Our USA Time, In Numbers

Once we leave to go back to Mexico, we will have been in the United States for 16 and a half months.
It's been good!!

Number of states we've been to: 7 (Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee, and Georgia)  If you count airplane layovers, it's 8 - Texas.

Seattle

Number of houses, apartments, and hotels we've stayed since leaving our house in Queretaro: 16 SIXTEEEEEEEEN!  This is 8 houses, 6 apartments, one hotel, and one cabin.  Thank you to all of you who housed us! 

Number of flights we've taken: 16 for JP, 14 for Jessi.

Large metro areas (like over a million people) we were in: Portland, Seattle, L.A., Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver.

Portland

Number of methods of transportation we've taken: 9 - Automobile, city bus, inter-city bus, taxi, airplane, subway/metro/elevated train, train, bike, foot. 

Number of churches we've been to: 13

Number of times people have invited us to Mexican food that was said to be super authentic: approximately 30.

Number of super authentic mexican restaurants we've been too: approximately zero.  :)  (Although our friend Lluvia made us some excellent super authentic stuff in their home!)

Coldest weather we experienced: 25 degrees at Hoodoo Oregon.

Hotest weather we experienced: 103 degrees, thank you Chicago.

Number of times we've seen people standing with their bikes on a street corner smoking and thought that it was people selling tamales: about 5. 
(People have bikes with little carts on them that they use to carry around tamales to sell, and when it's cold outside you can see the steam coming off them that looks like a little bit of smoke).

Number of cool new friends we've made: ??  (We can't count that high!!)

We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend here.  It's been great to see old friends, and make new ones.  God has been so good!

This and That

We've had a full past two months, that's for sure.  Good stuff though!
In February, JP and I celebrated our 32nd birthdays.  (Involving Buffalo Burgers, and Mongolian Grill!)
JP finished English classes at Chemeketa - his English has improved so much, that, even if he were to continue there, he would only have one semester left of classes!
I had my last day at Great Harvest (we have a LOT of stuff to do before heading back!)
AND, (even though I'm sure you've heard by now) JP was approved for US citizenship!  SO, YAY!  He should get it on April 18th, and, tentatively, we'll be heading to Mexico on April 29th. 
We're excited!!

If You Know One Latino, You *don't* Know Them All

THIS is a great article.  (Click on the sentence to read article)

I used to think that all of Latin America had the same culture, lifestyle, language, and food.  But, through experiences, I found that I was mistaken.  Be educated about cultural differences, and NOT calling all Latinos Mexicans, or assuming they are all alike.  Just like a foreigner visiting New Orleans who tells another foreigner what to expect in the US when foreigner #2 will be going to Seattle...  Night and day differences there!
I like learning about cultures!