Got Everything But a Plumber's Crack

So, my family's toilet broke. The flush handle had gone limp. Opened the tank, saw a broken part, fixed it, closed it up and put it back together. Thanks to some yarn from a crocheting project, a fork and some very kind scissors, and Nelly the angel who helped with it all. All in time to flush before the family saw.

Lose a Wallet, Buy Some Duct Tape

Outside cover

Thin, heavy cardboard base

First pocket. It's a ring around some paper that's the size of a dollar bill folded in half, and is stuck on the base.

Finished first pocket. I wrapped it with duct tape to secure it down and get rid of the sticky face.

Three card pockets, big enough to hold two cards each. I cheated this time and just wrapped tape around the base to make the pockets. Usually I do individual tape donuts for each and I think that looks a little better.

Making a pocket

Final outer layer to cover any odd tape ends

And bam, brand spanking new wallet :)

These are some of the main steps in making my new wallet. I have 3 current requests for other people. Exciting. My wallet got lost my first month here, and I got tired of this inconvenience, not having a wallet, that is. So I made one yesterday. The first one I ever made was with silver tape, much higher quality, and the inside was woven with black and white duct tape. So cool! Also lost that wallet. I see a pattern occurring here....

Update, it's getting hard, sometimes one of my host sisters pretends I don't exist. Even when I'm talking to her. Church is still great, the members are amazing. I have friends around town who work in different shops, and one even agreed to come to church with me. The food still tastes great and I've got a little collection of recipes going. I'm basically living off of grilled cheese sandwhiches and water right now, I'll definitely appreciate fruits and veggies and the opportunity and Permission to exercise when I get home. I can hardly remember what that was like. Sad....

I miss my little brother. I mention him all the time. I try not to talk about him too much because I'm sure someone will get sick of hearing it. Whenever I play with kids his age he pops into my mind, and there are things all over that make me think of him. Like a cake with a huge picture of Ben Ten or Spiderman on it, bracelets that say his name and a few other things. I love you Mikey! That's for shore. I miss the opportunity I had to play with him, and I miss his voice and his marshmallow cheeks. It'll be a real REAL treat to see him again and spend time with him. He is also a very very good comforter. I've missed that a few times. Well, 6 days left. And the final count down begins. I leave Tuesday night for the airport, and by Wednesday morning I'll be on my way home. :)

Feel the Burn

I learned that white girls should put sunblock on before being in the sun for a few hours. And then should not go swimming for the next 4 hours.

This is an Aloe Vera plant. I've been slowly cutting away at it and sliming myself up with it. It helps moisturize and heal the skin. It's great. So Dad, I cut it in half, then scored it, wiped it on myself, and then would just keep re-scoring it until there was hardly any water left in it.

Ximena! The Angel

This is Ximena. She's definitely a favorite. This morning she came really early so we just sat and colored. She drew some purple and yellow birds, and a sun, and I drew an abstract tree. She copied me with a tree and later I copied her grass idea. I hope you enjoy the pictures! I know we loved taking them. She sure got a kick out of it. :D

MOM'S VISITING MOM'S VISITING MOM'S VISITING!

MONDAY

Mom and I had such a blast this week! We started off in Puebla, where we stayed in a super inexpensive hotel, which was gorgeous and furnished with furniture that looked like it was from a century ago in Spain. Super cool. We toured around there for a bit, hung out with the ILP host families that live there, and then took a bus the next day to Tehuacán.

TUESDAY

This day's plan was nice and simple, but executing it was a whole different story. We woke up early at our hotel, had a Fabulous breakfast downstairs, did some shopping and then headed over to Tehuacán for the rest of the afternoon. In Tehuacán we checked in to a pricier, but very safe, hotel called Hotel Mexico. It was right in the middle of down town, right next to the zocolo (main square), shops, the bus station and all sorts of great things. Before retiring for the night, by the way, we went to the church for an activity my ward's Relief Society was having. Every month they have a party in celebration of anyone in R.S. who has a birthday that month. I love those ladies. I also got to introduce my mom to the host family I'm staying with. They were very nice to her, and told her all about how they make sure they know where I'm going, with who and when and everything. Loverly.

WEDNESDAY

Time to tour Tehuacán!! Yay! We went to my favorite place to buy bread and pastries, visited a friend of mine at her store, checked out the school I teach at, visited the market where I buy all my goods and a store that makes me think of Costco. Big bags of candy? I think yes. This day was a blast, but Super tiring. We walked so many laps around that down town that I'm surprised that the sidewalks didn't turn into motes. After all of our touring, we headed back to Puebla. To the bus!!! Again. Woopee

Oh a side note, the buses for long trips like ours had reclining seats, drop down tv's so we could watch movies, bathrooms and a person who sold goodies. I daresay Mexican's in this state know how to travel.

THURSDAY

TIRED. Slept in, watched movies, ate Domino's pizza *huuuuge grin there*, shopped around the gorgeous square for some fun stuff, and slept great. I think this was my favorite day. Quality time with my mom, and food I've been so deprived of, two great movies that we've both been wanting to see, and no bus to purell after or rush to or think about. Ahhh, the good life.

Theeeeeeen...

FRIDAY!

This is today, for me. Friday we got up early (HAR HAR HAR! riiight) and had another amazing breakfast, pancakes and eggs, and goodness. I haven't had those in a while.... Then took a taxi to the bus station, a bus to another bus, and That bus tooooo THE PYRAMIDS! Yay! This was my mom's first time ever seeing pyramids in person. Yay! It was quite a neat experience to get to show her around. Here's where the earrings are cheaper, here's how to bargain with this guy, the museum's over there, etc. It was a blast. Quite literally. I wouldn't recommend climbing pyramids in the afternoon. The temperatures can get a little uncomfortable.

It was so fun. It was so neat to imagine the people who once lived there. Though we had no idea what some of the ruins could be from. Maybe they were bedrooms, who knows? We sure don't. But it's fun to think about. We got some awesome pictures, fun souvenirs, amazing food and great tans. Or we might have. I guess we'll find out tomorrow if we can't move because of sunburn, or if we turn every head in town with our new bronzed skin. I prefer the latter. Sooo.. then we took a bus to a bus to a taxi to my Puebla family that I stay with. They're Mormon, and are host families for ILP. It's actually one big family and they're all neighbors and they all have an ILP teacher living with each of them. Very cool.

Well I can't really think straight because I'm so tired, I hope mom's doing better than I am. She has to go back to the airport tonight and fly home in the morning. Crazy! Just go go go go go. Yikes. Well that's it for now. :) Enjoy the pix.

PS, this was by far the BEST week of my time here in Mexico. My mom by my side, great food in my stomach, and amazing things to watch and see. Wouldn't have traded it for a thing. 'Night.

Kids From School

Here are some kids from the two schools I teach at. Aren't they cute?!

More stuff yaaay!

So here's what I did this weekend. I went to Puebla, Mexico. Very fun, very beautiful (compared to the ghetto I'm currently in), way safer and jam-packed with Mormons. There are so many!!! I stayed at the ILP school with a couple other teachers while I was over there. So.

Step 1: Took a bus from Tehuacán to Puebla, slept over at the ILP school.

Step 2: Took a bus Saturday morning to Teotihuacan to look at some pyramids on the day of the equinox. When it was the equinox we all raised our hands up to the sun to get fresh energy. It's what you do. It was really cool.

Step 3: Wandered around on the pyramids and shopped for Several hours and got a great workout and a fabulous tan (come and get me, cancer). Yes Mom I wore lots of sunscreen.

Step 4: Returned to Puebla. 3 of us teachers collected their things and headed back to Tehuacán, Nelly and I stayed in Puebla.

Step 5: Spent time with the host families there. They all (all but one) live on the same street, which they actually own, and they're all related and all Mormon. How cool is that?! So we ate great food and had a blast. I love them. I adopted them as my real Mexican family in a heart beat. Then headed back to the school/ apartment to sleep.

Step 6: Woke up Sunday morning and walked up hill almost all the way to church. Gorgeous! I love Puebla. We got to go to church with several ILP teachers. That was neat. Oh and Dad, one of the new ones over there loves cars. We had a chat.

Step 7: Headed from church to the ranch of one of the host families. I ate rabbit, held it's descendants, milked a cow and nearly got blown over by wind. So fun :)

Step 8: Went back into town and hung out with the family. A new friend of mine who's a part of the family, Laura, took me, Nelly and Iron (another teacher) to Zocalo. It's basically down town. There was amazing architecture that looked very European, a parade type thing and all sorts of great stuff.

Step 9: Since they're all neighbors they tend to hang out in each others' houses all the time. We were in the Grandparents' house. We ate food and shared stories, pictures and recipes. What a blast that was :) And I spoke so much Spanish with them! How fun. :) I often get asked if I took Spanish classes before coming. Nope! Ha ha.

Step 10: Went back to the apartment, and in the morning Nelly and I left for home. A few hours later we were back in our town, got ready to teach and headed out the door. And here I am!