Eating out on the Town

Last night I went out with a group of students at Baden-Powell Institute who were all English speakers, save for one. We all went to a local dining restuarant. The food was super and inexpensive (as usual for American standards). I ordered a combination plate that I thought would give me a broader range of what Mexican cuisine was like...it definately did. I had a tostada, enchiladas, and pigs feet! Yeah, they gave me two, I only ate part of one. Yikes!! It wasn't half bad, though, it was just the thought of what I was eating!!

Anoche, los estudiantes de Baden-Powell y yo visitamos una restaurante de Lapita. La comida en esta restaurante es muy bien y mas o menos barato. Para la comida, yo pensé que mas local es muy bien. Entonces, yo come enchiladas, tostada y jamón de pavo. No me gusta esta jamón de pavo. !Yo come un jamón de pavón no dos!

My goddaughter Faith

I ask you all to please take a moment to pray for my godchild Faith. She is currently in the hospital for the next several days. She has been losing weight the last couple weeks (she`s 10 and thin to start with) and the doctors have confirmed that she has type 1 diabetes. It sounds as if everything is under control, but please do keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

me reflejo

Last week I did some work in the local oratory/chapel of the Cross. I concelebrated two Masses in Spanish last week with the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. I did celebrate one Mass in Spanish last week - people at all three Masses said they understood me...I guess there is progress!

I usually practice my spanish with my neighbors or with the folks in the stores, asking questions about articles in the store or about the city. Last week I visited the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit and had lunch with them. I love the Missionaries - what a great bunch of servants!

During a typical day, I get up around 6:30, shower and eat. My classes start at 9 and end at 1pm. I return home, eat lunch, take a nap for about an hour and then start studying more Spanish. I walk the streets for about an hour to an hour and a half. I attend Mass after the walk at a chapel ran by the Missionaries about a mile and a half from my house. I then return home, eat, study and sleep. My daily prayer time is usually in the morning (I pray my prayers in Spanish) and before Mass starts!

Hace una semana que yo hago mucho en el Templo de la Cruz. Yo concelebré la misa por dos días y yo celebré la misa una día. Yo empecé conocer mis vecinos y tenimos más poco conversaciones, en total probablemente en cuatro dias, 8 horas. Un ejemplo, cuando yo caminé en las calles a las siete en la tarde, yo detenia en las tiendas y pedí una pregunta o un otro ejemplo, martes, yo visité los Missionarios del Espiritu Santo y nosotros comimos el lunche (la comida) y hablamos para una hora y media. Durante mis todas dias, yo tenia la comida con mi asistente "Rosalinda" y nosotros tenimos un conversación en español por una hora.

Entonces, durante una dia tipico, me levanté a las 6:30 y me bañé y almuercé y salí a la escuela por 4 horas. Mis clases empiezen a las 9. Despúes mi ultima clase, yo regresé a mi casa para la comida y conversación y despúes tenia una siesta por una hora. Despúes, yo estudié por una hora y recordé mis oraciones en español. Entonces, yo caminé las calles cerca mi casa por una hora y media y asistí o concelebré en la misa. Despúes la misa, yo regresé a mi casa para la cena y escribí 10 a 20 oraciones en español y dormí por la noche.

A little more information

A few notes about the pictures:

1) Carlos is my teacher - who is very patient and was a seminarian (about 40 years ago) until he met this young woman, who is now his wife. Carlos knows several languages and is a super clear teacher.

2) The figure of Jesus on the Cross was made by the Mexicans around the year construction on the Cathedral began (1540). It is quite remarkable the talent of those early Christians. On Good Friday, there is a procession with the figure around the inside of the Cathedral.

3) A photo of the Cathedral at night. I attended Mass at 8pm this past Saturday so I could watch the lighting of the Cathedral and the fireworks, but Mass went a bit long...as did the homily, especially when you can't understand it all! Anyways, I was pretty excited when Mass began, I thought, "oh cool, a Sunday Mass with a wedding, something like Fr Henry told me was a reality in Columbia!" It wasn't a Sunday Mass - it was a Nuptial Mass - not a Sunday Mass with a wedding included. Although I sort of figured this out right around the collect prayer, I thought, well, I'll stay, this should be educational. It was - as was the fellow sitting next to me, but that's a different story!

4) The organ you see in the photo was made in the 1900s in Germany - 4600 pipes - they still play it for Mass!

5) At one time, before the revolution in the 1900s - the altar was made of 20 different shades of gold and silver. Since there was such a strong push to seperate church and state - different military officials tore down the altar and melted the gold and silver. The only thing that is left from the old altar is the Monstrance (more like the stand for the monstrance) which is under the baldacino in the photograph.

El Templo de Fatima

Cerca de mi casa es un Templo se llama Fatima. Entonces, esta Domingo pasado, yo asiste la Misa a las doce. Despues la Misa, yo tenia un conversación con dos senoras sobre la parroquia. Ellas hablarme sobre los acontecimiento en la parroquia. Yo voy a asistir 2 clases en la tarde durante esta semana. Los clases son 5 a 7 y el sujeto es la biblia. Entonces, yo voy a asistir a la clase, viernes, por los padres. El sujeto es bautismo.

Tiene Hambre?

Ayer, yo camine en los calles, yo visite "restaurante". Por 2 pesos una persona tiene un taco al pastor con pina. Es muy bien. Entonces, cuando yo regrese a mi casa, yo busce un poster...yo me pregunte, "yo come un puerco o perro?" !Es un chiste para mi!

Fútbol con el equipo Morelia Monarcas

Miércoles, yo asiste un partida de fútbol. Yo asistimos esta partida con otro estudiante aquí con el nombre "Ben."

My Host Family!

My living setup is this: I have a house assistant (mother - Rosalinda) and her son, Louis, who live in the house (he started living in the house after his father died five years ago). I have my own bathroom and bedroom. The nights are pretty warm (probably ~70), but the mornings are refreshingly cool (around 50 in the morning). Senora Rosalinda cooks all three meals for me daily and cleans my room daily. My only job is to make sure the room is ordered...which I can do!

Finally Here!

Finally landed in the great colonial city of Morelia! On the first day (Wednesday, April 14), I started with a Spanish test - I could have told the school that there wasn't much to test, but nonetheless that took an hour, then I had four hour of classes, then an hour of orientation to the school, city and how the home stay works. I then returned to the house I was staying at for lunch, then back to the school for a walking tour of the city (which was about 2.5 hours). Afterwords, I returned to my home for another meal then about an hour of homework before going to my first professional soccer game. I returned home around 12 midnight.

The next day, Thursday, I had four more hours of classes, which whizzed by, then off to lunch then about 2 hours of homework - writing sentences and reviewing my grammar with my house assistant (mother).

Friday brought a tough morning - the grammar in my sentences was a bit off - I was missing accents or prepositions - small details, but apparently important! The afternoon I had a big lunch then walked around the city for about 2 hours practicing my Spanish. Found many beautiful churches - I'll post the pictures later. Started learning my prayers in Spanish. As you can see, I also went out on Friday with some other students. One of the fellows showed us his bugle he uses in the marching band he instructs at a local school. A couple of the students tried to play it...with little success. After eating, the 5 of us went up in las colinas (the hills) to see the city at night.

So far, all in all, I have enjoyed these past four days.