Volleyball, una Fiesta, and Painted Turtles

Each day I have been walking from shop to shop around our house and in the zocolo (town center), and as a result I have begun to build some friendships with native Tlapans (I have no idea if that is a word). Remember Shelly from the lavanderia (laundry mat)? Well I have gone back each day as promised so that we could practice each other’s languages. When I returned on Tuesday, she told me that her nephew, Abdiel, wanted to meet me and talk with me. He is about to be a junior in high school, and he is at the top of his English class. After talking for a while, we decided that I would return at 5 PM to chat with her sobrino. When I got there, I met her two daughters, Dulce and Dey, and her nephew. We talked, mostly in Spanish, though Abdiel would practice saying some things in English, for over an hour. It was educational and fun, plus they invited me to hang out with them the next day.

Abdiel works to put up the volleyball net while Dulce stands by smiling. It turned out that Abdiel was attending the short course at the Me'phaa mission which we attended the following day. Small world.

While we were talking, I asked Abdiel if he played any sports. I used the word “tocar” for “to play,” which, it turns out, is only used with musical instruments. They proceeded to teach me “jugar,” used as a general term for playing (like “They played in the street.”), and the word for playing organized sports, which I can’t remember right now. Anyways, Abdiel started listing off every sport know to man as the ones he plays (jugar). His cousins started teasing him for thinking too much of himself, and I followed suit. When he asked me which sports I play, I told him that I play (for fun) basketball, baseball, soccer, and tennis. I also told him that I like to play volleyball but that I don’t get to do so very often. He jokingly inferred that this meant I lost a lot, an inference that I quickly refuted.

Dey.

After the playful trash talk from the day before, on Wednesday, instead of walking around the zocolo, they took me to their church to play a two-on-two game of volleyball. Well, near the end of the first game (which my team was winning as predicted), I jumped for a slam and landed in a pothole, spraining my ankle. Luckily the worst effects of that incident have been having to cut the hangout time short and having to nurse a limp for a couple of days.

Two of the youth from Mexico City teaching us all "Cristo me ama" (Jesus loves me).

The sprained ankle didn’t stop me from going to a big party at the Me’phaa mission center on Friday night. I even played volleyball! That might not have been the smartest idea, but I’m only slightly worse for the wear. The party was a blast. A group from Mexico City came in on Wednesday to teach a 4 day short course about putting on an effective VBS type activity for kids. This party was held in celebration of two birthdays and as a general party for the guests. Any reason is a good reason to have a fiesta.

Volleyball at the Me'phaa mission.

Two of the kids silently arguing over who got to ride in the car. Mark pushed them around for a long time, but they never tired of it.

Nana Esther with a really cute baby. FYI, Nana is her title in Me'phaa. Guys are Tata and ladies are Nana.

After the volleyball tournament, which we graciously allowed another team to win, we gathered around tables for eggs and hotdogs, beans, fried cheese, and, of course, fresh tortillas. Afterwards there was cake and music! In Mexico there isn’t just one birthday song. There is still a song that is sung to the person whose birthday it is, but, in addition to this song, there is a whole collection of birthday music. My friend Plácido, one of the translators, played the guitar, and everyone sang in another year of health and happiness for the celebrated two. 

Dinner!

After cleaning up from dinner, we moved under the pavilion for some more singing and a game. Our team had been asked to provide some entertainment for the evening that related to the Me’phaa language. The day before I had written down the sheet music for one of the few original Me’phaa scripture songs, so we thought it would be fun to teach it to everyone. Almost all praise music in Me’phaa churches is in Spanish, so it was a lot of fun to teach everyone a song in their heart language. 

I play the guitar as everyone learns a worship song in their heart language.

After we had gone over the song a few times, Benito and Emy took over with a game of Me’phaa vocabulary bingo. Since the Me’phaa alphabet didn’t exist until thirty years ago when Mark and Esther made it up, most Me’phaa speakers do not read or write in their own language. It was so much fun to participate as we all learned how to read Me’phaa together. 

After that game the called me Master of Me'phaa....not really. Actually Mark helped me a bit, but I did catch on well.

I wonder how you say bingo in Me'phaa...

Me’phaa is a tonal language, and the challenge comes in distinguishing the tones and finding the words with markings that match the tones. Also, a glottal stop is a written character in Me’phaa, so a word without a glottal at the end could mean something completely different than the exact same word with a glottal at the end. Trust me, it isn’t always easy to tell the difference, at least not for this gringo.

The bingo chart. That is what written Me'phaa looks like.

As far as language learning goes, some things are really starting to click for me. I’m becoming more and more comfortable with the imperfect, preterite, and future tenses, and my vocabulary is growing everyday. The guys on the translation team and I are always exchanging vocabulary; they are having fun learning a little bit of English while I’m here. It’s nice because it is game rather than a bunch of one-way annoying questions.

Today we went to a small village about two hours away that is famous worldwide for its intricately painted wood boxes, clocks, bowls, masks, animal statues, and anything else that can be made out of wood. They make their crafts out of a type of wood that only grows in this region, and the detail of the designs is truly remarkable.

Plácido and Mark in a local shop. According to all the locals, the artisan who owned this shop was the best in the whole city.

Lions and tiger and demonic boar-like things, oh my!

Left to right: Benito, Emilia, Me, Plácido.

Well, that’s all for now. We’ll go to church tomorrow, and there is a possibility that I’ll go with Benito and Emy back to Zocitlan on Tuesday. We haven’t decided for sure yet. Have a blessed day.

Day 7 in Mexico (plus a few days prior)

Today was the first workday here in Tlapa. Prior to today, Esther and Mark have been on a pseudo-vacation. It is not that they haven’t been doing work, they have just been out of their normal routine, and for the past few days we have been doing touristy type stuff. Let me catch you up briefly on the last few days.

On Friday we spent the entire day on the road from Mitla to Tlapa. We arrived in Tlapa at around 10:30. The actual drive time was only about 8 hours, but we spent some time in Mitla running last minute errands and picking up the two other translators, Carol and Lynn, who were riding back to Tlapa with us, so we didn’t actually hit the road until about 12:30. Then figure in stops for lunch, gas, and stretching. 

We stopped for lunch but not for dinner. I mention this because the reason for it is an interesting cultural difference between Mexico and the US. The eating schedule here is off by about 3-4 hours from that of the typical American. Since I arrived, I haven’t eaten lunch before 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and we normally have dinner at around 8:00 PM. I think that once I get used to it I will actually like this schedule better; in the interim I am using apples to get me through to meal times. 

Saturday was relatively uneventful. Mark, Esther, and I had all been burning the candle at both ends for the last several days, so after a good 3-mile run in the morning, we spent the rest of the day unpacking and napping. That evening Mark and I decided to run in a “5K” race. I put 5K in parentheses because, though the ad in the paper said “certified 5K,” Mark and I measured it with Google Earth and by driving the route and found it was actually approx. 9K (5.4 miles). 

Mark, Mauri, and I before the race.

I woke up the morning of the race with what some have called “Montezuma’s revenge.” It is a common ailment caused by exposure to bacteria in the water in Mexico. I will say no more, except that it left me very dehydrated for the race and more than a little sick to my stomach. Still, I couldn’t not run, so I put on a brave face and accompanied Mark and his pastor friend Mauri to the starting line. 

During the race.

I got 7th place! Don’t let that fool you; I really didn’t have that great of the time. Mark and Mauri both finished before me. They are both seasoned runners (they have both run marathons).

After the race.

I was pretty sick by the end of the race, and after a brief shower and breakfast the Weathers and I headed quite tardily for the Me’phaa mission’s church service. We didn’t feel all that bad since Mauri is the pastor and he was also a little bit late. I must admit that I didn’t get much out of the service. I hadn’t expected that I would, because I assumed the service would be in Me’phaa. It turned out that it was conducted in Spanish. Nevertheless, Montezuma wouldn’t allow me to focus much at all. Luckily I was feeling enough better by the end of the service to enjoy an extended visiting time with the congregation. We even ended up giving two families a ride back into town. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I have not pictures from church. Next week!

That afternoon we took naps. Another part of the culture here is what is know as “ciesta time.” From about 2-4 in the afternoon, many businesses will close. During this time, the main meal of the day is eaten, and it is often accompanied by a nap. This is one aspect of Mexican culture I could definitely get used to!

In the evening, we pulled out Esther’s omnichord, an electronic musical instrument that is really quite hard to describe. It can simulate many different instrument after a fashion, and it can also function as a small midi keyboard. It has a very unique sound and is easy to play because it automatically forms chords and the keys for the chords are arranged in the circle of fifths. 

The omnichord. This is one funky instrument

We also watched a DVD of a music writing workshop put on by another Wycliffe couple working with a language group farther north. Then we discussed the need for original worship music in Me’phaa and how I might be involved in the process. It is actually much more doable than I anticipated.

Now we come back to today – finally. The translation team came in from surrounding villages in las montañas. I met Elías, Plácido, Benito, and Emy (Benito’s wife). They spent the day working on translations, and I spent the day learning Spanish (see previous post), reading articles on missions, and helping Mark with various computer related needs. 

Some of the translators at work.

Elías eating breakfast with us.

Benito. I will probably go and visit his village in a week or so.

Tomorrow I have a few more projects outlined that involve finding appropriate backup software and installing it on the computers. I think I have found an inexpensive top-of-the-line backup program that will really help simplify some things for Mark and the team. We’ll see.

Hasta mañana or someday soon thereafter.

Learning Spanish

For anyone who is interested, here is the transcription of a conversation I had today in a local store (tienda). I had an mp3 recorder in my pocket, so when I got home, I transcribed the conversation. It was a lot of fun, and I learn so much by going out, talking with natives, and then listening to the recording to catch anything I missed.

La conversación con Shelly:

Me - Buenos días! ¿Cómo estás?
Shelly – Bien. 
Me – Soy de estados unidos y estoy aprendiendo español poco a poco y quiero aprender más.
Shelly – OK
Me – ¿Cuanto tiempo has trabajado en esta tienda?
Shelly – Un año.
Me - ¿Un año? Muy bien. ¿Cuál es el horario de esta tienda?
Shelly - Nueve de la mañana. Ocho y media de la noche.
Me – ¿Qué es el nombre para esta tienda?
Shelly – Llavandaria cael. ¿Dónde vives?
Me – Vivo en los estados unidos, en dallas, texas. Y en mitla, vivo con los Weathers uno calle atrás (behind).
Shelly – And what are you doing here?
Me – Por un mes, estoy viviendo con los Weathers y aprendiendo español.
Shelly – ¿Solamente aprender español?
Me – No. No solamente, pero aprender español. También estoy trabajando con la traducción de la Biblia en Me’phaa. 
Shelly - ¿Traducciòn? Sí, pero habla bien español.
Me – Sí – poco. Quiero hablar en español, y estoy aprendiendo poco a poco.
Shelly – ¿Se le hace difícil?
Me – Sí.
Shelly - ¿Sí?
Me – ahh…. No sé.
Shelly – Pocito.
Me – Sí, pocito. Gracias. ¿Cómo se llama?
Shelly – Shelly
Me – Me llamo Wes.
Shelly – West?
Me – Wes. Es corto para Wesley. Mucho gusto.
Shelly – Mucho gusto. Cuando usted quiere practicar, usted me enseñe inglés y yo te enseño español. Podemos practicar.
Wes – Sí. ¿Puedo venir aquí y puedo practicar español y tu puedes practicar inglés?
Shelly – Sí.
Wes – Muy bien. Muchas gracias. ¡Adios!

Most of that isn't super complicated, but at the rate that she was speaking, it felt great to be able to understand most of what she said and carry on a productive conversation with her.

Day 3 in Mexico

I wrote this on Thursday but couldn't post it until today:

Today we went on a big outing. It was an all day affair, and along with us came Naomi, Liz, and David Gonzalez. David is one of the cutest 6 year olds I have ever met, and his mother Naomi and her sister Liz were warm-hearted. I enjoyed speaking Spanish with them, and they were very understanding and helpful.

David. He had me wrapped around his little finger.

David with his mother Naomi.

Liz is David's aunt and Naomi's sister.

After picking up the Gonzalez family, we drove up into the mountains until we came to the top of the pass over the mountain range. At about 9,360 ft., we stopped to have a picnic lunch in a meadow that Mark and Esther had been to before. Mark told me a story about the last time they went to this particular meadow with some friends from Mitla. They arrived to have lunch there at about 2:00 PM on a rare clear day during the rainy season. As soon as Mark pulled off the road, he felt his car sink down just a little. A few hours later, when they decided to leave, he got in the car, and as soon as he pressed the gas pedal the car sank in up to its axels. They didn’t get home until 1:00 AM.

Our experience was much more pleasant. I climbed up into a huge cactus plant and had my picture taken. David and I played catch with pine cones, and when he tired of that, Mark and I worked together to rig up a “columpio” out of rope and tow straps that Mark had in the Durango. David got endless enjoyment out of this makeshift swing, and I got endless enjoyment watching him (and pushing him). After a picnic lunch of tuna fish sandwiches, manzanas (apples), and jugo de mango (mango juice), we packed up to go down the other side of the mountain where we visited a trout farm.

I am standing in the middle of a huge cactus plant. What is amazing is that the plant pictured is nowhere near the biggest of these that we saw.

Mark pushing David on his columpio. "Mas alto! Mas!"

The trout have to be imported from a hatchery several hours away, and they are kept in various pools along a hill. There is a makeshift waterfall between each pool, which has something to do with the oxygen levels in the water I think. The restaurant where you can buy cooked trout was closed, and no one in the expedition wanted to carry home raw fish. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed watching David feed the trout.

David crossing the bridge at the trout farm.

We took a different route back down the mountain than we had taken coming up, so we got to go even higher (10,500 ft.) and passed through several small mountain villages. One of the villages was having their annual town fair. We heard several homemade fireworks go off, and we saw the men constructing a huge firework tower for the show later.

The trout farm.

Today was the first day that we used primarily Spanish for the whole day. Since the Gonzalez family didn’t speak English and I am trying to learn Spanish, all our conversation was in Spanish. It was exhilarating for the first few hours, comfortable for the next few, and exhausting towards the end of the day. It requires constant focus and mental processing to trace even the most simple of conversations. Nevertheless, I learned a ton, and I am looking forward to another month of exhilarating, exhausting, informative interaction in a country I am growing to love.

Beautiful pine forests at the top of the mountains.

I took this on the way back down the mountain. David leaned out the window to take everything in almost the whole way.

When we got back to Mitla, we went straight to the Gonzalez’s church for their evening service. It was much harder to understand the Spanish spoken during the sermon than the Spanish we had been using all day. For one thing, my brain was running on reserves. Plus, the pastor was from El Salvador originally and had a strong accent. Also, during the day I could use events and motions to guide me in understanding the conversation; the sermon was given with few useful motions, and my only guide was the fact that I was fairly familiar with the text of 1 Corinthians 11. 

The church we attended was located in this pavilion next to the Gonzalez's house.

At the beginning of the service we sang a few worship songs. I was able to participate pretty well, though I didn’t always know the meaning of the songs, because I could predict the melody pretty well based on the chord patterns and the lyrics of the songs were in the bulletin. When we finished singing, the pastor, Americo, split us into pairs. Each pair was assigned three verses out of 1 Cor. 11 to read and discuss. I was paired with an older lady, and I’m sorry to say we did little discussion. Still, our interaction was cordial, and when I saw her in the market today in Mitla, we exchanged familiar greetings.

The guitar that was used during the service belonged to Liz, so afterwards I asked her if I could play. We ended up singing together and trying to find out which English worship songs had been translated into Spanish. The Gonzalez family came back to our place to eat, and on the way we stopped at “Taco Brown” to get some awesome tacos. After the meal we sang and laughed the night away.
I feel as if I have been here for a month already, but it has actually been just a few days. Tomorrow the rest of my time here will take shape as we return to Tlapa where the Weathers live and work. They will be translating during the day, and I will begin the work the Lord has for me to do here, whatever that may be.

Food from Taco Brown. Good food and great fellowship.

Day 2 in Mexico

I wrote this on Wednesday but couldn't post it until today:

My brain is tired! After only my second day in Mexico, my brain is exhausted from all the learning, but I am having such a blast as I meet new people, experience a new culture, and learn a new language. 

Whenever I see or hear a word that I don’t know, I try to ask Mark what it means as soon as possible, so my vocabulary is gradually expanding. In the next few days I am going to try to get out into the streets and speak with natives as much as possible. Each day I will have several phrases that I will try to use repeatedly, but I think that with the amount I know I can also just have some general conversations with people without too much trouble. People are so friendly, so as long as I say “Soy de Estados Unidos. Quiero aprender Espan~ol” or something similar they are happy to have a conversation with me and try to be cognizant of their rate of speech.

After sleeping only an hour and a half in the Mexico City airport on Monday night and going straight from the airport to visit the ancient ruins at Monte Alban, I crashed yesterday at about 4:30PM. I slept until 9:00AM the next morning, although I was awake for a few hours in the middle of the night. Even after all the sleep, I am ready to crash. Today was a full day.

Mark and I went today to see “hierve el agua,” which literally means “it boils the water.” To get there we had to traverse a 7500 ft. mountain via a dirt road. The views were spectacular; the ride was bumpy. It was well worth the trip. 

One of the sediment waterfalls.

The more impressive "sediment-fall."

For centuries natural mineral springs have been bubbling out of various holes in the side of the mountain. As a result, solid waterfall-like structures have formed from sediment deposits. It was quite a hike. When I get a faster internet connection, I will upload whole albums of this expedition and my trip to Monte Alban yesterday (pictured below).

Some of these structures date back to over 500 years before Christ. These ruins were truly incredible to explore on Tuesday.

We arrived back from hierve el agua at 4:00PM to our house in Mitla, which is known as the Miller House. It is a large house that used to be owned by a family of translators who were some of the first to work among the indigenous population near Mitla. Now the house is owned by SIL and has been divided into three apartments used to house various translators when they are in town. Soon thereafter we left to go and have dinner with Tim and Rebecca. This couple used to live in Tlapa. They work with the Southern Baptist Mission organization. Tim is involved in training church planters to use a method of evangelism that utilizes story telling. They lived in New Orleans for many years, and we had some wonderful jambalaya. 

Tim and Rebecca...sideways.

The whole dinner party!

Car rides seem to be particularly informative for me because I sit in the front with Mark and question him about Spanish and other things for most of the ride. Mark and Esther have forgotten more than I’ll ever know, so I figure if I keep my ears open I will learn a ton.

Well, I am exhausted. I am supposed to jog with Mark tomorrow at 6:45, so I will call it a night. Hasta luego.

First Post from Mexico!

I am sitting in el aeropuerto de la Cuidad de Mexico (The Mexico City airport).  I found some unsecured wireless signal from a local restaurant so I could get online.  It is currently 3:20 AM, and I leave for Oaxaca in about 4 hours.

On the plane, I sat next a very nice Irish gentleman.  He lives in Chicago but is traveling to  Mexico City on business.  We talked quite a bit, which was enjoyable.  In the airport I have had several successful exchanges with native speakers in which I understood probably 50% or more of what the other person was saying, which was good enough to get the job done, especially with gestures and body language helping.

At the airport I used my phone card to call Mark Weathers to let him know that I arrived safely.  He told me that some friends of his family were going to visit some famous ruins outside of Oaxaca and that I would be welcome to join them.  I know I will be very tired, but I figure I can sleep anytime; I don't want to miss an opportunity like that!

Well, that's all for now.  I'll write again when I am safely in Oaxaca.