Postcard from Laura - Chiapas, Mexico

Hello! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sunday, March 30, 2008

Early this morning, our bus pulled back into Oaxaca after an 11 hour journey from San Cristobal, Chiapas. Jo Ellen and I visited this beautiful mountain town for a short Spring Break vacation. This state was made famous in 1994 by the Zapatista movement - but it holds many other interesting sights and sounds - including tons of tourists! They were mostly European though, so it was sometimes tough to figure out what language you should speak to other tourists in (although, it seemed that the many who did not speak Spanish, did speak English).

I won't overwhelm you with the 300 pictures I took while there, but I will try to post some of my favorites later. For now, I'll stick with just this one that is classic Chiapas - a female vendor outside the Cathedral of San Cristobal. One of my favorite things about Chiapas was seeing these indigenous vendors smile - they didn't smile real often, but when they did, it was beautiful :-). Pictures had to be taken discretely, so I'm not sure I got any of people smiling, but we'll see what I can dig up.

Blessings!

In Christ,

Laura :-)

Swimming!

While this is the last day of winter for many of you, it was a warm day to go swimming for the children's home. They have the 2 weeks surrounding Easter off, and today I joined them on a trip to the pool. It was a beautiful day, and although I had jeans on, I did put my feet in for a bit :-).

-------------------------------------

This very nice pool was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. For a while we were the only ones there too :-).

Josias serenades us with his guitar from the edge of the kiddie pool.
Snack break!

The B-I-B-L-E

This Saturday I had the opportunity to be in the audience of a New Testament Bible dedication. Several people in the village, along with Wycliff missionaries, gave testimony to how they worked 20 years to complete this translation.

I caught a ride to this northern village with people I know from Oaxaca Christian School. To be completely honest, it was a draining experience - spending a total of 7 hours in a car to get to and from, and sitting on a small metal chair for 4 hours listening to speakers and songs. Although I complain some, it was a very interesting experience that I probably won't forget.

As we arrived in this small town, the main street was clogged with cars there for the dedication. Standing out among the indigenous Mexicans were many white missionaries (mostly Wycliff Bible Translators). In that moment, when we first arrived and I was taking it all in, I felt aware that I was part of something really big.

A beautiful church on the drive there.

The crowd of hundreds there for the dedication. Many were missionaries. In front of me sat a Mennonite family. Others in the crowd had come from other Oaxaca villages that speak a dialect of the Mixtec language. There was even a Oaxacan state delegate in attendance.
This was after about 2 hours - halfway!

Cute kid :-). Can you spot a non-Mexican in the picture?
Examples of the written Mixtec language. It sounded kind of like Chinese. Interesting...
Handmade fans hanging along the tent ropes. I was walking around because I had gotten up to use the facilities. Even though they were just small stone structures out back, with a sheet as a door, I was very pleased that there were any bathrooms at all ;-).
A vendor sitting at the back. Just after I took this picture a nice breeze lifted my skirt and nearly caused me to put on a show. As I gathered my skirt in my hand, I looked back to find the line of people waiting for dinner watching me. I'm really hoping I didn't put on a show ;-).Storm clouds over distant mountains, a stark contrast to the chalk-white streets in town. And we're headed home!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Now perhaps more Mixtecs can say:

"The B-I-B-L-E. Yes that's the book for me."

(in Mixtec, of course).

Who would've thought?

This afternoon in Mexico, I sat at a table of Americans who were eating a Korean meal that was to raise money for training Brazilians on how to do Christian Education in the Middle East. Never would have put that one together on my own - oh how creative God is ;-).

.

Samaritan's Day

Last Friday marked a tradition here in Oaxaca of El Dia de la Samaritana (Samaritan's Day). Inspired by the Biblical account of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman for water (John 4), churches used to give out water on the fourth Friday of Lent. This tradition continues and has spread to businesses and schools as well.

.

Great, free water.... But wait! There's more. Aguas means more than mere water here in Oaxaca*. Aguas frescas (literally - fresh waters) represent a myriad of juices - melon, papaya, watermelon, mango, guava, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, tamarind, strawberry, cucumber, soursop, jamaica, horchata (rice milk), and more. Free water doesn't sound so mundane now, does it? ;-)

.

.

The Spanish teacher (who I ride to school with) brought horchata to OCS - horchata (rice milk with cinnamon) with pecan bits and melon slices. Mmm mmm good :-).

.

.

On Sunday we had aguas frescas again, this time a favorite flavor of the region chilacayote (similar to a pumpkin). While a favorite of the region, it is unfortunately not a favorite of many Americans - mainly because it is thick with stringy things and large seeds :-). Below is a picture of it being served at the church. At least I enjoyed it more this time around, now that I knew what to expect ;-).

So, happy belated Samaritan's Day to you all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*I can't let you go without telling you that one more important meaning of aguas is that of warning. Apparently back in the day when there were chamber pots in bedrooms, people would shout "Aguas!" before dumping the contents onto the street below. Now it has come to mean "Look out!" or "Careful!" Handy to know, eh?