Oh, Youth Group Fun!

Wow! A journal entry that's not about soccer!!! heehee!

I have a few pictures of youth group stuff from our church here at Horizonte.

Here are some kids in a typical youth group game - having to hum a song with your mouth full of water, and everyone else has to guess what song it is.

We are starting small groups in the youth group, and me and Aaron are in charge of the high schoolers. We hope that eventually, we'll have enough high schoolers that I can take the girls and Aaron can take the guys. But right now, there's only two guys.

And then there's the University crazy people of the youth group (yep, I'm university age here!) Last night, several of us went to see Poseidon Adventure. And afterewards, we decided we needed to go to the Centro for some Juajolotes (HUGE sandwiches made on big rolls dipped in hot sauce, with meat, cheese, cream, avocado, tomato, lettuce, beans, and chiles) Chalio brought his car to the theater, so we decided that since he had to go in the car anyway, we ALL should go in the car! Only 7 of us went to the Centro, but did I mention that Chalio's car is a VW bug?!

Here is me, JP, Alma Rosa, Nora, and Lauren in the back seat (Alma's in the WAY back)

And this picture is difficult to see, Chalio took it by putting the camera out the window in front of the windshield. So we have Kristen, Me, JP, Alma, Nora, and Chalio. Lauren's squished back there somewhere!

It's great fun to hang out in the Centro on sunday evenings! There are like 5 plazas that have music, and LOTS of places to eat! We also ran into Job and Alex from church, and three other people who we all know from Global.

Living here is good!!

And the Curse Continues

Alas, we are no more.

Mexico scored two goals today, to Argentina's one goal. Unfortunatly our little friend Borgetti scored his goal in Argentina's goal. So they won. And we are no longer in the World Cup. And I am sad. And I have no voice from yelling at the Mexican National Soccer team today. And my favorite Mexican soccer player, who has been on the Chivas (my favorite Mexican soccer team) is going to play for some dumb european team (if he doesn't play for Madrid, I quit).

Well, I will probably quit being quite so fanatical about the World Cup now..... GOOOO BRASIL!!!!!!!!!!

Here is me and Rafa Marquez looking sad together after Mexico's 1-2 loss to Argentina.

I retired my Mexico jersey today. It can come out again maybe when I go to a Gallos Blancos game this year.

Oswaldo, Rafa, Kikín, and Omar. So What Happend??

I am in the process of losing my voice. Why? Beacuase for almost two hours I was yelling at the Mexican National Soccer team. They probably heard me in Germany too. As any of you who follow the World Cup know, Mexico lost today. 2-1 Portugal. It was so ridiculous! Both Portugal and Mexico scored one goal fair and square (yay Kikín!). Then Portugal got a penalty shot, and made it. But it was a REALLY good shot, can't blame that one on Oswaldo (the goalie). THEN, Mexico got a penalty shot when we really didn't deserve one, and good ol' Omar Bravo MISSED it. Just him and the goalie, and he missed. Then there were the other two or three shots that Bravo got off, that were RIDICULOUSLY far away from hitting the goal.

Thankfully, Angola and Iran (the other teams in our group) tied 1-1, letting Mexico still miraculously move on to the next round of the Cup. We play Argentina on Saturday. The odds are not good.

Here is my new favorite picture:

Me, Oswaldo Sanchez, and Arelly!!

Vaaaamos Mexico........

How Can You TIE in the WORLD CUP?!?!?!

So there WERE a lot of people in Global yesterday for the Mexico/Angola game! There was also a lot of yelling and jumping up and down... Mexico played pretty well, I think we had possession of the ball like 65% of the time, but Angola's goalie, oh man, NOTHING (Litterally!) got by him! We had about 8 REALLY good shots that totally should've gone in. I'm sorry to say that if Angola had as many good shots against Mexico, Oswaldo wouldn't have been able to block them all. I think it should be against the rules to TIE in the World Cup, but we tied 0-0. Uff.

But I do have some interesting pictures!

Here's most of the people who crammed into Global to watch and cheer:

Afterwards, lots of us went bowling!!

And here are the new gringas who you haven't seen yet:

Brasil Scapes By, Ecuador Eats Tico Pie

As promised, I put a photo on here of festivities of the World Cup. Here is me with Brasil jersey and Brasil flag painted on my face. The white screen behind me is the game, but it was too light to see it with the camera flash...


Brasil played Croatia on Tuesday, surprisingly only winning 1-0. It was a really good game though, Croatia plays awesome.

Then....... there was today. Ecuador v. Costa Rica at 8am. Yep, I went to Global to watch it. But, it wasn't televised! I was a bit perterbed at having gotten up so early and not be able to watch. So I decided to listen to it on the radio on the internet. Better to have just taken a nap or something.... Ecuador won 3-0. I have a hard time being upset that Ecuador is doing really well in the Cup, they ARE an acceptable latino country. But I still go the Central America route. Ecuador now qualifies for the next round, and Costa Rica doesn't (although they still have one sympathy game to play against Poland next week).

Friday, MEXICO v. ANGOLA!!!! Should be good!! We are expecting quite a crowd at Global for this one - a bunch of people from church are coming, and today everyone who came in was saying that they would come and bring friends. So, we could have like 8 people, or we could have like 40. We'll see...
Pictures of the festivites to come probably saturday...

Do Gringos Taste Good?

Is it correct English to say "we got eaten?" Or should it be "we got et?" Anyhow, in spanish "comer" or "eat" is what you do to the other team in sports when you whoop them big time. The Chech Republic got a BIG taste of the USA today, as in a 3-0 win for the Chechs. Yep, they "ate" us big time. I went (again) to Global to watch the game on the big screen, and those same Miguel and Chuy who were NOT rooting for Costa Rica on Friday were NOT rooting for the USA today either. Well, I decided that for those of you (probably all two of you who read this!) who don't care much about soccer, I will try to take a picture at all the major games (major in my opinion being any game that USA, Brasil, Mexico, or Costa Rica are playing in) so you can see a little bit of game-day fun. Like today, I have NO USA soccer jersey, so I did my best in red white and blue and added some face paint. Checo let me put a flag on his face too, even though you can bareley see it... Speaking of Checo... in Spanish, people from the Chech Republic are called "Checos." That is also the nickname here for people named Sergio. But Checo didn't root for the Checos...


And I found another interesting picture today to share with you... Last week, I put up a few pictures of the 70's nite that we had a the cafe, but lamented that I didn't have any pictures of me in my 70's clothes. Yep, that orange and brown thing toward the left-middle of the picture is me... heehee!

And the Winner Is... SANCHEZ

Yes, the locura (madness) has begun!!! Friday morning was the World Cup inaguration, and first game - Germany v. Costa Rica. I was unpleasantly surprised that some of my friend here were rooting for Germany... A bunch of us gathered friday morning at Global to watch the game on the big screen projector. Costa Rica lost 2-4, but better luck next game.

Today was Mexico's first game, against Iran. After church was over this morning, we gathered in front of the screen at church to watch the last half of Mexico v. Iran. WE WON 3-1!!!!! Everyone knew that they had to win this game (and all that follow) for Oswaldo Sanchez, the goalie (also goalie of my favorite team - Chivas). His dad was going to leave Mexico for the first time ever to go to Germany to watch his son play in the World Cup. Then he died last sunday or monday. But Sanchez is back in the game, playing for his dad, who would be proud.



Monday is the USA's first game. We play Chech Republic. I realized today that I have no USA paraphanelia - I have Mexico jersey and flag, Brasil jersey and flag, and I cheated for Costa Rica and wore a Honduras jersey, but I don't have anything to wear for my own country!! Sad.

Anyhow, apart from soccer, I expect this week to be rather busy - we are planning a week of 3 hour english classes for NEXT WEEK (yikes!!), enrolling the new gringas in spanish classes, hosting World Cup at Global, I have some Bible Studies going on, a video to help make for youth group, and youth camp planning meetings. Wow. I LOVE all that I am involved in (with the possible exception of the english week that I'm not super excited about...) so I know it is great!! I'll be catching up on sleep today and monday to prepare for the next two weeks...

AND... GREAT NEWS!!!!!! Apryl, my good friend since I was one year old, is coming to visit me in Mexico in August!! She is coming for like 9 days. We hope to go to Oaxaca to visit her sponsor child there (although transportation is becoming a bigger headache for that everyday...) and hang out in QRO. I'm REALLY looking forward to that!!!!!

And for any of you who have entirely too much time on your hands, check out THIS. I KNEW Oregonians drive better than anyone else! Now we have the proof...

And Sometimes, Pictures Just Don't Turn Out Right!

Here we have what would have been a nice picture of Jenn and Mario. I found this in some pictures from last week. But, as you probably notice, it DIDN'T turn out to be such a nice picture, thanks to the lovely words in the background! haha!! To explain, we had karaoke going, and those are words to "YMCA." I laughed REALLYYYYYYY hard when I saw this!! heehee!

The New TV

(Adendum to my last post: I gave in and called our spanish school to change our placement test time to 10am instead of 11am, so hopefully I'll only miss the first half of Germany v. Costa Rica... I know, it's rediculous!)

Two other gringas - Lauren and Kristen - arrived yesterday to work with our ministry for a couple months. I went to Mexico City to pick them up. I don't know why bus travel drains the life out of me, but I always come home really tired - 6 hours (3 hours at a time) on a bus that is WAYYYYY more comfortable than an airplane, PLUS a trip to the Starbucks in Mexico City, I had no reason to be so tired! Ahh!

So today, I went with the girls on a self-directed tour of QRO - as in, I gave them a sheet of directions to various locations around QRO, and they found their way on busses, walking, etc. to the locations I had specified, and I just walked around with them, being of no help when they didn't know what a street name was, etc.... which was the point of the whole thing.

At one point, we passed Elektra - an electronics/appliance/furniture store, and I stopped in for a second to buy more minutes for my cell phone. Upon paying for my air time, the Elektra lady told me that I could get a TV with my purchase for just one peso. That's like a dime! So I said sure, I'd like the TV, gave her a peso, and they brought out a little tiny TV for me. (I knew it would be tiny, what do you expect for one peso?!) That was at like 12:30, at the BEGINNING of our trek through QRO. I carried the stupid TV box for an hour and a half, then we ate lunch, and I went to teach an english class, and I ended up having to carry my TV all the way home (like 20 minutes more of walking). At least the thing is miniscule. But still, a 9X9X12 (or so) inches box filled with a TV isn't light. And I kept laughing because it seemed funny that I carried around a TV all day. Well, I got it home, and it does in fact work. So there's my interesting Mexico story for today - getting a TV for a peso.

You Know You're Adjusting to Latino Culture When...

You have to compulsively check ESPN.com before scheduling anything to make sure there's not a World Cup Soccer game at that same time! You wouldn't want to miss a game, or worse yet, make anyone ELSE miss a game!

Haha! Seriously, I am making a schedule for some gringas who are coming to work with us for two months, and I check to make sure we're not missing Mexico or Brasil games! Of course, we have cable at the cafe, and will be showing at least all the televised games that involve Mexico or Brasil. That just struck me as funny! Friday begins the madness - Germany v. Costa Rica at 11am (here). I think the Germans who made the game schedule chose that to be the first game of the Cup because they knew there is no way that they WON'T beat Costa Rica (poor Ticos...) I'll root for Costa Rica anyway - Central America represent! Well, I'll root for them AFTER returning from me and the other girls' spanish placement test that I accidentally scheduled at 11am on friday BEFORE consulting ESPN.com... haha! I figure we'll get the last 15 mintues or so of the game...

On a happier note for those of you who don't care about soccer, here are a few pictures from this past friday night - '70's night at the cafe!!

Brisa, Lluvia and Justin

Estefani, Laura, and Alvaro enjoying karaoke!

I unfortunately don't have any pictures of ME at the party! I had a brown dress with big orange and yellow dots on it, so you can use your imagination! After the party, a lot of us went downtown to enjoy "Antojitos," of basically the traditional Mexican version of fast food. I got home at 1am, probably not the best idea considering how much stuff I have going on this week, but it sure was fun! There is another group of gringos here, with Southern Baptist missionaries, and our friend Nolan is hosting them. He's my age, and the group of gringos are like early 20's, so with them, and several people from Global, we enjoyed downtown at night, and food that the other gringos kept worrying about getting sick from... haha!

Alan, Jenn, Mariana, and Silvia - Jenn's last day in QRO, with her Mexican family.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Mexico City to pick up 2 new gringas who will be working with us for 2 months!!

No More Annonymous Please!

I am all for people commenting on my journal entries, but PLEASE let me know who you are. You don't have to have a Blogger account to post a comment, but you CAN leave your name. Also, what I write here is my thoughts - hence the name "Mis Pensamientos," so if I say things like "Queretaro is in the middle of the desert," that is MY opinion, in this case comparing Queretaro to my home town, which is wet and green. Queretaro is not either of those on a regular basis... in comparison to how I grew up.

So: Comments = good. People annonymously "correcting" the thoughts from my brain that happen to make it into this blog = NOT COOL.

Thank you.

Daily Life

Here are a few pictures so you can see who I am with, and what I do on a regular basis!

Above is most of the Horizonte youth leadership team: (L to R in back, then the guy in front) Adiel (the youth pastor), Aron, me, Jenn (but she left today to go back to the States), Nadia (Adiel's wife), Julian, and J.P.

We meet every Friday to plan the youth meeting for Saturday evening, as well as planning special events, which right now is the youth camp in July.

Every Wednesday, we have a potluck at Global with the people who work there, and pretty much anyone else who wants to come. Here is: Justin, Lluvia, Nacho, Vanessa, Jonathan, and me. Yep, I cook! I make good "chori-frijoles" (refried beans with mexican sausage) and "guisos" (meat and vegetables cooked together in tomato sauce and meat juice). And my no-bake cheese cake (Thanks mom!!) is a big hit too!

And here's my new method of transportation! No, not really, there's a moto/bike/scooter sales place next door to us, and we are friends with the employees, so one night when they were bringing in the bikes, they let us ride them! That bike was sooo tiny, I could lift it up by myself. I think I'd be embarassed to actually ride that around town!

(Just to follow up on the last blog entry, the NEXT night, I was woken up at 1am by Gaby because the house almost flooded! It was POURING down raing, and you could see the water in the street rising, and it entered the place where the car can be parked, and was coming up to the step up to the house. I moved all my electric stuff up onto my desk, and got my suitcase (storage!) out of the 2nd shower (our storage cupboard) because we could hear the water starting to come up the drain. Thankfully, we didn't flood, the water started flowing down the street instead of just sitting there!!)