I could barely sleep the night before we left. I was so excited and so nervous at the same time. We had to be at the church at 4:30 that morning, which is yuck!, but I was so ready to go! We were very entertained by the people at the airport, especially the lady with a full head of curlers. When we got on the plane, I had to use Google to find out how to turn my phone off. Clearly I am still very iPhone illiterate. We also had some friends in front of us suddenly realize that they are Facebook friends. From the sound of the conversation, it seems as though they are not legitimately friends or barely acquaintances, and the man was very awkward while the woman was rather enthusiastic about the situation. There was an empty seat between Linds and I, which made for a great place for all of our People magazines (thanks for that Tam!), which I insisted had to be read in chronological order. We also decided that Jesus was sitting in that very seat with us. He makes for a most delightful flying companion. Unfortunately, not too long after take off, Lindsey started to feel sick and was able to experience the joys of through up in an airplane bathroom. She doesn't recommend it. Thankfully, she was feeling better by flight #2 (Jesus joined us here, too), which was good because I really needed her to hold my hand during the most intense turbulence I have ever experienced. I probably shouldn't have chosen to start watching Lost so soon before getting on a plane. I. HATE. FLYING. We were going through some thunderstorms and hit ice in a cloud (who knew that was even possible?). Henry said we dropped about 500 feet. Not cool. Toward the end of the flight we had to start filling out our customs forms, which always give me trouble and stress me out. The flight attendant kept reminding us to fill out our "large visitor's form". Linds took this as "large" describing the visitors, not the form, and we got a good laugh out of that for a long while. So funny!
I think I fell in love with Mexico the moment I saw it out the window of the plane. I have to admit that I even got a little teary eyed. I just couldn't believe I was finally there. God is so faithful and His timing is so perfect!
Mauricio, the guy we're working with, got his dates mixed up and thought we were coming on Sunday, so we had to wait for a little while for him to come pick us up. As soon as you meet Mauricio, you can't help but love him. He is so much fun and I love his heart for the Lord. We enjoyed a great lunch and time getting to know each other.
We are staying at the mission house in Cancun that he built, which is awesome! There's even a pool on the roof. Welcome to Mexico, kids. The house"parents", if you will, are Mama Tori and Saul. They are some of the sweetest people I have ever met. Mama Tori loves to serve and barely lets you do anything for yourself and Saul loves to tell stories. He's a talker! They have been married over 40 years and are so obviously in love with each other and the Lord. It's so precious. Also, Mama Tori is the greatest cook ever! Seriously.
Mauricio also has 2 kids: Sophie is 7 and Gabriel is 3. We immediately fell in love with them, too. Sophie is spiritually wise way beyond her years. When we were at Costco, she asked Lindsey why we grow and plants and animals grow but other things don't, like the buggy. Linds asked her what we have that the buggy doesn't. She started naming things like lungs, brain, etc. and when she said "heart"she said, "We have a heart so we can love Jesus and love each other." So precious, and so true. Sophie speaks great English, but Gabriel doesn't really speak any at all. But that did not stop Gabriel and I from falling in love. I probably only understand about half of anything he says to me, partly because he is 3 years old and partly because he speaks much better Spanish than I do. He insists that my name is "muchacha" and I love it. On our way to Costco he was playing with my hair and asked me why I cut it. I didn't really know what to say because it's not like he knew me when I had long hair or anything. Before I could say anything, he said, "it's short like my dad's". Awesome. Thanks, buddy. Too funny.
In less than 24 hours, I'm already in love. This feels like it could be home.
oh i love your stories of the little kiddos!!
ReplyDeletesoo cute!