Catch up time!

Hey Friends and Family!
Emee here:

You would not belive how hard it is to keep up on blogging down here. We are so much busier than we thought we would be with school and after school activities, excursions and weekend trips ( a hard life I know;) And half the time when we are ready to blog the power goes out:) But hey as we are learning that is just part of Mexican life down here.

In the past few weeks so much has happened. James and I (along with the rest of our group) went to Oaxaca ( which is 7 hours away via bus) which is beautiful! If you think that Oregon is green and beautiful, it pales in comparison. It was an interesting experience in so many ways, one being that Oaxaca is one of the more idenginous states and white poeple in this region are rare..... therefore lots of staring....but James and I have pretty much gotten used to people yelling ´Wheta(o) or gringa(o) almost everywhere we go. While in Oaxaca we got to visit Monte Alban ( an archeological site), the birth place of black pottery, and see one of james´s good friends Camillo who now lives there, as he is working for Adventures in Life Ministry. On Sunday when we got back, My parents were at our house waiting for us which definitly began one of my favorite times down here.

My Parents were here with us and attending school for 18 days. While they were here we went to Taxco which is a silver mining town that was built on the side of a mountain and is beautiful! Our days were filled with going to school, swimming, playing raquette ball, ping pong, eating tacos, going to La Terraza ( one of the local resterants), and of course watching the presendial debates. At the end of 14 days we all went to Mexico city, where James and I got to take my parents to see the Cathedral in the main zocalo, the national palace ( which has many paintings done by Diego Rivera) the Palace of fine arts, Teotihacan... to climb the piramids and last but not least a soccer game in the Aztec Stadium. Our time was so full and rich... I was sad to see them go, but James and I will be home again in 6 short weeks.

The day after my parents left, James, Erin, Tiffany and I went to Acapulco together which was so much fun.
We booked hotel rooms that had kitchens so that we could cook for ourselves which has been one of the things that I have missed doing.. especially since I don´t always care for the food made in my house. While in Acapulco we saw the cliff divers , which was exciting and nerve racking all at the same time. I convinced myself that someone was going to die, diving from 50 plus feet into the ocean at night. But they were all wounderful!


The rest of the time was spent at the beach swimming at Puerto Marques and going ( or in my case attempting) warm water surfing.

We have now been back in school for a little over a week. This last weekend we went into Mexico City on both Saturday and Sunday. On Satuday we went to the house of Frida Kahlo and road on Mexican style gondalas in Xochimilco. On sunday a group of us went back for what is the biggest soccer game in Mexico aside from the world cup.. the Chivas ( Gaudalajara) vs. America(Mexico City) game.


There were over a hundred thousand people in the stadium... needless to say it was an intense experience. During the pre game they had Pele come out on to the field... Pele is one of the most famous soccer players in Latin American History...soo cool! Chivas ending up winning 2-1!I was happy as they were who I was rooting for!





And now we are back at school until on thursday when we take off for Gaunajauto for the weekend. Promise to blog soon as we will be experiencing the day of the dead here on the 31st. Take care. We miss you all!

catch up...

hey all...sorry about taking so long...here´s a quick update:

We went to Oaxaca. Got to see a friend there from my missionary days...then we got back and Em´s parents were here. We had an AMAZING time with them...I´ll let Em fill you all on how that went on in the next post...we went to Mexico City with them the last few days they were here, and then when they left we went to Acapulco...

More later.

James

Lions and Tigers and Powercords, oh my!

James here:
So my powercord to my laptop has been melting slowly since we got here, and finally crumbled into melted junk yesterday...problem is, two weeks ago I emailed George Fox IT department, since my laptop is insured, and they said they´d send it me here. So Saturday I emailed again, and then when the powercord finally went kapoot yesterday I emailed again. No response. So Em called the same guy who said he´d send it to me two weeks before...and he basically said he forgot and didn´t know when he would be able to send it. When she politely asked a few questions about when that be, he hung up on her. She then called back and got HIS boss, Greg Smith. Greg´s son is the very same Dylan that lived with us in August ´07 and basically screwed us over, so Greg was happy to oblige us, and he didn´t hang up on Emilee.
Only thing is, my laptop is now basically worthless until the powercord gets here sometime this weekend. Oh well, but Skype and emailing is a bit difficult until then, and we´ll be in Oaxaca until Sunday night leaving on Thursday morning, so we´ll be a bit out of touch again.

Well, later!

Mexican Independence!

Hey all, James here:

First and foremost, please keep my grandpa Wolfer in your prayers...last Thursday morning around 10am he fell off a 14 foot ladder when he was home alone and hit his face on a rung of the ladder and broke a lot of facial bones. His wife found him that afternoon where he went to the hospital, and then was lifeflighted to Portland where he has been in and out of consciousness. He has had a heart condition for the last 30 years and they are afraid that since he is in his 70s that his body may not be able to keep up with all the trauma. Please keep him and the rest of our family in your prayers.

We just got back from Puebla, where we saw the historic site of the Battle on the 5th of May (el cinco de Mayo) the one and only battle Mexico EVER won. It was when the french invaded Mexico and the Mexican Army actually defeated the french...until the second battle. But still, it was cool seeing where it happened.
Today is El Dia Libre (day of freedom) as tomorrow is Independence Day. Tonight we will be having BBQ's and drinking a beer or two as today is the day without consequences...even people who never drink toss a beer or two back today to celebrate when they declared Independence from Spain...VIVA MEXICO!!! Tomorrow we have no school to celebrate Mexican Independence, so we'll probably go to the Zocalo (downtown square) and celebrate. This will be an interesting 15th and 16th of September because right now there is a nationwide teacher's strike, and all the Public School teachers are sitting in the town square here and every major city, and no one knows if they will leave and go home to their families tonight and tomorrow to celebrate, or since its historically a day to fight unjust government actions, they might stick it out and REALLY stick it to the government...I believe in their cause, as the government here is really corrupt (not unlike our own, but even more so) and the teachers got shafted by some government decisions. Anyway, I'm going to go celebrate but VIVA MEXICO!

Catch up!!!

Hey Friends and Fam!
Just wanted to give you an update! I feel like there is a lot to say….so if this is a little long hang with me. I am happy to report that I am mostly feeling 100% now. This trip is taking lots of adjustment on many different levels; adjustment to culture, food, climate, altitude, and being away from Family. One of the hardest things to get used to since coming to Mexico has been the food and just overall not feeling too hot! Since I got ill the first week most of the food that our host mom serves has not been looking too good to me after having an upset tummy. CULTURAL DIFFERENCE….. in the states people generally eat clear broth like in soup……. In Mexico people eat lime flavored Jello, tomato based soup and boiled apples with honey So not a happy thing for my already upset tummy! Because of this experience I fear that I have become a very picky eater or as I would say here “Soy Melindrosa”.

But aside from that James and I are making some amazing friends with the other people that came here with us from Fox as well as with the people that we are meeting here at the school. Everyday we try to speak in Spanish together (Spanglish for me) Sometimes it can get super Chistoso (Funny)….. like today I was trying to say that I needed to pay (Pagar) someone and instead I accidently said that I need to hit them. OOPS!

This last weekend was super fun….. Friday we spent the afternoon playing around in the pool ….. I am happy to report that I have yet to get a sun burn ( knock on wood), but one of the other girls on the trip Erin got seriously Crispy! That night we went to our favorite taco stand and then watched the Office! Sabado we had an excursion to D.F or Mexico City which was amazing. We got to go to the “templo Mejor” (Sp?), the main cathedral, the national palace and the Museum of anthropology! At the national palace there were paintings done by Diego Rivera which were amazing!!! A little scary though, One of the girls in our group blacked out during our tour there, we are thinking it was probably due to altitude, low blood sugar, and low iron ( as she forgot to take that supplement that morning) Still a little scary one minute she was ok the next her face was ash with white lips. Thankfully, we were able to go to China town in Mexico City where we were able to get some broccoli beef… lots of iron! I am glad to report that she felt better the rest of the day, but we still have two excursions left in Mexico City so if you could keep this person in your prayers that she would not get sick again that would be much appreciated.

All of the places that we went to I got to visit on Jr. Abroad and it was so amazing to be able to share these experiences with James. The Museum was constructed in honor of the 1968 Olympic Games that were held in Mexico City. The layout is such that there are different rooms for the different regions of Mexico and the people group that live there. My personal favorite were the Maya….. they had such a beautiful culture …..human sacrifice aside… but hey at least they were quick about it. The Maya would cut off the head of the human being sacrificed whereas the Aztecs would cut out the heart.

One of the things that I love the most about being here is learning so much about the pre-Hispanic cultures of the Maya, Olmecas and Aztecs. Crazy thing is that there is a theory that the Aztecs could have possibly originated from Utah and that the leader had a vision that he was supposed to lead his people to the land where they saw the eagle eating he snake which is how they came to Mexico. There have been several huge thunder storms here… the first being the loudest as it was right overhead. James and I both commented that it is no wonder the ancient civilizations thought that thunder and lightening where different Gods. The storm was so powerful, more so than anything I have ever witnessed in Oregon or California. The thunder shook the entire house and it was so load it hurt to not have a pillow over your head. The lightening was amazing light up the entire sky. (Note to self unplug and turn off all electronics during such storms. James and I blew out the ceiling light in our room…oops!

That’s about all for now…. But there will be more to come! Love you all lots!!!

Skype...

Hey all...we signed up for a Skype account...its an internet phone. Our number is (503)925-5092...its a Sherwood, Oregon number to call, but we can access it from Mexico. We have a voicemail on it, so you can leave messages for us. If we are online though, the call will go through and we can talk!
We are doing well, better each day. I'm loving this whole not working thing. Also, I almost never have to do dishes! For those of you who lived with us or me before, you know how much I hate to do those on a daily basis!
We are trying to follow the election here, but its difficult at times. Did you know we just attacked Pakistan? They are NOT happy with us. Just a small example of stuff I hear and read here. But I feel so disconnected at times with all that's going on, but gracias a Dios that I have internet...
I'm working on getting absentee ballots for Em and I...more later!
James

Tacos de Pastor...

Hola todos! Estamos aqui en Mexico todavia, estudiando, relajando, y nos diviertiendo. Emilee esta apriendo mucho y puede hablar casi en frases completos. Ayer fuimos a un restaurante y comimos tacos al pastores. La comida del sur es muy diferente que la comida del norte. Hay mas pollo que bisteck ("carne asada" es lo que dice en el norte). Estamos en una area que estaba controlada por los aztecas antes del llegado de Cortes. En las clases de cultura hablamos mucho sobre las conquistas de los Aztecas, Mayas, y los Quechuas (Inca). Tengo la opinion que los conquistadores eran cabrones (perdoname)...ellos hacian muchas cosas malas a los indigenas que todavia tienen efectos muy profundidos hoy en dia...
Manana vamos a visitar D.F. (la ciudad de Mexico, que esta en el Distrito Federal) y vamos a visitar muchas lugares famosas y pienso que vamos a divertiernos muchos...
Buenos, es todo que escribo hoy.