Today at school they had some Mexican dancers, and I thought you might like to have a look. I would have taken more shots, but I was on my last set of batteries, and they were low, so I was rationing!
Each of the different outfits represents the traditional dress of a different state of Mexico. The white and blue outfits are from Yucatán, I believe… the cowboy outfits from the north, and so on.
Mexico has been a part of our lives for many years, and so a lot of the time we don’t even notice the differences between life here and life in Canada. For example, I had forgotten just how rough the roads are here.
The mechanic was too busy for me anyway, so this week I’ll take the van in not only for a tune up but also for the brakes. And the air conditioning, which hasn’t worked for some time.
Anyway, I thought you might enjoy Dennis Poulette‘s list of 101 things about Mexico City. Most of them are true here too, although some are different. We’ve had what we consider to be pretty good customer service, for example. And the traffic circles/roundabouts/glorietas aren’t quite as bad here as they are in Mexico City (they have some big ones there – kind of like getting caught up in a tornado).
The windows of our house basically face out into our garden, so today you should be able to get a pretty good idea what it looks like. Starting in our kitchen here, you can see our lime tree and some plants to the right, and our van and trailer to the left (covered over, you can’t really see them well). Of course, with such a high window you can’t see most of the plants on the ground. Just for the record, the curtains and blinds you see belong to our landlords.
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To the left you can see our other kitchen window, which doesn’t have a very inspiring view – just a wall. But I included it to be fair. If you look out at an angle, you can see a little more greenery. Nice inspiring view while we do the dishes, don’t you agree? Maybe we should paint a mural on there.
Moving on to the living room, we have a big window/sliding door combo dealy. Basically, you can see our driveway. Hannah and Nathanael’s scooters are backed up against the trailer.
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To the right there is a more typical view out the window, since we’re often sitting on the couch. Hey, if you’re going to look out our windows, you might as well have a good look, right?
Ok, finally we get to the master bedroom. Those are vines you see in the middle (not sure how many of them are actually alive).
You can also see various other plants and flowers, the tall thing on the right grows chilies, and in the middle is a little lime tree. Right outside the window is a raised terrace (is that what you call it? "Terrace" makes it sound so fancy!).
If you want a better view, click on the pictures above to see the full sized version in our Photo Gallery. Except the second kitchen window – I didn’t bother with that one. Just use the drop down menu on the top right to make the picture even bigger.
And remember, this is part of a series. Look out our language school windows here, and the windows in the building where our church meets here.
What in the world is going on with the younger generation? They’re just so – so religious!
The Wall Street Journal addressed this issue last weekend in the article, Religion’s Generation Gap by Katherine Rosman. It seems that some youth in the USA were really frustrating their parents because they were just so … devout! And it’s not just happening in the States, it’s Canada too. Perhaps it’s a growing trend around the world.
I was asked by a staff member at CAM International about giving in Canada (ie donations to charities). I wrote about some of the negative aspects in my previous post, Think you’re generous, eh? But there’s another side to the story – an interesting trend we’ve noticed. There really does seem to be a younger generation rising up which is very committed to giving, and to committed to praying.
Having worked with youth at vti, I can say I’ve seen the same encouraging trend – people on fire for the Lord at a young age. People who – *gasp* – actually want to live what they say they believe! And it’s not only frustrating parents, it’s frustrating older partners in ministry who suddenly have to face issues they once avoided.
Is this really something new? After all, we know that time and time again a younger generation has come with new passion to rewrite history, Christian history too. Students have been the grassroots force to press on to new mission frontiers. Is this just the Wall Street Journal being shocked that educated youth could really be religious? Maybe, but I do think there is something unique going on here.
This doesn’t mean that youth are flooding into Canadian, or American, or Mexican churches. They aren’t. But in a very “secular” society (particularly Canada), increasingly hostile toward religion, to be a Christian is a more serious thing than ever. It can have serious repercussions, in both Canada and Mexico. So if you’re willing to stand as a 16-year-old believer, you’d better be willing to stand strong. Arguably, it’s a tougher thing today than it was 15 or 30 years ago.
And many are standing strong, in spite of parents, and in spite of peers. That means personal faith and choices, and an increase in public action (take for example the young Canadian believers at My Canada who are praying for and engaging in the political process).
What does a Sunday morning look like in Mexico? Well, it depends on where you are. But I can speak for our little corner of Mexico here in Cuernavaca.
Weekends are a time for parties, for one thing. On one side of us is a weekend house for a family from Mexico City. Every once in a while they come for the weekend, but nothing has been quite like this weekend. The party must have started after midnight, and the music blared until after 10am this morning! Mostly English, which in this case was unfortunate because there were lyrics we’d rather our children not hear (I think they were sufficiently distracted this time, though).
As you head down the street, you’ll see the the local cathedral. There are cars lined all down the street as people come for mass. You’d think that this was the popular Sunday morning activity, if you didn’t drive any further.
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But you do drive further, and get a very different picture. Businesses are opening, people are shopping, and the traffic it picking up. Yes, it’s pretty much like any other morning of the week, except that some people do have a day off – so they can sleep in after the party or shop. All the stores will be busy. WalMart will be full.
People outside of Mexico have interesting ideas about religion here. I think Sunday morning gives you a pretty typical picture. There’s a lot of religion in the culture, but it doesn’t show in ways you would expect. People aren’t going to church (that cathedral on our street is unusually busy, but even so most people in the neighbourhood weren’t in it). They’re not letting religion get in the way of the rest of their lives. After all, people in Mexico are suspicious of religion when it gets too much power, and I think most people would rather control it than have it control them – or influence them in any meaningful way (I guess that would be true in any culture!).
You can read between the lines and see that it’s a mixed picture. Some of the popular views of religion here are very healthy, others are like an innoculation against God’s truth. Please pray that people would see what true worship is, and why it’s the incredible centre of our lives.
Nitpickers note: This photo was not taken on a Sunday morning. But the point is that Sunday morning looks a lot like every other morning here. Photo courtesy of kirkh.
Some people seem to be under the mistaken impression that the weather here in Mexico is a constant sweltering heat. Maybe this comes from visits to the resorts on the coasts, where the weather is generally hotter.
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Or maybe it’s the reputation of places in the southern USA, where it’s also often hotter. But the fact of the matter is that there’s all kinds of weather in Mexico, hot and cold. Ok, we’re not going to start comparing it with Yellowknife in January, but there is indeed snow in Mexico at times. No, not here – although we can sometimes see snow on the mountains.
But since coming to Mexico, I’ve spent a lot more time cold than hot. When you wake up in the morning and the house is less than 16C or 60F, that takes some getting used to. Our homes in Canada, however drafty they may feel at -40, are pretty well sealed and have something called central heating, which means you usually don’t let your house get that cold.
That heater you see has been a lifesaver. And I’m pretty thankful for the sweater and long sleeve shirt I got just before I left Canada (thanks to a gift from Jeff and Tracy – thanks guys!). Throughout the day, the house warmed up, though at times in December and January I could have worn a sweater all day. There were days when I was in a jacket on top of that. And yes, they do sell winter jackets at the local SEARS.
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But, guess what. Spring is starting to peak around the corner, and it’s suddenly warming up quite nicely. The late afternoon is bringing temperatures in the mid-30s (mid-90sF). The sweaters and jackets are reserved for early morning and the heater is now a fan.
Apparently we’re entering into the hottest season here. Things cool off a bit once rainy season starts (May). We are “up the hill” a ways, so it tends to be a little cooler here than many parts of the city. It’s comfortable… but it’s also time for me to get back to work (and get a nice cold drink). Later!