so today after dinner, i went in my room and sat alone looking at pictures and remembering my good friend Chris who passed away. it really made me miss all of my friends back home. i have good friends here, but something is missing, it might be me fighting to be close to these people knowing that i wont be here forever or it just might be something else, but either way i dont feel like i am being myself. well its time to bed after a nice talk with my good friend back home, kinda. feeling better already. thanks
So today we started our a new subject in class. We are studying creation and why its biblical. I really like the teacher this week so far. After class i went to the lavanteria to wash my clothes, cause its been over two weeks since i have. The funny thing about my trip was i dont have a hamper, so i used my guitar case haha. its was funny to see a soft guitar bag stuffed with clothes when i got there. People were looking at me not only because i am white, but because i am an idiot or brillant? So yeah i asked for a large washing machine, cause i thought i had a lot of clothes, but the lady told me i could fit more clothes in. so what else did i do but walk back home up a huge hill to get more clothes. did i get a bigger bag you might ask? no i filled my guitar bag once more and carried it back down the hill so i could fill up my laundry. after my clothes were done i folded my clothes and loaded the guitar bag until it was full then carried the rest by hand. once home i realized that i forgot my book and journal down the the lavanderia, so once again i made the hike down and up, by this time i was covered in sweat, buts its good because i didnt wake up this morning to run.
So this weekend was our friend Pastor Danny's 26th anniversary party in El Nino. Danny picked up Kelly and myself and drove us out to his town. The ceremony started around 7 and man was the church full of people. It was hard to understand everything because my spanish skills are still growing. Danny;s wife Yolanda asked me to take the pictures for them, so i took a million pictures of the party. During the ceremony a few of the other pastors from the area spoke and prayed over them. Danny and Yolie both gave a short speach to one another about how thankful they were for one another and there were lots of tears shed between the two; they were happy tears. Once, the ceremony was over, everyone moved down stairs to start the fiesta. There was about three hundred people there and maybe ten of them were gringos lol. We ate lots of birrea ( a beef stew that is awesome) and lots of coke. There was dancing, eating and lots of laughter. Then danny and Yolie made sure everyone took a picture with them, so my shooting finger got a little sore. We finished tearing everything down around 1230 or so and went to bed. In the morning we had birrea again for breakfast. Danny informed us that its normal to have birrea for breakfast in Mexico; I didn't mind, because it was deliciouso. After breakfast we had church, Danny called Kelly and me up on stage to explain what we are doing during our time in Mexico. Kelly explained that we are studying the bible and learning Spanish also. I just told them that i love them and i want to come back often. I don't speak great Spanish and i get nervous in front of crowds that i don't know. After church, Danny's son, daughter and their friends drove us back to our home, the castillo (castle) so they could see where us gringos live. now that im back on campus i unpacked and had time to rest before i caught a ride to the beach to read for an hour or so. The weather was nice and the ocean was relaxing. After the beach it was on to Renayes tacos ( they are the best). Well, its getting late and tomorrow we have class, this week we are studying creation, this should be a cool class, im pretty excited. so i guess im off to bed. ill have more updates soon.
Baja Bible Journal 9-14-09 First day in Mexico! Kelly’s parents drove us down today along with our friend Jeff Minder. We went to Sandals this morning, grabbed some lunch and hit the road. On the drive down, the excitement started a little past Corona when a large truck blew a tire. Once at BBS we were greeted by the staff and some of the new students. The Baja students consist of Kelly, Katie, Rory, Leah Kyle and myself. Rory is my roommate and he is from the Denver area. Kyle is from Minnesota, Leah is from Washington and Katie is from Oregon. Tonight we had 4 new students to join us for the next five weeks. They are from ventana ( about an hour or so more south). They are Daniel from Bakersfield, Connor and Rachel from Arizona and Elizabeth from Temecula. 9-15 Today is the Mexican Independence day; we will go out tonight and join in the festivities. We had our first day of class today with Dave berdette. He was teaching on the 12 languages of culture. After we learned about some of them, we went out to observe for ourselves how the people here act. We caught taxis down to down town by ourselves and it was a tad nerve wrecking for me because I don’t speak much Spanish. This morning Kelly and I started a workout, we ran around our block once for a warm up and then we did sprints up a steep hill next to the Castillo. I felt like I was going to throw up afterwards. We have eaten pretty healthy but at the same time, we have eaten a bit more than I want to. So I need to be careful to stay in shape. My roommate Rory is a tad quiet but im glad I am getting to know him better. 9-16 I just finished eating lunch and boy did it hit the spot. We had tomatoes soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Last night at the calibration, we went down town to hear the Grito, where everyone yells “Viva Mexico!!!” a bunch of times. We had a great time watching the awesome fireworks and being sprayed by foam from the kids and other locals who notices we weren’t from around there. Most of our group is tall, white and over half of us had huge fake mustaches on. They wanted us to feel welcome and celebrate with them I think. Today in class we prayed for the Muslim people around the world. Today is one of their most intense holidays and we are asking God to speak to them. We were sent out again today after class to observe another part of the town.
9/24 So I decided just to sum up what I have been up to the last two weeks. Our first week, we mostly studied the people in the city. We would catch cabs and go to different parts of the town and hang out and observe. This week is a whole new week; we have Dr Fleming teaching World Religions in the mornings and our new friend Jorge teaching Spanish in the afternoons. My mind feels like its going to explode from all the Spanish he is teaching. The world religions class is cool to learn from a Christian perspective but at the same time I feel that it would have been more beneficial to teach it over a longer span and cover more of each religion.
Mexico is cool, but not having a car is hard to adjust to. I can catch a cab but it’s not the same as just going for a drive. So this morning Ryan had to drop off a friend in sandiego so I asked if I could join. We left here at 4 am and had to be back by 730 or so for class. We had to stop by at home depot and the post office, but they weren’t open until 6, so we killed some time by walking on the pier at Imperial Beach. Keep in mind that it’s still dark and the sky is full of stars. We were looking over the edge in the water and we were startled to see dolphins swimming around eating fish. We would only see the dolphins when they the light of the moon reflected off of them, so it was kind of creepy. Today in class I was so tired and wish I could be asleep instead, but it was good to get off campus and visit some new places. Tomorrow is Friday and the end of the week, that makes me happy. Saturday some of us are going to catch a cab to the park in la crea to run. I am hoping to run 8 miles or so, so I can be ready for the half marathon in a few weeks. After the park, Kelly and whoever else wants to join are going to go out to El Nino and stay with our friends pastor Danny’s family. His church is going to have a fiesta for his 25th anniversary. Should be fun. Ill keep you informed more frequently in the future.
Hello everyone, by now most of you knows that I will be leaving for Mexico in September. For those of you who don’t, I am sorry for not telling you sooner. If you are getting this letter, you have most likely made an impact on my life in one way or another and I value as a friend or family.
In Mexico there is a bible school called Baja bible school. While there I will be studying the word, how to be a missionary (if I feel lead to do so) and living in a community.
A few months a go I had the chance to go to visit this school for a week with a few friends from Sandals Church. We had no idea what we were going down there for. While down there, we were rocked from the teachings of Dave Berdette and Eddie passmoore. Ultimately I felt lead to leave my things behind, quit my job and to attend this school for their first term. While in school we will be practicing different kinds of disciplines like showering once a week and living off of bare essentials. There will be no AC and no heating during the winter (and it is really cold). School session is September 14th- April 2nd with a few breaks in between. We get a winter break during the month of December and a spring break Feb. 27th - March 6th. I don’t know if I will be coming home or staying in Mexico during this time. We will be learning from a number of different teachers from all over. Besides studying the bible, we will be learning about different cultures and learning the Spanish language.
The school is pretty costly and I had been blessed to have had work for the last 9 years of my life. I have saved up a lot and have a lot of trust in the Lord that he will provide (that has been the hardest thing to prepare for). Right now I have enough for half of the time and nto sure if I will be staying the whole term.
While down there I could use plenty of prayer from family and friends. I will miss my family and friends but we will be able to have visitors whenever, so feel free to come visit, it’s only ten minutes across the border. We can even come meet you in sandiego if possible. I do have email and face book so please add me to your friends and keep in touch, even if you are telling about the weather or your pets.
Luckily my friends Kelly Crisp will be joining me at this school, and I have become good friends with the staff down there as well.
I am so thankful that God has put you in my life at one point or another.
Welcome! I have this blog to keep in touch with everyone at home while I am here in Mexico. I'll be sharing experiences, photos, thoughts and more of my time south of the border.
