Sickly Saturday

Hey everyone!

Things in Mexico have been going very well.  My roommates are awesome, and I have been learning a TON of spanish!  I miss everyone back home, and I think about you guys a lot...but I am having a great experience here.  I have decided that I am going to make photo albums once a month on facebook.  So the first album should come out sometime next week.  I have taken a lot of pictures...and its almost time to share them with the world!

So, Friday we went to the grand opening of a club in Cholula called Roka.  It was my first time ever going to the grand opening of a club.  It was INSANE, yet an absolute blast.  We actually managed to get in free and not pay the 50 peso cover charge.  One of our friends we went with, Moi, is friends with a lot of the people who work there, and he managed to get us all free passes.  So that made it all the better.

We had a blast on Friday, however, somewhere along that Friday, I ate something that apparently did not sit well with me.  I woke up Saturday morning and felt very sick.  I basically spent much of the day in the bathroom.  I was not vomiting, but I was...well, you can imagine.  I spent my Saturday night just kind of hanging out...very low key.  I felt it was in my best interest to stay near a bathroom hahahaha.

Things are going very well at El Pozo.  I am having a blast going to the events, and meeting a lot of people.  It gives me a great opportunity to practice spanish, and to form relationships with new people.  This coming up weekend, the men's ministry from El Pozo are actually going camping!  That should be a great time.  I am looking forward to going to a new place in Mexico and experiencing something else.  I have been in the same place for almost a month now...so it will be cool to get out there and see something new.

Anywho...love you guys and ill continue to update as time permits!!!  Please continue to pray for my time here, and that God will use the ministry of El Pozo to reach as many students as possible!

Update From Mexico!

Hola Amigos!

I really wish I knew how to do the upside-down question marks and exclamation points!  Anywho...im bringing you an update on things that have been going on recently while I have been in Mexico.  First of all...let me just say that I have INCREDIBLE roommates.  My living situation was something that I was extremely worried about, and I spent countless days praying about.  Well, God has blessed me with some great roommates.  They are all very friendly, as well as helpful as I am trying to learn Spanish.  They help me out a lot, and they are able to tell when I am getting annoyed by it, and they immediately switch over to English for me.  They are very caring and I am very blessed to have them as roommates.

Lately, things have really been looking up in Mexico.  I have been meeting a TON of people, and things have FINALLY kicked off at El Pozo, and it has been great being there and meeting even more people.  It is very interesting to see a campus ministry in another country, and then being able to compare it to CCF from in the states.  There are so many similarities as well as differences.  I love it!

Lately, I have been praying a lot about why I am here, and for God to reveal what He has me here to do.  In the past few days, I have finally started to understand why I am here.  I have been having conversations with people that help me to understand what my purpose here is.  I am trying my best to be a light for the students at UDLA, and I really am working towards showing them true love through my actions and my attitude.  Sometimes it is VERY hard, but during those times I know I need prayer...and God continues to provide the strength I need.  It is not easy to show love and to be Jesus for the students here...especially when you are not great at the language.  I dont know how much of a difference I am making yet, but I pray that somehow, way, shape, form or fashion, I show the people I encounter something that they are not used to.  I hope that I somehow show them Christ.

We had our first En Vivo tonight at El Pozo.  En Vivo is basically our weekly Bible study.  We provide a free meal, and then have a worship service.  It looked at first like there was not going to be a big crowd.  However, as the Mexican students tend to do, a ton of people showed up late.  (for those who dont know...the Mexican students have a different idea of time than we do in the states.  If you say "meet me at 5", you might be lucky for them to meet you at 5:30).  The room ended up being packed with people, and I was able to meet a ton of people and practice my spanish even more!

Things are going very well here.  I def. have my moments where I realize how much I miss home, but it helps to know that I am here for a reason, and that ultimately, God is going to do big things this semester.  I look forward to meeting more people, and to having great experiences.  

Please continue to pray for me about how I am going to minister to the students here, and how I am going to overcome the language barrier.  Please also pray for me as I continue to try my best to learn the language.  It is very difficult, and causes a LOT of frustration.  So pray for me that I can do my best and learn at my own pace.  

I love you guys a lot, and I will continue to update and post pictures randomly!  Thanks you guys!

Some Things I've Learned So Far In Mexico

- The OS handle (Oh S***) comes into VERY good use while riding in a car in Mexico.

- You are going to be asked if you need a Taxi atleast 4 times a day...whether you want one or not.

- Manzana Lift is hands down the GREATEST soda on the planet...I wonder why the USA doesn't get it?

- The Mexican students know how to party........HARD!

- Going to bars is not just a Friday thing, but literally an everyday thing. :-/

- In Mexico, you walk...a lot.

- Chapulini's are NOT a Mexican dessert...(in fact, they are crickets)

-Finally...pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way.

UDLA

Here are a few pictures (of the many) I have taken so far in Mexico.  Just to wet your taste buds a little.  

This is a picture of the cathedral in Chaloula (spelling???)

   

This is one of the pyramids around, and this pyramid actually has the most volume of any pyramid in the world!

El Pozo!!!!

Mexico City...it is a HUGE city, and this is just one section of it.

Hola Amigos!  I have now been in Mexico for a week.  And what a week it has been.  I have been experiencing many different things, and a lot of culture shock.  However, I have been meeting a lot of people, and it has been awesome.  There are definitely times where I miss everyone back home, but during those times, I take the time to pray for strength and endurance to forget about what is back home, and to focus on why I am here.

A lot of things here in Mexico are BEAUTIFUL!  There are numerous cathedrals with incredible architecture, as well as beautiful mountains surrounding the campus.  My dorm has a balcony that overlooks the lake on campus, as well as the active volcano in Puebla.  

Tonight was a lot of fun.  UDLA hosted a party for international students called Noche de Mexico where we learned how to salsa dance, and eat more mexican food.  After that party, all of the international students went to a club called Unit and had a blast.  It has been great meeting all of the other exchange students, and it has helped me to see that I am not the only foreigner/gringo here hahaha.  

I have been meeting a lot of Mexican students, and practicing my spanish a lot also.  It is SOOO difficult to learn a new language, and it is even more difficult to live in a place where you cannot communicate efficiently.  But I am working on it more and more every day, and my goal is to leave Mexico with a good knowledge of the language.  The two spanish courses I am taking this semester will probably help out a lot as well.  

Please continue to pray for my globalscope team, as well as the students we will be reaching out to this semester.  Also, pray for strength for myself, as well as my teammates to not miss what is back home, but to focus on why God has placed us here.  

Thanks so much everyone!  I love you and God Bless!

So Far In Mexico!

So after a long time of waiting, I have FINALLY made it to Mexico.  I had a few bumps in the road at the airport at 5am in Atlanta, but God provided yet another open door for me, and I arrived to Mexico City safe and sound yesterday.  I spent about 2.5 more hours in the airport waiting for the rest of my team to arrive, as well as the El Pozo staff to come pick us up.  After meeting with them, we took a 2 hour bus ride (more traveling hehe) to Puebla.

We stayed in the campus house last night, and will again tonight since we have not moved into our dorm yet.  As far as I know, we will officially be moving into our dorm rooms tomorrow.  I am pretty excited about that!

Since arriving to Mexico, we have been going NON-STOP!  So many meetings and training activities to get us prepared for the semester.  Today, they split us up into two teams, and we had to take a scavenger hunt around the city of Chaloula (which is the city next to Puebla, that we are actually living in), and Puebla.  We had to do everything on our own...from speaking to the people to ask questions, to paying with pesos for the first time, and to learning the taxi and bus system.  Overall, it was a BLAST, but I am so exhausted from it that I can't even see clearly hahaha.

It was really neat to be on our own in the city, and having my first legit cross-cultural experience.  I learned that there are basically no traffic rules in Mexico...but more like traffic suggestions haha.  It is filled with CRAZY drivers who drive really fast, on the wrong side of the road, pass people in  a one way lane...you name it they do it.  However, its actually a lot of fun riding as a passenger like that! 

I am so excited to see what else is in store, and will continue to update when I get the chance!

No Sleep Tonight!

I am so excited/nervous about the trip, that there is NO way I am going to get any sleep tonight.  I have already accepted that hahahaha.  My dad and I are going to the airport at about 4am...and then I am gone.  Pray for me!