Veracruz and Mexican Food Poisoning

Hey all!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post...I suck, I know.  Things here have been very very busy...and its been hard to find the time.  However, things here have been awesome.  As you can see from the title of this post, I went to Veracruz with some friends for the weekend to experience Carnaval...which is the Mexican equivalent of Mardi Gras.  It was an absolute blast.  The four of us shared a hotel room that was right on the beach, and I finally got to play in the ocean for the first time in 6 years!  The ocean is one of my biggest fears, but I braved it and had a blast!  Here is a picture of the beach from our hotel room, as well as the four of us in the room:

I also have a clip of me running into the ocean for the first time, but this website won't let me load it...so maybe ill try it on facebook.  The rest of the weekend was awesome.  We went to the parade, and had an absolute blast.  There were a ton of floats, and it was just really cool to see everyone dancing and celebrating.  We were fortunate enough to be able to eat a lot of great seafood.  The first night, we went to a great place, and I ordered what I thought would be a piece of fish stuffed with seafood stuffing...but turned out to be a soup with about every kind of seafood imaginable in it...including octopus tentacles!  THAT was an experience.  

Here are some pictures of the parade (more will come later on my facebook albums):

This is my favorite picture from the weekend.  No it's not of the parade, but it's even better.  The word "caca" is basically espanol for poop...and to make the picture better, the illustration!  We saw it and lost it...so we HAD to get a picture with it! 

So after a wonderful weekend...we had to return to reality.  And to make reality suck...was when I got some form of food poisoning.  I woke up very early Tuesday morning and felt TERRIBLE.  I spent most of the day vomiting in the bathroom, and feeling awful.  I do not know what it is from...but I have deduced it to a few possibilities:

1) I accidently swallowed some of the water in the ocean

2) Something I ate in Veracruz...maybe some badly cooked seafood?

3) Some of the tomatoes I had at a sketchy restaurant Monday night

Which the reason...it sucked.  I feel a lot better today, but will probably go to the clinic tomorrow to make sure I don't have some form of parasite.  I really hope I don't, because even though they are very easy to treat (you just take one pill), the thought of a worm living in my stomach freaks me out.

Anywho...I hope you all enjoy my post and I promise I will be much more frequent in the coming weeks.  I love you all very much and will constantly pray for all of you!

Weekly Update!

Hola folks!

here is yet another update from Mexico.  Ill try to keep this one short and sweet.  Sorry I only update about once a week...I either forget or am too busy.

Things here are going very well.  Mexico is so stunningly beautiful, and it is an honor to be here and learning everything that I have been learning.  Sometimes, I find myself missing people from back home, and wondering what is going on in Athens, but I am quick to stop and pray and refocus on being here.  I ask that you continue to pray for me to keep my focus on being here, as well as for me in the moments of nostalgia.  

I am very lucky to have been making the friends I have been making here.  I am happy to be accepted by these people, and to become a part of their lives.  I am finally comfortable enough to pour myself into them, and allow God to work fully.  

At the end of this week, 3 of the staff members are going to be returning to their homes, and leaving us forever at El Pozo :-(.  Matt and Angie Stryker have been here in Puebla for about 4 years now, and their time was originally supposed to end in May, but Matt was offered a job that starts this month, so they are leaving a couple of months early.  I am going to miss them a lot, but I will constantly pray for them.

Frizz is another staff member who is leaving.  He previously worked at the Globalscope program in Chile (where he is from), but committed to come to Mexico for a year, and unfortunately that year ends this month.  He will return to Chile and continue to minister to the students at the University there.  

All three of these staff members will be missed, but God has got great things in store for them in the future.  I ask for you to pray for their futures, as well as the future of El Pozo without these assets around.  

I love all of you guys, and thank God for every one of you.  Thanks for your continued support and love for me.  My next update, im going to try to throw more pictures on and maybe even a video!

One Month Later

It is SO hard to believe that we have now been in Mexico for one month!  On some level, this month has FLOWN by, however, sometimes it feels like it drags on and on.  I have learned a lot this month, and it is incredible for me to look back and realize just how much I have been able to learn and grow in just one month of living abroad.

This past weekend, we had our Viaje de Muchachos, or basically a mens trip, with El Pozo.  We went on a camping trip, and ultimately had a great time.  It was cool meeting some new people, and forming new friendships.  It was also a nice way to get out of Puebla for a little bit.  Nothing against Puebla at all, but we have been here solely since day one, so it was nice to get out there and explore a little.  

After the camping trip, one of my friends, Moi, invited Chris and I to visit his house and spend the night in Mexico City.  We accepted the invitation, and got to spend the night with his family.  They are SOOO nice and they made us feel so welcome in their home.  It was a great time.  It is really cool to travel around Mexico City.  It is honestly the biggest city I have ever seen.  It is unbelievable just how big that city is.  Very eye opening.

I pray that I can continue to have the strength I need to make it these next three months.  As much fun as I am having, and as much as I am learning, it is a difficult experience being away from home; from everyone I know and love so much for such a long time.  I continue to pray for the ministry of El Pozo, as well as the rest of my teammates.  We are all in this together, and there is not a doubt in my mind that God is going to do great things and we are going to be a witness of them!  

Oh yea...for those of you I am friends with on Facebook...I posted two photo albums of pictures from Mexico.  Enjoy!