Getting Settled

It was a week ago today that we packed up our van and made our final trip to our new house here in Apizaco, looking rather like the Beverly Hillbillies with a cot and a daybed strapped to the roof and five bicycles piled on the rack behind (minus the Granny in the rocker, of course!). Fortunately, we weren't stopped by the police on the way, sometimes they see an overloaded vehicle as an opportunity to gain a bit of extra cash...

Miguel had made a trip to Apizaco the day before with some things, but as we were packing the final things, we quickly realized that he should have taken more on that trip...but we were able to pack it in, leaving barely enough room for the poor dog right inside the door!  He had such little space, in fact, that he didn't have room to lay down due to the cooler next to him.  I spent half the trip with him panting in my left ear, so I  finally just held the cooler on my lap so that he could lay down and quit the heavy breathing already!

Once we arrived, it was a blessing to eat lunch with the Rupe's and Misael (LAMM directors and their coworker, we call him 'Misa') before beginning the chore of settling in. One of my sisters gave me some wise advice long ago that I have not forgotten...any time you arrive somewhere, get the sleeping arrangement taken care of first, she said.  That way it's taken care of before it's dark and you find out the lights don't work and you don't know where the flashlights or candles are and you're tired and frustrated...well, you get the picture!

So while Miguel and Micah went shopping for some appliances (Miguel left the next day for a trip to the sierra (mountains) to help set up for a Totonacan youth camp, so he needed to get me set up with a means of cooking and preserving food before he left), I set about getting our 'beds' ready.

I say 'beds' because most of us were going to sleep on the floor. We had a cot and one twin-size foam mattress that I commandeered as I can no longer handle sleeping on anything much less than comfortable and the cot isn't comfortable.  Gracia got the cot and the rest of the guys had to sleep on piles of sleeping bags and blankets. I was able to locate the sheets and get the sleeping arrangements taken care of before moving on to the kitchen.

Obviously, the priority in the kitchen was to locate the coffee-making equipment and along the way I unpacked a few other things as well...pretty soon Miguel got back from the store with a new refrigerator and stove. I don't think I've ever had new appliances before!

I'm very happy with the fridge, even though it's not full-sized...

Micah was just excited about the food!

My kitchen shelves...not elegant, 

but definitely functional! 

I found some brightly colored place mats to help add some flair.  

My lovely stove!  I've been using the oven

quite a bit already...yesterday I made lasagna

and today I baked some banana bread.

We don't have a lot of wall decor, but we do have a little.

A friend recently gave us the picture of the lady

making corn tortillas...I love it!

I believe the grinder is called a quern (saddle quern?) 

in English, metate in Spanish.

While Miguel was gone on his trip, I got the rest of the kitchen set up, as well as the dining room.  That's where we spend most of our time anyway...I tried to hook up the washing machine, but there were issues, so I just left it for when Miguel got home.  And of course, then it took him only a few minutes to figure it out!

On Monday, we went to Walmart and found some good prices on some mattresses.  We bought two twin-sized and one 'queen'...I'm pretty sure it's not a real queen-size, though, as it's a bit on the small side.  But, it works and it's much more comfortable than the flimsy foam mattress I was sleeping on!

Now what we lack are things like bed frames, living room furniture, bedside tables, bookshelves, dining room table, chairs, curtains...but as they say here, poco a poco, little by little, we will make our house a home...

Hard Goodbyes and Changes

Goodbyes are usually hard, although some of them more than others.  Changes are a constant in our lives on the mission field and all of them bring with them losses and gains.

Change is on us again and we are once more saying goodbyes and some of them are really hard.

The first stage in our ministry plan is completed (woohoo!) and we have been sensing that in order to move forward with the next step of our ministry plan, it will be strategic for us to move to another town closer to the mountains.  The second step of our ministry plan involves a completing survey investigation/research project among the Totonacan people group to investigate the penetration of the Gospel into the Totonacan communities and the discipleship process in the Totonacan churches.  In order to really be able to carry out this survey project, we will have to make more frequent trips to the mountains to visit our Totonacan contacts in the various communities there.

In thinking about a strategic place for us to live, we chose a small town to the north of Puebla that is a hub for bus transportation for the mountain communities. This little town is also the home base of a small mission agency called LAMM. LAMM mobilizes Mexican missionaries to go overseas with agencies such as Pioneers, Wycliffe and Frontiers.  Since LAMM has a partnership agreement with Pioneers, however, any Mexican missionaries that God might raise to join our project among the Totonacan people would be members of LAMM.  This week we had a long conversation with the LAMM director and his coworker and we were able to discuss various ways that we could be of mutual benefit once we live in this little town.

As exciting as it is to be moving forward with our ministry plan, moving away from our cozy home on Totchli Street and away from Puebla implies saying goodbyes to some pretty amazing friendships that God has sent our way.  It also means disconnecting a bit from our local church here in Puebla, although we will continue to work closely with them as we continue to develop a partnership to help them carry out their vision for reaching the Totonacan people.

We're still letting people know that we're moving and it's hard knowing how people like our small group family (and Gracia's best friend who is their daughter) will react. I was able to talk to one of my best friends here last week, Monica, about our impending move and afterwards I allowed myself a few days to really grieve over the loss of her friendship.  We are really two peas in a pod and I have enjoyed Monica's friendship deeply.

What I dreaded the most, however, was telling our neighbors that we were leaving, especially our neighbors Liberal and Gloria.  We have found a rare kind of friendship in this special family and they love our kids as if they were their own.  And while we're not moving away from Mexico altogether and will be living less than an hour away, it still won't be the same as living three doors down from each other.

When we first moved here, I was tempted not to get to know the neighbors that well because I knew our stay here would be rather temporary.  But instead of holding myself back and away, I willingly opened myself up to the new friendships anyway and I found out that just like I read here, the relationship is always worth the goodbye.

So yesterday I worked up my courage and told Gloria that we were moving.  And I was right, she didn't take it very well and ended up sobbing on my shoulder for a few minutes as she tried to assimilate that news.  Then we went to her house and she loved on me with coffee and cookies and we talked of our plans.

Once we decided to move a couple of weeks ago, things started happening really fast!  Another missionary family here approached us with the idea of house-sitting for them during the months of June and July while they take a trip back stateside.  Their house is roomy (with four full bathrooms!) and located on a large property with plenty of space for kids and dog to run and play.  And taking care of their house will also give us the opportunity to move out of this house and turn it back over to the owners without the pressure of trying to pack while living here at the same time.

So by the end of July, we hope to have a house in a different town and be settling in there to focus on the survey investigation and new ministry opportunities.  We plan to continue to visit Puebla from time to time, possibly weekly since Gracia would like to continue her dance classes.  And we do look forward to continuing to build our relationship with our church here in Puebla as we partner together to reach the Totonacan people.

Exciting stuff, but in the meantime, the goodbyes rather stink.

Miguel at Work

We arrived on a Monday night and Miguel was working by Thursday...if you know Miguel, you that's pretty much par for the course...he's a hard-workin' man!  The reason he had a job so quickly is that our church hired him to work with the Buildings and Grounds dept. (a job he's had before); we were very thankful that they had an opening for him.  It's a long commute, he has to walk all the way over to the other side of the campus to get his gear (and coffee, because there's no way I'm up before he leaves at 6 a.m., sorry).  I've been able to snap a few pictures of him when he's come to work around the Village.

As you can see, there's a LOT of grass to be mowed around here...

I think the guys secretly have a lot of fun on those lawn mowers...

We're still tired, though, and we can tell

because this is what happens when we

stop to take a load off of our feet...

Making Coffee

Last year, while on 'home assignment' a generous lady at our church gave me a Gevalia coffeemaker. It's really nice and I like the fact that's it's programmable (is that a word?). We have been enjoying it very much and even brought it with us to Mexico. And then, one morning last week...it wouldn't work. It had worked the day before, so we're not sure what happened! In doing some research, I found out that these are $100 coffeemakers, not really the amount of money we'd be willing to spend on a replacement. And for costing that much, you'd think it would have lasted a little longer!

In reviewing my options, I could do one of the following:

1. Quit drinking coffee...yeah, right!

2. Drink instant coffee...no, I don't think so...although I do like a good Venezuelan 'café con leche' with instant Nescafé once in a while (heat a mug of milk, add a tsp. of Nescafé and sugar to taste)

3. Get the coffeemaker fixed...hmmm, definitely a possibility considering that they fix anything and everything down here!

4. Get a new one (Gevalia is offering a free coffeemaker with the purchase of 2 half-pounds of coffee!)

5. Switch to using a different kind of coffeemaker, like a french press...I've been thinking about that for a while

OR, I could just keep doing what I'm doing now, which is pouring hot water through the filter and coffee grounds in the coffeemaker and putting it into a thermos to keep it hot....very similar to how I used to make the coffee...I remember when we first arrived in Venezuela, a coffeemaker was very high on my list of things to buy...I couldn't imagine how I could live without one! Miguel apparently had other priorities and the days went by and no coffeemaker. Another missionary lady helped me out, however, by giving me what reminded me of a small fishnet, only the net part was a white cloth. I wasn't what to do with it, but then my sister showed me that it was a "coffeemaker" in itself and how most Venezuelans make coffee...heating water and pouring it through the net with the coffee grounds in it. I found out later that they even have coffee 'stations' complete with a ring for the net, hooks for the mugs, sugar bowl, and coffee pitcher. At first, I thought it to be rather "primitive" and inconvenient, but gradually I found myself getting used to it and then even preferring the taste of coffee made that way!

Nearly three years later, I was still making the coffee with the net every morning, well I'm sure I'd had to buy a new one by then-and they were definitely cheaper than an electric coffeemaker! It just goes to show that some things I think are so important may not be! And that there are many different ways of making coffee...I found out later about french-press coffee brewers, expresso makers, and other interesting ways of making coffee found all around the world. Which is why I didn't freak when this coffeemaker quit working on me...perhaps I've learned my lesson? As related to coffee, anyway!

I would be interested in hearing how you make your coffee!