Rich in Spirit

There is not a Methodist church in Tlaxiaco, so Sundays, I go with the family to a Pentecostal church. It is small, but strong. Many of the people who attend are poor, but they have great faith. These are people who know the necessity of God. They turn to God in their daily struggles, and so, He is part of their daily lives. Today, there seemed to be several clear examples of how Biblical promises truly spoke to these people.

Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in Heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds? Matthew 6:26

One of the pastors talked of how birds sing praises to God every morning, without worrying where their next meal will come from. God will provide. Aunque sea nada mas tortillas y sal, pero tenemos comida y alabamos al Señor. Personally, I’ve worried about money… but never if I would have food to eat. And while I may not always prepare myself full meals, a meal of tortillas and salt has never been my only option. But the pastor said that because more than likely, at some point many of the people in the congregation had eaten a meal of tortillas and salt out of necessity.

She had heard about Jesus, so she came in the crowd behind him, saying to herself, “If I just touch his clothes, I will get well.” ….. Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your trouble.” Mark 5: 27-28, 34

During testimonio time, a woman came up. She said that she did not normally attend this church, but that she knew the Word of God. She’d had some sort of head injury and heard that the pastor at this church was powerful in the spirit. She had come to be prayed over, and was now back to give testimony that she was healed.

Perhaps, when your means are uncertain, a God who provides and protects is crucial. When health care is inaccessible or too expensive, a God who heals is awe-inspiring. The promise of a place prepared for you in heaven must be even more appealing if your earthly place is less than comfortable. While many of these people are financially poor, they are spiritually rich. And they are certainly blessed.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Rejoice! And be exceeding glad, for great is thy reward in heaven.

Enseñanza

I realized I hadn’t said much about teaching, and I figured it was time for an update! I work with 3 different groups of students. Four students are on a completely different schedule than everyone else and they go to school from about 12:30-6:00. I guess it is pretty common for schools here to have 2 school days in one. Presumably so they can accommodate more kids? One group starts at 6:30 or 7:00am and ends around noon or 1:00, and then the next group comes. I’m not really sure how that works out for the teachers… do they have 2 sets of teachers? Really long days? Split shifts? I don’t know.

Anyways, most students would rather go to school in the morning and have the afternoon free, which is why I only have 4 students in the morning. Luckily they at least all go to the same school and 3 of them are even in the same grade. I’ve really enjoyed working with this group; the mornings are quiet, and even though I often have to knock on the boys’ door a few times to get them to come down, they are always in good spirits when they come down. Plus it’s the morning, so they’re always there! Since 3 of them are in the same class, I’ve started working of off what they are learning in class. So far, it seems to be going well. The theme was going places, problems and accidents. I used a combination of flashcards, having students draw pictures, and acting out actions. I like having a plan to follow, and hopefully it is reinforcing what they are doing in class. The first week I worked with them, they were finishing up a chapter and had chapter review questions or homework. It was a pretty painful process. It was like they had never seen what was on the page, and we had to do a lot of Spanish translation just to understand the words on the page. Hopefully when we get to the end of this chapter it will be easier!

The second group that I work with is secudaria, or middle schoolers. There are 7 of them, all from the same school, although they are from 3 different grade levels. I haven’t met with this group as often, because it seems like they have had a lot of no-school days! When I asked what they were doing in class, it seemed like a lot of pretty basic beginner stuff: colors, numbers, animals, to be, hello, how are you, present progressive, etc. I had assumed that these were their first English classes, but at some of them have had English classes before. As always, some “get it” more than others, but all of them struggle with speaking and pronunciation in general. I don’t think they hear much English, even in English class. They are a fun group to work with and mostly, very eager to learn. I plan making a visit to their school next week, just to check things out and hopefully get a better idea of what they are doing in class.

The third group is bachillerato, or high schoolers. This is my biggest group with 13 students, and they go to 3 different schools. One school is a prep school and the other 2 are technical schools. (Apparently the 2 tech schools are significantly better schools, although the prep school is improving.) This is by far my most challenging group, just because they come from so many different classes. When they are all doing different things, I’m not sure what direction to go! I will probably end up splitting the group, but I’m not exactly sure how to split them up. Also, because I meet with them at 6:00, often they aren’t all there… there are always some that are still in town. Hmm… something I need to think about this week.

The other thing I notice about this group in particular, is that they are doing fairly advanced stuff, but not really getting it. At this point they’ve had years of English classes, but still aren’t really using it. They rely a lot on translation, but that can be confusing too. (As well as a sign that they are not proficient) Lots of phrases don’t make sense when they are directly translated. Or they get thrown off by words like would, which doesn’t translate into Spanish at all because in Spanish, the verbs are conjugated in the conditional tense. When they aren’t writing translations, they often write out the phonetic spelling of English words to help them with pronunciation. Sometimes even for whole sentences. The result is that they read the phonetic version without looking at the real words. They might say it ok, but they don’t know what they said. It kind of reminds me of that game where you read nonsense words, and the other team has to figure out what you are actually trying to say. Basically, they are low in all areas of communication, reading, writing, speaking, listening, and they are doing work that is above their skill level.

So, since I know that an uncommonly high percentage of my blog readers are teachers, I really would appreciate any ideas or suggestions that you have. I have a pretty solid 5 months to work with these students, which is a significant amount of time.

Entomatadas

I love all the yummy Mexican food I get to eat here! I really do plan on writing down some of the recipes and things. Most of the time the meals are cooked for such a large group though, and Irene never follows a recipe... But last weekend, she made these delicious Entomatadas (think enchiladas without the chile) for the family. I wrote it down, but the amounts might vary a little!

Ingredients:
5 tomatoes
¼ onion
Sour cream
Salt
Cheese (queso Oaxacaño was used, it is similar to string cheese)
Lettuce
18 Corn tortillas

Boil tomatoes and let them cool. Put them in the blender with onion, a teaspoon of salt, 3 tablespoons of sour cream (more if desired) and a little water. Transfer to a shallow saucepan or frying pan. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Oil a second frying pan or griddle. Warm tortillas and add cheese. When cheese is melted, fold tortilla in half and then in half again. Set tortilla in the sauce and use a spoon to cover the tortilla completely with sauce. Remove and set on a serving plate. Repeat until finished.

Top entomatadas with sour cream and shredded lettuce. Serve with lime and salsa.

serves 6

Things are different here...

Things are still going well, I am slowly, but surely getting more settled in. The kids are wonderful to work with and I’m getting to know them better as well as the family. But this is still the beginning and, while having lived abroad before certainly helps, life in Tlaxiaco has its own peculiarities to learn.
Here are some things that have stuck out to me:

Eating meat: With all the questions about me being a vegetarian, it is a little odd to me that we hardly ever eat meat. Except it’s not that odd considering that there are 28 people to feed, and meat is an expensive item on a budget- particularly for 28 people. We eat a lot of beans, corn tortillas and pasta soups. When Irene makes tacos, they are soy tacos. I think on the weekends they are more likely to buy some chicken, just because there are fewer people to feed.

One day last week I went into town with Agostin and went with him to the meat market. The meat market is indoors and has stalls for different vendors. While there are some vendors who sell bread, mostly it is meat with different sections for beef, chicken and pork. There are no refrigerators, it is all fresh meat that they cut for you. Clearly, this is vastly different from going to grocery store at home and picking up a neatly wrapped package of some sort.

Mostly, though, I was intrigued by what Agostin would buy, and how Irene would cook it. We went to a pork stall with slabs of meat, hanging sausages and sheets of chicharon. The woman seemed very nice, but I was totally taken aback when she whipped out an axe to chop off some ribs for another customer! (ok, it was more like a hatchet… I don’t know butcher tools!) Anyways, when it was our turn, Agostin asked for 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds) of pork. This didn’t really seem like a whole lot considering how many people it was meant to feed and again I was curious as to what Irene was going to do with it. The butcher lady chopped up some pork rounds and then flattened each round until they were about a quarter inch thick. The meat was weighed and we left with a bag of very thin pieces of meat. When we got home, Irene cooked the pork in a delicious homemade green sauce. It was amazing! That day the secundaria students didn’t have classes and so they were not there. Which meant that there were about 21 people instead of 28. As far as I could tell everyone who was there got a piece of meat. If that is correct, then each person had about 2.5 ounces of meat. The meals always have protein, there are always beans and tortillas and often eggs as well. But that was the only meal with meat that week. Which makes me think that if I was actually a vegetarian, I would be eating pretty well here!

Taxis: I am totally a fan of cheap taxis. Cheap taxis + lots of busses make it really easy to get around without a car. Since Casa Hogar is out in the country, we often use taxis to get into town. The taxi service we use is more like a colectivo than a regular taxi service. These taxis basically go back and forth between the road we are on and where they are stationed downtown. They will let you off anywhere along the way, but they do not have door-to-door service. They are also a lot cheaper this way. It is a per person fare of 5 pesos ($0.50) one way. If anyone wants to go to town, we walk out to the road and start walking until a taxi comes along and we can get a ride. Often you end up sharing the taxi with other people.

Last Sunday, Irene, Jessica and I were taking a taxi to go to church. The three of us got into the back seat, and pretty soon we picked up someone else as well. So now, the taxi is full. And shortly afterwards, there is someone else to pick up. The taxi stops and the woman opens the front passenger door and slides in. The two women who are now sharing the passenger seat don’t say anything to each other, so I guess that they aren’t friends, but then again they are probably neighbors and at least know each other…. It still seems a bit odd to me, but they obviously both need a ride, and who knows when the next taxi will go by.

A few days later I go with Irene to go to the market. We end up walking all the way to the main road without seeing any taxis. Which is fine, and now that we are at the main road there are many more taxis. Shortly afterward, a taxi pulls up (different the usual service) to pick us up. But there are already 3 people in it, 2 ladies in the back and a dude in the front. Irene opens the back door and hops in. I look at her wondering… do I squeeze in the back seat with the other ladies or ??? Subete arriba, she says, and I open the front passenger door. The guy slides over without looking at me and I get in. While this seems really weird to me, it is clearly not weird to anyone else in the car, and definitely not weird for the guy I am sharing a seat with, as he continues to do something on his cell phone.

All in all, I write about these things not because they are particularly important, but because they caught me off guard for one reason or another. And because soon enough they will be just a part of any normal day.

Trying new fruit- a type of ciruela that reminds me of mangos.

Ahh... the best of American cuisine, Starbucks and hamburgers!

The fair is here! Mostly the rides and games were just like anywhere else.

Except for the kids in the giant hamster balls.

How can you possibly top kids in hamster balls? Having a Mexican giraffe as a chia pet. It´s amazing! It´s made out of wood shavings, nylons, rubber bands, foami and puff paint.

Settling In

It’s not quite been a week since I arrived here in Tlaxiaco. So far, things are good! Mostly I’ve just been getting settled in, and in general, acquainting myself with the people and routines at Casa Hogar. I haven’t completely found a routine yet, but I’m getting there. I have at least set up a class schedule. I meet with 3 different groups of students, one in the morning and the other two at night. I am also available to help them with homework. There are 24 students, 16 girls and 8 boys. Most of them are in bachillerato, or high school and there are 7 students in secundaria, or middle school. Also, Agostin and Irene’s daughter is here as well (she is in a technical school). The students all come from other villages in order to continue their education. I learned of 2 girls who had finished secundaria, but their parents wouldn’t let them continue their education. (Why should girls continue their education when they’re just going to get married anyways?) Instead they both became teachers for a year, and were sent out to remote villages. I can’t imagine. Luckily they are back in school, as students, with help from the school and Hogar Estudiantil Indigena. There is at least one boy who is coming back to school after working for a while as well.

Pleasant surprises: I bought a cell phone and it even has reception! It’s a little spotty, but still!... There is a gorgeous spot just a short walk away with a stream, fields, trees and hills…. I went for a run up the road (! No promises that that will stay part of my routine!!) and found that the houses soon ended and the road led to more beautiful countryside…. I am grateful for my Spanish abilities and find that people are pretty easy to understand…. I continue to be impressed by how nice and responsible the students are. I knew they would be… but, let’s just say it’s a very nice change. On Friday everyone went home, except for 2 boys. They were both happy to help prepare some food and clean up. I was very impressed with that, but when one boy decided to mop the kitchen floor, I was speechless. I don’t know that I’ve ever mopped the kitchen floor on a Friday night!

Not-so-pleasant surprises: It’s cold! It’s plenty warm when the sun is out, but if the sun isn’t out, or it’s windy like the first two days I was here, it is cold both outside and inside. (I knew it would be cold at night, and that part isn’t too bad… but a cold day is really cold!)
I attempted to take a shower while the boiler was on (so that I would have hot water) only to find that the hot water came out somewhere on the cold side of lukewarm. Since the sun was already mostly down, and it was getting cold, I was more than reluctant to get in. It was a painful experience of standing to the side and sticking my head under to attempt washing my hair. I kept thinking of that statistic, you know that one that says you lose 90% of your body heat through your head… I was concerned, to say the least! Jessica, who I share the shower with, says that that has happened to her before as well, which I actually I take to be a good sign. Hopefully it is not always like that?!?

My room, which is part of the upstairs family-living area.

Hot water notice: available two days during the week.

The boiler.

The wash station.

The girls dorm.

Puebla: beautiful churches, beautiful food

My mom and I have spent the last few days exploring Puebla and re-connecting with the family my mom stayed with in the 70’s. It’s been great to just enjoy being here. We went to some of the touristy places, road el turibus around town one day, but mostly we just walked around. We went to markets and did a lot of window-shopping. There were always people out and about, but this afternoon was a whole other experience! We went to a Methodist church service in the morning, and afterwards headed towards el zocalo, the center of town. There were so many people! The roads were blocked off, there were venders selling food, balloons, bubbles, art… it almost seemed like some sort of festival, especially with the bicentennial decorations still up. It wasn’t. I think it was just something you do in Puebla on a Sunday- go to misa, and spend the afternoon downtown. We watched some tap-dancing clowns and other entertainers. We headed back towards our hotel to find… even more entertainment! A guy making spray-paint prints (a process that included lighting the paint on fire!!!), and a saxophone quartet right next to a guy singing opera. Pretty fantastic.

The time we spent with Jose Luis and his family was also good. They were very kind in showing us around- they took us to a mole (it’s a sauce, not an animal) factory, to the pyramid of Cholula, and to see some specialty Talavera. We had dinner several times with them as well. It definitely made me think of the importance of connections and relationships. My mom and Jose Luis’ mom had sent Christmas cards to each other every year up until recently when they lost contact. When she knew I would be going to Mexico, she tried to find the family online. She found a couple pictures, but no contact info. However, our friend Reyna in Elma, WA, is from Puebla. As it turns out, she remembered the family, and called her mother (still in Puebla) to find them. Which is how we were able to meet up with Jose Luis. Confusing? My point is that it took all of those connections for it to work. And our experience in Puebla was all the more richer for spending time with them. Besides, now I have connections in Puebla as well.

My mom with brothers Chacho y Jose Luis

Chiles en nogadas

Chile poblano

En el Zocalo

A church we passed on the bus tour.

Some bicentennial decorations

Templo de Santo Domingo

La Capilla de Rosario- that's all real gold! mind-boggling

El Sanctuario de Remedios- built by the Spaniards on top of a pyramid.

I'm here!

(If you are reading this from Facebook, click view original post)

My mom and I made it safely to Puebla. Everything went shockingly smooth, actually. We got through security at SeaTac in record time, made it through customs without any questions in Mexico City (a nice change from customs at Heathrow!), got on a bus right away and when we arrived in Puebla, the UMVIM coordinator Priscilla was there to pick us up and take us to our hotel.

The next day we went to Tlaxiaco for the day. I had gotten an e-mail the day before I left saying that the board of Hogar Estudiantil Indigena would be meeting in Tlaxiaco, and that my mom and I should go and meet everyone. However, it is a 5 hour drive to get there, so for the second day in a row, we were on the road at 3:30 in the morning. We rode with the Bishop, his wife and Priscilla. At first the idea of meeting the Bishop seemed kind of intimidating (at 3:30 in the morning, on about 4 hours of sleep), but his sense of humor quickly put us at ease.

After hours of driving in dark, the sun came up to reveal beautiful green mountains and valleys. I loved seeing the combination of tropical plants, cactus and pine trees. It is right after the rainy season, so everything is very green. Apparently this has been an especially rainy season and there was a major landslide in Oaxaca, but nowhere near where we were traveling. The roads got progressively worse the closer we got, and pretty soon we were bumping and scraping along a dirt road leading to the home. The Bishop’s car was new, but I don’t know that it qualifies as new after this trip!

Casa Hogar is just outside of town with a corn field in front and pine trees behind the house. We meet Augostin y Irene who run the home and several of the students as well. Everyone seems really nice and I was impressed by how quick the kids were to help Irene in the kitchen and the shy politeness they showed towards all the adults who were invading their home that day. Also, I guess the last volunteer who was here was a vegetarian and assuming I would be too, they prepared a delicious vegetarian meal for everyone! They were happy to hear that I was not actually a vegetarian.

All in all, I think this will be a good place to be. And I think I will appreciate it even more when I am not quite so travel-dazed. Before going back to Puebla, we went into town to visit the Zocalo or center of town. It seemed like one big market, and definitely a fun place to explore. Since it does take so long to travel there, it was decided that I’ll spend the rest of the week with my mom in Puebla, and then travel to Tlaxiaco on Monday.

The Bishop and Augostin discussing a land issue.