Milpa Alta

We got be be tourists this week in Mexico City... a place that doesn't at ALL look like Mexico City - Milpa Alta.  This is a part of the city that has a very small-town feel to it, in fact, it's a lot of farm land.  Nopal cactuses and chiles are grown in Milpa Alta.  It's also well-known for it's mole (MO-lay) sauce, which is one of my personal favorites!

Here we are looking out over part of Milpa Alta

And these were probably the best mole enchiladas I've ever eaten - black, green, and red moles!

 

Then we were randomly in a mall by JP's dad's house one afternoon and Kikin Fonseca - who used to play soccer for the Mexican National Team - was there...  So of course we had to get a picture!  hehe!

Championships

The Queretaro Major League Soccer team, the Gallos Blancos (White Roosters, yeah, everyone thinks the name is lame) got to the final games of the Mexican League soccer championship this year!  This is a first for the Gallos, only ONCE had the team ever even gotten to the playoffs before, so this was big! 
The first half of the final game (it's a 2-game final) was held on a Thursday night at the same time as our discipleship group, so we used the night as a time to just hang out and watch the game!

Here we are at Brenda's house, enjoying dinner and the Gallos game!

The Gallos lost that first game 0-5, yikes!  We won the second game 3-0, but it wasn't enough, the Santos Laguna team was champion.  But it was fun to see the local team in the finals, and to get a chance to scream at the TV for 2 hours with friends!

El Animooooo de Queretarooooo!

Animo (AH-nee-mo).  It's a hard word to describe in English.  "Encouragement" is a close approximation of what "Animo" means.
There is a man in Queretaro named Pedro who goes all around town throughout the day screaming at the top of his lungs "ANIMOOOO"  He's some crazy guy (although people who don't know him think he is), he just decided many years ago that there was enough sadness in the world so he would encourage others.  People who don't know "El Animo" as Pedro is usually called, may get scared by hearing him scream ANIMO almost in their ear while walking down the street.  He also has a habit of not letting people continue on their way until they have scream ANIMO in unison with him!  He's a funny guy! 
Not everyone thinks El Animo is funny, he's been arrested on several occasions for driving down the street with flags hanging out of his car that "obstruct the view of other drivers," (the current governor of Queretaro paid his bail for that one), and for yelling Animo at President Fox several years ago.  The president's body guards don't take kindly to some random guy screaming at the president.  haha! 
El Animo was JP's neighbor for a few years before we got married.  So we know him fairly well.  One night, JP had parked a borrowed car in front of his house and someone came and pounded on his door saying the car was on fire.  JP stepped outside, and saw that it was actually the Animo's car that was on fire, but that was parked right next to the car that JP had borrowed from a friend.  Photographers from the newspaper soon showed up and took pictures of the Animo standing in front of his fully engulfed car smiling and holding up peace signs (his typical picture pose).  Someone who didn't like his cheerful attitude came in the night and set his car (that was painted bright yellow with the word "ANIMO" painted all over it) on fire. 
Anyone who's lived in Queretaro for a couple of years or more has certainly had a run-in with the Animo.  He's like Queretaro's answer to Portland's Uni-Piper.  Lisandro, a friend from Costa Rica met him a couple years ago when the Animo picked him up and yelled animo at him when he wasn't expecting it.  (I couldn't find that picture!)  And my parents met him a few months ago, he didn't try to pick my dad up though, haha!  He's quite a character!

 

Pedro the Animo is standing on top of his truck behind a cardboard cut-out of his preferred candidate for governor.  Me, Marcia, JP, Luis, and Cynthia are in the truck bed

 

Elections

It's that time again, election time.  It comes once every three years - every six for president, senators, local and federal representatives, and mayor, and every six years (three years difference of the other elections) for governors, mayor, and reps (mayors and representatives serve 3-year terms, everyone else serves 6-year terms). This year is the governor elections. 

There are two main candidates (there are NINE political parties here!) for governor, and they both have their fans/campaigners out in full force in the stop lights doing songs and dances in front of the drivers.  I'm not even kidding. 

Above you can see the people dressed in red are supporting one candidate, and people in blue another.  The good thing is, all the posters, signs, people in the streets have strict dates that they are allowed to be in campaign.  Campaign time last for three months every three years, June 1 every poster, sign, bumper sticker, etc. must be taken down.  Voting happens on the first Sunday in June. 

We have had the opportunity to meet and be in contact with former government officials and current candidates from four different political parties.  It's interesting the way the Lord has put these people in our lives.  The two former officials are from two of the main parties, and they are still heavily involved with those parties.  We pray that the Lord continues to allow us to share with them.  They (and the current candidates) have the opportunity to have some influence on our city and state.  It's common to hear Christians basically give up on anything political - our whole government system is so far in the toilet it's hard to want anything to do with any candidates or anything.  But PEOPLE are not un-redeemable. 

La Casilla

"La Casilla" is the polling place for elections in Mexico.  The process for staffing las casillas is similar to jury selection in the US - you get chosen and you go serve.  If I understand correctly, each election year they choose a letter (or a couple of letters) and people who's last name begins with that letter get hunted down and told that they're serving in la casilla.  Ok, "hunted down" is an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like...
This year is election year for governors (at least in Queretaro) and federal representatives.  Once every 6 years we have presidential and senate elections, and once every 6 years (three years removed from the presidential elections) we have governor elections.  Every 3 years we vote for representatives and mayors.  It's nice because we don't have to deal with elections ever TWO years, AND commercials, flyers, and signs for candidates can't go up until the beginning of April (elections are the first Sunday in July), so we only see all that stuff for 3 months.
Anyhow, las casillas.  If you get selected, you go from 5am until whenever all the votes for your casilla are counted (voting stops at either 8 or 9pm).  About this time of year, a person from the election commission will stop by your house and let you know you are selected.  Every Mexican over 18 should have a voting card (which is our main form of ID) and your address in on that, so they know where to find you.  The only thing is, SO many people never change their address that the election commission doesn't know where to find them.  JP and I actually have our correct address on our cards, so we're a little nervous that one of us may be "it" this year.  But we'll survive!  haha!
This will actually be the first time in my life that I go to a polling place to vote - Oregon started using mail-in ballots about the time I turned 18!  So that will be a new experience.

The Market and the Pilon

The beginning of each month, I go get about 20 pounds of fruits and vegetables from the market.  This lasts most of the month, with the exception of some fruits that don't last long, I need to buy those again later in the month.  So I take my market bag and head off.  The place I go has really low prices (a head of broccoli for 20 cents US, 2 pounds of tomatoes for 50 cents, etc).  The thing that some people don't like about this particular place is that the guys who work there choose your produce for you.  You ask for a half pound of jalapeños, but they get to put them in the bag for you.  But I have rarely been disappointed - it's rare that I get any produce that I wouldn't have chosen myself, and you can see the produce displayed so if you see that tomatoes are squishy, maybe you shouldn't buy them that day. 

I tried taking a couple pictures of the produce place without being noticed, because people just don't take pictures of the produce place, that's weird!  haha!

Here are the market bags for sale, as well as bananas, tomatillos, oranges, mushrooms, cilantro...

And this one really didn't turn out well, but there are boxes of carrots, onions, broccolis, zucchinis, and cactus leaves.

This stuff comes straight off the farm, so it lasts for a couple weeks in the fridge since it didn't spend 2 weeks in a truck or grocery store!

Then there's the "pilon!" (pee-LONE)  They don't give a pilon at this particular market, but the lady who owns the little store on my street gives me the pilon frequently.  A pilon is: when you buy 10 eggs and she gives you an 11th for free; you ask for 1 pound of sugar and you get 1.1 pounds; buy quite a few things in the store and the owner asks you if you want the half head of lettuce that someone bought the other half of.  It's like your freebie for being a good customer.  I even got a free churro once because I was there when the churro delivery guy (yes, that's a thing here!) came while I was talking with the store owner. 
JP and I really miss the punch card system in cafes, restaurants, and stores in the USA.  But we have pilones here, so even though it's not a formal "buy 10 get one free" card, and you never know when you're going to get it, getting a pilon is always a treat!

Bringing the Dish Back Full

A few years ago, I ran across some bananas on sale for like 2 cents USD each, and bought loads of them and made a lot of banana bread with them.  I gave ziploc bags of banana bread muffins to JP's mom, and to friends at church.  I also gave a pyrex baking dish with banana bread in it to a neighbor.  About a week later, the neighbor knocked on my door to return my dish, and it had homemade cookies in it!  I told JP later, "Guess what!  When Vivian returned my dish, she put all these cookies in it for us!"  JP looked at me strange, and said, "Of course!"  I was confused.  He explained to me that if someone gives you a non-disposable dish of food, you need to return it with food in it!  (Glad he told me that before anyone ever gave us a returnable dish of food!)  So now, when giving baked goods to friends, I kind of hesitate to give them something in a dish that I need back - I don't want to obligate them to give me something in return!  A couple months ago I gave our next-door neighbors a plate of cookies, and they returned my plate with a glass bowl of homemade caramel corn (because you can't easily put caramel corn on a plate!)  So I gave their bowl back with some brownies in it.  Then last week I gave them a plate with banana muffins on it, and the neighbor told me yesterday that she will give my plate back soon, that she hasn't had time to make anything yet.  I felt terrible, and told her she's not obligated to put anything on my plate for us, and she was confused as to why I thought she might give my plate back empty.  I hope she didn't think I don't want her baked goods, or am in a hurry to get my plate back...

If you go to dinner at someone's  home, and they ask you to bring a salad, dessert, etc. (which is common, because upon being invited you should ask what you can bring!), you leave the leftovers and your dish at the host's home, unless all the food you brought was eaten, then you can take your dish home.  The hostess may prepare and "itacate" (see post below), and send you with your dish immediately, or she may not return your dish for sometime. 
When JP and I were in the US, it was soon our turn to bring dessert to our small group.  I made a cobbler and brought a tub of ice cream.  When the group was over and we were getting ready to leave, the hostess handed me the almost empty cobbler dish and the half-eaten tub of ice cream.  JP and I insisted that she keep both things, while she said that she didn't want to have ice cream in the house because she'd have to give some to her boys, and may not remember to bring my dish back.  Then I remembered that in the US, you take whatever is left of what you brought with you!  JP felt bad that we ended up taking the food home, but we both had to tell ourselves that we did the right thing for US culture!

Living in two cultures keeps us on our toes!

The Itacate (ee-tah-KAH-tay)

The great thing that happens in Mexico when you go to a large meal at someone else's home.  The doggie bag.

If you're invited to someone's home for a meal and there are a lot of leftovers, the hostess may prepare an ITACATE for everyone to take home with them.  This generally consists of a few disposable containers full of several dishes that were served that day (and sometimes some other random thing from the hostess' fridge, or at least that's what happens to us when we go to JP's grandma's house!)

A good Mexican wife must have her stash of these in the house for preparing itacates:

Yogurt and sour cream containers, any type of disposable, yet reusable dish is great for sending guests home with salads, rice, meat dishes, desserts, or whatever was served at your home.  The guest gets another meal out of it, the hostess doesn't have loads of food clogging up her fridge, and the guest doesn't need to bring the dish back!  This is win-win in my book!  :)

A Growing City

This is (my) translation of an article about Queretaro that came from this site 
-- Explanations in italics are mine --

In light of the upcoming World Population Day on July 11, the INEGI (-- Mexican Census bureau --) revealed a few statistics about Queretaro's population.

There are around 1,974,000 people residing in Queretaro, which makes it the 22nd largest metro area in the country.  In just 50 years, Queretaro has QUINTUPLED its population, going from 286,000 people in 1950 to 1.4 million in 2000.  This year, it is estimated that the city will reach 1.97 million people. 

On the other hand, the fertility rate has gone down, going from 3.5 in 1990 to 2.3 in 2010, and it keeps going down.  It is also said that the life expectancy is the highest in the country, with the average being 78 years. 

Another effect of the changing demographic is the increase in the proportion of adults (30 to 59 years old) and senior citizens (60 years and older).  These two age groups now represent 53.1 percent of the population, all of whom are eligible for health and social services.  It is expected that these age groups continue to be the majority through 2030.  

-- In most other cities in Mexico, the younger age groups - under 30 years old - tend to be the vast majority, sometimes being as high as 75% of the population --

Finally, one other aspect that is important to mention is that the rate of marriages as gone down in our city in the last decades, going from 7.1 marriages per 1,000 people in 1993 to 4.5 marriages per 1,000 people in 2010.  The divorce rate has been increasing.

Every Four Years...

Every four years, this exciting time comes around in Mexico.  (No, it's not presidential elections).  It's THE WORLD CUP!! 
The vast majority of the world sits in front of TV screens at home, in restaurants, in parks, etc. to cheer on their country's soccer team, or their favorite team if their country didn't go.  Events are rescheduled, school (and sometimes work) is skipped.  (Imagine if the Super Bowl happened once a week for a month, and wasn't necessarily on Sunday evening.)  Mexico is VERY enthusiastic about this event, and so are JP and I, even though we haven't been into regular season Mexican League soccer in the past few years.
Each country that goes to the World Cup is guaranteed three games.  Mexico and the US have both played their three, and will each get at least one more.  We're rooting for both of our countries, as well as Costa Rica (doing VERY well, and is also moving forward) and Honduras (unfortunately did not move forward). 

Here's just a little of the excitement! 

We went to a park in downtown Queretaro to watch one Mexico game.

Cheering on Honduras and USA, watching games by internet

We watched another Mexico game with friends at a cafe

Just Another Wednesday Night at Tacos!

Christmas and New Year!

 

We spent Christmas in Queretaro this year, enjoying both Mexican and United States Christmas traditions! 

Above, we are at the annual Queretaro Bible story parade, getting our favorite goodies from the food booths!

 Below, watching "A Christmas Story!"

 

We went to Mexico City for New Years to visit JP's dad.

 

 

JP with the Happy New Year 2014 sign in Mexico City

 

Jessica's favorite animals at the Chapultapec Zoo - Giraffes! 

 

JP with his favorite, the Rhino!

 

With the Independence Angel behind us

 

 

Vic (dad) and JP going into a below-ground museum in Mexico City

 

Us with Grandma Conchita and Vic

Just Say NO!

Yes, I know that phrase usually refers to drugs, but not today!  (I mean, we should still say no to drugs though!)  :)

In the women's small group that I attend, we are going through a book called "Pleasing God," by Kay Smith.  It's a great book!  Sometimes though, there are a few things that are more difficult to understand if you didn't grow up in a culture similar to the United States.  Yesterday we hit one of those things.

Kay wrote about how spending time with others and listening to them is a good way to show love.  BUT, that we need to actually make good on our word when we say we will spend time with others.  This sparked a conversation that may leave people from the U.S. with their jaws dropped to the floor.  I've lived in Mexico for 8 years, and it even took me by surprise!

I've noticed that somewhat frequently, when you make plans with someone, they end up cancelling minutes before the event, or just not even show up and not cancel.  It's one part of life in Queretaro that I'm not sure I'll ever get used to. 

Some of the ladies in my group were saying that sometimes you simply can't keep an appointment.  (My thoughts were: if you or a family member is sick, there's an emergency, etc.).  But, they said you can't keep an appointment because you have a different appointment to go to.  Maybe you knew you had to work on Friday night when your friend asked you if you wanted to go to coffee then, but you said yes to coffee, and you have to cancel right before the coffee appointment because you had to work.  WHAT?!  We're not talking about the boss keeping you after your normal hours on the spur of the moment (that one computes in my brain).  This is: You KNOW you have a conflicting event, but you tell a friend that you will go out with her anyway, KNOWING that you won't be able to, and will either call to cancel when your friend is on the way to the café, or just not show up.  I kind of figured that this is how things went with appointments sometimes, but I'd never actually heard people come out and say "I already knew that I couldn't go, but I said yes anyway because I didn't want to hurt my friends' feelings by saying no."  Several people said exactly that. 

I had to put in my 2 cents.  I get my feelings hurt WAY more when waiting for an hour at a café by myself and my friend never shows, than I EVER would if she just said, "Oohhh, I actually can't go out on Friday, I have to work, but maybe another day," which would not be problematic, or sad, for me.  Me and a few other ladies felt this way, and said so.  The general consensus, as per Kay Smith, was that if we CAN'T spend time with a friend at a specific time due to prior commitments, SAY SO.  Several ladies said that this was an earth-shattering concept for them, and they weren't sure how they felt about it, but would think about just saying "NO" (or saying "how about another day") if need be. 

Every so often I get a huge slap upside the face reminding me that, even though I am officially a Mexican, there will always be parts of me that respond like the Jessica that was born and raised in the United States!  Yesterday was definitely one of those slaps!  :)

La Tienda - Random Memories

La Tienda means a little store.  It could be the 7-Eleven type, or a neighbor's garage that they converted into a small store, like this:

La Tienda is the center of activities for stay-at-home wives/moms, and it's where you learn what is going on in your neighborhood.  There is usually one person who is attending the tienda about 90% of the time - it's an unfortunate job because they don't get out much, as most tiendas are open from around 7 or 8 am to 10 or 11pm.  But, the tienda owner is usually the most informed person in the neighborhood.  Most people go to the tienda at least 5 or 6 times per week - it's hard to find 24-packs of Coke or family size bags of chips here, so when you need a snack, you just go to the tienda.  It's just down the street anyway!

When I first moved to Mexico and was living with Gaby and her kids, we always went to the same tienda, and we went everyday.  The owner looked EXACTLY like the rather obnoxious presidential candidate at the time, so we called him Peje (PEH-hay), which was that candidate's nickname.  Peje knew everyone who came into the his tienda, and what we liked to buy.  (He DIDN'T know that lots of people in the neighborhood had a nickname for him though!)  When I lived with Luis and Sandy, the nearest tienda was in a poorer neighborhood (Luis and Sandy's neighborhood was new, and didn't have a tienda yet).  I was the one who had a nickname there - Whitey.  There was an older couple that owned that store, and they would see me coming through the window.  I could hardly understand the man because he didn't really have teeth, and was hard to understand, so when he would see me coming he'd yell to his wife, "Here comes Whitey!" so she would attend me! 

At JP and I's first house, Chava and his wife Juanita owned the tienda.  This tienda had EVERYTHING.  Besides the normal chips, pop, yougurt, bread, etc., they also  had a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables (this is not common at tiendas), as well as anything else you may ever think you might want.  Juanita also called my the Whitey, which was strange because she and her daughter are as white as I am!  Juanita would spend time talking to me about their family's trip to Disneyland, asking when my parents are coming to visit again (my mom and Juanita had a great smile and point method of communication going on), and finding out what JP and I liked to do for fun.  She also always knew who moved away, who it was that stole the neighbor's car last week, and whose dog is the one pooping on the sidewalk all the time. 

Now, we're living in another neighborhood, and a guy named Luis is the tienda owner.  He and JP lend each other DVDs, and I always give him a bad time about his favorite soccer team.  We all talk about how bad the Mexican National Soccer team is playing, our favorite music, and snacks that existed in the 80's when Luis and JP were little, but don't exist anymore.

So, we're moving again.  Because neighbors tend to not be super friendly in Queretaro (they aren't rude, but everyone kind of keeps to themselves, except the tienda owners!), the tienda owners are the people I always miss when I move.  BUT, we're moving back to the same house we lived in 2008-2011, so I went yesterday to tell Chava and Juanita that we would be back!  So while we have to say goodbye to Luis and our soccer team bashing, we are moving to a place where we know the tienda owners and they know us.  And that's important here.  You belong in the neighborhood when you get to know the tienda owners! 

Anyhow, just some random thoughts from me today!

The Trusy Aloe Vera Plant, and More

Why do people have Aloe Vera plant in the house?  My first thoughts are that it's a very useful plant - you can put it on burns from the kitchen, or sunburns, and there are even people here in Mexico who put some of the slimy stuff in smoothies for nutritional value.  But...

You learn something new everyday...



A couple of weeks ago, JP and I were at our friends - Ricardo and Ana's - house.  The husbands disappeared for a moment, and I asked Ana where they went.  "Oh, they went to go throw that big pot of Aloe Vera plant in the dumpster."  I asked why.  She told me that half of it had died, the pot was starting to break... "and besides, we don't want people to think we're trying to ward of evil spirits with it."  WHAT?!  I thought she was just saying the last part to be funny! But no.  Since that conversation, I've noticed several small businesses (hair salons, cafes, etc.) that have Aloe Vera plants with red ribbons tied to the pieces sitting in front.  Apparently, this is to get rid of "bad vibes."  Or evil spirits, or whatever bad thing you feel may be eminent.

I used to think that in Mexico, there was an "advantage" of sharing the gospel, as the majority of people at least believe that God exists.  But the longer I live here, the more I think that it may be even harder for many people here to come to a saving knowledge of Christ than if they didn't believe in God at all, because there are so many practices going on among people who "believe in God" that are occultist.  Just the other day I was waiting at a bus stop and a woman came up and grabbed my hand and told me she was going to read my palm.  Of course I didn't let that happen...  Palm readings and tarot card readings are really easy to find here, although it's still considered sketchy, so many people who go to those don't announce it to their friends or anything.  But more "mild" things, like the Aloe plant, or tying a red string to you baby's left wrist to protect it - those are culturally acceptable things that show a non-faith in God.  You can't trust in God and mysticism at the same time! 

"Ir De Colados"

"Honing in on somebody else's gig"

Or in more educated terms, "going to an event you weren't invited to."
"Ir de colados."

Last night, JP and I went to Ruti's house.  Ruti and two of her sisters make amazing Queretano food every Saturday night, and sell it fresh from the grill in front of their house.  JP and I are good friends with Ruti's kids (Job, Sandy, and Sandy's husband Phil).  So we go every now and then for good eats.  Most of the non-family members who get Ruti's food take it home to eat it, but since we're *almost* family, we eat there.  We joined in a large room where lots of the family (many of whom we didn't know) were eating, and had good conversation with those we do know. 

Here's a GUAJOLOTE sandwich, the type that Ruti makes for dinner!  YUM!

All of a sudden, ladies started bringing in cakes, the lights went out, birthday candles were lit, and we were all singing the Mexican birthday song.  The cake was cut, and pieces were distributed.  I still have no idea who the birthday person was (I didn't understand the name during the birthday song, as there were too many people for me to see who blew out the candles). 

I immediately felt like we had "honed in on someone else's gig" by being present at a birthday party that we weren't invited to, and we were even eating their cake!  I voiced this to JP, Job, and Phil, that maybe JP and I should go, since this was an event that wasn't meant to include us.  Job and Phil looked at me and made comments about me having been in the USA for too long.  Then MORE free cake was slid down the table to us! 

It's true.  Here, you don't HAVE to be invited to the birthday party.  If you happen to be in the area, you can just come on in.  I've been to baby showers for ladies I'd never met (without bringing a gift!), and many birthday parties for friends of friends.  And we eat their food or cake and have a good time, even though we didn't know the celebrated person!  It's all about everyone being included!  Kind of nice!  heehee!

This picture is from our 30th birthday party a few years ago.  We knew there would be people coming who we didn't invite, so we bought two cakes, and asked some of our good friends to bring pop, chips, and small sandwiches to make sure everyone was taken care of!  :)

* One exception to this is weddings.  Many people give "tickets" to their wedding so only the number of people with a ticket can come.  This is because a lot of people have very expensive dinners after the wedding, and you HAVE to know how many people will come so you have the correct amount of seating and food.  We put everyone's first name on their wedding invitation so the family would know who exactly is being invited.  (So there was no mistake that their grandparents from Mexico City, or the cousin who lives down the street shouldn't show up for this one!) Although in small towns, sometimes the entire town is invited to the wedding! 

Mexico City!

The first week in May we spent with JP's dad in Mexico City!  It's always nice to be tourists there!

 

National Fine Arts Palace...  JP is in there somewhere, with a blue shirt and khaki shorts...

 

National Post Office in Mexico City.  Looks like a museum!!

 

JP in downtown Mexico City

 

And now for the FOOD!

Fried quesadillas!  Filled with string cheese and either pulled chicken, mashed potatoes, ground beef stew, or cooked mushrooms!  You can also have them with corn smut!  Yep, the fungus that grows between the corn on the cob and the leaf.  It's not our favorite, but not too bad!

 

I LOVE fried "kekas!"  (KAY-cuz)

 

JP at the famouse churros and hot chocolate place!!

 

It was a good time in Mexico City, but we are glad to be back in Queretaro!!

 



Año Nuevo

Año Nuevo, or New Years, has a few interesting traditions that come with it in Mexico!

The most common Mexican tradition (that isn't used in the USA), and the only one I've participated in is the midnight grapes tradition.  Instead of watching the ball drop in Times Square, a group of Mexican TV stars, newsanchors, and other famous people get together on TV and at midnight there are twelve clock chimes.  At home, you should have prepared 12 grapes for each person present.  For each clock chime you put a grape in your mouth (I'm unsure as to whether or not you're supposed to chew it right away or not!), the chimes go fast, so you (and the famous people on TV) end up with a mouth full of grape by the time it's done!  :)

Another tradition is that you should get an empty suitcase or some type of luggage out, and run around the block with it at midnight (I'm assuming after the grapes! heehee!).  Supposedly if you do this, you'll travel somewhere cool during the next year.

And, if you come visit us during December in Mexico, you'll notice that WalMart and similar stores have a huge stock of yellow and red underwear.  If you want to get more money in the new year, you should be wearing yellow underwear at midnight.  If you want to fall in love, you should be wearing red underwear.  And you have to choose one - no wearing two pairs of underwear because then it doesn't work! 

Apparently, last New Year's Eve JP and I didn't watch the ball drop in Times Square.  In the morning on the 31st, we were watching the Today Show, and they were lifting up the ball over Times Square.  I explained to JP that for the minute befre midnight the ball will start dropping.  He said he wanted to see it because it's a really big ball and he wanted to see it shatter all over the place.  When I said it doesn't shatter, it just "lands" at the bottom and makes the big 2013 light up, he was like, "What?!  What's the point of that?!"  Good point JP.  I guess every country has some nonsensical traditions!  But they're fun anyway!

Not a Veteran Yet!

Recently I was reading some blogs from new missionaries who have just moved to Mexico and Central America.  It was interesting to see the things they are struggling with.  I want to tell them that in 7 years, they will look back and feel like pros in the same areas!  One person mentioned that they were waiting in line in the bank for 20 mintues...  I go to the bank with a book and a Coke because I know I will not be out in 20 minutes!  (trying to set up a USA/Mexico online transfer account, I spent 10 hours over the course of 2 months in the bank, and I didn't get the account set up successfully!  Side note - I went in to try again with my Mexican citizen I.D., and it took about an hour TOTAL!)  And then there's the language learning.  I'm so grateful that God allowed me to start learning Spanish when I was 14, and I was conversational by 4 years later!  Learning on the field must be difficult!

Some things about life as a gringa in Latin America are old hat now.  But I have light years of learning to do yet!  Living in Queretaro, I feel like I have a lot LESS cultural aspects to have to deal with, I mean come on, we can FLUSH our TOILET PAPER, have hot water showers, have better internet that JP and I currently have in the U.S., and I don't stick out like a sore thumb from being blonde and freakishly tall! 

BUT, I have so much to learn when it comes to the MINISTRY aspects of it all.  Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do.  And I'm not good at that.  Sometimes I don't want to meet with another young lady who is going through rough times - it's not comfortable.  Sometimes I don't like to be at dinner with another couple while they tell us why they think Christian churches are harmful to the traditional culture - it's disheartening.  Sometimes I would rather not have foul-mouthed beer-drinking young professionals over to our house and listen to them talk about their latest relationship failure - I'd rather go to tacos with friends from church and hear about the youth conference they went to in Mexico City. 

But we live in Queretaro to help people come to a relationship with Christ.  And when one person accepts Christ, it really does make it all worth it! 

New missionaries - hang in there through the culture and language struggles!  That gets better!  Remember why you are where you are.  The hard times, uncomfortable-ness, disheartening convesations, and frustrations are worth it because God allows YOU to play a part in changing eternity for someone else!

Other People Like Me

It's been hard to be in the States for the past 5 months.  Nothing bad has happened or anything, but I'm just not very gringa-ish anymore.  Like maybe I don't "fit" here.  (<-- definitely requires "finger quotes" with the word "fit") 

Anyhow, another missionary friend, who's been in the States for almost a year, had this excellent idea to get together all the missionaries, former missionaries, and future missionaries from our church, and just... hang.  We've met twice now, and it's bee neat to see what God is doing in everyones' lives.  We have people who are back in the States somewhat permanently, others who are back and going to move to a new country, others who are in the process of becoming missionaries, and some who are called to be missionaries, and JP and I who are just in a weird place.  And everyone has stories of how God is working in their lives.  (Well I suppose we ALL should have those stories!)  But it's been cool to get to know more people like me, who may be just a little out of place, but want to follow what God has next for them!  :)