Ultimately, translation

Apparently I live in Mexico. A lady who was giving me a ride home told me that. I think what she meant was that where I live, it's a lot more stereotypically Mexico than where she lives. But I have also realized that I have not told you where I live. I live with a wonderful Mexican family on a little deadend street in the Constitucion section of Zapopan, which is one of the cities attached to Guadalajara proper. Our street is just off the street with lots of stores. You can get basically anything within 10 blocks. We are 8 blocks away from the market. Which is probably a lot like you would picture an outdoor market in Mexico. Again, everything you could possibly think of in little booths lining the street, along with in the buildings themselves. And everything's a lot cheaper than it would be in Canada. It's pretty cool. Guadalajara is a beautiful city. Lots of beautiful architecture, plus lots of row houses. I have loved row houses since I went to Philadelphia in 2006. If you don't know what a row house is, it means all the houses on the street are attached. Like a townhouse, except for picture the whole street, and not all the houses are the same structure. There are a lot of different structures. There's also no such thing as a yard here. If you do have one, you're probably selling stuff on it. Houses have little courtyards though (picture quite little), and those are used often for hanging laundry in.
I've fallen into a sort of schedule, and this is it (in case you were wondering what in fact I am actually doing here):
7:00 (ish) wake up (to a palm tree outside my window, please note), get ready for the day
8:00 eat breakfast
8:30-45 catch bus 636, which takes me to school
9-12:30 Spanish school
catch bus home
eat somewhere between 2 and 3
do stuff, sleep, answer emails, etc.
eat again sometime between 8 and 11
Of course, there are variations. On Wednesday, instead of coming home, we go to Jen and Sandra's (our missionaries) house for lunch and the afternoon, and then go to soccer at RETO church in the evening. On Thursday nights there is church, which is really good. It's like a prayer meeting, but actually interesting and interactive. Saturdays and Sundays I wake up later. Saturdays we do assorted things, and Sundays we have church and then family time. Today we spend several hours making bags. If you've ever wondered where gift bags come from, I can tell you. I live with the lady (or rather, one of the ladies) who makes them. I get to put the strings in. We also watch a fair amount of television, usually in Spanish. Tomorrow I get to have Thanksgiving dinner with some of our missionary team. One day I went to the fair. Some days I miss Saskatchewan, winter, and the people there. Other days I don't.
It's a good thing God speaks all languages. Learning a language without knowing God would suck. Imagine having most of your personality unavailable to you, and then get to know a lot of people. And you can talk in little more than present tense. My sarcasm, my puns, my big words, are all useless here, because no one understands them. And you can't make plays on words in a language where you don't know half the words. I don't know how to express lots of who I am (Hay muchas cosas quiero decir, pero no puedo.) And on the flip side, my hosts can't yet express lots of who they are. But praise God because He is greater than languages. All reflect some of His glory and He can speak through all. God, not Google, is the ultimate translator.

Clouds

Maybe sometimes when I don't feel God, it is not that He has gone away. Perhaps He is like the sun, and has only gone behind a cloud. It doesn't matter what the cloud is made of, for clouds bring rain, and without rain there is no growth. God is still there, and evident, behind the cloud, but is harder to feel (and sometimes, to notice). Clouds don't last forever, and the sun always comes back out. When you bask in the sun, it leaves marks on you, a suntan, so a) you remember where you have been, and b) other people notice as well. When we have been with God, others should notice. Moses had to put a veil over his face so the Israelites could look at him after he was with God. Clouds happen. They are necessary for life. But they do not mean that God is farther away. The sun is, after all, closer to the Earth in January than it is in July.

You are a child of God
You are loved by God
You are not God
You are not in control of anything
You have a lot to learn
You are not stupid
But neither are you wise

1Corinthians 1:20, 23-25
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?... But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles (and German Mennonite girls), Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

Fun Facts

I really like where I am currently living
Crosswalks are only a suggestions and pedestrians never have right of way (it's bigger, faster, and can hurt you, so let it go first)
A bottle of Coke on the corner is 5 pesos (about 45 cents)
The street that I live off of is a market street: basically an outdoor mall, there's everything you want in open shops that close with garage doors
If church prayer meetings at home were like the one I went to here, I totally would have gone
I miss Tristan
I think you will only really be fluent in a language when you can write poetry and do crossword puzzles in it
I saw a taxi with five seats and ten people in it (the car was smaller than Elmer)
Seatbelts are generally only a suggestion for people in the back seat (although that's how it was in BC too)
Tripitas= intestino CRUNCH; but they taste good
It's never quiet in Guadalajara except around 4 in the morning, but I kind of like the big city feel
There's a palm tree outside my window that I wake up looking at every morning
I will fear no evil for the LORD my God is with me, and if the LORD is with me, whom then shall I fear?
Starbucks does not have peppermint mochas at Christmas here, but they have other good things, and snowflakes on the windows, which is odd because it doesn't snow here
God is patient
Buses are quite the adventure here, and I love it
There are times when I didn't know a car (or bus) could fit in that space
I've been drinking a lot of instant coffee
I'm doing really well, for those of you who are reading this list to find out how I am.

Home in Mexico

Hola! Me llamo Teri. Yo hablo Espanglish. Which means... my Spanish is coming along oxymoronically: slowly but in leaps and bounds. I already know a lot more than when I got here, but it is still painfully slow for me (and probably for the people talking to me too). Spanish is a lot easier than English, but I still feel like I'm in kindergarten. I am in level 1 in the SSL (Spanish as a Second Language) school. (I just made that abbreviation up.)
For those of you that will be shocked, I now have a cellular telephone. I carry it in my pocket and people text or call me on it. It is a very strange sensation. But everyone here has one and I need it, because Guadalajara is a big city.
I live with a wonderful lady and her daughter, and a variety of other family members that are visiting or live nearby. It is very good. We speak slowly. It is good. I am learning. (Yo estoy aprendiendo.)
There are a lot of cultural differences, and more as you get to know people. So far my favorite is the greeting: a kiss on the cheek. But only for girls. Guys don't kiss guys. And when you enter or leave a room, you greet or say goodbye to everyone. (If you don't know someone, you shake hands.)
There is a palm tree outside my window. I see it in the mornings when I wake up.
Prayer requests:
fast learning of the language
rest (learning another language is very tiring)
Gracias.

I was born for a reason
I am here for a reason
I was called for a reason
I am breaking for a reason
Breaking, broken, emptying
God disciplines those He loves
I trust God for a reason
However faint it seems at times
He is the one who calls the stars

Isaiah 40:26: Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Life is different now

Fun fact: We are now in Mexico, having gotten here safely last night after only one day of travel.
I am doing well, I think. Everything seems a little bit daunting this morning, but as I settle in and start picking up the language, I think it'll get better. These first couple nights we're staying with Jen and Sandra, who are missionaries here, and tomorrow we are going to start living with our host families.
Prayer requests:
That we would pick up the language quickly
Confidence in moving about in Guadalajara
That we would form good relationships with the local people
That the rest of my support would come in or be accounted for somehow
That I could figure out how to do my budget on my computer (I need the Windows Excel program, which I do not have, which is making things complicated)
That I would learn to rely on God and not look for other things
Fun fact: You're going to miss me.

"Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?"

Soon now

I think I'm about ready to go. I'm scared but I'm excited. And I'm going to come back different... I'm already different. The Teri who left won't be the same Teri that comes back. And this time of living and dying and growing and letting go and everything else is partially upon me already. But in four days I'm moving, and then there is no going back, and I'll have to learn to give it all to God, because there will be no other option anymore. But to be healed, I have to be broken. I think I'm about ready to go.