Pozole

For our CURICLUB activity last Friday we went to one of our English Club member's house and to eat! His parents invite the group each year and they cook us yummy Pozole. Pozole is a traditional Mexican dish that is in my Top 3 of the foods that I have tried here. I could eat Pozole all day long!!! Yum!

It was really fun taking a group mixed of English Club students and RUF students out, as well as getting to know the family of one of our English Club students.

The whole group eating!!

Pozole

Instead of trying to describe Pozole, I have included a recipie. So, if you are feeling Mexican and want to try something new, or if you just want to know what in the world Pozole is, here ya go.....

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 quarts chicken broth
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
• 3 cups white hominy, rinsed and drained
• tostada shells
• Sour Cream
• finely chopped lettuce
• Avocados
  

Directions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and cook until no longer pink and juices run clear, about 20 minutes. Remove from skillet, drain, and cool. When completely cooled, shred chicken with a fork.
2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons canola oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic until soft and transparent, about 5 minutes. Return shredded chicken to the skillet. Stir in the chicken broth, water, oregano, salt, and chili powder. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook about 90 minutes. Stir in the hominy and cook until tender, about 15 minutes more. Taste to adjust seasonings, adding more salt and chili powder, if desired. Serve in soup bowls. Garnish as desired with chopped onion, lettuce, avocado, dried oregano, and hot sauce. Eat with tostadas topped with sour cream.

Monse's Graduation

After 5 long years of studying at the UNAM, Monse graduated. Graduating here in Mexico (even for undergraduates) means that you have finished all of your course work, done some sort of social service to the community using what you have learned, and you have written and defended your thesis. A few of us went to Monse's professional exam/gradation, which consisted of her defending her thesis and then receiving her official graduation document. Monse is very special to the RUF group because she became a Christian during her time at the UNAM. She met the RUF group by way of the English Club, and later became a Christian. Before graduating she served on the RUF Service Team.

Monse receiving word from the "panel" of professors that she has graduated!

Me, Monse, and Uziel after the big event

Announcements

For announcements of our weekly activities and upcoming events in RUF, at Large Group this week we will be showing videos as a way to "spice-up" the announcements. Two of the four videos are below.

Arturo and I announce the English Club...


Karina announces the Retreat in April...

RUF Service Activity

For our RUF Service Activity we took a group to serve at the Kids' Club at Betel Church (where I have been before... see previous post). We did a skit to present a Bible story about Jacob (I was the angel as well as the sheep!), we played games, sang songs, prepared a light lunch, and did a craft. What fun it is to spend time with those PRECIOUS children!!!

Playing games. "Red light, Green light" was a big hit!

The RUF gang, plus a few!

Music!

Here I am as an angel

Here I am as a sheep!

Pasta with sour cream, pineapple, ham, and dinosaur shaped noodles

Craft time!

Lost Shoes

In about 75% of public buses there will be a baby or child's shoe tied by its shoelaces to the overhead handrail in the bus. There are thousands (probably millions) of people who use these buses daily and the likelihood of babies or children losing a shoe are pretty good. I have always thought it was super considerate of the bus drivers to hang the lost shoes up so that the next day when the bus riders are back on their daily bus ride they can see the shoe that their child lost the day before.

About a week ago I was on a bus with a friend and there was a really, really cute shoe tied to the rail. I said to my friend "How sad to lose such a cute shoe!". My friend looked at me and said, "That is not a lost shoe; it's a 'good luck' shoe."

Apparently, if a bus driver has children the will tie up one of their shoes in the bus for good luck. It only took me seven months to figure this one out!

Las Trajineras de Xochimilco

Las Trajineras are similar to Gondolas from Italy. They are boats that are "propelled" by a man with a very long stick. In Mexico City, there is a river that runs through the section of Xochimilco and there you can rent a boat and a Trajinero (the man to propel the boat). In January a group of us went for one of our weekly social activities. We had a great time and we were even accompanied by another boat of Mariachi Musicians. They played music for us as we sailed down the river. ...This means there was dancing, of course!

The Praying Life

In the Program Study, I am reading the book "The Praying Life" by Paul Miller. I have learned a lot about prayer and communion with God.

The first section of the book talks about typical prayer lives, or lack there of, and how we don't come before the Lord because of cynicism or fear. Miller talks about how we have to re-learn to be child-like and come to God messy and unafraid to ask.

Later on in the book Miller discusses being in communion with God "all the time" and what it means when "God's Kingdom Comes" (a phrase from the Lord's prayer). He tells the story of when He was going away for a weekend to speak at a conference. For the first time, he took his daughter with severe autism along with him. On Friday, as they were in the airport and then on the plane, his daughter had several extreme "melt-downs" in front of everyone. Miller's first reaction was "I am NEVER doing this again". But then as God spoke to Miller's heart, Miller realized that "God's Kingdom had come". God had used this situation to humble Miller before he went on to be the center of attention at the conference, to remind him of his need for God, to remind him of his sinful human nature, AND to allow Miller to serve his wife by giving her a weekend break from caring for their daughter. Miller's focus had been on Saturday when he would be speaking; when he would be the center of attention.... but God's Kingdom came before the conference; God's Kingdom came in a moment of humility, of frustration, and stress.

The point of always being in communion with God is that He uses EVERY situation for our good, even the tiny, little, ugly ones. Sometimes the situations seem bad or frustrating to us, but maybe God is building our character or teaching us to trust Him or maybe He is giving us an unexpected gift. God is such a loving father that He does not want to leave us in our natural sinful states...He wants to change us, change our character, and He uses every opportunity to do so! We when we are not in communion with Him through prayer, or not aware that He is always working, we miss out in the mist of becoming angry, trying to control things, or trying making things "better"!

What blessing and hope we have in this.