Por fin! I am here! After a week-long stint in training camp in Georgia that seemed to harken back to a bad M*A*S*H episode, I am here in a comfortable bed, shacked up with five other girls and living in the middle of an extremely impoverished neighborhood in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Do I like it? You bet your *insert church cuss word here* I do!
Recap on Georgia, though. I know you all at home are curious. Did they slap orange badges on us and teach a “secret code” or encantation? No. There was a lot of group bonding and kum-ba-ya, but it was good. A little arm-twisting for some. I think we may have some inside jokes forming.
Dinners were good, but the girls on the Mexico team pretty much roughed it on twiggy ground and ruined our swimsuit lines with farmer’s tans. I lost and recovered (as of yesterday via phone call) my digital camera…I had dropped it in someone’s car unwittingly, something which has caused me to vow to keep my purse z-i-p-p-e-d at all times.
The flight here from the good ol’ land of red clay was uneventful, although I must say we had a run-in on a smaller jet with some drunken American fifty-something ladies who were, as they wanted EVERYONE to know, out to have a good time, because they were on va-caaaaa-tion! Coincidently, we ran into them yesterday on a team assignment to check out some of the shops in the Mercado Juarez (Juarez Market).
Since arriving, we’ve been debriefed on cultural rules for our safety (don’t make eye contact with men, ladies, lest you be followed home, and forget showing leg above the knee), and we’ve visited the Soriana Plaza Fiesta (ahem, mall). Tonight is our first church service, at 6 o’clock, in the church sanctuary connected to where the girls are staying and eating. We all eat lunch and dinner next to the church in the kitchen there, and the guys are staying in a house near Bob and Marissa’s (the missionary couple that heads up the Matamoros team).
We’re going to get set up with internships in the community in addition to the outreaches we do on weekends as a group and the church services. I’m considering teaching dance (although I need to know how to lead) or teaching English in a school with mostly Spanish-speaking children. Also on my list of possibilities are hospital visitations where I pray with patients. I’m sure I’m also leaving out a couple other options, but I will pray about what God is leading me toward. I have a strong feeling about teaching English since a couple church regulars were over last night and I had a blast conversing and translating.
I think this may be my calling….who knows. Life is full of great adventures. And I’m smack dab in the middle of one. I’m fidgeting with anticipation. Sometimes morning runs help. And out in the middle of nowhere, in groups and on unpaved roads, it looks all too much like a Nike commercial.
Well, that’s it for now. I’m on the internet once or twice a week. Hasta entonces!
Jill (Juliana)
