Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

...or: Mototaxis, Buses, and Colectivas

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Every Sunday morning, I embark on an hour long journey to church - and then after 3 hours of teaching kids, I have another hour of return travel to look forward to ;-). Needless to say, sometimes I come home from church quite tired.

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The following series of pictures display the different modes of travel I take to get to/from church. I first start by walking about a mile to the bus stop (on mornings when I'm in a hurry, I sometimes take a bus there).

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This longer distance bus takes me to the town where the church is. The ride is usually 45 minutes, and unfortunately, the leg room is often less than comfy for me - another reminder of how I stand out ;-).

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In the picture below are mototaxis lined up waiting for passengers. Not so long ago, these were bicycles pulling carts (bicitaxis) - but now they have upgraded to motorcycles, often building the motorcycle right into the cart.

I take a mototaxi from the city center to the church, about a mile away. This is the lovely view from inside the mototaxi :-).

After church, I have to walk a few blocks before I spot another mototaxi to take me back 'downtown'. This is a typical street that I walk down.

If a bus isn't on hand when I get downtown, I take a colectiva - which is faster, but a little more expensive.

A colectiva is a taxi that has a set destination, and you keep picking people up along the way until it's full. At first I was adverse to taking them, but I am getting used to it :-).

And, then after another walk or short bus ride, I'm back home and getting ready for another week. Hurray! :-)

If you give a kid a camera

When it was time for me to leave the children's home, there was a brief rain shower. As I waited it out, I entertained the little guy sitting on my lap with my camera.

The following pictures are ones taken by him and another older boy - many of the pictures ended up being of the ground, but I have chosen the best ones for your viewing pleasure ;-).

Lunar Eclipse

Hey! Did you see the lunar eclipse? For a while I thought I might have to wait till 2010 to see the next one, because clouds were covering the moon right as the eclipse began.

My landlady invited me to watch it from their roof. As we sat there for an hour watching the eclipse, we talked about lots of things - past tenants who have impacted her life, whether we'd prefer to go into space or to the bottom of the ocean, and how Mexicans celebrate death because they fear it so much. Their 3 dogs joined us for a bit, and a neighbor was playing guitar on his roof.

And then, of course, there was the lunar eclipse. After much urging from my landlady, the clouds parted to give us a beautiful view of the shadowed moon. God's imagination in creating this universe is way, way beyond my understanding and I am awed at His creation.

I took this picture of the moon from my apartment window just as the eclipse began. You can see the landlord's roof where I watched the rest of the eclipse.

Feliz Dia de Amor y Amistad

Happy Love and Friendship Day!

Here's a happy Valentine's from my 2 Spanish students at Oaxaca Christian School :-)

David does a good dear-caught-in-headlights look. He thought this picture was hilarious ;-). By the way, their Valentine creations say:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Mark 12:30

(in Spanish, of course)

Earthquake

Hey!

I just felt the strongest earthquake I've ever felt! I was waiting to take a shower because the person in the apartment below me was taking one (small water heater) when things started to shake. Because I was still sleepy, I wasn't sure if it was real - but when I saw that water in a cup was moving, I knew I wasn't imagining things. When it didn't stop and the windows began to rattle, I took cover.

No damage was done that I know of. Afterwards, I heard the trash man continue on down the street and I just heard an airplane take off - so life goes on ;-). I'm sure for someone from CA or somewhere, this is all old hat - but it's very new for me. If you look at the USGS link to the left, they have it up - right now they have the magnitude at 6.4, southeast of here. Wow!

Crazy times. Ok, I'll get on with my day too. God bless!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008niat.php

Rain!

Ok, for those of you reading this from chilly places, this may be hard to appreciate. But, I am super excited about a lightening/rain storm we are having right now. It is beautiful! Especially since the past 2-3 months have been pretty bone dry. Wish you were here :-).

Saturday

This morning I didn't get up as early as I'd hoped, but I was in time to catch the trash truck. As is becoming a bit of a Saturday morning routine, I walked the mile over to Cesar's new children's home to visit him. I am meeting more people over there, and I am very happy to report that he seems to be doing quite well.

As I walked home, I tried to stay as much in the shade as I could. The days are getting so hot lately - if this is winter, I'm not sure I want to know what summer is like ;-). I stopped at the grocery store and paid my phone bill. I noticed the displays were mainly for swimming gear - inflatable pools, foam boards, innertubes. I imagine that's not what's in stores in the States right now ;-).

After a few other errands, I began to clean my apartment. Just after I finished sweeping, I noticed that my leg was stinging a little. I looked down to see that somehow I must have brushed against the cactus on my porch. Cleaning abondoned, I sat on my front stairs with tweezers to remove the tiny cactus needles. As I worked, I felt a few drops of rain. The dark clouds that had moved in actually had brought a little moisture - very little, as it is sunny again now.

I noticed my landlady in one of the rooms across the way. She had told me she hoped it would rain, so I called out to her and pointed out the few raindrops. She chuckled and said that she wanted a strong rain. Well, I have a feeling we won't get that - but we'll see.

And that has been my Saturday so far :-).

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The culprit.

Prayer Request

Sarita (little Sarah) has been at the children's home the last few days with her father.

This eight year-old has severe developmental disabilities. Since her home is high up in a rugged part of the mountains, it has proven to be too dangerous for her and she has taken many falls that have seriously injured her head. They are currently seeking medical attention at the children's hospital here in Oaxaca, and it looks like soon she will be accepted to the same children's home that Cesar is now in (since they specialize in special needs). As the director said, she just needs some time on flat ground.

As I watched this loving father feed his child today, my heart ached as I imagined how hard it will be for him to say goodbye to her and go back to his home where he has cared for her for the past 8 years. It's been hard for me to let go of Cesar and I've only known him for 5 months.

So, please join me in prayer for this family. Thank you!

Subtle culture differences

Living in another culture, you encounter many little differences throughout the day. These can all build up - so that you're never exactly sure what to expect next. I don't know if it's a stage of cultural adjustment or what - but I've been noticing differences a lot lately. Just the little things in the day that make life... interesting:

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• Sunday mornings you can find me dabbing on my special perfume - bug spray ;-) - as I get ready to head off to church out in a rural town. If I don't put it on, I can count a gnat or two, or ten, to do their best to distract me during the service.

This is the church I am currently attending. It is a Covenant church in a smaller village outside of the city of Oaxaca.

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• When I catch old-school buses, I'm sometimes riding "The Terminator" or "Scorpion." Yesterday I was on "Ghost Town" as I rode home from school. These are names written in snazzy letters on the front window - kind of like how boats have names. By 'old-school,' I refer to those buses whose gears grind, windows rattle, and breaks squeal :-). Buses are often personalized - with images of the Virgin Mary hanging from the rearview mirror, right beside a Tweety Bird sticker.

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• As I walk to the children's home, I say good morning to the shepherdesses tending their sheep/goats. These are two indigenous women, who you can tell have probably spent their whole lives doing this. By the way, tending often means throwing rocks at the strays to get them back with the group ;-).

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• This morning as I climbed into the car of the woman I ride to school with, I hit my head on something. I looked up to see a low hanging grapefruit, in a tree full of grapefruit. Fruit and veggies are abundant here - and attack you when you are on your way to work.

This is a vine growing outside my window (hanging on some sort of power line, hmm...). Can you identify the fruit/veggie? (I forgot what my landlady told me it was...) :-)