Happy 4th B-Day

Today was Ahava's birthday; she turned four. In our family, it is tradition to have what you want for supper, the kind of cake you want and whichever breakfast cereal you choose that everybody has to eat. To our collective disappointment, she wanted supper at McDonalds and a carrot cake from Costco. Fortunately, we have not gone grocery shopping so we have been spared having to eat something else that we don't want. She received a number of gifts from the family and e-mails from churches in the US and Canada. Thanks to all of you that remembered this little person's special day.

The other Mexico City

One can get the impression that Mexico City is not a very nice place to live because of poverty, smog and crime. Those things do exist but the city has many positive qualities as well: a rich arts community, beautiful arcitecture and a long facinating history. For guys like me, it is also a coin collectors paradise! The Mexican mint has incredible silver coins! The picture you see at the left is of the Libertad which is on the Paseo de Reforma (one of the main streets in downtown Mexico City) and it celebrates Mexico's freedom and liberty. The statue's image is often seen on tourist brochures and even on Mexican coins. The gold relief at the top is that of an angel. I recently found an article that really captures the heart of what Mexico City is like. Enjoy!

Mexico City - An Outrageous Place & A Great City
This is an outrageous place - a city whose history is more epic than anything Hollywood could imagine, a city where art flourishes on every street corner, a city so vast and varied that everything said about it, good or bad, is true.
Flying in is always a bit of a shock. First comes the smog barrier. A blanket of pollution hangs over the flat valley where the city sprawls, despite efforts to reduce the number of cars.
Then comes landing. Mexico City's airport is smack in the middle of the biggest city in the Western Hemisphere and one of the biggest in the world. The plane circles lower and lower above houses painted turquoise, yellow, red, orange, flamingo pink - like a garish model railroad layout - but what you are really seeing is a lesson about culture, history and architecture...
More obviously, it's about density and courtyards. The Arabs influenced Spain, and Spain influenced Mexico, and one result is these shady patios behind high walls.
They make every house a tiny haven, a walled oasis of calm in the midst of the multitude. The courtyards let people live smack up against other people, other buildings, other industries and still have a sense of privacy. Even if a neighbor paints hers hot blue with red and green trim.
How hard it must be to administer any city, I thought, flying into it this time. To make any place work, let alone this one. The amazing thing about Mexico City, though, is that it works so well.
Yes, there's smog. Yes, there are pickpockets and pirate taxis. Yes, the whole thing sits on a network of earthquake faults. Yes, there's corruption in politics. And yes, you can't drink the water.
But it remains a great city, a world city, like London or Cairo or New York. An estimated 23 million people live here, and more flood in every day, hoping for jobs and a better life."
Catherine Watson Minneapolis Star Tribune January 18, 2004

New tag

As we have stated before, we have been pulled over by the police a fair bit in Mexico City since having arrived here four months ago. Fridays seem to be especially bad. The excuse for these traffic stops has been that we do not have a front licence plate. Unfortunately Alberta only gives one licence plate as do some US states. The solution to our problem was for us to get our good friend back in Edmonton, Ed , to get a Alberta vanity plate made with our licence number. Yesterday we received it by DHL courier and we put it on right away.

Now I hope that this will help keep the Trafico (traffic police) away.

Ohio team at work

The Ohio team left this morning after more than a week of work at the camp. They completed an unbelievable amount of tiling including the three bedrooms in the house, the dining area in the new building and the new kitchen. As well, they did a lot of little plumbing and electrical repairs including getting the fountain in the middle of the courtyard to work again. Moises and Marcel got some work done repairing the roof on the house with a product called "impermabilizante" (a rusty colored waterproofer). The roof had been leaking for a while and was destroying the plaster ceiling inside. The first picture at the top is of one of the Ohio men tearing down a dangerous section of plaster ruined by water. The other pictures show one of the bedrooms under renovation and the last picture is of the men soaking the tiles in large barrels, preparing them for use. I will try to get some pictures of the completed project on this blog sometime today or tomorrow.

Good eating

Don't worry Mom, the boys are eating well! Olga is in the kitchen (blue apron) and has Carolyn as her sous chef assistant. This is a picture of one of the delicious meals that Olga prepares for each group: Enchiladas Verdes. This dish is made of corn tortillas dipped in the chili sauce. "Enchilada" means "chilied" in the sense that the tortilla is dipped in the salsa sauce. The tortillas are then filled and some salsa is poured over the folded tortillas. The filling for Enchiladas Verdes is shredded chicken and the toppings are sliced onions, cream, fresh grated Mexican white cheese, and a salsa that is made from a type of tomatoes that are green when fully ripe. Olga prepares two salsas (one spicy and one, not spicy) and then takes special orders from each person: how many enchiladas, spicy or not spicy, onions or not, cream or not, cheese or not. If you don't like spicy food or happen to be lactose intolerant, no problem! This is so much work but Olga completely spoils us. Usually, people eat two or three enchiladas for a meal. Two young men during the summer each ate nine enchiladas!

Mexican Independence Day

The 16th of September is a big day in Mexico. It marks their Independence Day. Many people will flood into the town squares where their communities will host parties to celebrate this great day. Christ Lives Bible Church also put on a celebration of Noche Mexicana (Mexican Night). There were lots of traditional Mexican foods, games, and a singing contest (Marcel tried to sing like a Las Vegas act "You've Lost that Loving Feeling", by the Righteous Brothers...It was a bomb!). People, but mostly children, dress in traditional Mexican clothes and put red, white and green paint on their faces as seen in the above picture. We have a team of workers here from Ohio to work on the camp and they really seemed to enjoy the evening. They have been working very hard and are a friendly group. The team mixed well with the people of the church, trying to speak Spanish when they could. The picture above is of one of the men from the church. He told me he really wants to buy a sombrero and decided to try this one on for size. I will help him later this week when we visit the artisan market for their tourist day. Today the Ohio team, from Parma Heights Baptist Church near Cleveland, enjoyed a church service and then went to the Pyramids.

Taking care of the camp

Some of you may like to know who takes care of the retreat centre in Acolman. This is a photo of Juan, Carolina, and their two boys.

Not just another smoggy morning

This morning we woke up to the sound of sirens and helicopters near our house. We looked outside to see that across the valley there was a warehouse on fire. I don't know what is stored in the warehouse but I'm grateful the wind was pushing the smoke away from us. There are no fire hydrants here so the bomberos (firefighters) use tanker trucks in much the same way many rural fire departments do in the US and Canada.

Today is a bit of a work day for all of us. Marcel has to speak briefly in church tomorrow so he has to continue to prepare what he has to say today. After church we are going to the camp. We found some tiles that may match the new paint put on by the Hamilton team so we want to check-it-out before we make the tile purchase. Thus, the girls have to finish their homework today. A team from Parma Heights in Ohio joins us this week and we are looking forward to all the work that they will be doing. The dormitory rooms are coming together and hopefully soon we will hear of more work teams that will come to help complete the camp.

Is That a Bat?

At first, we thought it was a bat but then realized it was a moth. In Alberta, the biggest moth we had seen was the size of a quarter. When Marcel took a group to Nicaragua some years ago, one of the boys caught a moth the size of a bat and let it loose inside one of the girl's tents. That caused some screaming!

Our little girls weren't frightened. Ahava checked it out, Emma caught it (a bit of its wing broke off), and then the three little blondies did a successful "catch and release" using a cookie box. This moth was about the size of my (Ingrid's) hand.

Layout of the Retreat Centre

This is a very not-to-scale diagram of the Retreat Centre property (click on the map to enlarge). At least it gives you an idea of what an urban camp is like. A young man who lives a couple doors down from us went out to the camp with Marcel to help us move our trailer out there now that the children's camps are completed for the summer. Marcel intended for this to be a time to hang out and to get to know this fellow but did we ever end up NEEDING his help! On the hillside just 3 minutes from our house, there is a patch of pavement which is very bumpy. Though Marcel was driving very slowly, the trailer began to bounce and detached! We came all the way from Texas with no problems and then when the trailer is empty, this happened. Marcel and this fellow had a time of reattaching the trailer but were on their way quite quickly. When they arrived at the camp, this young man's jaw dropped. "This is really nice! Is this all yours? I mean, your church's? What do you do here?" What an opening to share with this Catholic young man!! He felt a bit uncomfortable yet he went on to ask a lot of good questions.

To me (Ingrid), two city lots (even if they are larger than average) is not what I envision for a camp after growing up on a farm and going to camp in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Yet for the children and youth of Mexico City, two acres with a grass soccer field, a fountain that currently doesn't work, and some fruit trees really wows them. These children must stay in their small yards to play when they are at home, often with a concrete area instead of any lawn. They can't afford to travel to the beautiful rural areas of Mexico to attend a camp and they cherish being able to "get away" at this place on the edge of Mexico City.

Our New Neighbourhood

This is a map of the Valley of Mexico City. I can't add text onto this map so you'll have to do a bit of searching! We have five points of interest to show you in the northern portion of the map:

1. Mitchell House. We live in Atizapan, to the right of the North symbol.
2. Our girls' school, Mexico City Christian Academy. Right above Atizapan, near the town marker for La Colmena.
3. Christ Lives Bible Church. Located north of the large lake in the city of Ecatepec de Morelos.
4. The Pyramids. In the upper righthand part of the map at the town marker for Teotihuacan.
5. Acolman Retreat Centre. In the same upper righthand part of the map, just beneath the pyramids, near the end of the word Ozumbilla.

These are the places where we've been "hangin' out" since we came to Mexico in June. It takes us about an hour to drive from our house in the northwest to the Acolman Retreat Centre in the northeast or two hours when it's "Rush Hour".

Urgent Prayer Request for Honduras - Hurricane Felix

We received this prayer request from our Honduran friends that we met during our time at language school in Texas. This photo is of Noel and Reina Gomez and their children, Noeli and Daniel Carlos. Noel was one of Marcel's Spanish tutors and Reina showed Ingrid how to make corn tortillas from scratch. They live in a city on a plateau in the mountains of Honduras called Siguatepeque. Noel plans to continue his seminary education at a Spanish seminary that is in his city. Reina has all ready begun the school year as a public school teacher in the high mountains. Noel sent this e-mail:

Queidos hermanos y amigos, espero que Dios les este bendiciendo ricamente en sus vidas. El motivo de esta carta es para pedirles oracion por mi país, pues estamos apunto d sufrir los efectos del uracán Felix, como ustedes ya saben mi país es uno de los paices más pobres del mundo y esto solo biene a agravar las cosas, los pronosticos no son muy alentadores, por eso ruego su clamor por este pueblo. En Cristo, Noel Gómez.

Dear Christian brothers and friends: I hope that God is richly blessing your lives. The motive of this letter is to ask you to pray for my country. Well, we are at the point of suffering the effects of Hurricane Felix. As you all ready know, my country is one of the most poor countries of the world and this is only good to aggravate things. The forecasts are not very encouraging. For that I beg you to cry out for this people. In Christ, Noel Gomez.

We are worried about those who will be affected by Hurricane Felix in various countries but we are concerned for this family in particular. There were mudslides in the mountains following Hurricane Mitch six years ago and this hour, predictions are for two feet of rain in the mountains as Hurricane Felix passes over land.

We welcome your written prayers added to our comments so that Noel can be encouraged and will be able to share our prayers with his church congregation.

Mexican Independence Day Flag Vendors

The celebration begins every September 15th at 11 p.m. in every single city and town in Mexico. In Mexico City, the President, following the ritual, rings the historic liberty bell that Father Hidalgo rang to call the people. Then he gives the "El Grito" (The Cry). He shouts "Mexicanos, Viva Mexico" and the crowd echos back, establishing the tradition which has been solemnly followed every year thereafter. This cry is also echoed by the governor of each state throughout the country. The Cry may include other acclamations, such as the one included by President Benito Juarez to honor all those who sacrificed to make Mexico free: "Long live the Heroes of our Independence!". No one really knows what Hidalgo actually told the people. So all over Mexico City you will see people selling all sorts of flags, balloons, banisters, dolls, and candy that is green, white and red colored, and the list goes on and on. The people here are very patriotic, and they love to party.

Where is a cop when you need one?

Where is a cop when you need one? Pulling over Marcel! For the second time in three months, Marcel has been pulled over. The cops tried three other times but it was unsafe to do so, so he kept driving. Because of smog problems in the Federal District, the government introduced a law that restricts driving your vehicle by one day a week (hence the reason everybody has an older, more polluting second vehicle to use during that day). The last number of your license plate will determine which day of the week one may not drive. Our license plate ends with a seven; thus, we can't drive on Tuesdays. Unfortunately, the police take advantage of this very convolluted law to pull over foreign vehicles and try to "fine" people for circulating on Fridays; the reason I was pulled over. People are often threatened with large "fines" or even seizure of the vehicle. Fortunately, we have made ourselves quite familiar with the law and we also threaten that we will call our boss, who is Mexican, so that the police can explain the law to him and can thus better translate for us the problem. At this point, the police suddenly have a change of heart and let us go. A missionary with another missions agency told me he threatens to call his embassy and they immediately let him go. I am so grateful for the better policing we find in the US and Canada.

I should note the picture above was not the police officer that pulled me over. The picture above was taken by an old college friend, Claus, who quickly snapped this photo of one of the youths from Killaloe, Ontario.

After our police incident, we went home and did a second day of paper work: filling out forms for our Mexican visas, expense forms, embassy registration forms and doing change of address forms. Desk work is boring but a necessary part of our job.

On the flight path

Besides being on the base leg of Mexico City International Airport which lets me see all sort of great aircraft everyday from around the world ( Iberia Airlines A-340s and KLM 747-400s for example), then there are these two aircraft. The reason that they are noteworthy is that they are very loud, not because of their engines but because of their speakers. The picture of the little yellow plane (a Piper Super Cub) in noteworthy because almost everyday the plane buzzes our neighbourhood at low level with a loud speaker that is advertising homes for sale in a new development. You can hear the thing for miles. The picture of the helicopter is of the police helicopter for Atizapan which today flew over our kids' school at about 300' above ground level with its siren blaring. That right, it has a siren...a very loud siren...and bad guys can hear it from miles away. I don't think they ever turn the siren off.