a lesson in tamale making

Today Betty let me try my hand at tamale making.

Pulling out the soaked corn husks.


Later I ate a taco and I accidently bit into the chile piquin. Those little suckers are hot! My eyes watered and I needed a drink.

thoughts on being phoneless

Since Christmas break I have been without a phone. In August I left a life of being on the phone non-stop and texting constantly (quite fast, I might add). Then, when I got here I had no text and could use a phone whenever I was in my apartment and when the internet was working. NOW, I have no way of verbally talking to anyone out of my community here unless I borrow a phone. It is actually okay!! I don't come home and right away check what messages I have. I have no calls to return. I have to trust my friends are my friends if I don't call them all the time. I spend more time on other things. It is freeing. Maybe I am not such a phone talker anyway??

Feliz cumpleanos Claudia y Ewelin

The Merrill's Going Away Party

With a lot of sadness we took Heather and the kids to the airport Friday and Bill left with the SUV and trailer to travel to Michigan. Their teen girls are adjusting and right now are in a transition period before their new 'house parents' arrive. Please pray for them in this time of sadness and change. For the Merrill kids we had a party at school Thursday and made a scrapbook for them, and Bill and Heather got one from the staff.
You will be missed!!

God's Love

It's amazing to see how much God loves us all and how he wants to give us the desires of our hearts and see us smile. A week ago I posted my 'bucket list' and then I got a call asking if I wanted to go to a soccer game of the Rayados, a Monterrey team! I was so excited. I borrowed a shirt from one of the teens on campus so I could have the full effect. We were in the rowdy section and it was a blast!! There is a whole section called "The Addictions" who sing and chant through the whole game. They lit sparklers and threw confetti. The half-time show was very unique and hilarious. They won 3-0!

thoughts on being phoneless

Since Christmas break I have been without a phone. In August I left a life of being on the phone non-stop and texting constantly (quite fast, I might add). Then, when I got here I had no text and could use a phone whenever I was in my apartment and when the internet was working. NOW, I have no way of verbally talking to anyone out of my community here unless I borrow a phone. It is actually okay!! I don't come home and right away check what messages I have. I have no calls to return. I have to trust my friends are my friends if I don't call them all the time. I spend more time on other things. It is freeing. Maybe I am not such a phone talker anyway??

My Mexico Bucket List

I don't know if you have seen the movie that is out about Bucket Lists but it actually came here to Mexico and we went to see it. I am a big fan of these lists. I have had a 'life list' on a napkin in my wallet for at least 5 years now. There are things I would like to do in my lifetime. I enjoy trying new things and experiencing as much of life as I can and now that I only have 4 months left in this beautiful country, I have a list of things I want to do here before I leave. They are:

*go hiking at several different places around here
*go on a day excursion to Matacanes (hiking in caves and rock climbing)
*go to a futbol (soccer) game
*go to the hot springs an hour away
*go to a concert in downtown Monterrey
*try more new restaurants

Changes

I thought you might like to see what's going on at the Back2Back base. The Medical center is getting closer to being done. It is across from the teen homes.



House 5 and 6 are coming along. This is Teen Home 5 which is next to the Couch's house. Does anyone want to come down and do a roof cement pour for House 6??? (that means by hand with the bucket brigade, for those of you who haven't been here)

January at the girls' home

This month we took lunch to the girls at Manatial de Amor. They were so excited they were waiting at the door. We brought taco salad and they weren't sure what to do with it. They preferred putting the items seperately on their plates. The kitchen and refrigerator were empty so we weren't sure what they were planning to eat the rest of the weekend! It broke my heart. We brought games where language wasn't a barrier like Dominoes and Yahtzee. I learned a lot of key Spanish words like 'comer' which meant they had to pick up a domino if they couldn't go. What a great way to interact and laugh with the girls! Then the girls got to decorate heart cookies. You can see in the pictures that they were enjoying the icing. I brought red sugar and they thought it was chili powder (which they put on everything anyway). After praying with the girls, we headed home. One of the girls had tears in her eyes and I thank God for being able to show her some love that day!!

Prayer requests

As the Merrill family prepares to leave Back2Back in 2 1/2 weeks, please pray for a number of things:

-Pray for Bill to find a job that he enjoys
-Pray for Jenna (3rd grade), Ella (1st grade), and Isaac (preschool) as they transition to the States. They have been here 3 years and Jenna and Ella have never experienced a public school.
-In our small community the kids are very close and this will be hard for the ones leaving and staying
-Pray for Bill and Heather as they get adjusted to life after foreign missions
-Pray for their 6 teen girls they leave behind as some are angry and hurt
-Pray for the new house parents as they adjust to life here, a new community, 6 girls...
-Pray for safe travels for the Merrill family

SMCA Dedication

A few weeks ago we had the dedication for our new school building. Each child had a job to do and then they performed for our visitors from Ohio- those whose generous donations made it possible.




2nd grade boys were tour guides

1st grade served snack

awesome sighting!!

I got to see a flock of green/yellow parrots migrating south. They flew over my head making all kinds of noise. It was so cool to see all that color. There must have been 50 or more.

Fun in the Sun in January!!

Hiking Today!

Today was a beautiful day and I got to enjoy it with some of the kids from Casa Hogar Douglas. We went to Estanzuela, a park with lots of hiking. We spent 2 hours walking the trails and climbing! I loved it!


Marlen, Paty, Fany, Jonatan


Check out that mountain in the distance!

NO PHONE

I will no longer have a phone so the best way to communicate with me is through email, facebook, or AIM.

home

I am back in Mexico after 2 weeks of holiday. It was a whirlwind of seeing as many people as I could and spending time with family. I am blessed to have so many wonderful friends who encourage me and love me, but I was ready to be back to the simple life of me and God - no materialism, busyness, drama, etc... I got back only to shake my blankets out for bugs, run my water till it was clear, and experience a few power outages overnight; but it is home!! I enjoyed getting up and watching all 15 of the kids playing together in our yard.

Manantial de Amor

Saturday, Kathy, Cathy, Katie, and I went to one of the girls' homes and hung out for a few hours. We will be doing that more often and planning special activities with the girls. I already have a special relationship with one of the girls, Kareli, who I met my first year here and then again the 2nd year. She is the one holding the Twister box.

busy week

Last week we had 35 women here from Cincinnati who come and do Christmas activities. They go to each childrens' home and give out presents and do crafts and decorate. They go to the Rio and Cadareyta and do outreaches. Plus they do some decorating here on campus and include the women staff with meals, etc. I enjoyed meeting them and getting to be a part of some of the things they did. One day I left my kids out of school early so I could go with them to the Rio and other times I met up with them after school or they included the staff children.


American and Mexican women working together to make blankets.



A SMCA craft day!


My students' outreach was putting together baskets for the masons who work for us.


On their last night we brought in girls from 2 homes and did hair, makeup, nails and had dinner together.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

As I am sitting here on Thanksgiving and not with family and friends from the states, I have a lot to be thankful for. God is teaching me so much this year that I couldn't learn back home. I am seeing things through different eyes and looking at the big picture God has rather than our day to day picture. Being the teacher here is different than coming down for a week's mission trip. My job is very important so the parents can do their work but I don't get out to the ministries much. This week we had no school Wed through Friday so I took that chance to get out into the other ministries. Wednesday I got up early and we went to Casa Hogar Douglas, the childrens' home nearby, to take the children breakfast. They usually have beans and tortillas and we took sweet rolls and juice. It was so fun to see their sleepy faces come in and eat and then they headed off to school.




Then I went to Cadereyta where we played with kids, served food, and working on construction.




I was so excited to see Nacho and Jullian who I had played with summer 2006!! (You might recognize Jullian from my brochure and pictures - he was always on my back)

SMCA Thanksgiving