Intervention

At our church here in Mexico (Horizonte!) the pastor has been preaching on the book of Jonah.  It's been good of course, but this past Sunday's message really hit home for me.

Our church

Our first two weeks in Queretaro weren't exactly what I would consider a walk in the park.  It was WONDERFUL to be back "home" and see our friends and everything.  But it was also really stressful because we had no physical HOME to come  back to.  And all our stuff is in a storage unit on the road to Mexico City.

I must say that our friends in QRO are pretty much rock stars, because Ric and Ana let us stay with them and their daughters for TWO WEEKS (we had thought it would be about to 5 days until we found a house to rent), and Luis and Sandy let us borrow a car for that whole time too! 

However, it was NOT easy at all to find a place to live!  The city has grown exponentially since we left, and home owners can basically name their price and someone will be willing to pay it.  There were days when every place we went to was a big fat NO.  Some were way out of our price range, others were in bad neighborhoods, others were too far out of town to live at without a car.  THREE times, we went to go put the first month's rent down on a house, only to find that during the few hours that we were thinking and praying about whether this was the house for us, the house had been rented to someone else.

After the third time, I was just done.  I was ready to throw in the towel and go back to Oregon.  Besides, it was ridiculously hot, and we were living out of suitcases in cramped quarters, infringing on our friends' privacy for WAY to long. 

I feel like we were definitely going through a "storm" in life.  Jonah ran directly away from God, and God made an intervention for him.  Our pastor related it to the show, Intervention, where a person doesn't realize he's destroying his life until his family gets the crew from the show to do, well, and intervention.  God did an Intervention for Jonah by making the storm come on the sea.  I think God did an intervention for me so I would stop being so uptight and selfish (because I really wanted to have a perfect house with all the perfect stuff in it once we got here...)  So God put us in situations that were "not up to my standards."  (Which sounds really lame now.)  Intervention.

We finally found a place (it was actually two and a half weeks later) to live temporarly while we settle into ministry and then resume looking for a house in a couple months.  We decided we can stop infringing on our friends' privacy (although they were very welcoming to us!), and save some money renting a room/bathroom for a few months. 

Then, I was letting my mind go south again...  We're STILL basically living out of suitcases, it's STILL ridiculously hot (and we're not allowed to use the air-conditioning unit that some friends gave us because it will use too much electricity), and we're hand washing our clothes.  REALLY?!  This is not what I had bargained for.

Remember Jessi, this is what God has planned for right now.  Count your blessings! 
We live in a very central location (perfect for public transportation), we have our OWN BED!!, I was able to get some stuff out of storage (like pots and pans and towels, yay!!), and the other people who rent rooms in this building are really cool - they don't have parties at night or play music loud, and we have the opportunity to get to know them and share Christ with them too!  lWhat more could I ask for?!

So I'm thankful for the intervention.  God saves me from myself!

Night view of Queretaro from a hill

Back in Town!

Queretaro, that is!

Our first two weeks in Queretaro were filled with lots of phone calls to classified ads announcing places for rent, and driving all over our vastly larger-than-when-we-left city looking high and low for a place!  We finally decided to rent a room and bathroom until we find the perfect house to rent.  It's a big room, and there are abot 10 other similar rooms in the same area that all have the same gated entrance.  We all have our own bathroom, but share the same kitchen.  All the other renters are very nice and respectful - something that can be hard to find!  We're thankful to have found this place, and will stay here while we look for a house in the next couple months.

It  has been GREAT to see friends again here in Queretaro!!

Jessica with Karen and Pam at a crepe cafe!

We've also been able to get together with some of the people we'd been sharing Christ with before going to the States!  They are eager to meet up again, which has been encouraging!
This week, after setting into our temporary room, we were able to focus more on ministry and begin a plan for what this all will look like.  It's exciting! 
Much more to come in the nex few weeks!
We'll also be sending out an email update, and we put more details in those, since they aren't public on the internet.  Let us know if you want to receive those!

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!!

 



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!

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!

Holidays!

This was our second holiday season in the United States - it was good to be able to spend it with my family again!  We spent Christmas morning with Rick and Barb, had Christmas lunch/dinner with the Lanes, then went to the church where we opened it up for anyone who may not have had Christmas plans to come to and enjoy dessert and games!  We ended up having a whole meal at the church, as a family brought their Christmas soup, which is has noodles and fish in it, and also rice and kimchi!  It was yummy! 

 

 

 Rick and Barb

For New Years, JP and I went to hang out with a few other families - again eating Korean food, which neither of us had ever had before Christmas this year - playing lots of games and talking until midnight.  The next day, we had the Gillette family (my mom's side) party.  It was good to see aunts, uncles, and cousins again!

 

New Year's Eve dinner

 

Gillette family party!

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!

Amistad

The main thing that I knew I would miss in Mexico during our time in the States was our awesome friends.  (You thought I was going to say tacos, didn't you!)  Amistad (ah-mee-STAHD) means friendship. 
Things change in a year (or 15 months most likely, by the time we get back).  We missed the wedding of Pam, one of my best friends, and her new husband David.  Our good friends Phil and Sandy, and Ruben and Brenda are having babies in the next couple months.  They weren't even pregnant when we left.  I see Facebook pictures of our friends having a great time all together, and we aren't in them.  It's been hard. 

But God has provided for us in that area during our time here.  We have the most awesomest small group ever!  We were just three couples for a few month, and now a new couple has joined, and a single young lady has been attending too, taking our total up to nine!  I feel blessed that God has brought these people into our lives!  When we first started going to a small group, I told myself not to get too attached to everyone since we'll be leaving to go back to Mexico.  Well, I got too attached.  But that's ok.  I know we'll have to leave, but we'll see them when we come to visit (and when they come to visit us, hint hint!)

Here's a few pictures of good times we've had as a group over the past several months:

When we went to see the midnight showing of Avengers when it came out:
(Note Brooke's big bag - it was full of trail mix and other snacks to take into the theater.  JUST like we do in Mexico!  haha!)

 

Making smores in the backyard (JP learned Reeses peanut butter cup smores here!)

 

And most recently, FryDay - where the guys all got together and fried all kinds of junk!

Frying Twinkies:

 

Fried stuffed jalapeños (I got to try these and they were GREAT!)

 Frying in the garage!  Us girls went hung out with the kids and ordered in Olive Garden that day - Yummy!

We also pray for each other and look at the Bible together!  (It's just not condusive to take pictures of that!)  We've been looking at 1 Corinthians the past couple months, which has been a good learning experience. 

I am so thankful for our friends in the States.  Yes, it will be hard to leave now.  But they'll just have to come visit!  :)