i hope i will have more time next time to tell you about it. but for now i am safe and secure, and doing well. haven't even cried yet, but was quite humbled last night too think i was halfway across the world staying in the home of a kind stranger. wow. God is great. pray for us, we are all well. i miss you guys!

Jessie

Soon to come--pictures from exploring the city!

Tirana

Wed. 5-12-10-- TIRANA

Last night at 4 or 5 AM I think, I heard the Muslim call to prayer from the mosque… Very strange, at first I thought I might be imagining it.

Today was a lovely day. The air was warm and most, but with enough cool breeze and clouds most of the day, though when we explored the city on foot it was a bit warm. Lots of walking!

Perhaps I shall tell you a bit about the city. Tirana is often loud and bustling—the cars do not wait for pedestrians, unless they fear one might dent their car. I think I’ve heard there are two parts: Old Tirana and New Tirana. Old Tirana shows its age and reflects its former troubled times—buildings that are colorful and vibrant, but crumbling with decay in parts. Flower gardens often showing out over the many balconies, with clothes hanging out on the lines.

Eva’s apartment building is full of potholes and dips in the stairs, even though the inside of her home is beautiful. There are hens and a turkey and dogs and a building with a crumbling clay shingle roof below us.

Since after communism fell, the bottom stories of so many buildings have been made into shops, for clothes and almost everything else. There are many street vendors (and a few beggars) and the street is full of smells—people, vegetables, smoke (from cooking and cigarettes), roasted things, and every imaginable food smell and perfumes. So overwhelming to my senses it almost makes me nauseous. ;)

Albania: First night

Made it into Tirana and met our hosts just before bedtime. Kendra and I are roommates; our host is Eva, a warm, kind, single woman and believer. Her apartment home, previously having been occupied by herself and her parents, is small but beautiful and kept with neatness and care. After our hike up 4 flights of stairs to the 5th floor (and after having been greeted by her enthusiastic handshake), we were greeted by the warm delicious smell of her cooking (likely for us). We gladly agreed when she offered it to us (this was my learned practice in Mexico ;) ) and watched as she meticulously laid out a pretty table cloth, napkins, silverware, plate and dish. She offered us a seat and served us yummy tomato vegetable soup, eggs with zucchini and ham and other things mixed in, and a flaky buttery roll with filling (she told us it was a traditional Albanian food, Byrek). All wonderful, and she likes to cook (a mixture of Albanian, Greek, and Italian, she said). Nice. Found out the Albanian equivalent of "bon appetit"--T'bufte mire. Albanian will take practice... for now, I must sleep...

(not my picture; from 2005)

Over the Atlantic

And so we head to Albania!

It will be a trip of firsts. Right now is my first big international flight, and naturally I'm enthralled by the experience. Others not so much, but I'm always so.Our flight is a bit delayed due to some volcano activity in Iceland. We're about to take off, just about dusk. I'm about dead center near the rear of the plane, 47F, but I can still lean a bit and see out the windows.

So for exciting things (which may in fact be mundane to others):

1. The plane is huge--double decker cabin and the seats are 3-4-3 across... pretty tall cabin too.
2. People from many different places speaking different languages.
3. Yay for British Airways flight attendants (many male) and captains with British accents and funny mannerisms!
4. Goody bag! headphones, socks?, and a travel toothbrush with a tiny little toothpaste tube (I warned you. Mundane to most.).
5. Little personal TV. I watched "The Middle."

The first ever stamp in my passport was in London at Heathrow. We went by bus to Gatwick airport--not much through the city, more the country, but it was pretty and green, treesy (I am just realizing this might not be a word), with a cloudy gray chilled sky.

The food on the flight to Tirana is definitely not as good (although at least I didn't almost throw up on my neighbor this time...;) ). I'm guessing it's probably British. ;) Goodbye to the funny-shaped cars with yellow license plates going the wrong way on the roads... ;)

I need Dad or Scott here to finish my food. The guy next to me finished his mysterious Scottish fruitcake happily. Apart from the rest of the group, I silently held up my "cheddar onion chutney wrap" to Stephen, motioning to offer it to the rest of the group. He grinned and held up three of their own that hadn't been eaten either... Fair. :P

Below us now in the hazy dark are the lights of Tirana. The cars are slow and the lights on our plane's wings seem brighter than those in the dimly lit city.

Hello, new friend.

GO Retreat: You MIGHT BE...the Weakest Link.

As I look back on memories of Albania and get ready to begin my series of writing on that trip, how can I forget the first crazy weekend we all spent together? ;) Here's a post from that weekend.

awesome weather :)

Friday was the much-anticipated Global Outreach class/team retreat.

(Side note:There are about 60 of us, separated into 8 teams with different destinations: Albania, Samoa, Uganda, New York, Latvia, Dominican Republic, India, Phillippines. http://www.masters.edu/DeptPageNew.asp?PageID=785)

Year after year the retreat is infamous for unusual and uncomfortable situations and challenges, bringing out character and possible tensions—as indeed it is designed by Lisa (our teacher) to do.

As time drew closer to leave, I found my head filled with imagined worst-case scenarios of the things she might make us do. “Will this be like survivor?” I asked a team leader in jest. “Will we sleep in the dirt and live on rice and eat bugs, have back-stabbing competition and in the end vote someone off the team?” But, after all the outrageous scenarios I had imagined in my head (some strange mix between Survivor, Fear Factor or Amazing Race, and maybe the Apprentice—you’re fired!), it was not too bad at all. Not EASY, per se, but not awful either(except perhaps for those who despise sleeping on hard ground, eating sub-par food and sharing a bathroom). I really enjoyed it.

My Team, minus me.

I love my team so far. We’ve had fun together.
Friday night was entertaining. Once we completed our en-route tasks (pictures with a full outfit from goodwill, pictures at Vazquez rocks and with a camel and cow statue) and made it to our unknown destination (a church in the hills off the freeway) via a virtually unmarked and text-free map with nothing but a star and a street address to lead us to our destination, we set up, waited for other teams, and had a tasty dinner of chicken, corn tortillas, rice, and beans from the Vallarta Mexican market!

After strange Indian drinks (including yummy Chai) and a few meetings and singing, we were sent to our room (laughing and setting up a folding table as a barrier between the guys and girls)… It was like a sleepover with a strange twist; we told stories & talked & laughed a lot. Thankfully, no one sleepwalked, or accidentally cuddled up with anyone else in their sleep (even Laura, who laughed awkwardly, apologized, and warned me ahead of time after an accidental almost-groping)… Except perhaps for Mitchell, who was without a sleeping bag due to “lost” luggage as Lisa had prescribed. …to be fair, he hadn’t been all that well-packed anyway, and had worn as many articles of clothing on his person as was practical and possible in anticipation of something like this. :)

In the morning we woke and sang with the group, & for breakfast we had delicious tangerine oranges, and some tasteless dry rice (probably cooked a day or two before, and from the same communal serving dish, with only 3 plates and no utensils between eight of us) with pickled mango canned chutney from India (perhaps because it was jarred, one of the more repulsive things I’ve tried in my life—sorry to its fans). But at least there was coffee and some more yummy Chai.

After a few more meetings and team discussions, we were sent out on another set of tasks… Drive out to the eclectically strange area of pearblossom highway, to browse through Charlie Brown’s farms (seller of date-flavored shakes and many others, local honey, good food, hippie accessories like special rocks and incense, and basically all things odd and interesting in this slightly podunk corner of America). For lunch, Lisa tossed our team a grocery bag, containing a loaf of nutty wheat bread, mustard, pepperjack cheese, a little bag of pickles, and about a dozen and a half hard boiled eggs. Yum. We made our best renditions of sandwiches and what not and drank our bottles of tapwater. :)

A bit down the street, we were to search “Orbit” antique shop, to find a cheap item or two that we could sell online to make some extra money for our team. Really, I think Lisa just wanted us to experience this place (and its people). This “store” was unbelievable!! The barn-front entrance to the store was interesting enough with its piles of dusty knickknacks and antiques of every possible type (from license plates to china to jewelry to old lanterns and tools and books and bottles and appliances)—but then we continued into the backyard. If you’ve ever driven through Mojave or Rosamond, perhaps you can get a good mental picture of this desert yard, piled with ….old things. I’ve seen lots of yards with piles of junk, but this one was as if every yard from a full Rosamond block had been emptied into it! It was all mostly organized, or at least categorized, but far from clean and elegant. There were piles of old glass bottles and containers of every shape and color (I wanted to take so many!). Windows and mirrors and dozens of sinks and countertops and toilets, a wooden keyboard organ on its side. Bike parts, car parts, tractor parts, barn parts, and an old wooden rowboat—ironically set on dry desert sand, but filled nearly to the brim with brown rainwater. Just when you thought you’d seen it all, you’d step around or through another pile to find that the lot kept going, and going, and going. “Antique Store” didn’t nearly do it justice.








We ended up with two sets of salt and pepper shakers, one of which matched a dusty set of two cookie-type jars, and one of which looked to be hand-painted from Japan. We noted that this one and another set (also Japanese, we presumed) both had holes shaped into a “P,” on BOTH shakers. We still have no idea why.

Albania--Info & Prayer Letter

Hello, Friends and Family,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am enjoying finishing up my third year of school at The Master’s College (already!) and hoping to graduate a semester early. College is sure flying by!

I am very thankful to be attending a solid Christian college, and my Liberal Studies major allows me some freedom to choose classes that I most enjoy and benefit from. Some I have particularly enjoyed have been missions and intercultural classes, Bible classes, nutrition, and a photography class I am currently taking. I hope one day to serve God overseas (or perhaps in the States) with the knowledge and skills I have gained here, but for now I will wait for His leading.

This summer, I have been given the opportunity to go on a short-term mission trip with a group of students from my school. We will be traveling (for about 6 weeks, beginning in May) to the country of Albania. Perhaps the name “Albania” does not automatically conjure up a clear mental image for you—it didn’t for me either—so allow me to help. Albania is a small country in southern Europe, just above Greece and across the Mediterranean Sea from the tip of Italy. It was a communist state until 1990, and extremely atheistic at times, but since has become somewhat more open and is considered an emerging democracy. Most sources say that the majority of Albanians consider themselves at least nominally Muslim, with some Orthodox Christians and Catholics (although it is questionable for many how much importance is placed on these religious attachments—many consider national identity far more important).

We will be working with the Cesula family, missionaries who are supported by the Slavic Gospel Association and work as a part of Grace Church in Albania’s capital city of Tirana. We hope to be an encouragement to the church while we are there, as well as provide outreach and evangelism to the community. A good part of my time will be spent at The Lincoln Center, a highly-rated school in Tirana primarily for language (including English) and computer training. Because of this, the trip will allow me to complete my TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Certificate.

There are two ways that you can support me on this trip—the first and most important of which is through prayer! Please pray for me and for our team as we travel.

You can pray for:

• Our team’s preparation right now, including raising financial support
• That we would be an encouragement to the missionaries and church that we will be helping
• Safety, health, and team unity in working together
• For the hearts of the people we work with to be open to the Good News of Christ’s Salvation
• 
  

Please pray for boldness and that we will clearly show God’s love to the people of Albania, to His Glory!

Another way that you can support me on this trip is by partnering with me financially. The full cost of the trip is $3,100. This will be raised primarily through your support and through fundraisers and our work during the semester. If you would like a donation to be tax deductable or returnable to you, I have enclosed another page which details how to make sure this is the case. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support. God bless!

Jessie Mauldin

Gingersnaps

Gingersnaps (Nana's Recipe)

3/4 cup shortening

1 Cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger (ground)

1/2 tsp cloves (ground)

Preheat oven to 375*. Cream together first four ingredients. Mix and stir in dry ingredients gradually. Form dough into small balls (walnut size), roll in granulated sugar, and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. bake for 10 mins. (fridge or freeze extra dough :) )

Mexico 2007: The Week's End

The last day or two of that week I did not write, because we went to an overnight camp put on at a ranch by another large group of Americans (they had also invited many other groups of Mexican kids that we did not know). Once again, while I enjoyed talking to the Americans, I enjoyed the feeling that my “place” was more among my Casa Esperanza family than among the American church group.

There’s one story I particularly enjoyed and remembered from that day camp… It was a moment I realized that my sense of humor over the past week had begun to lean more towards Mexican humor, which has its slight differences at times.

We were playing a game that was some really chaotic and strange mix of capture the flag and steal the bacon. There were at least four different teams, and perhaps

the Americans expected it to be more controlled and mellow, but… that was a silly expectation if so ;) So the kids were going crazy, and the method of “tagging” each other was by pulling the flag-football-style flags from their waist… and the Mexican kids, being fairly notorious cheaters, would of course tuck in the flags or even tie them to their belt loops to avoid losing). I am not a very competitive or rough person, so I did pretty bad in the game at first. But on my second shot, I was determined. A little boy ran into our square and grabbed a beanbag… I latched my hand onto his firmly-anchored flag, not willing to lose this time. Oh, that little cheater, he had tied it on as well! But I gave a firm yank, hoping the knot would slip. Victory! I was thrilled. But upon examining the flag, I realized that the knot had not slipped at all… and there, still tied to the end of the flag, was a little torn off belt loop! Oops… but perhaps the fair reward for his cheating. Still proud of my accomplishment, I couldn’t keep from laughing. I

told my (what I thought to be) funny story to the nearest American. To

my surprise, her response was “Oh my! How sad!” Oh… should I not have been laughing at his belt-loop-loss? Confused, I found Isba. Grinning, I pointed to the little belt loop tied into the flag I had pulled. “Isba—mira!” With no other explanation needed, she (and a few of the other girls) began to laugh hysterically.

That night, we girls pulled our beds close together and whispered and laughed and goofed off a little before bed.

Finally, the end of the camp came, and we all climbed into the bed of Terry’s pickup and headed back to Casa Esperanza, where my parents would soon be waiting eagerly to pick me up.

Mexico 2007 Day 5: little blessings

(the day's journal entry)

As much as the kids here can wear me out, so much more can the women bless and encourage me mucho. I’m a bit sick today (and pretty tired), but it was a good day nonetheless. I’m even more comfortable here, and I’m speaking better or at least more confidently, and sometimes (okay, more than sometimes) I even think in Spanish or accidentally speak a little Spanish to the Americans that come. Hah. I know the kids better, and (sometimes) they listen to me better. Oh, and the women treat me like a daughter or sister, and call me so (“Mija” or “Hermana”).

Special moments of today: Translating always feels nice, and however I can help the Americans or whoever. Berenice showing me her & Griselda’s room, and pictures and letters from her boyfriend and sister and friends. Talking about her boyfriend and cultural stuff that wy, school, stuff like that, eating good soup, pepino con limon (delicious cucumber with lemon on it), Christian and her cupcakes. The generosity of the women—how much they’re thankful for me and how good they are to me. Tonight, tired, sore, and a little sick, I went to the kitchen for a glass of water; a few women and 14-year-old Olimpia and others were in there. (we laugh when I mess up my Spanish bad or when I can’t figure out what they’re saying, but they’re patient). I noticed that Elizabeth had a fried egg with ketchup; I commented and said that’s how I like it too! I was about to leave, but of course, she asks, “Quieres?” Umm, of course I want some, but my American nature says don’t be a pain, but I always feel a little bad turning down what they offer me…I’m learning to go with their culture. “Si!” and she fried me up and egg (“One? Only?”) in plenty of oil, and I ate it with ketchup…mmm. “More?” she asks. No, but thank you, it was really good. Instead of responding “de nada” to my thanks, she said “Para servirte!”—literally translating “to serve you.” wow. :)

I’m pretty tired… and sore… Buenas noches.

Mexico 2007 Day 4: Un Lugar

(The day's journal entry)

And today… was as delicious and beautiful as this cupcake I’m eating. Ah…. Well? I’m one of them. I don’t know when it happened, but they let me into their world. Of course, it was easy to enter the world of the children (as opposed to the more cautious and reserved women), but I think at first I was just another Americana. We went to the gym with the kids this morning, and later to the beach with the small American group. By the time we went to the beach with the other Americans, I wasn’t “with” the Americans—I was with them. Even the women warmed up so much. I’m not sure they quite sure they understood or trusted me at first, but when we were at the beach, they treated me like one of them. In the back of the truck, sitting and talking, at the beach looking for shells and talking with the Americans, buying bracelets, everything. With the kids and the women, I have a connection now. Wow. It’s a great feeling… amazing. They trust me and enjoy me.

Tonight at dinner, they wanted me to pray in English. I helped serve, and offered to help with the dishes, but of course they wouldn’t have it. Class went well also. I can talk to the kids better, and the women talk to me more too. First friend among the women? Christian, a sweet young mother with three equally sweet children, with her talking and smiling and not-too-shabby attempts at conversing in English. Then there’s the quieter, older Elena, always offering me more food (with a silent, hospitable grin I could never reject), shampoo, whatever. But I get smiles from all the women now.

Some of the older girls

Tonight I walked out to “the tree” with Isba and the kids, her students. I goofed off with the kids and talked with Isba. She began to tell me more about herself (in both of our mixes of English and Spanish). When she was around my age, she said, she was a “gang banger” and a rebel. She’s about 20 or 21 now. She was married, but her husband died when she was 4 months pregnant with her daughter, now about 4 years old. Her mother gained custody of her daughter, though Isba hopes one day to have full custody. Sad about her husband’s death (they must have been quite young, too!) but she said in a way, it’s for the good, because if he had not died she would not have come here and met the Lord. Isba has a boyfriend now—a good guy, she says, but not a Christian. From what I could gather, he has a lot of pain and anger in his heart about God, because his mom has cancer. “It’s difficult,” she says. Isba wants to be a teacher of young children, and hopes to continue teaching at Casa Esperanza even when she no longer lives here and is able to finish her schooling.

It was dark when we got back, and I watched part of Spiderman 3 in Spanish with some of the women and kids before deciding to go to bed. I walked back to the trailer through the kitchen and said buenas noches. Later, I went back to retrieve my own personal toilet paper roll (it’s sorta rationed, so the kids won’t waste) from the kitchen bathroom where I showered. Christian and some of the other women were in the kitchen making cupcakes for tomorrow. Oh man, I have been smelling those cupcakes cooking for two days (and if there’s one thing I miss in a foreign country, it’s American desserts, even the Betty Crocker boxed cakes) and they’re fresh out of the oven! Maybe I’ll take one tomorrow if there’s enough. “ah, muchos postres, que deliciosa!” I commented.

“Yes,” answered Christian, “for the American group tomorrow.”

“Buenas noches,” I said, “hasta mañana!” I begin to walk around the corner, but I hear her call “Hermana!” (sister).

“Yes?”

“Would you like a postre?”

“Me? Sure—it’s ok?”

“Sí, sí, take one, go ahead, Hermana.” I chose one with a funny misshapen top and asked one of the teenage girls, Michel, “Que pasó?” (“What happened?”) She smiled back shyly.

“Muchas gracias,” I told Christian, “buenas noches!”

“Buenas noches, Hermana.”

No frosting… but oh, it was the most heavenly cupcake I’ve ever tasted.

I’m sore and tired… Buenas noches, hasta mañana, Hermanos.

Mexico 2007 Day 3: A Turning Point?

Today was different… I feel more at home now, like I belong in some weird way. We didn’t go to the beach, I think we’ll go tomorrow. I rode bikes with Isba* and the kids up the road to a ranch. A group of Americans came today, from Wisconsin. Mas

Americanas! Kinda cool to see more of those; and I felt more a part of the Casa and a help. I’m less “la americana” now.

A few girl

s and I walked to the little nearby store** during dinner. It was fun, lots of walking and laughing. And as I wrote this, some of the girls

came in to our trailer to hang out, take photos, etc… they’re silly. ;)

I’m happy. Gracias a Dios! Tomorrow is another new and great day.

*Besides being my “roommate,” Isba (picture) is a teacher to the kids—these classes (reading, math, etc) are at the Casa, as a supplement to the learning that may not always be adequate at the local public school.

**Commonly, the stores I mean here are neighborhood stores, or in other words usually someone’s converted living room or garage with lots of packaged snacks and other things. There is generally at least one within walking distance always.