Furry Friends...

Today is Children's Day in Mexico.  We celebrated it as a school a few days ago with a trip to the local zoo - so local, that it's right across the street from us!  Though small, it actually takes about an hour to do the lap around the place, and they also have special activities when groups come.  It was a great day and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

The group before heading inside.

Racoons at the zoo.  The sunbathing one cracked everyone up.

Applying our newly learned alphabet skills to reading the zoo signs.

Up close with an emu.  The emu was not a fan. :)

Wild Theater. There were 4 other schools there that day too.

One of our students touching a false coral snake.

Brave (and not so brave) volunteers. No worries kid, I would've done the same. :)

I don't think she'll be forgetting this real soon.

They fed and exercised the jaguar all at once with a piñata full of meat.

The group on the way out.

An interesting thing happened that morning as I got ready for the day.  Almost every passage I read during my morning devotions had to do with animals.  I thought that was pretty neat.  I shared Psalm 8 with the kids during morning devotions that day:

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants 

you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

to silence the foe and the avenger. 

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 

what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, 

and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Trapped

"That's weird.  There aren't usually buses parked there..."  That was my first clue that this trip to the airport might not go as smoothly as one would hope.

It was a Monday afternoon, and my college roommate was wrapping up her week-long visit to Oaxaca.  Her flight was scheduled to leave near 4:00pm, and even though it only takes an hour to get to the airport, I decided we should probably head that way at 1:00pm, just in case there were problems.

Little did we know that, that morning, the bus union was in talks with the powers-that-be about raising the bus fare from 40 cents to 45 cents.  Seven hundred buses were on standby (700!), in case they needed to blockade to get their point across.  At noon things were not looking good for the bus drivers, and at 1:00pm they gave the word to go ahead and blockade.  Exactly when my friend and I left for the airport...

We hadn't gotten far into the city when traffic suddenly stopped and I realized what was happening.  There are great benefits to knowing what "normal" and "not normal" look like in a foreign country - and having seen the buses out of place earlier, I wasn't too confused about what was going on.  We followed traffic as it flowed onto side streets and soon I was able to get past the few major intersections where people tend to blockade.  I thought we were in the clear.

But, we quickly discovered that bus drivers - who usually have to find their own way around blockades - know very well how to shut the city down.   It soon seemed like every pathway was blocked.  I even dared to drive between the two buses pictured above. As we went past, I stopped to talk with one of the drivers standing there and he informed me there was no way through that way (he was quite right).  But he assured us we could still get to the airport if we took a certain back-road.

Off to the back-road we went.  Only this tiny two-way road, that runs along the sewage river, had suddenly turned into four lanes of traffic going in one direction (ours, thankfully) as people pressed their way forward.  We inched along.  We sat and waited.  We shook our heads at those who impatiently squeezed their cars past us.


There were policemen on some of the back-roads, directing traffic (they avoid doing anything to stop blockades, mainly because it might make them guilty of encroaching on the protestors' rights to free speech..).  We stopped to double check with one of the policemen that we weren't heading toward another dead-end, and he confirmed that there was a way through to the airport.  So, we continued on, inch by inch.

After some more turns, we made it to the airport road!  Hurrah!  Unfortunately, we weren't in the clear yet, as we were driving on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming traffic.  But here, when you're not the only one going the wrong way, that generally makes it acceptable.  However, we soon came to a point when the only way to continue forward was to drive over the median.  As pictured above.

Smaller vehicles than ours seemed to be handling it ok...ish.  So, with the airport goal in mind, I went for it. Thankfully we made it over the median without incident and finally the way looked clear. In the back of my mind this whole time was the knowledge that I was trapping myself in the city.  But, to get my friend to the airport, it had to be done.

We arrived perfectly on time.  As my friend checked in, I asked the man at the desk if the pilots were already there.  He assured us that the pilots of this plane would be arriving shortly on the next inbound flight.  ...Then he realized that he was incorrect, that the pilots of this flight stay in the city overnight.  Uh oh.  He got on his radio to check in on that - apparently I was the first one to mention the blockade to him.

After sending my friend off through security (pictured above), I decided to hang out and make sure her flight got off ok.  I wasn't going to be able to get anywhere soon anyhow.  So, I waited on my side of security, while I knew she was on the other side, waiting for her flight to leave.  At one point, I received the text below - a news service informing me that buses had suspended service in the city.  Thanks for that breaking news ;).

Finally, exactly when my friend's plane was scheduled to depart, the flight crew drove up in the hotel van.  They meandered their way out to the plane, and I stood with the rest of the waiting families, watching through the security glass as my friend and the other passengers boarded (the Oaxaca airport is quite small...).  I even went out to the observation bleachers (again, small airport) to see them take off.

After watching her plane fade into the distance, I headed back out into the world.  As I suspected, the city was still gridlocked.  I'm not very familiar with the neighborhoods around the airport, so I didn't really want to hang out there.  I drove up a road... that led nowhere.  I drove back to where I had made it through before, and found that it was now solidly blocked with layers of buses and trucks.

I had seen some cars turning onto what looked like an alley, so I went back and turned there as well.  Soon found myself in a line of traffic leading through a back neighborhood.  There was traffic coming the other way as well and - so long as they're not signalling you to turn around - usually that's a good sign.

There are times, such as these, when you are following the leaders that the leaders split up, and you have to make an educated decision and really hope for the best.  There were moments when we were on a single-lane dirt road with two lane traffic squeezing past each other.  There were points when I was pretty sure that we were driving on what was normally a trash dump.  But we finally made it to a neighborhood I was familiar with.  Unable to find a way out of it, I decided to wait the blockade out there.  I shopped at the supermarket, I had dinner at a taco stand, I shopped some more.

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore.  I don't know if I'm slightly claustrophobic, but I can only take the feeling of being trapped for so long.  So, as the sun began to set at 8:00pm, I decided I was going to drive back towards the city and at least hang out with my friends there.  I would get as close as I could and walk the rest of the way if necessary.  But, as I got to the city, I found that things had cleared up considerably.  So, I kept driving towards the children's home and was able to arrive around 9:00pm without incident.

In the end, my college roommate got more of a taste of Oaxaca than she bargained for.  I got a pretty nice sunset, even though it was from a supermarket parking lot.  In case you were curious, the buses did not get their fare increase - which I think is crazy.  The value of the Mexican peso seems to be falling every day.  Surely asking for 7 pesos instead of 6 won't break Oaxaca (which is already quite broken in many ways).

I realize now that, after my previous blog-post of postcards for visiting Oaxaca, this isn't especially encouraging...  But, I do hope that somehow, through the work that the children's home and school is doing with this small group of kids here, the future of Oaxaca will change for the better.  No band-aid will fix its problems - the roots go very deep.  Hopefully working for the healing and growth of the upcoming generations will indeed make a difference - along with a lot of prayer.

Blood on his hands

I glanced out the window and saw it unfolding.  Two of the smaller boys were hitting each other during morning devotions. Then one had a stick, then the other one had a bloody nose.  I opened the front door right as the teacher arrived with the bloody nose kid (Andres), trailed by the kid who no longer had a stick in his hands (Juan)*.

I gave them both a stern(ish) talking to as I took out the First Aid supplies (you can only do so much when a child is looking at you through tears with blood on his face). We only had cotton swabs available, so I pulled out a new roll of toilet paper and held some to Andres' face.  Then I saw that his little hand was completely covered in blood from his nose.

"Will you cure me?" It's a question I've grown accustomed to hearing when the kids need First Aid care.  I have often told the kids that if they continue pulling stunts like some they pull, they will be in charge of curing each other when things go wrong.

I finally put that into practice a few weeks ago, when Juan's brother came to me with an injury on his hand and I found out that it was a result of Juan hitting him with a board.  I called Juan out of class and had him "cure" his brother.  As he tentatively applied the rubbing alcohol, and his brother writhed in laughter and pain, I saw a look of great concern and focus on Juan's face.  He took curing his brother quite seriously.

And he took this new task very seriously as well.  As I held toilet paper to Andres' nose, Juan methodically washed the blood off of Andres' hand - returning to the bathroom again and again to get more toilet paper wet.  He did it with great care and gentleness.

After a while, I asked Juan if he had anything he'd like to say to Andres.  He quietly asked Andres to forgive him.  Andres didn't really respond.  After another few minutes, I asked Andres if he had a response for Juan.  He didn't say anything, but stood up and gave Juan a hug. So sweet.

I don't know that this method will always work, but I am thankful for the times that it has.  Hopefully Juan will eventually put it together that having sticks in his hands does not turn out well.  Meanwhile, I am thankful for the pure hearts of the kids we have here.  Many of them have already experienced hellish things on this earth - hopefully we can help bring more of the kingdom of heaven to their lives.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"...do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Ephesians 4:29-32 

*Names have been changed for privacy of the individuals.

Postcards from Oaxaca

I'm finally getting up after being knocked down by a cold/flu a few days ago.  Thankfully it is spring break, so I could afford laying around without too much trouble.

The first week of spring break, my college roommate was here visiting me.  We were able to see a lot of beautiful places in Oaxaca, many I had never been to before.

I have often wondered what my photos would look like as postcards - so, I have put together some "postcards" of the places we went last week - to share the beauty of this place and make you want to come visit :).

Christ the Lord is Risen!

Happy Easter from Cristo Por Su Mundo, Oaxaca, Mexico. 

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die;
I scarce can take it in. 

Death has lost and love has won. :)

Partly Cloudy with a Chance of a Great Sunrise

I love to catch a beautiful sunrise.  In the pre-dawn, I can sometimes of guess if it'll be a spectacular one or not, based on the amount of clouds.  No clouds, not really notable.  Completely cloudy, we might not even be seeing the sun for a while.  Partly cloudy, get the camera ready.

It is interesting that it seems to take a partly cloudy day to really highlight the beauty of the sun rising.  I think maybe the same can be said of life...  There's nothing like a bout with a cold or the flu to highlight how wonderful it is to be feeling well.  A cut or a bruise remind me of how amazing it is when bodies can naturally heal themselves.  A headache certainly reminds me of how thankful I am when my head isn't giving me any problems at all. 

It is also interesting how a completely sunny morning makes for a less remarkable sunrise... Similarly, when I walk around with few problems, I forget to be thankful for the health and abilities God has given.  Like a bright and completely sunny day, I am thankful for the sun's warmth but I don't stand in awe of it quite so much.  I sometimes forget to notice God in things when times are easy.

And on completely cloudy days, it is sometimes hard to remember that the sun is still there.  When trials seem to come upon us heavily, it is sometimes hard to see where God is.  The problems seem too great, and we tend to wonder if God is still there.

But He is still there. And the sun never fails to still shine above the clouds.  I love times on an airplane, when we are flying high above the clouds in the nearly blinding light of the sun, and then we begin our descent into a cold and rainy day below.  It is a vivid reminder to me that no matter how gloomy the day seems, the sun is still shining brightly above the clouds.  And no matter how difficult and trying life gets, God is still there - for He is ever faithful.

 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 

Worship the Lord with gladness; 

come before him with joyful songs. 

Know that the Lord is God.  

It is he who made us, and we are his; 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 

give thanks to him and praise his name. 

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

~Psalm 100~