It's All Over...

Some of you may know that I'm rather fanatical about World Cup soccer.  Well, this is the third year that I've been in a Latin American country during the World Cup... where people actually get EXCITED about the games! 

Of course, I root for Mexico (and Honduras this year since they made it to the Cup, but didn't get very far...).  Sorry folks, USA just doesn't do justice to soccer...  Anyhow, I had the opportunity to spend the Mexico games in really fun ways...

JP and I watched the opening World Cup game - Mexico/South Africa - at home after getting up early for the opening ceremony.  It was a 1-1 tie.

I went downtown (JP had to work!) for the Mexico/France game... the absolute BEST soccer game I've EVER seen... EVER!  Probably about 2000 people gathered in a plaza (Plaza de Armas, the dog fountain one where they put the frogs, for those of you who know QRO) with a big screen with the game on it.  This is a plaza that's right in front of the State Capitol building, and even the governor came out to watch the game!  I didn't take my camera with me, and I took some picture with my phone, but JP is the one who knows how to get them onto the computer and we haven't done that yet...  It was crazy during the game!  My favorite player - Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez - scored a goal and everyone was jumping up and down, and pretty much there was no one actually sitting in the chairs provided by this time...  Then, Cuauhtemoc got a penalty shot, and about 10 camera men were standing up on a huge flower bed trying to get the reaction of the governor during the penalty shot, and people were screaming at them to get down because they completely blocked the screen!!  Finally the governor yelled at them to get down, so they did, right before the penalty shot GOAL.  Mexico won to France 2-0!

And for Mexico/Uruguay, which was a tuesday during church working hours, Pastor Martin brought tamales and cokes for everyone and we crowded into his office (where the best TV reception is!) to watch the game with "tortas de tamal" or tamal sandwiches, show below.  It's just a regular tamal in a bread roll with extra salsa and cream.  It REALLY fills you up!

Unfortunately, Mexico lost.  But we still made it into the "octavos" (eight finals?)

For the Mexico/Argentina game, we actually changed the church services around because we were supposed to have KidStuf program at 1:30, which was the game time, and we knew NO ONE would come to KidStuf then, so we just did KS twice, once in each service, and watched the game on the screens in the auditorium after.  It was such a sad game...  We lost 3-1 to Argentina... EXACT same thing that happened in the 2006 World Cup.  So, that left Mexico disqualified. 

I'm rooting for Brasil now...  I was IN Brasil in 2002 when they won, and THAT was super crazy, you can't even believe it!

Now, go watch some World Cup games, even though your country is disqualified!  (assuming my readers are from USA and Australia!)

More School Fun

As the school year, AND Jean Paul's college carreer come to and end, his classmates have been goofing around after school with their cameras to make sure they get the good memories on film!

Pyramid or the UNIVA International Commerce class 

Chava, Maggi, Cesar, Alma, JP, Bruno, Federico

Maggi, Alma, and Chava

Jean Paul has really had some good opportunities to share Christ with some of his classmates, mainly Burno and Chava.  No one has made a decision to follow Christ, yet, but at least they know...

I feel like a part of the class too, since we have so many classmates in our house, and I go to school every friday, waiting for JP in the cafeteria to go to our small group directly afterwards... 
I think I'll miss these guys too!

The Name Game

A somewhat controversial law was passed in Queretaro sometime in the last few years, that has to do with what you can and can't name your kids.  Now, when you register your baby at the courthouse, you must come ready with a name, and if it's not a "common" name, you must bring documentation of where the name comes from and what it means. 

Some people see this as an infringement on their rights, which is understandable.  But the point of the law is that no more kids will develop complexes because of names that are funny/horrible/mean-something-else.  I can appreciate this, as I remember going through junior high in the States in the 90's with my last name...  And my last name isn't THAT bad!

So, supposedly, there shouldn't be anymore people born in Queretaro with names like:

• Will Smith Garcia
• Robocop Martinez
• Michael Jackson Sanchez
• Jose Superman Lopez (dude's name really IS "Jose Superman!")

Not. Even. Kidding.  There are ACTUALLY people in Mexico with those first/middle names!  People named after other famous people or movie characters.

Then there are these names given to kids, which I think the parents just named the kid the first word they saw when entering the county courthouse to register them...

• Transito (means "traffic")
• Email
• Masiosare ("Mas si osare" - this is a phrase from the National Anthem)
• Pueblito (means village) this one is especially common among people born in Corregidora country QRO...
• Usnavy - pronounced oos-NAH-bee (the mom saw the name on a ship - "U.S. Navy")

These are the types of names that you can no longer name your kids in Queretaro.  So, JP and I won't be having a "Superman," or "Email" in our family...

But this law can backfire too.  My friends Ricardo and Ana wanted to name thier daughter "Shalom."  Even though that's not a spanish word nor a mexican name, it's not bad.  And they were told a few times that they could NOT name their daughter Shalom.  Finally, they found some teenage girl born in Queretaro named Shalom, and that proved that it really was a name, so their baby's name is Shalom!

You CAN name your kids names from Mexican history.  The most famous mexican soccer player right now is named Cuautemoc (kwahw-TEH-moke) - an emporer.  And JP's dad always says he should've named JP "Hilhuicamina Xocoyotzin."  (ill-wick-ah-MEE-nah show-coh-JOTE-seen)  In fact, when we go out to eat and you have to give your name to the reception, Vic (JP's dad) always puts Hilhuicamina Xocoyotzin as his name! 

But I don't think we'll use any native Mexican names for our kids either.  Not that it's too important to think of that right now, as we ARE NOT pregnant.  (Why do people always go there?!)

Just thought it was a fun fact about Queretaro!  :)

The End of an Era

Jean Paul started his college carreer about a month after we started dating in 2007.  So, he's been in school through our entire relationship!  However, this stage of our lives is coming to an end.  JP started his las term of school in May, and will finish in August!  He's finished his practicum, and will do community service (required for all college students) beginning in August.  His graduation will be the beginning of January.  He will be graduating from the UNIVA (Universidad del Valle de Atemejac), with a degree in International Commerce.  We are looking into a busisness opportunity where JP will have a chance to use this degree just a few months from now!

We're thankful that God has provided the opportunity for JP to go to college and graduate at the top of his class.  We're thankful for his dad who has been able to pay for almost all of the school expenses.

We're very excited about JP finishing school!  But it will be a big change for us as well, especially for JP as he'll most likely not be seeing his school friends much.  I'll miss having them in the house too, even though sometimes I'm not thrilled to cook dinner for 5 at 11pm, but I will miss the classmates, who I feel like are MY classmates too!

JP has been in an evvening program for students who work as well as attend classes.  Most of the students, like JP, began college when they were 23 or 24, and several of them are even into their 30's.  This has been an advantage because these are students who are really focused on finishing school well and paying attention to learn every detail necesary to be able to put their learning in action, instead of 18 year olds who are just in college because their parents wanted them to go.

Here's several of JP's classmates, plus me and one of the students' babies, on the day that they took pictures for their diplomas (titulos).  Hence the suits and ties!

(L-R: Jessica, Federico, JP, Maggie (sitting with the baby), Cesar, Gaby, Bruno, Pacheco, Chava, Mary, and I don't know the girl below Mary)

Less Than Satisfactory Goodness

Querétaro is a pretty modern city.  Transportation is similar to a large city in the US, except that the taxis are WAY cheaper, and more commonly used, most people lower-middle-class and higher have a car. 

But, there are a few things that take A LOT more time to do than in the States!  Like paying bills, for example.  Every month, we have to pay: water, gas, electricity, cell phone, home phone, and internet.  We also have to deposit JP's monthly school payment.  So, you'd think I'd be either sitting down writing out several checks, and/or transferring money from a bank account to pay bills online.  But that's not the case.  Each bill may or may not show up on our front door a week or two before it's due.  Supposedly all bills should come to the door, but sometimes the wind blows it away, a neighbor kid tries to be funny by taking it, or the delivery guy simply doesn't put the bill on our door.  If the bill comes, I take: the water and gas bills to the mini market on the corner to pay; the phone bill to the phone company ATM (which is the only place in this city of 2million people to pay this bill without an added comission) to pay - this is across the street from the bank where I wait in line to pay JP's school; the electric bill get paid downtown at another ATM (one of 3 in the whole city!); the cell phone bill gets paid at one of two service centers; and the internet gets charged to a credit card... which we have to physically enter the bank to pay off.  If a bill doesn't come to the door, I have to take a previous bill to the company of the utility needed and pay it there.  This frecuently happens with the water and gas bills which I can pay in a store if the bill comes to my house.  At least the land-lady actually comes to our house to collect the rent! 

I could complain about this whole long bill-paying process that I do every month, but it's not fair to complain considering that our water bill is about $8 per month, gas $6, water $7... etc.  Pretty cool, huh!  AND, sitting in these banks and utility service centers gives me nice rest time to read a book and drink a coke while I wait.  So, while this process seems "less than satisfactory," I've learned to enjoy it, and actually kind of look forward to walking around downtown going to different bill-paying places and reading.  Even with my trips to immigration, where the wait is measured in HOURS, I've found that I can go in, take a number, and go run errands for about an hour and a half, then come back and read until the call my number!

New People

About 2 months ago a guy named Arturo came up to JP at work and asked if he went to church.  Arturo is 30, he grew up in church, and was even involved in leading a youth ministry, but has spent the past 6 years not following God.  He asked JP if he could go to church with us.  Arturo has been coming ever since, and has gotten involved in a small group for young men.  His girlfriend, Araceli, has been coming for a couple weeks now too.  She hadn't ever been to church before, but said that she noticed a change for the good in Arturo in the past several weeks, and wanted to go see what church is all about.  Araceli is 24, and also works with JP and Arturo.  We get along quite well, and have gone out as couples.  I hope to begin meeting with Araceli for a Bible study; she wants to know more about Jesus!

And, two weeks ago, a family entered Horizonte Church asking what kind of church we were.  I explained.  The family lives in Mexico City and goes to Semilla de Mostaza Church, which is the same church as Horizonte.  They said they have family members here in Queretaro who recently accepted Christ.  The family from Mexico was looking for a church for the Queretano family.  During the second church service (we have two services here, at 10 and noon), the three daughters in the Queretano family came.  Pamela is 24, Karen is 20, and they have an elementary-aged sister.  Pamela and Karen are very interested in getting involved in Infusion (young adults' group), and growing in their relationship with Christ.  I'm meeting with them today for coffee.  I hope this will be a good opportunity to invest in the lives of two more young ladies!

I had been very discouraged about discipling in the past few months - some girls who I was going to begin discipling decided that they didn't want to, and another who I was discipling just didn't take any initiative in doing our study or having her devotional time.  So we've quit meeting.  But I hope that these opportunities with Araceli, Pamela, and Karen may turn into discipleship times.  And I'm going to begin meeting with Sandy, a 17 year old girl from church, to go through a book on Biblical anger management. 

Please pray for these potential discipleship opportunities with Araceli, Pamela, Karen, and Sandy.  Investing in the lives of young women is my passion in ministry!

(Sorry about the lack of pictures...  I think I've taken like 3 pictures of the past two or three months, and those are still in my camera!)