May 10, 2007
Well, a month has passed and I am very glad to say that there has been some calming of the storm. I am enjoying my new home including the many unexpected challenges that I have encountered since arriving April 7th. Many of you know that my Spanish is very good, well at least I thought it was. One of the biggest challenges for me has been a language barrier. Communication issues can surely make for a frustrating moment or week sometimes. I am learning how to speak Spanish all over again and correctly. Being a visitor once a month is very different than living here. I went from being a friend and the "candy lady" to being a babbling bafoon who is now an authority figure who doesn't have the vocabulary to command presence. It's a new cycle in my life and growth is always a good thing! I think my learning curve here has been greater than any time in my life.

I crossed the border yesterday for the first time and I find that I am preferring to speak Spanish, as well as, my English is a bit jumbled. I know I have found my home for this time in my life because as we approached the final turn off to San Antonio last night I breathed a sigh of relief and felt really greatful to be going home. You would have thought there would be sadness when we crossed the border, but I'm so glad to be here. After the first month of tremendous struggle, I am finding my way and more importantly, God is paving the way. I think He's is doing more carving away at me than anything. More of Him and less of me!

Do I miss Corporate America or having a job, car or independence. None of the above except the independence part, although I am enjoying a culture rich in chivalry and many things I have done for myself for many years, I am not "allowed" to do here because it's Man's Work. OK, I'm alright sitting back a bit.

My primary responsibilities include teaching English to 8 groups. I have to say my favorite's are the workers and the small children. Probably because they want to be there. We are working on the basics ABC's, numbers 1-10 and basic conversational concepts. This is a totally new experience for me, so I am learning as I go. I constantly tell the kids that I am learning alongside of them. It's a great concept - Be a lifelong learner! I need to learn how to say that in Spanish!

Well, some highlights...
*I went to pick up the kids (as a passenger of course) from school in a 40 passenger school bus and we returned with 68+ people in the bus. Mom and Dad if you are reading cover your eyes!!!
*I spent Monday at a public pool with all the teenage boys. I was the only adult who knew how to swim, and I suffered the whole day! Well, not really, hot doesn't even describe our weather right now.
*I'm learning to adjust to what they call a "cowboy shower" - fondly known as a bucket shower. Hats and headbands are my friend! We have a very tight water situation here and the heat is not helping things. We bathe every other day and are very conservative with all water usage. We have a well on our property that produces water for 2-3 hours/day otherwise it's off we go in Dino (The dinasour - a really old truck) to fill the two large water tanks and return them to our under ground tank that pumps water throughout the orphanage. We go for water twice a day and then purchase water for tanks that supplies drinking water, cooking and purified water to the kitchen and dorms. As you can imagine with 100+ people, 3 meals a day, laundry, bathing, etc. we consume a lot of water.
*We had some excitement here last night. A palm tree adjacent to my building caught on fire twice. One of the teen boys climbed the roof with a fire extinguisher and was grasping the tree trying to cut the palm frawns away from the wires when he was electricuted. To my knowledge he is OK. The fire department came and the electric company and as a result I have power restored in my room. We had a huge surge last weekend and I lost power to one of my outlets. Thank goodness for a really good surge protector and an understanding of the electrical system here. I disconnect EVERYTHING when I am not using it. I am one of two people here that did not loose their computer. I lost a surge protector, but that has already been replaced. As near as I can figure the surge fried my surge protector, because it no longer works.
*The church services at Bethesda, Assemblies of God Church are great, but I am acclimating to a 4 hour service vs. a 1.5 hour service.
*I am learning more and more about the kids as the days go by and certain one's are gaining confidence with me in a new way. I work closely with the teen girls and thanks to a donation of two chairs, I have a spot in my room (dare I say really large studio apartment) where I can sit and talk with the kids away from the ruccus. When I give a tour and show my room, most recent construction, the ongoing joke is that "this is how a missionary lives in Mexico". The director has been very generous with me, and my continued hope is to bless those I live with.
*I find that when I am with English speaking people I'm quite confused. My speech is a bit broken and depending on the topic I find myself translating from Spanish to English in my head before speaking. It's a bit ridiculous. I began to speak English yesterday and the words fell out with the strangest accent. If I'm learning anything here, it's to laugh at myself. The culture here at the orphanage is full of teasing and downright mocking. Talk about growing a thicker skin. And I thought PIMCO prepared me for the LIONS roar! Ha!!!!

Well, in order to not bore you all to death and to save some news for another entry...
I wish you well and hope you will keep in touch. My emails are often brief and not too newsy because it takes about 5 minutes inbetween emails to send replies, etc. so I often loose interest in writing. Please check my blog as that will be where I post most newsy news.

To those of you who are supporting me while I am down here or supported me in anticipation of my departure, I thank you so much for giving me wings to do what I had dreamed of for many years and more importantly to allow me to love on these kids and workers daily. My hope and anticipation is to impact their lives little by little and that each person here would experience the Perfect love of Jesus, and the love of all of you who have extended your hand to help in this ministry.

Hugs to all,
Nicole