- Health:
I am so tired of being sick. I have been sick off and on since we have gotten here and it wasn't until last week that I felt like I had had enough. Although I would usually be embaressed to share this, being sick in México has taught me that nothing is a private matter. Once word got out that I was sick, everyone knew- the nuns, the priest, the parish members, and even the men working on our roof. I won't go into details, but I will tell you that it was NOT Montezuma's revenge- it was the opposite, and it was horrible. I was in my bed for 3 days straight with awful stomach pains, eating only papaya and nopales (cactus, yeah- cactus). Sister Angelita, who is a nutritionist, came to check me out and is the one who put me on the papaya and nopales only diet to try and flush out my system. When that didn't work, she came back and gave me an embarressing laxative (yeah, that one) and it wasn't until the second try that I was able to... feel relieved. I was really weak and shaky the next two days and still on a specific diet which included a spoonful of olive oil and a daily dosage of laxative pills (that can't be good for my intenstines...). Because I haven't been feeling good from the start, she came up with this crazy strict diet that I am supposed to follow while I am here since my body just doesn't want to digest anything. I don't know how I am going to do with following it or if I even want to... I actually really wish that I could see a real doctor to make sure that I'm okay and am going to look into doing so over this next week. Keep me in your prayers!
- Our roof:
We still don't have the normal roof that you may be used to... It's more like a cage surrounded with plastic. We have had men in our house every day working away on it and the supposed end product sounds like it is going to be safe and able to keep the rain out which is good.
Two Sundays ago, we were downstairs eating breakfast and talking about how grateful that were to have workers working away on our roof on what would usually be a day off for most people, and were suddenly interrupted by a loud noise and the sight of one of the workers falling off of the roof, face first, onto our second floor. Our kitchen is on our first floor, but because our second floor is made of metal bars, you can see right through it, and there was Memo, one of our workers, lying flat on his face on our second floor with blood pouring out from his head. Completely shooken up, Jessica ran upstairs while Carolyn and I stared up at him, barely able to move or think. I truly thought that a man had just died in my house! I stepped outside and called Sister Angelita who is a doctor, but there was no answer. Jessica then called the parish who said that they would send someone over. Memo was unconscious for a good two minutes until the other worker who was there rubbed tequila on his head and got him to wake up. When he was finally able to sit up, he was extremely confused and disoriented, asking for people that weren't there and trying to exit our house from a back door that we don't have. He had told us that he was drinking on the job- I think we all felt a rush of disappointment and even a bit of anger. We tried to get him to stay until someone from the parish showed up, but he and the other worker decided to go. Gallito, who is one of Padre's helpers at the parish (Gallito actually means "little rooster"- We still don't know his real name), ended up getting to our house about 5 minutes after he had left so he had just missed him. All we could do was hope and pray that he was okay.
He returned the very next day to work on our roof again which took us by surprise. But then we didn't see him for another couple of days and later learned that he had spent 2 days behind bars for carrying an opened bottle of liquor in his backpack on his way to work on our house. He had asked Padre Salvador to pay the fine so that he didn't have to go to jail, but Padre refused, hoping that he would learn his lesson. When he got out of jail, he went straight to the parish and took a vow of sobreity for the next 6 months. Because we had never seen him sober, it felt like he was a completely different person when he returned. Let's hope he really learned his lesson!
- Teotihuacan:
Going to the pyramids with Padre Salvador was one of my favorite days. There was no rush, the weather was perfect after about 4 straight days of rain, and it was just very relaxing and tranquil- We needed it! We were also joined by Lupita, a 25 year old girl who is the daughter of Soledad, another one of Padre's helpers at the parish. She has a lot of energy, is so very kind, and has become a friend to us. We climbed both of the pyramids, Sol (the bigger of the two) and Luna. At the very top of Sol, there was a swarm of butterflies which was so beautiful. Padre talked about how they were there because of the energy that the pyramid produces. He is such an interesting guy; a mystic as Carolyn likes to refer to him as. He seems really spacey most of the time, but Carolyn is convinced that he is talking to God or angels everytime he randomly stares off into space. We had a delicious lunch that Jessica packed up for us and then we stopped at a nice restaurant on the way home that is built inside these really cool caves where we sang along to mariachi music and enjoyed some cool drinks.
- El 15 del Septiembre:
While most of México was out partying and celebrating all night for their Independence Day, we spent our 15th at the parish with Gallito, Soledad, Lupita, Martita, and Padre Felipe. We ate a traditional Méxican meal and danced in the kitchen until it was time to do "el grito" or "the yell" at 11pm which is basically "VIVA MÉXICO!" over and over. They also sang their national anthem and then asked us to sing ours. It was a really nice and safe way to celebrate the 15th as it is known to be one of the most dangerous nights to be out and about in México City. We did come home to our neighbors blasting music until 5am which prevented us from getting a good night's sleep, but that's México for you.
- Returning to the boys' home:
I was fortunate enough to be taken back to Nazareth to visit the boys 2 weeks ago by our friend Javier, but was unfortunately surprised to learn that more than half of the boys that were once there are no longer there. There are about 40 new boys that I have never met and only about 7 that I still know. Padre José Luís, the priest there that I am very close to has been gone for a year now along with Gabriel, the teacher who was there, which I already knew about but still felt sad not seeing them there. It felt like a completely different place. New structures had been built, the routine had changed, and there were so many unfamiliar faces. While it was really nice to see and catch up with the boys that I did know, it was also really hard to accept how different everything had become.
I did have a favorite part of the day, though- one of the boys, David, who had been there the first summer that I had gone but was not there when I returned the second summer, has come back! He had been one of my favorites and I was so sad to learn that he wasn't there last summer. As soon as he saw me, his mouth dropped and he ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug and kiss and whispered in my ear, "Que milagro" ("what a miracle"). This tiny little moment made up for all of the disappointment that I had been feeling since I had gotten there. I am still supposed to return with Sister Angelita to talk about the possibility of me traveling there once a week to work, but I have no idea when we will get that chance. I hope to be able to connect with the new boys that are there now and hopefully develop new friendships with them.
- La Guadería:
I've decided to stick with the 4 year olds and have been helping la maestra (teacher), Arianna, teach her lessons. I, too, have become "Maestra Jackie" which is always so cute to hear.
School has never been so unproductive. It's been a bit frustrating- the teachers only teach for about an hour out of the whole school day. The rest of the day is filled with playing with blocks, coloring, playing outside, eating, and wasting time. Sometimes we can't even get the whole lesson in because there is no set schedule and the block of time that is supposed to be used for teaching just disappears somehow. It's definitely a completely different learning environment that I am used to and it's been tough trying to accept it. There is a part of me that just wants to take over and get things done, but I realize that it's a completely different culture and that it just wouldn't be my place.
I like working with Arianna. She is young- 23 years old- and we can relate to each other in a lot of ways. We have had more than enough time to talk and get to know each other which has been nice for me. I have also been giving her a lot of ideas for our lessons which she has actually been listening to and using which has been pretty cool. She always asks for my input and really seems to value my opinion so working with her has definitely been good.
I have been studying more Spanish on my free time to try and better my communication with the kids and I feel like it's been helping me a lot. I also keep brainstorming on how I can make our lessons more interesting and what activities we could do to keep the kids engaged. Discipline in the classroom is definitely lacking and there doesn't seem to be many rules. It looks like I am getting the ultimate teaching experience.
Alright, well that is it for now. Sorry that I have been lacking on this whole blog thing, but I really haven't been to the Internet very often. I hope that you're all well... Keep on keeping in touch!
Cariños <3
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