Feliz Navidad....from Mexico!

In Mexico the night of the 24th is more of a celebration that Christmas day itself. Uziel (a friend from RUF) and his family invited me, along with 3 other English Club members from other countries, to celebrate Christmas Eve at their house. Only one of the English Club members that came is a Christian, so it was neat to be celebrating Christ's birth with them (which was something new) and with a Christian family. It was the perfect traditional Mexican Christmas celebration.....

Uziel and me...we have a "fun" relationship :)

Uziel's sister and mom, with all the food that they had been cooking all day. We ate Pozole, tacos al Pastor, ensalada, fruita, a Japanese dish (brought by the Japanese English Club guests), and drank Punche.

Uziel's two nieces and me. It was fun to be celebrating with a family!

After dinner we went on the roof and broke a pinata.

Grab the candy fast!

Zury and me

Then we all danced Salsa, Kumbia, and Duranguense on the roof!

A normal picture of Uziel and me.

Karl (from Haiti), Kikamu (Japan), Ayumu (Japan), Uziel's dad, Uziel, Me, and Uziel's two sisters

Then we finished the night (about 3am) with the rest of the neighborhood with sparklers and fireworks in the streets!

We all spent the night at Uziel's house. Because ALL Mexican celebrations go late into the evening, the tradition is that everyone spends the night and then everyone eats a "breakfast" (at like 1pm..haha) of the leftovers together in the morning. So, on Christmas morning we watched movies in bed until the "recalentados" (leftovers) were ready.

Merry Christmas From Us

The above picture was "created" by my Aunt Anita, my mom's sister. I think it describes my mom and my relationship well...we laugh a lot! She is the BEST mom anyone could EVER have and I am so thankful for her.

Check!

In my last post I had a "to do/to eat" list. Well, my time in Asheville was wonderful and I was able to check all but one thing off my list (bike riding...tooo cold!). Here are the pictures to prove it... (special thanks to my mom who kept my list with her the whole two weeks I was home and literally "checked" things off as I did them to make sure I did everything!)Hugged my brother, Zach! (had not seen him in a year)

Ate fudge, key-lime pie, and chocolate oatmeal cookies, thanks to my dad

Went on a hike...

...followed by blueberry pancakes and eggs!

Had a Christmas Party with my favorite high school girls

Saw my grandparents

Ate a cupcake from the Sister's McMullen in Downtown Asheville

Saw snow!

Ran with Ellie (in the snow)

Ate out and saw lots of friends

Ate at Cookout

Ran the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon...26.2, baby!

To Do and To Eat

I LOVE "to do" lists. Absolutely, LOVE them. So, since I will be HOME in a few days, for a visit, I have created a list of things I am planning on doing while home, and a list of things I would like to eat (hint, hint, MOM!...so that you can be prepared in the "fridge department"!!!).

To Do:
-see my grandparents
-host my annual Christmas Party for friends from high school
-go to Wal-Mart with my mom
-hike/jog on the Parkway with my dog Ellie
-swim, bike, run with my dad
-visit Stone Ridge Tavern and my friends there
-run the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon
-go Salsa dancing
-watch TV at night with my dad
-spend an afternoon/evening in Downtown Asheville
-see snow
-drive my car

To Eat:
-my mom's homemade Chili
-Pumpkin Pie
-Asiana Restaurant
-my dad's Key Lime Pie
-Stone Ridge Tavern Restaurant
-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
-Cookout Restaurant
-Lasagna
-Krispy Kreme
-Wendy's
-Cupcakes from The Sister's McMullen Bakery

Fiesta de Quince Anos

Lizeth, a member of RUF, invited Taylor (intern from California) and me to attend the Fiesta de Quince Anos of her cousin, Sarai (15th birthday party). Here in Mexico, the Fiestas de Quince Anos are often as expensive or important as a wedding. They are VERY formal, with lots of food, professional dancing, music, up-scale locations, etc. The fiesta of Sarai was no exception. We had a blast and danced the night away.

Lizeth and her cousin Sarai, the quinceanera!

There was a hired performer who sang and danced

The quinceanera dancing with her chabalanes (escorts)

Taylor and me

Pizza Pizza

For a CURICLUB event last week we had a "pizza making party". I brought all of the ingredients (easier said then done finding pizza making ingredients in Mexico City) and the students (about 20) showed up to make their very own pizzas. This was a new experience for most of them and I think fun was had by all. The pizzas took longer to cook than we had expected, but that gave us all more time to fellowship during the process!

1st Thanksgiving

So....I cooked my first "all by myself" Thanksgiving meal this year on Thanksgiving Day. I (for some CRAZY reason) volunteered (TWO days before Thanksgiving) to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the RUF service team. I immediately asked for recipes from my mom and grandmothers and began the [rather challenging] search for all the ingredients I needed to cook/prepare turkey, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry sauce, bread, and cheesecake. I was most nervous about cooking the turkey, but everything ended up wonderful...I did however, pray A LOT for my turkey! :)

During our meal we played the thankful alphabet game where we go around the table and each person gives thanks for something starting with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. It's a tradition in my family at Thanksgiving; however this was the first year I have ever played in Spanish. I really enjoyed the preparations, the meal, and Thanksgiving over all!!!

Here we are reenacting the 1st Thanksgiving (white Pilgrims and the savage Indians)

Sick: The good in the bad

I have been sick here in Mexcio. I woke-up Monday morning with a sore throat, but didn't think too much of it. But by Monday night I had a really sore throat, a fever, a bad headache, and was achy all over. I spend all of Tuesday in bed, still feeling the same, until Hermana Blanca (the lady who cooks at the seminary) insisted that I go and see the doctor. I didn't really want to go to the doctor...I mean, I was not dying and I just like to wait things out. I finally caved and went with her to the doctor late Monday afternoon. Turns out I have a bacterial infection in my throat, which was causing all of the other sick symptoms. So, I'm learning from my mother's example to always remember to consider the GOOD in the midst of the BAD so that our hearts are more attune to God's presence, protection, and mercy. So, here is my list of things I am thankful for during my "sickness":

-Hermana Blanca: she treated me like her very own sick daughter, she regularly brought tea to my room with honey and lime to sooth my throat, regularly checked on me, made me soup from scratch because my throat was too sore to eat anything else, she insisted that I go to the doctor and waited with me there for an hour and a half before we were seen, and she made me gargle.
-Inexpensive Medical Costs: To see a doctor here in Mexico it only costs about $2 for the visit and then my medicine (I'm taking an antibacterial and a fever reducer) cost a total of about $15
-Medicine: About an hour after I took the medicine I started feeling MUCH better
-Time to Pray: I have been challenged recently with my prayer life and I am actually doing some reading on the subject of pray as well with Peter. Being in bed for a whole day gave me LOTS of time to pray and reflect on the things I had been learning about prayer.
-Praying friends: I posted on Facebook that I was sick and many people responded with words of encouragement and prayers

Thankful

This year I won't be celebrating Thanksgiving with family, Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, or football...but I still have so very much that I am thankful for. In no particular order:

Spending a year in Mexico. I LOVE Mexico.
Having a "love that will never let me go"
Parents who pray for me
Friends that laugh with me and care for me (especially when I am "far away")
A church body (Trinity) that TRULY invests in me
The ability to run and a good place to run in Mexico
A God that pursues me and wants a relationship with me regardless of my efforts
Grandparents who teach me wisdom and who would do anything in the world for me
The gift of laughter
Mexican Food (YUM!)
A joy that is never ending

Fall Retreat

For our retreat we went to Cuernavaca, Mexico. There were about 30 of us, from both the RUF group and the English Club. Our speaker was Victor Cruz and our theme was "If God is good, why is there suffering?". In between our sessions with Victor, and our small discussion groups, we had water balloon wars, roasted marshmallows, acted out skits, played soccer, ate really yummy food, walked to a lake, played basketball, had cardboard boat races, laughed, swam, sang, prayed, had daily guided devotionals, and learned a lot about ourselves and God. Enjoy the pictures!Our speaker, Victor

Right before the water balloon war

The Whole Gang at the lake

Skits (I'm in red!)

Preparing for my cardboard box boat race

Water games

Bonfire and Marshmallows