YMCA

Here are some random facts and stories about our recent trip to Colorado…

• While we were in Estes Park area, we saw wildlife everywhere.  Deer, gophers, birds… and elk.  One day two huge specimens wandered through the YMCA grounds, eating the carefully planted flowers.
• Camino Global (USA) inaugurated their new president at Convocation (Douglas Livingstone).  Also, FAM International (the Latin mission agency which has a branch here in Mexico) is looking forward to installing a new president – Gustavo Soto.
• You’d think that after working with Americans (that is, people from the USA) and going to conferences with mainly American missionaries, and having lots of American friends, that I would have them all figured out.  The reality is, for a lot of the conference I was completely lost.  I wonder what the other non-American attendees thought.  That being said, we as believers ALL have one Lord in common (who even speaks American English), and we enjoyed worshipping together.
• It was great to connect and reconnect with a lot of people at Convocation, and people before and after.  Praying together, talking about ministry and life – even playing together.  Nice!  I would start mentioning their names, but I’m afraid I’ll forget someone.  You know who you are!
• As expected my health was not so great during Convocation, particularly the first two or three days.  After that I was careful, and was able to enjoy things a little more, although not do as much as I might have liked.  Hannah got sick too, but just for one night.
• As a family we visited the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.  We especially went to see the space exhibits and the Egyptian mummies (two things Nathanael has been studying in school), but the animal displays were pretty interesting too.
• Out of gazillions of candy shops in the town of Estes Park, not one had maple fudge with no nuts.  (Well, ok, one said they had just run out.)  But good news – The Candy Shoppe in the Denver airport has maple fudge without nuts.
• I was on I think 7 shuttle bus rides on this trip.  At the airport we were supposed to meet greeters who would point us to the shuttle to take us to Convocation.  We were told they would be in either the east baggage claim area or the west baggage claim area.  After walking around and around, we couldn’t find anyone and it was almost time for the bus to depart.  I tried calling, but the payphones didn’t work.  When I found a phone that did, the number didn’t work.  The information desk couldn’t help, but they connected me to the shuttle bus company via telephone.  They didn’t know where the greeters were either.  Then I noticed – close to the information desk – the greeters.  Not in the east or west baggage claim areas, but in the middle (with a tiny sign!).  But they were very nice – and we caught the next shuttle.
• Our US counterparts launched a new website – here it is.  Thanks to Brittany’s photography, there are loads of pictures from Ixtapaluca on the site (in fact, I think I saw Hannah in there somewhere).  CAM Canada has a new site too – but it’s in process while we see if we can ever change our name to Camino Global.
• We’ve had quite the adventures trying to get books to Mexico for Hannah and Nathanael’s schooling.  Finally we found a couple of people who kindly brought them to Convocation (we had them shipped to the mission office in Dallas), and we were able to fit them all in our luggage.  Which believe me, was no small feat.
• On our way to Colorado, we realized that Hannah and Nathanael would need backpacks for the day camp they would be attending.  With no vehicle, we had no choice but to look for backpacks at the airport.  We managed to find and purchase two (for a price that wasn’t too outlandish).  During the rest of our trip, we were given no fewer than 5 more backpacks.  Ummm… is there a lesson here?
• Hannah and Nathanael made tie-dyed shirts at the YMCA craft room.  They are very cool.
• Greeting us at the Denver airport was the VW bug you see below – covered in tiny beads, and created in Mexico.  Wow.
• Music at Convocation was provided by Dick and Mel Tunney.  Dr. Bill Lawrence spoke.  We also heard from Dr. Hans Finzel.  And lots of other people, including those with Camino Global.
• Over the course of a week, three places made the international news.  First, Ixtapaluca – for an attack at a Roman Catholic youth camp.  Next, Scarborough (home of our Canadian director), for a mall shooting.  Finally, Denver (more specifically, Aurora), for a shooting in a cinema (the deadliest of the three – no one was killed in the attack near Ixtapaluca, I don’t think).  Is the lesson that nowhere is safe – but especially not the USA?  Sadly, a woman who left the mall in Scarborough 5 minutes before the shooting was shot and killed in the Denver shooting.
• We went to mail some letters close to our hotel, and discovered that the plaza was named for a large printing shop – Cottrell Printing.  Since we’ve had printers in our family, I find that… interesting.  Distant relations?
• This is the sermon we heard this past Sunday.  It was a church plant near our hotel.  It was interesting to talk with some of them about the similarities and differences of church planting in Ixtapaluca and Denver.
• Colorado sure was a lot warmer than here in Ixtapaluca!
• At Convocation we were reminded again – we have awesome co-workers here in Mexico!
• Our flight out of Denver was late leaving, and our connection was very tight.  Once we got off the plane in Houston, we had to take a train to another area, and we ran and ran and ran to the next plane, arriving about 5 minutes before it was supposed to depart.  As we went to board, I smiled at a fellow runner and said – orale.  He smiled back and said orale, pues.  (And I knew I was on my way back to Mexico).  But then we sat in the plane for about two hours while they tried to solve various problems.  On the bright side, it certainly gave our luggage time to catch up, and it all arrived safely (with the exception of one ripped suitcase, but nothing was missing).
• We are very glad to be home!

I’ll try to get some of these photos uploaded – someday soon!