It’s been a long week.
Satan has been working hard here and we’ve definitely been feeling
it. I’ve not been here for quite a month
yet, but I feel like I’ve lived here forever.
Rule #1 about the ranch, things always change. Never count on things going as planned,
because something will usually happen. It’s
not my place to share the hardships at this time, but your prayers for our
family here will be greatly appreciated.
I’ll use this week to introduce you to most faces, and share a few
stories as well.
Meet
Martita, one of the older girls. I managed to get a good shot of her through
the kitchen window during evening chores. Martita
isn’t the strongest of English speakers, so we have a lot of fun playing, “What
do you mean?” as we try to work with the language barrier. This past week we got to both struggle with English as I helped her study for a science test. Dinosaur names are hard enough to say in your native language!
Jocelin
and Fatima. Two of my English students,
and a couple of sweet looking girls always ready to jump in on mischief! Fati doesn’t really like photos, so I was
extremely pleased when she gave in to this shot with Joce. Joce has always been very friendly towards me
and loves to pick or tease (don’t they all!), but I had to work a bit to gain
Fati’s friendship. Ever since English
started however, my students and I tend to have a good time together in the
evenings!
Ana,
one of my kindergarteners. While we
aren’t that close yet, she’ll find a way to tease me any chance she
gets. Ana’s very much attached to her
older sisters and to Julie, so aside from kinder, I haven’t spent much time
with her alone. However, Ana's rarely without something to say, and we all enjoy listening to her say a prayer for the family! Ana's only six, but she's still the oldest of my kinder class and she's starting to understand what it means to take the lead as oldest.
Welcome to the Park! During recess every day, the kids go down to
the park and have 15 minutes to play and eat their snack. By the time I get down there, at least half
the kids are stack on the slide! I
managed to get a good shot after dinner one night when Vicki took the kids
down. (I say “down” because the “park”
is literally down the hill from the house.)
Krista
and Josias. All three of us, Vicki,
Krista, and I, enjoy playing with the kids when we get the chance. Josias likes to grab Krista or me to go do
different stuff, and so here we have Krista and Josias on a teeter-totter! This may have been the first I saw it used
since my arrival. However, it's no doubt a nice change of pace from Risk. Josias is one of the older boys, and his English has helped both Krista and I countless times as the younger children can be hard to understand.
Caleb,
another English student. Caleb is
definitely a class clown. He can speak
English fairly well, so it can be hard to get him to pay attention during
class. Not to mention, Caleb doesn't seem to like school very much, so we've had some long school days here and there. Outside of school, Caleb is
always looking for trouble. Lately that’s been looking for my water bottle so that it
can be held hostage. I'm pretty sure Caleb's the one who started the ranch saying, "No more English!"
Talk
about a view! This is Popocatépetl, Popo
for short. Most every morning I get to
see this when I go outside around 7:30. The
sun rises just beside it, and I get to watch it fade behind the clouds/fog that
rolls in for the half hour until breakfast. It's gorgeous, especially when you can see the smoke rising from it. (It is an active volcano, and we actually had ash over here one morning from it's activity.)
Sometimes, like when I got this shot, we can see Popo in the evening as
the sun sets.
Krista
and Carolina. Carol decided earlier this
week that she likes me and so we’ve started having a lot of fun together. Carol’s 7, and it’s been a blast carrying her
around, spinning with her, and other odd things that we can do in just a couple
of minutes for a quick laugh! When I had
my camera out for photos, I had to get of shot of Carol, so she started to
climb on Krista. It was a good night all
in all, even if a lot of kids didn’t want pictures!
Alejandro,
the little engineer. Ale is the newest
member of the family, and his English is basically non-existent. I’ve gotten a lot of my Spanish practice
while talking to him! Needless to say, Ale is another one of my English students, and he enjoys making it hard for me to teach. Ale loves to
create things. Earlier this week he
wanted to make a kite, and I got to help him revise the design after it wouldn’t
fly. Ale’s 12, but he certainly acts
like a little kid discovering the world!
Victor
and Fidel. Victor can often be seen
giving the kids a hard time or wrestling with them. It’s been so great to watch him interacting
with the kids; just a quick joke or scare and we’re all laughing! I’ve loved that he basically includes us (the
volunteers) in his playing too, I’ll be helping in the house and get poked in
the side or randomly hugged. I honestly feel like a part of the family with how he greets me. I tried to
get a shot of Fidel fighting Victor, but it didn’t work out. Instead, we have the outcome. Victor won and was kind enough to hold his
victory pose for me. At least I finally
got a shot of Fidel!
Taco
night. Thursday the teachers went out
for tacos. Krista and I were told that
we couldn’t live in Mexico and not experience taco night at a local
restaurant. So at 8:00-ish, a group of 9
piled into the van to go meet Mireya and her sons for tacos. What a time!
We were outside, it was a cool night, and there was live music. The singer went around asking people to sing
different lines, and so we all heard Adrian sing, plus a number of strangers.
Vero,
Adrian, and Mireya. Vero is one of our
teachers she’s learning English and she likes to practice when talking to
Krista or me, so we’ve had a few good laughs together as she tries to
improve. Vero was the one who invited us
to taco night. Adrian is Vero’s husband;
he helps victor out with the crusades, and I haven’t seen his other job(s) yet
as I’m usually cooped up inside the school.
Mireya comes to teach the younger kids every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She's also the loving soul who put us through the professional development days!
The
kids and Vicki. Angie and Martita joined
us on taco night, as did Mireya’s sons. Here's Angie, Joel, Vicki, and Martita. Joel is Mireya’s
younger son; he comes to the ranch with her every Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday. While his spoken English isn’t
very good, he understands English fairly well.
Vicki is my other roomie. She is
amazing with the children, and it’s so cool to watch her play with them or even
give a hug at the right time. She’s a
very strong godly woman who’s balancing seminary while serving at the ranch!
Jorge,
Krista, and me. Jorge is Mireya’s older
son, and he only comes to the ranch on Fridays. Jorge speaks English about as
well as Angie, and he acts like an older brother to the kids. In the evenings he’ll often play with David
or the other younger kids. Krista has
been a great friend here, someone I can talk to about home, and who’s experiencing
similar things. I don’t know what I’ll
do when she leaves. I realize this may
be one of the first pictures of me, but it’s hard enough to get snapshots of
life here. I’m so busy living that I
forget to keep my camera on hand.
Rosa,
Nayeli, and Vero. Rosa is our amazing
cook. She used to own a restaurant but
now works at the ranch. I’ve loved
experiencing the Mexican meals, and I look forward to hopefully getting a few
recipes before I leave! Nayeli comes
twice a week to help with cleaning. On
Thursdays she stays the night to finish cleaning on Friday. That's why she was able to join us on the late night outing. It’s always a plus to see her smiling face
around the ranch.
Krista
the pianist. Krista teaches piano
lessons to each child once a week. When
she’s not teaching, she can still often be found practicing or just playing for
fun. The house has had some beautiful
background music in the afternoons and evenings thanks to her! Even amidst all the chaos of having so many kids in one house, you can still hear the relaxing piano notes throughout the rooms.
We
have a horse. You never know where
you’ll find our lawn mower for the day.
Sometimes he’s down by the park, other days he’s back behind the
school. Yet, every once in awhile, he’s
not even where he’s meant to be! Meet
our horse, who likes to escape. One day,
all the kids actually came running into the house, Julie closed the door
quickly behind them, and suddenly the horse was walking across the front porch!
Fatima,
Martha, and Fidel. Here’s Fati hiding from the camera as usual, Martha playing with an old
keyboard, and Fidel, who’s likely up to some kind of mischief. Martha is fairly quiet, and her English is
very weak. Fidel is an ornery kiddo. He’s fun to pick on, because he’ll give it
right back. If he’s not trying to pick
on someone, you almost ought to worry because peace from Fidel can be the calm before the storm! Yesterday he spent most of the
morning running from Angie, because he kept getting himself into trouble with
her. However, that’s Fidel!
“I’m
thinking!” Leonardo was a hard one to
get a good picture of; he’s fought me from step one, mostly because I want a
photo of him. Leo is Fati’s younger
brother, one of them, and they both have the same streak of trouble. I have Leo in English as well, and we have a
good time, though there’s usually a bit of stubbornness from him. He’s often with Fidel and Ale, so there’s
usually a band of boys trying to bug me in some way, or else they’ll get their
pretend games going outside.
Tree
House, “In Progress.” Until taco night,
it was nearly impossible to get a good shot of Joel. However, this photo is about right for
him. Joel studies with us in the
mornings, but in the afternoons, after school lets out, he’ll usually go off on
his own and listen to music or just sit. The unfinished tree house is undoubtedly a quieter place to hang out on the ranch, and it's a great place to observe what's going on. Joel’s a lot calmer/quieter than the Zaragoza children, but when he does
socialize, he’s often found with Fidel or Josias.
Leo
and Vicki. Leo likes to play with
Vicki. I managed to get a shot of them
playing with a tennis ball which turned into some form of wrestling when the
camera was seen. You’ll notice the white
bandage on the back of Leo’s head. While
swinging one night, Leo fell off the swing and his head caught the corner of
the seat. He’ll have the bandage for a
few more days, but it hasn’t stopped him from going back to his usual style of
playing!
Ruth
and Berenice. Berenice is a neighbor
girl who lives a little below us on the mountain. Her parents help on the ranch, and were the
ones who picked me up at the airport.
Berenice and her brother both come up for school every day. Both children are in Krista's English class, and they're in the same "grade level" as Ruth and Carol. We’ll often see the siblings around until dinner
because they’re playing with the younger kids all afternoon!
Dance
Fati! Adrian has fun with the kids and
likes to pick on them, just like an older brother. Yesterday I saw him dancing with Fati and
managed to get a shot. Dancing is
something all the girls here seem to like, and even a number of the boys will
randomly dance if they hear music. Joce,
Lolis, Carol, Angie, and I’m not sure who else, have all tried to get me to
dance with them… it’s been amusing to say the least!
Okay, a couple of short
stories. Wednesday night after dinner,
Carol decided she wanted me to carry her around. She ended up on my back and we did “horsey”
laps around the house. David saw us and
wanted in on the fun. So I traded kids
and we started another lap. Soon Dani
joined us, so I traded kids again. I now
had Carol leading, David beside me, and Dani on my back. Next it was Ana’s turn for a ride. Ruth decided to walk behind us, so we unded
up with our own parade marching around the house! Next thing I know I’m carrying Ana down to
the park, and then Dani up to the house and back to the park. Ale, upon seeing the whole thing decides he
wants a turn. So I get a twelve year old
boy on my back, walk around a bit, and am ready to collapse! Needless to say, I got my daily exercise.
This next story covers a few
days… Tuesday night I was giving the boys a hard time. Suddenly, Fidel puts me under arrest. I’m put into “jail”, David and Dani’s room,
but I’m a smart criminal, so I keep escaping before they can close me in. Josias decides that I should be tied up. I wasn’t too worried until Fidel brought out
the Duct tape. I got three layers on my
mouth, and then my hands were taped together. However, I was a good prisoner and I let them
tie me up. I escaped in two minutes, so
they had to try again. My hands were
taped behind me this time, and they taped my legs to my chair. I was out in three minutes, and we called it
a night. However, I was warned that it
wasn’t the end.
Thursday I was trying to finish a load of
laundry before we left for tacos.
Suddenly I hear, “Donde está Mikayla?” from one of the boys. A couple of the younger boys step into the
laundry room and ask me to go with them.
They were up to something, but I hadn’t a clue what. I get to the doorway and Fidel throws a
blanket over my head and tries to get me to the house. Three boys (at least) pulling me down the
ramp that leads back to the house. I
can’t remember if I escaped them once or not, but they eventually got me back
into “jail”, and if it weren’t that Krista came and saw them holding the door
closed, I’m not sure how long I would’ve stayed in there. After the jailbreak though, I still had to
run from another capture. Something
tells me the war isn’t over.
