Special Times

 This was a particularly beautiful Sunday in November. Salvador F. had come to visit his family here after being on convention rounds.  Our friend Chela had just come home from the hospital and her son and two friends from Guadalajara were here to visit her.  We had an impromptu potluck and spent the afternoon visiting.

A couple weeks later, when we heard Lynette and Rosie would be coming, Mary suggested we have a surprise party for Lynette's birthday.  Mary made posole, a traditional soup, and Victor, Alan, Glen and Edwardo strung up balloons. Alan even brought one of his handmade pinatas, a minion riding a Harley! Fun times!

And the next day we celebrated Thanksgiving. Everyone helped prepare the food and we had a nice evening to enjoy our meal outdoors.  Some of our friends asked about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and where the holiday came from.  We shared about the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and Indians and being thankful every fall for a good harvest.  Interesting to consider, harvest happens year-round here. Over our pie, we each shared something we were thankful for.  It was very touching to hear.  And then we finished with some hymns from the new Spanish hymn book.

Truly Special Times!

La Presa (The Dam)

Las Piedras (the stones) is the name of this reservoir located 23 miles northeast of us. It's remote, beautiful, and quiet. We've been here twice. Both times, as we breath the fresh mountain air and play in the clear, cool water, we feel ourselves unwind and forget our many cares. Almost like going home.

On this occasion, we went with Victor and Mary and their boys and Alicia.  We enjoyed swimming, kayaking, visiting, and Victor gave our boys some fishing lessons.

The road in and out is quite rough, but well worth the bumps.  It also connects to a loop through the mountains, a drive we completed on our first trip to the reservoir.  I think we really do live in the most scenic part of Mexico.  But I am partial to mountains!

The Mexican Revolution

I am definitely not qualified to write about it.  All I can conclude from my little research is that it was a period of political unrest, social injustice, and a violent struggle for rights, land, wealth, and power.  Can you guess when it started? How long it lasted? Why it is celebrated?

The revolution began 106 year ago in an effort to end a 30 year dictatorship. A political reformer called for an uprising to commence on November 20th, 1910, which is why the national holiday is observed on Nov. 20th. That initial uprising didn't amount to much, but it marked the beginning of decades of struggle.

During the next 30 years many leaders took up arms to fight for various political and social causes.  Governments were overthrown, new ones were set up, leaders were betrayed, presidents forced to resign, some sent into exile, and some assassinated.  By 1940 a new constitution was being put into action and new laws and systems put into place to better protect citizens.

Unfortunately, for reasons I have yet to grasp, government slipped backward in the 40's and 50's...

...and the very unions and groups that were created to work for the people, turned again to work for themselves and corruption abounded.

So why do we celebrate this period of history?

Well, one reason has to do with what you can see here.  During this time (the first half of the 20th century) several revolutionists began to write books and to collect and reproduce art.

As I understand two sisters from northern Mexico traveled the country studying traditional dances from many regions.  The dances were then incorporated into the education system and taught all over Mexico.

They are lively and fun and really bring out the creativity and talent of the young people. They also provide an escape from the daily grind, entertainment and a sense of pride for parents, grandparents, and onlookers.

And that's it... well not really.  I'm sure there's much more to it, but this is what we've learned and experience up to this point.

One thought that I've enjoyed out of this:
We will never find the perfect country with the perfect history and the perfect government. Not in this world.  But we are so fortunate to know a spiritual kingdom, with a beautiful, rich history, and a king that has in mind the best interest of all.

School

First Day:

August 22th

Subjects:
Math, Spanish, History, Social Studies, Science, Geography, Art

Special Days: 

Uniform day - Mon.

P. E. - Tues & Thur

National Holidays celebrated so far:

Sept. 16 - Independence Day

 Which was also around the time of Monte's birthday! This was a big turning point for him. To be able to celebrate his birthday was the first time he was able to understand, enter in, relax and enjoy himself in the classroom. Up to this point things were a bit stressful for this first grader who had never been to school away from home and didn't know any Spanish!

Oct. 12 - Day of the Races

This is similar to Columbus day in the US, but different because instead of just celebrating the discovery of the Americas, it marks the first encounter of Europeans and Native Americans.  Hence "the races" formed by this unity are more what is celebrated here in Mexico.

Oct. 14 - Retirement celebration for Maestra Norma

This was not a national holiday, but it was obviously a very big deal to the entire community.  Maestra Norma had taught school in La Cienega for close to 30 years.  At her retirement, she was honored with a parade, a 2 hour presentation/talent show, and a community potluck.

This was a milestone for Kendra as she chose to finally let go of my hand and walk with her classmates in the parade.  She has been timid and cautious about school, but as she gets used to the new routine and grasps more of the language, she's also relaxing and enjoying herself.

Tyler and Boyd are very fortunate to have learned Spanish in dual immersion in Jackson.  They have adjusted quite well to school here in La Cienega.  Boyd enjoys the slower, less chaotic pace. He also likes the lunch food, cooked fresh every morning with fresh meats, vegetables and fruit juices.  Tyler says, "I like that it's easy to make friends, and it's funny that the new kids are best taken care of. The boys can be a little mean though. In my old school, everyone was the same. We all spoke English and we all spoke Spanish.  Here, I'm the only one who speaks English."

And so it goes with school...  Everyday, we parents spend a lot of time interpreting homework and feedback from the teachers, formulating responses, and translating them back into Spanish.  Homework takes 2 hours daily.  It's a good time for all of us to work on our language skills.  All in all, the school day ends up being just as long and more involved than back in Jackson.  We are happy they can be in public school though. It gives all of us much more interaction than if we were homeschooling. It forces Keith and I to use and build on our limited Spanish!

La Cienega Convention

Brenda Townsend (WA) and Sue George (Mexico) came to visit Sept. 26th, and stayed 9 days through convention. It was such a boost to spend time with them, visiting in English, sharing testimonies, learning more history and customs, and getting spoiled by all their help with cooking and cleaning!

A sing/get-together Friday evening.

Several came Saturday for a good-ole work day :) 

We had a wonderful time together and a very special convention. One meeting Tuesday evening and two on Wednesday.  Then everyone had breakfast here Friday morning before the workers headed to Guadalajara.

As soon as the kids finished school on Friday, we loaded in the VW and drove to Guadalajara.  Was so good to have two more days of convention there to finish off the season.

Jauregui and Tyler's Choice

The weeks are flying by and I'm convinced time moves faster here in Mexico! There has to be some scientific explanation for it.  Maybe it has something to do with being closer to the equator... I don't know. 

So much is happening it's hard to know what to share. But here is something really special - we got to go to Jauregui convention in northeast Mexico!

We drove for 13+ hours, leaving around 6:30am, stopping only 4 times briefly, and arriving at convention around 7:45pm. Our friends, Mary, Alan, and Glen game with us.

Many friends came together from all over the country.  One thing that makes Jauregui special, is that there are accommodations for people to eat and sleep on the grounds.  Another thing is that everyone pitches in and helps with food, supplies, serving, cleaning, etc.  It's beautiful how everything works so smoothly... a big contrast to much of the world here.

There are some nice places to walk nearby and to run off a little energy between meetings.  We met so many nice people, and a surprising amount of them spoke English.  Meetings were all in Spanish, so we were thrilled when they provided whisper mikes for Keith and I.  Having the messages interpreted made all the difference in the world!

Here are the people that represented La Cienega.  Our family, Mary, Glen, and Alan in the front and Salvador F. (worker) in the back.

Tyler made a very special decision in the last meeting to walk with God.  Alan A. had spoken in the meeting.  Thinking back to how we first came to Mexico, this all seems so meaningful and significant.  What a wonderful privilege to have been here!

A Quick Trip North!!

We had not planned to go, but when we heard the kids would not be starting school until August 22nd, we just had to try and make it work!

Here are four happy children, thinking of spending time with their Grandma and Grandpa and their special Aunts and Uncles and Cousins! 

We spent a night in the Salt Lake airport as Delta was having major trouble with their computer system.  They got us out the next morning to Spokane, where we had to rent two cars to drive to Kalispell!

It was all worth it to be with family.  Mom had a healthy meal all laid out for us! We spent a day running errands, playing with Harris cousins, and getting ready for the Christensen family reunion.  Then we hooked up the trailer and headed for Auntie Kay's house. Kyla came too!

Auntie Kay, Uncle Todd, Aiden and Alex took us on a beautiful hike to Crow Creek Falls.  It was so refreshing to get out in the woods and enjoy nature in all it's summer splendor! After a good dinner in Ennis, we headed for Dana's.

It was wonderful beyond words to spend time with our meeting friends! Dana road with us to Idaho Falls on Sunday to JoAnne and Steve's.  It did our hearts good to sit in meeting and be able to understand and enter in to all that was shared.  We overindulged at Chuck-o-Rama all-you-can-eat buffet and then drove back to Victor for a tour of Dana's new house. Then on to Buttermilk campground in Island Park for the Christensen family reunion.

Above are pics our our large group camp site, an old cabin we toured, the reservoir for swimming and singing around the campfire.  Very secluded, private site.

One day we floated one of the slow moving forks of the Henrey's Fork river.  It was our first experience with kayaks! Super fun! 

There was a mug exchange the last evening.  Everyone had a blast trading and stealing their favorite mugs and all the boys had to use theirs for coffee the next morning. The food at the reunion was absolutely amazing! We all wanted to stay there forever, but alas we packed up and headed for Kalispell.  Our first flight home left at 6am.  We watched a beautiful sunrise on our way to Salt Lake.  We arrived in Guadalajara to find that our car was not ready at the mechanic, so we spent the night in a motel, rented a minivan, and drove home to La Cienega.  I am happy to say, as we were driving over the last pass and over the hill into our little valley, my heart began to smile and that familiar, good feeling of "coming home" fell over me.  I love that feeling!

The Layout Part I: Pasa mi casa!

Come into my house!

Here is the street view of our new residence.

This is the front door.  In the US we would call it "the gate," but here it is considered the front door.  This is where you knock.

Well, hello there! Pasa! Come in! No need to take off your shoes. You are still outside!

Two rooms open off the front entry or breezeway.  To the right you can enter the living

room (meeting room). Along the back walls of the meeting room, 4 doors open into 4 separate bedrooms, 2 for our family, and 2 for guests.

And to the left, a door opens into the dining room.

Come in and sit a spell. We'll have beans and fresh tortillas in about an hour! This has been called the map room (there are maps covering the other 2 walls and a map of Mexico covered by glass on the table.) The couple that built this house loved to visit about workers and friends in every part of the world.

Now here we are in kitchen #1.

The other side of kitchen #1

And then you pass into kitchen #2. Sorry, it's a bit dirty, but we just finished a very busy weekend!

Going out the back door of kitchen #2 you can see onto the back patio...

...and into the back yard.

That concludes the tour for today, but come again for a tour of another part of our house!

Here are Samuel and Jorge. They have been with us this weekend. We had a potlcuck after meeting this morning honoring Samuel's last visit here to La Cienega. After conventions he will be going to a new field in East Mexico! We don't know for sure, but it is possible Jorge will return to the field with a new companion.