Carnival and Halloween and Learning to be Outsiders

School social events are interesting and uncomfortable for our family. As we are one of the few foreign families at AIM, we totally stand out. Usually we are the only blonde people around, Ben is a head taller than most, and twins are noticeable too. Many people speak some English, but it is not their language of choice. People have been kind to us, but we have very little in common with them...that combined with the language barrier makes for very awkward conversations. 

I don't say this to complain, really I don't. In fact, I think that it's healthy for us to learn how to be outsiders, how it feels to be a foreigner, and to not belong. I think that this is one of those character building lessons that is at the core of why we moved to Mexico. I know that it's changing us. I know that when we move back home, and there is a new kid at school, our kids will know how to have empathy for that child and to include him even if he's different. I know that if Ben and I see a new family at a school gathering, meeting them (even if there is a language barrier) won't be as difficult as it used to be. I know that compassion for the foreigner is growing within each of us.

Our first big social event at AIM was this amazing all-campus carnival at the beginning of October. When I heard "school carnival" I was picturing little booths in a gym with candy prizes. This thing, however, was AN EVENT. We are learning: Mexicans take their parties very seriously. We're talking almost as many rides as the Lake County Fair, a photo booth, huge blow up structures, and free food and drinks. It was a pretty awesome afternoon for the kids and they had a blast. However, there were probably a thousand people there and not one family tried to talk to us. As I said before, I'm not complaining. It's just really interesting to me. What is it about human nature that makes us avoid new and different people? If the situation was reversed, where we are in the majority, will we  talk to a family that looks different and like they probably don't speak our language? I sure hope so. 

 The inflatable rock wall was a bit of a let down, as it was missing a lot of steps, making it impossible to get to the top unless you have Ben-sized legs.

The gladiator style inflatable did not disappoint, however.

 It was a beautiful clear day and the mountains all around us were stunning.

 A balmy 89 in October...popsicles are a must

 This picture cracks me up: I love how happy Josh is because he's not on the outside being continually smashed. I love the look on Seth's face as he's being smashed. 

 Trampoline jumping

 Seth, Seth

 Josh, Daddy. 

My favorite part of the night was everyone dressing up for the photo booth. Hilarious! 

The boys' classroom also had an off-campus Halloween party at a park one afternoon. Again, I was the only mom who was a primary English speaker. It is so uncomfortable to be the foreigner. The other women were very nice to me, and those that could speak English made an effort to converse some with me, but again, we have so little in common that the conversation dies very quickly. Also, I don't want them to have to switch every conversation to English just so that I can understand, so I sit quietly trying to understand a foreign language, trying to look comfortable, although I just want to be somewhere else. Thankfully, the boys had a blast with their friends, and I got to meet lots of their classmates and watch how they interact. That was fun, and they seem to be adjusting well. Kids have an easier time bridging cultural gaps...why is that? Do we as adults have so many boundaries, walls, and insecurities that we can't be brave enough to stumble through a conversation in a language we don't know well? 

 Little tiger brother following his hunter brothers around

 Juan Andres, the boy in the sumo suit is one of Seth and Sam's buds. It was hilarious to watch him run around in that sumo outfit! 

 Juan Andres and Nico and the boys best buds at school. 

 The park was all decorated for Halloween. The Mexicans take their decorations very seriously. (Sam, Seth)

 Always game for a funny face picture

All the kids of the party

Many people asked us if Mexico celebrates Halloween and what we did for the day. Well, there were a lot of Halloween decorations, although they are often mixed in with Day of the Dead decorations (which are a lot of ornately painted skulls and skeletons with clothes on them). Our apartment building had an option to put a sign on your door if you welcomed trick-or-treaters, so those were the home we visited. There were probably six apartments that participated and that was plenty: in our opinion, Mexican candy is pretty gross, so we really didn't want to collect much. It was a pretty laid back Halloween, but we've never been too into it anyways, so it wasn't that different for us. It's always fun to have costumes, though!  

 Sam, Josh, Seth

 The twins showing their pretend bows and Josh showing his claws

 Sam, Josh 

 Seth

 I seriously love this tiger costume and felt like I couldn't get enough pictures of Josh in it 

 This is like part monkey, part tiger

I wonder what life here will look like next fall? Will we ever feel like we fit in? Will we know the language well enough to handle social situations better? Will we ever get used to being the only blondes in a sea of dark hair? How will God use this experience of being foreigners in our lives to further His kingdom? This the hard stuff of living here in Mexico, but the good stuff as well. We are thankful. 

My New Eyes: Laser Eye Surgery for Jamie

For the past two week I have been seeing 20/20 without the aid of my glasses or contacts. It is such a miracle! 

I've always wanted to get laser eye surgery, as I have worn glasses or contacts full time since I've been 8 years old. However, wanting to do it now was due to a combination of factors, from reading an article about a gal about my age who recently got it done in Mexico for a great price and my friend mentioning to me that she was going to get hers done. Also, Ben was a great encouragement to me, asking me "why would you wait any longer?" The final straw though, was that I only had 3 weeks of contacts left and I really didn't want to go through the process of ordering new ones in Mexico. How silly is that? I'd rather go through laser eye surgery than order contacts!

I asked around for recommendations of an English speaking eye doctor here in San Pedro and went into my initial appointment just wanting more information: price, recovery, procedure, etc. I walked out of that appointment knowing that I was a perfect candidate for the procedure and so excited that the cost was about 1/4 of what it would cost in America. Two days later I had another appointment to run a couple more tests to make sure that it would be a safe procedure for me (it was!) and at end of it the doctor asked when I would want the surgery done, saying he could do it anytime I wanted. So, I made the appointment for two weeks later.

October 29, Ben came home early from work, we picked the boys up from school together and headed to the building where the procedure would take place. Overall, I think the craziest part of the surgery was the language barrier. While we can communicate a little bit, we're still not comfortable fully speaking and listening in Spanish. But here I was, where everyone in the clinic except the doctor, only spoke Spanish. Which meant I walked into a room and got all prepped for the surgery, with basically only understanding when the nurse said "open and close your eyes." At least had the presence of mind to ask her to repeat what the two pills she was handing me were for (dolar and tranquilo...pain and calmness). So I swallowed the pills, thinking what a crazy act of faith this was and walked into the operating room with no idea what to expect. 

Medical stuff is not my strong point, but I have to say, although the surgery is very weird and kind of gross, it's super quick. I was in the operating room maybe 10 minutes. It was uncomfortable, but never super painful. I just kept thinking the whole time what a miracle it was! I couldn't believe that I would actually be able to see without glasses for the first time in 24 years. (If anyone wanting the gory details of the procedure, I'll be happy to tell you, but I'll spare those who don't want to hear it).

In total, counting check-in and probably even parking, we were at the clinic for maybe 45 minutes. When I walked out, the world was blurry with patches of clearness. My eyes were sensitive to light, sore and scratchy. When we went home, I laid in bed for a couple hours dozing and listening to a book on CD. The procedure was at 4, and I helped make dinner at 6:30 with somewhat clear vision, but still preferred to have my eyes closed. By 9:30 that evening, I could see the TV from across the room. The next morning, I could see almost 20/20, I could pick the boys up from school that afternoon, and my sight is still getting better every day. Now the only nuisance is that I have some blurriness around lights when they are contrasted with pitch black, and some rainbows around light bulbs. I think those should clear up within the next week or so.

I think that my favorite thing about no longer having contacts is nighttime. I love not having to take out my contacts and switch into my glasses. I love being able to see when the lights are out. I love not having to fumble around for my glasses when its dark and I want to go check on the boys in the middle of the night. I also love that I don't have to pack glasses and a contact case and solution when we travel anymore. It's just so awesome!

So, to wrap up my boring medical review post, I would totally recommend laser eye surgery to anyone who is thinking about it! I had a great experience and and daily feel like it's a miracle that I can see without aid! Please email me questions if you have any...and know that you're always welcome to come stay with our family here in Monterrey for a week if you want the procedure done at a discount :) (We welcome any visitors at any time!)

 Trying to take artistic "last night with glasses shots."

 Taking pictures of yourself is so awkward.

 In the waiting room for my surgery...last moments with glasses. Seth, of course, was lamenting that he'd never get to see me wear my glasses again. I will never lament that fact! (Sam, Seth)

 Post surgery: looking cool in my protective eye wear and headphones, listening to Harry Potter and soaking in the "forced rest time."

Six Months Reflections

I'm sitting in the corner of a coffee shop that looks and feels so familiar it could be Portland: reclaimed wood, chalkboard signs, acoustic music, and organic handmade goods. Ben gave me a much needed couple of hours alone this afternoon and I'm using it to finally type some thoughts that have been whirling around in my brain for a post about our first six months here in Mexico. But first I decided to re-read some of the posts I wrote since April. How humorous it is to remember some of our early mishaps and adventures! And how encouraging to see how far we've come in half a year! 

Recently we asked the boys their thoughts on our first six months here and if they are happy that we moved to Mexico. Overall they decided that they are thankful for the all the adventures we have been a part of since moving. The boys love the fact that we've flown so much and traveled to so many different places. They enjoy our weekend hikes and explorations around Monterrey. However, we also talked a lot about the difficulty of looking so different and not being able to speak the language. It was decided that we're all a lot braver than we were six months ago! We have all been put into so many uncomfortable and uncontrolled situations that it barely phases us anymore.

That conversation with the boys led me to dig out a pros and cons list that I wrote out when we were asked to consider moving here. My top two pros were "lots of travel" and "adventure." Well, in these past six months, our family has flown between Portland and Monterrey three times, and once each to Mexico City and Cancun, for a grand total of about 20,000 miles flown. We all still love flying and the adventure of being in new cities and airports. And we all anticipate lots of fun travel in the near future.

Another huge pro was foreign language immersion. Surely we'll see that positive come to fruition someday in us being bilingual, but to be honest, language acquisition is going very slowly. Although Ben and I realize that we're worlds better than we were when we first arrived, we also know that we have a very long way to go! Hopefully in another 6 months we'll be feeling a lot more positive about our Spanish skills!

A new work position for Ben was another pro for us, and overall the job has been a huge blessing to Ben. He really enjoys it and the more laid-back culture of the Mexican workplace. He has been nothing but pleased with the position, which is awesome. Also, it hasn't been time consuming on our family and has entailed a lot flexibility for Ben to help me when needed. We're very grateful.

My final two pros were: faith opportunity and teaching our family flexibility. I think that these two list items are where I have seen the most growth within our family. There's nothing like living in a foreign country to give you a crash course in character building and spiritual growth!

It's not fair to mention only the pros within this post, because that doesn't paint the complete picture of the past six months. There has been plenty of difficulty, discomfort, and frustration...more than we could have ever imagined. Ahead of time we knew that the obvious con was missing home and family. It is an immense negative that we will struggle with the entire time we live in Mexico. The pain is not as frequent or acute as before, but we sure do miss home. We miss it in big ways: our family, friends, and community. We miss walking the neighborhood with our dog, riding bikes down the street, and we especially miss our yard (daily for me, I think). I miss being in the same time zone as family, making touching base on the phone easier. I miss my American conveniences and favorite allergy friendly stores. There are small conveniences we miss: like an ice maker, a bathtub, recycling, a dishwasher, using a familiar measurement system, smooth roads, and drivers that use blinkers. Thankfully another con, worrying about feeding our family because of our food allergies, has really been a non-issue; although, we do miss living in Portland, the Mecca of gluten-freeness. 

Another con was loneliness, and that certainty was very difficult at the beginning of our time living here. However, we have found a church that has been an absolute life-line for us. It is a bilingual church; the songs for worship are ones that we are familiar with, but they are sung half in Spanish and half in English. The message is in Spanish, but they have an interrupter we can listen to through headphones. We anticipate meeting with our church family each Sunday, and Ben and I also have both gotten involved in weekly Bible studies. Meeting with a group of English speaking women each Wednesday morning has truly been life changing here for me in Monterrey. It is a gift from the Lord that I never expected and am so grateful for!

So overall, six months later we have found ourselves pretty content. There was a time early on in this adventure where I wondered if I'd ever be happy in Mexico. I was alright with that, knowing that the ultimate end of life isn't happiness and that there are things (like character) that are more important. However, within the last month or so, we've all started feeling truly happy here. When we moved many people told us that it takes around 8-10 weeks to work through culture shock. Well, for me, I think it took a little over 20 weeks, but I guess that I've always been a little slow in handling change. We are so thankful for this opportunity and are excited for the next 6 months of adventure!

And since no post is complete without pictures, here's some random moments from our past month:

 We see some beautiful sunrises!

The moon and Venus both still visible this early morning

 "Hank the Cowdog" books are a favorite in the house, and it's now tradition that only daddy reads them.

 Our friends, the Leonards, hosted a "carne asada" potluck after church for some families from our church and Bible study. It was such an awesome afternoon of fellowship. This is my friend Megan, from the Washington D.C. area, and I cutting up all the meat.

 Nati and Carol from Chile, Katie Leonard from New Mexico, Angelica from Minnesota, and Ruth from Mexico.

 Katie and Dustin shared about the ministry, Back 2 Back that they work for and then gave us all a tour of the campus. It's an amazing ministry!

 Carol, Megan, Katie, and I

 I'm starting to really enjoy some Mexican snacks, like plain potato chips drizzled in hot sauce and Mango smoothie combined with a tamarind straw.

Proud of their tower that is so tall!

 Joshy the pirate

 Swimming mid-October...not bad! We're probably about done for the season, though, as the pool is not heated so it's freezing (unless Ben pursues his "wet suit" idea...which I'm not too keen on).

 Rosetta stone in the evenings...

 Josh and I went on an adventure one day to the convention center for a HUGE book fair. We spent time exploring Fundidora park for awhile afterwards.

 A complete dinosaur fossil found in Northern Mexico was Josh's favorite. He kept wanting to return and see the "dragon."

 Unfortunately, this is just about as high as we could ever get the kite to fly

 Living in Mexico hasn't stopped the boys from dressing up and loving football

 Celebrating 6 months with a picnic at the park

First ER Visit in Mexico

Well, we have officially survived our first (and hopefully last) emergency room visit in Mexico. 

It happened so quickly on a Wednesday two weeks ago. Wednesday's happen to be my maid day. Nachi comes once a week and cleans for around 3 hours and often makes us a meal--it's fantastic, definitely a perk of living here! Usually, I make an effort to not be around so that she can clean without Josh under foot, but I had hosted Bible study that morning. Everyone from Bible study had left about 20 minutes before and Nachi had just told Josh to be careful because the marble floors were wet. I heard her telling him that and interrupted to him to "be careful because the floors are wet!" And of course, two minutes later he slipped and landed smack on his chin. I could tell by his cry that it was a major injury and when I took a closer look, I almost passed out. His chin had a HUGE split. I cannot even express how thankful I was that Nachi was there to help me, as I'm so horrible with blood. She helped me tape a gauze badge on it to help stop the bleeding, and I quickly called Ben to hurry home and take Josh to the ER. Thankfully he was able to leave immediately, so he could head to the hospital, and I could pick up the big boys from school, and meet him there.

We have so many things to be thankful for with this event, but one of the major things is that it didn't happen 5 months ago when we first moved here. No one (the nurses, the doctors, the pharmacy, the insurance secretary) spoke much, if any, English. However, we know a sufficient amount of Spanish now to survive in those situations. That feels like a massive accomplishment!  

 12 stitches for my brave boy!

 We had to wait for 45 minutes or so for the surgeon to come stitch up Josh's chin. Thankfully I had grabbed the tablet on the way out the door and Ben spent the time reading him a new book we had just checked out from the digital library. It was a life savor! 

 Ben was a rock through it all. The poor guy had to be there all through the shots and stitches. Josh did a great job and was very brave. They didn't even give him any laughing gas or anything! 

Meanwhile, the twins and I hung out in the outdoor patio space. As I said, I'm a total wimp when it comes to blood and gaping open wounds. Yuck. These salvia plants were full of hummingbirds and bumble bees.

 Would you believe that immediately after Josh was all done with stitches he tried to play tag? Ben and I were definitely more traumatized than him! 

 We spent the next few days laughing at Josh's blue whiskers.

 Sweet, sweet boy

This is the view from the waiting room of the pediatrician office where we were waiting for his stitches to be taken out. Unfortunately we ended up having to go twice because the doctor had to leave 4 stitches in the first appointment, as the wound was starting to pull apart again. 

Now, all is well and the wound is healing nicely. I may or may not be totally paranoid about the floors in our apartment being wet and someone slipping again, but I'm sure that will go away with time. And now Josh officially has the injury with the most stitches in the family. I'm hoping that it stays that way!