The last week in Mexico has been full of adventures! It was so great to have time with Dad, exploring the city, spending time with Fabian (the new pastor our church is beginning to partner with), and visiting Karla.
On Sunday afternoon Dad and I took a taxi over to my host family’s house, where I’ll be living for the month I’m taking classes. The last couple days have been a little tough, beginning with Sunday afternoon—after having such a great last week where I felt so confident getting around the city, I’ve been overwhelmed, suddenly feeling like the young, helpless American that I am in a city of 20 million. After meeting my host family (the Olivo family) on Sunday, Dad and I decided it would be a good idea to go to the school, so that I would be able to find it easily on Monday morning. Mrs. Olivo gave us directions to get there by metrobus (all week long we’d taken the subway so this was different). When we got to the station, we didn’t realize you can only enter one end of the platform. So we climbed up the wrong end, where we were immediately met by a honking bus and an angry police officer. I apologized profusely, explaining that we didn’t understand how it worked (meanwhile the cop was threatening to deport us!). The problem was that you have to go through the other end to swipe your card and enter through the turnstyle, so he thought we were trying to get in for free. I think he understands now that we were just dumb Americans, but now I have to see this same cop at the station everyday! That event shook me up, then we couldn’t even find the school because we misunderstood the directions.
But even now, Day 2 of class, I am much more confident about my commute. It’s about a 40 minute trip each way by metrobus and walking, but I’m starting to enjoy the time to myself.
My host family is very nice. Señora Olivo is talkative and opinionated, so that provides plenty of conversation. Sr. Olivo is in New York right now but will be back on Thursday. They have two kids, a 20-year-old son named José and a 17-year-old daughter named Ana. I barely see José but have gotten to spend a little time with Ana. The two kids are leaving next week for a vacation in Canada, so I’ll be the “only child” for the rest of my time here. I don’t have much time to spend with my host family during week-days because of my class schedule and homework load, but I’ve enjoyed the time I do have.
I’m really glad I’m taking this TESOL course; I’m already learning a lot and it’s only the second day. They throw you right into teaching: this afternoon we will each teach a 20-minute lesson. Tomorrow and Friday I’m teaching 40-minute lessons! I expect a lot of pressure with all the work and planning we have, but I’m excited to be learning the practical side of teaching English that I haven’t really learned from previous classes.
I’d appreciate your prayers for my time here: the last couple days have been kind of overwhelming and lonely. This summer is different from anything I’ve done in the past in that it’s not a Lee trip or mission trip. I miss having other Christians around. But I’m also thankful for feelings of loneliness, because they’ve pushed me to rely on God as my Father and Friend in ways that I don’t on a normal basis. Psalm 73:25-26 resonates with me this week:
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Also pray that I’ll have opportunities to be a light in the lives of my host family and classmates. I don’t know of any other believers in the class, and I hope God will use me to reveal some truth about himself. Miss you all!
