Everyday Life

I’m home from Mexico, but I don’t have time for culture shock of any type. The pace has picked up and I’ve been running since I arrived. Only 10 hours after I returned to Lincoln (in the dead of the night), I had my first meeting. It has been meeting, work, errands, and business e-mails ever since.

Perhaps the whole thing might not have been so bad–except that I arrived home to find myself without internet access. The addition my parents are building onto their house had necessitated the removal of the directional antenna that was supplying wireless internet access to my home. So, a month’s worth of business that had been undone had to remain undone. I turned out not too much worse for the wear–I only missed the first hour and a half of a mandatory internship meeting because I was relying on memory instead of the e-mail to tell me what time it started at. Oops! But now that I have internet again (Thank you Dad!), I have been franticly catching up. E-mail Northern Illinois University to tell them I won’t be enrolling. (They sent me my acceptance letter on July 29–after I’d already left for Mexico. I haven’t had any opportunity to reply before now.) E-mail my classmate to thank her for going through the agenda of the missed meeting with me. E-mail some photos back to Mexico. Pay my student loans on-line (except that they won’t let me pay my loan online because I am entering my deferment period tomorrow, 3 days before the payment is due.) With that done, I can focus on catching up on my favorite blogs–and updating my own.

Of course, that’s assuming that I will have time at my disposal. Today I skipped the “Big Red Welcome Street Fair” to do some online stuff, but I can’t do too much skipping in the upcoming week. Tomorrow, I begin my first day of classes as a graduate student–and my first day of work as a opening servery person. I’m not too worried about the classes (except for seminar) in this first week. Work tomorrow is a whole ‘nother matter. First of all, I’ve never opened servery before–and I understand it’s a pretty rushed job. Second, I just got home from Mexico and while I haven’t had to deal with jetlag, my bio-clock is definitely a bit off–which makes a 6:30 am position a little scary. Lord, give grace.

WARNING: GRAPHIC (but not pornographic) CONTENT AHEAD. FEEL FREE TO SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH.

All the running and busyness probably wouldn’t be so bad, except that my body chose re-entry into the United States as a chance to reassert itself. It handled the chiles and lard of Mexico just fine, but almost the minute we crossed the border at the beginning of this week, my GI system rebelled. I don’t know if I had some food poisoning a couple of days before we left, or if the water that I rinsed my toothbrush under once we got into the states had something in it, or what–but I am definitely adjusting. My stomach starts churning, and I find myself praying that it’ll rest at least ’til the meeting’s over or my shopping’s done. So, if you want to pray for my trip–pray that traveling mercies will extend beyond the trip and that I’ll shake whatever this is quickly.

END GRAPHIC CONTENT.

I’ve heard talk of culture shock after even just a week in another nation, but I haven’t really experienced it after a month. The typical things I hear–shock at America’s excesses, anger at American’s insensitivity, etc–haven’t really affected me. I saw poverty, sure. I saw a lot of differences. But I don’t feel shock or upset over them. I find that I can easily transition from one world to another. In Mexico, I had enough clothing for a week. Here in America, I have enough clothing for a semester. In Mexico, I had access to a television. In Lincoln, I have no access to TV (and am never bothered by it.) I just ignored the TV as much as possible in Mexico. Here, I have makeup. I didn’t bring any with me to Mexico. There, I woke up when the sun or the dogs or the roosters woke me up. Here, my computer wakes me up playing worship music. There, I had only one task, without a rigid schedule–teach Rebekah. Here, I have a hundred tasks, all with strict timetables. Either one works. Yes, there’s the physical adjustment. The body has to deal with different eating, sleeping, working schedules. But psychologically? I don’t feel culture shock. Either place and situation works fine for me.

Maybe I’ve been blessed with the ability to be content in any culture. Maybe I’m perfectly suited to short-term missions. Maybe I was born to be a world traveler. Or maybe I haven’t slowed down long enough for culture shock to hit.

You asked for pictures of what I’ve been eating. And I’m pleased to oblige. Yesterday, for breakfast, I enjoyed this:

So that probably wasn’t what you were thinking of when you asked for pictures. But I did indeed have oatmeal with milk and raisins for breakfast yesterday. Caroline heard that I enjoyed oatmeal, so she served some up. What a blessing!

Besides that, I’ve been eating high off the hog–a friend in Laredo is about ready to travel deep into Mexico for language school, so she emptied her freezer and gave it to us. Which means we’ve been eating steak and hamburgers and shrimp–not to mention the Denny’s breakfast sausage that we’re absolutely rolling in. Biscuits and gravy, omelets with sausage, fried eggs and sausage. You name it, we’ve enjoyed it.

The more “traditional” Mexican foods have included enchiladas and tacos. I’ve also had some tunis, a Mexican fruit somewhat similar to a pomegranate–except that it comes from a cactus. I do have pictures of these meals–but it’ll take more work than I want to take to find them. So, I’m sorry, you’ll just have to look at oatmeal!

You’ve probably heard that you need to take toilet paper with you when you use a restroom in Mexico. Maybe you’ve even heard that you need to pay to use a “public” restoom. But I’ll bet no one warned you that toilets might not have seats.

I spent a considerable amount of time holding squats over seatless toilets during the first few days in Mexico. I peed, wiped, and tried to remember to throw away my t.p. in the trash instead of the toilet–all while keeping my bottom from touching the bare rim of the toilet bowl.

Thankfully, the James’ house has toilet seats and I can relax when using the rest room here. I empty my bladder before venturing out–and pray that I can hold it until I return.

Perhaps 2 pesos is not so great a price to pay for a decent (although sometimes excruciating) butt workout. But I am cheap–and that workout is less than appealing–so I’ll pas-I mean, hold it.

Yesterday was Micheal’s 21st birthday. He said he didn’t want a party, but Caroline knew better. So, she planned a surprise birthday party for him. She slaved in the kitchen all day, rolling fresh flour tortillas and making enchilada fillings.

The guests–several families–arrived sometime before 6 and enjoyed horseshoes and conversation in the yard and living room. Around 7 pm, we began the process of making the enchiladas. Caroline was pretty warm by then, so Jim, Rebekah, and I took over. Rebekah dipped the fresh tortillas in the enchilada sauce made of chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and water–then quickly warmed them in hot oil. Then Jim and I filled them with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce–and rolled them up. Rebekah got tired of dipping and frying halfway through, so I switched over to the stove.

Once we had prepared a platter-full, we began serving. Pastor Pepe prayed for the meal and the party began eating. Jim and I continued dipping, frying, and rolling until the meat was gone–then we continued until the cheese was gone. Then we sat down to eat ourselves.

We enjoyed good conversation over the meal, and then Caroline got out the guitar. Pastor Pepe led the group in singing a birthday song–and then in (our) traditional (American) Happy Birthday song (except in Spanish!) After congratulating Michael, the party left–and the second party began.

Elizabeth and Luis took the van over to the rehabilitation center to pick up some guys to celebrate with Michael. Four guys came over and they and Michael enjoyed hanging out and eating chocolate cake with vanilla pudding on top.

Jim brought out his fossil and arrowhead collection and the two of us looked through them while the younger guys talked. It was a pretty fun (and full) evening.

Michael is sitting at the head of the table

Yesterday (a list)

• Left my cell phone on Mom’s dryer
• Plane was late (I was afraid I missed it.)
• Had to gate check my bag–not so much reading material left.
• Talk with my seatmate–an older gentleman with four kids around my age.
• Run to make my connection–I think Houston’s terminal B is bigger than Lincoln’s airport.
• Chat the entire flight with my flight attendant seatmate.
• Tour Lowe’s–and wait in line twenty minutes before checking out.
• Meet the family, say hello, settle in a bit.
• Eat dinner and watch the hurricane come in.

Oh, did I not mention the hurricane? Dolly? Yeah, highly overrated. We have a gentle, slow rain and a bit of wind; but it’s nothing really. Nothing to write home about at least. The only thing notable about it is that we’re sticking around Stepping Stones for a while.

Rebekah and I started reading Mary Poppins this morning–definitely not the book I anticipated starting on. But Jim is partway into Prince Caspian, and Elizabeth is partway into Magician’s Nephew–and since they’re both in the same volume, it would be kind of difficult for Rebekah and I to start in on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I can tell it’s going to be good though. Rebekah and I get along well, and God is always faithful. I’m interested to see what our days will look like once we get into Juamave. I’m guessing it won’t be quite the lazy crazy of Laredo.

In 9 days, I’ll get on a plane to fly to Laredo, TX. I’ll spend a few days with the family in Laredo while the kids attend a conference, and then I’ll be in Mexico. Until then, I need to spend every spare moment preparing.

There are some things that I just need to get done before I go–the two quilts sitting in the living room, the pile of library books on my desk, final arrangements for the 20S Sunday school when I’m gone. I have a date with a friend Wednesday afternoon to work on quilting. Nytejok had her baby last Friday–so I’m already late on that quilt (I still need to sandwich, baste, quilt, and bind it). I haven’t heard from Nyayan–but she’s due the 17th, so it should be any day. I only have to bind her quilt. Sunday School is almost all arranged–I just need to confirm everything. The library books, on the other hand…

I just checked my account and I have 39 books currently out. All are due before I’ll be back from Mexico. Some are personal reading: Dr. Seuss, The Essential Canon of Classical Music, books on environmental issues, books on managing allergies. Others are specifically related to Mexico: a Spanish dictionary, a “learning Spanish” book, grammar references, math references, reading references, spelling references, creative writing references.

The real task that’s eating my spare time? Preparing for any possibility. I have no idea where my student is at academically except that she’s fourteen years and she’s behind. She could be working anywhere from fourth grade level to eighth grade level–or be at multiple levels. She could have all sorts of gaps in her education–or she could be completely on track. I don’t know.

I know that they haven’t been using a set curriculum–instead they’ve been using a lot of internet resources. Which means I have no way to gauge what her education has consisted of heretofore. I know that Caroline wants me to focus on Math and English.

So, I’ve looked at a Middle School scope and sequence. I’ve determined the large scale topics that I may need to discuss. I’ve begun preparing review sheets–basically a text that I can use as a resource to “fill in” any “holes” that may exist. I have a long way to go.

Today? I reformatted a review sheet on using the dictionary. I began a review sheet on parts of speech. I started working on a summary of spelling rules. I read part of a grammar resource. I read part of a spelling resource. I played some Spider Solitaire on my computer–why did I do that? I don’t have time for that. I know I don’t have time for that.

I’m overwhelmed by the intensity of this task. I’m overwhelmed by how much there is to prepare, by how much there is to do once I’m there. I feel incredibly insufficient for the challenge. How can I even dream of doing this? How can I even think that I can impart something meaningful in one short month? How can I think that I can prepare something meaningful in one short week?

There’s no way. Which is why I’m spending every spare moment praying.

“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26