Mexico: Week One

Much has happened in the past week. I can hardly believe it has been only a week. Last Thursday my parents dropped me off in Grand Rapids and I gallivanted all around the city. Saturday, I flew for the first time since I was 3, and stood on foreign soil for the first time (since good ol' Canadia doesn't really count...). The flights went well, and I really enjoyed the experience. Ever since then, I have done so many things, just for the experience. This past week, I have been with a team from Blythefield, but they left early Saturday morning.

The team on our tour of downtown Guadelajara

Last Sunday and this morning, we went to church in Guadelajara, and I picked up so much Spanish just by listening to the sermon. Between what I knew, what I could guess, and what I recignised, I could gather enough to know what he was talking about, but not what he was saying about it. Something about Abraham, and something being the same as something else, and such. As we drove between the big city and the village of Camichines, I read every sign I could see. The "Reductor de velocidad" sign made me chuckle; apparently speed bumps are velocity reducers. It is easier to learn words in context, instead of just memorising their meanings.

Orange juice

During the week, I helped make fresh jugo de naranja (orange juice), ate the best tortillas, and went out for tortas at a food stand in a neighbouring village twice. La comida es muy, muy bueno. So...I've drank a lot of coffee so far, because it is a cultural thing, not because I like it. I also took Communion with real wine for the first time (tasted like vinegar). Frothed chocolate milk with cinnamon and glass bottle Coke are also high on my list of favourite things to drink.

At the little snack shop down the street

Mexico time is very different from American time. In the US, we always want more, more. We hoard more stuff and demand we get more done in the time we have. Instead of doing, Mexicans focus on being. Earlier this week, five of us guys went to pick up a machine for the corn. We thought we'd just pick it up and bring it back, but we stood around for almost a half hour, sharing glasses of Pepsi and listening to stories being told in Spanish. We came to find out it only took two of us to drag the machine, so it wasn't a very efficient use of five guys. Yet in the inefficiency, there is efficiency. I really enjoy learning about the self-sustainability of crops and animals. Even the way they build down here amazes me.

Brick laying

I have often wished to extend the length of summer. Well, now I have my chance at 6 months of summer, including the allergies and sunburn. But I'm not complaining, since there is no snow in sight! I haven't seen any tarantulas yet, but I have seen many scorpions. Scorpions are like bees and wasps: you know they're there, but you don't live your life in fear of them. Most of those scorpions were hiding in the brick pile we moved up to the roof. Brick-throwing should be an Olympic sport. The bricks break pretty easily if you drop them, because they are made from porous volcanic rock.

Outside my bedroom door

Well, there is so much more to say about the mountains, the people, the tortillas, the language, the culture, converting to pesos and kilometers and litres, etc., but this wraps up week one. Week two will be a new challenge because the team I came with left yesterday. Now I'm trying to get comfortable in a house that's not my own. I have so many highlights from the past week like the mariachi dance at the restaurant and the key engraver, but I still find it hard to believe it's all real. I have met so many amazing people and had so many conversations I didn't believe were real.