Our Special Visitor

Last week my aunt Kim Kooima, my mom's sister, came to visit us.  Besides Bible Society people coming to work with my dad, she was our first visitor!  Yay!  During her week here, we went to Palenque for two days to see the ruins.  To get to Palenque, we rode a bus for almost six hours.  The day after we got there, we headed for the ruins.  It was a lot of walking around and climbing stairs, but it was very interesting and beautiful.  That's Kim in front of the Temple of Inscriptions.  The next day we went to the museum that was by the ruins.  We learned even more about the Maya culture.  There was a huge tomb of King Pakal that had a lot of carvings on it and it was pretty cool.
We took another bus back to San Cristobal.  This bus went very fast on the curves, and we got back in five hours!  Back in San Cristobal, we did touristy things.  We went to the markets, the Ambar Museum, different restaurants, climbed to the churches, and rode a tourist tram around the city (see the last picture).  We had a lot of fun with Kim, and we hope she enjoyed her time (and the food!) as well.
While she was here, I interviewed her about her first-time experience in Chiapas.  Here is what she had to say.
 
Q: (by Rachel) Hello. How are you enjoying your stay?
A: (by Kim) I'm loving it! The weather has been great. I'm also enjoying seeing a lot of new sights.

Q: What did you see here that you expected?
A: The tortillas, narrow and hilly streets, shops close together, and the green vegetation.

Q: What did you see here that surprised you?
A: I wasn't expecting to see all the villages, the different types of clothing, and the people here were quite short.

Q: What was your favorite food that you have had here?
A: The chilaquiles, breads, and pastries.

Q: What was the most interesting food?
A: Again, I'll have to say the chilaquiles, but I would like the recipe for that green stuff on my plate!

Q: What was the best part of the trip?
A: Getting to spend time with family, but the most exciting (tourist thing) was Palenque.

Q:  Were the different cultures and sceneries you saw interesting? Why, or why not?
A: Yes, because it's so different from what I'm used to. I felt like I was learning more and more about the culture.

Q: Were the ruins in Palenque fun to go to? Why, or why not?
A: Yes, they were really interesting, historically and also fun (but tiring!)

Q: What are some random facts you can tell us?
A: The sidewalks are not handicap accessible; the traffic is very wild; all the food here is very good and inexpensive. I really like going to the market; there was almost too much to see there! Everybody is trying to sell something; almost like everyone has their own little business.                               

Thanks again, Kim for coming and sharing the joy of Chiapas with us!    Rachel                     

General Oaxaca Stuff!

Last week we spent four days in Oaxaca.  We had a lot of fun there!  We stayed in the house of the translator my dad was working with.  Most of the days we had school.  Yes we still had full school.  :)  But my mom and I still had some time to walk around.
One day we went downtown to do some shopping and sight-seeing.  We went to 3 churches, 2 museums, and 1 market.  Our first stop was an anthropology museum in a former convent.  It was a huge museum!  I don't even think we saw everything in it.  Then we went to a very beautiful church. Almost all the decorations were gold or a gold color; it was very bright!   (Even though you can't see it in the picture, imagine the entire wall is bright gold.)

After a while we got hungry, so we went to Cinnabon. Yes, we were very cultural. ;)  The market we went to was very large! There were t-shirts, belts, food, and a lot of other things for sale.  One aisle of the market was filled with leather sandals and shoes.  There were a lot!!  We didn't buy any shoes, but we did buy grasshoppers (which is a popular food in Oaxaca), mole (sauce), a yarn belt, and some wooden bookmarks.
The second museum we went to was called The Palace Museum because it was in a former palace.  When we went in, they gave us a very generous portion of hand sanitizer.  We pretty much bathed our hands and arms with it, and soon after we were very sticky.  And we still had some left to wipe on our jeans.  It had the biggest tortilla in the world!  But you couldn't eat it.  This museum was very interactive.  The displays were about music, clothing, food, inventions, animals, languages, games around the world, and many others that we didn't get a chance to see.  I liked that you could learn a lot from the activities even though you didn't know Spanish perfectly.

The next day it rained, although apparently it hardly ever rains in January.  But we still went to some ruins on the top of a hill called Monte Alban.  This place was huge!  We were so high up that the clouds were like on the ground.  That was cool!  In the drizzle, we saw a lot of tombs, stone carvings of swimmers and dancers, and the ball court.  We learned that the ball court wasn't so much about sports as it was about religion.  I can't really express how large this place was and how tired I was from walking all around it and up the steep steps. 

Dia de los Reyes

There are many fascinating and interesting things about living in another culture. The people, of course, the language, food, history and customs. This past week we had the opportunity to learn more about a traditional Mexican custom. January 6 in the U.S. is Epiphany, and in Mexico it's called Dia de los Reyes, or Day of the Kings. It refers to the wise men who visited Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and presented Him with gifts. Even though I'm familiar with Epiphany, I can't say I've ever really celebrated it. In Mexico, however, Dia de los Reyes is a very important event. It's the day when children receive most of their presents, as opposed to Christmas Day.
A crucial part of the celebration is the Rosca. This colorfully decorated, oval-shaped bread is bought and shared by the family. During the days leading up to the Dia de los Reyes, the bakeries were over-flowing with stacks of Roscas. On the 6th of January, each person in the family gets to cut their own piece of the Rosca. Inside is hidden any number of tiny plastic dolls. If you're "lucky" enough to get a doll in your piece, the tradition says that you then have to supply tamales for everyone on February 2. Some people take this quite literally, spending a great time of time and money preparing tamales for friends and family.
Wednesday evening we celebrated the Day of the Kings in Oaxaca with the family we stayed with. Cosme, Isela and their daughters were gracious enough to not only invite us into their home, but to allow us to celebrate this custom with them as well. They granted me the privilege of making the first cut, and as luck would have it, I cut into one of the dolls. I invited the family to come to San Cristobal on February 2 for homemade tamales - not necessarily homemade by me, but by someone with more tamale expertise! Rachel also got a chance to cut her own piece of the Rosca as Isela and her daughters anxiously look on, but she didn't find a doll.
What an enjoyable experience as we continue to learn more about this fascinating country.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! We trust and pray that this be a very special year for you and your family. It's been a unique experience celebrating the holidays here in Chiapas. Instead of being buried under a foot of snow from the blizzard, we've been enjoying warm and sunny weather. Instead of a house full of family, it was just the three of us. But despite the differences, we could still celebrate this very special time of the year.
On Christmas Eve, we attended the service at the Presbyterian Church here in San Cristobal. The church was festively decorated with lights, pine cones, hanging greenery, and a thick layer of pine needles covering the floor. The 2 1/2 hour service included a message from the pastor as well as singing from several different groups. After the service, everyone was invited to stay for tamales, punch, and pastries. It was a very enjoyable evening.
It seemed strange to have no church service on Christmas morning. We had a late breakfast, then the three of us opened our presents. We had to be somewhat creative with the gift-giving because we didn't want to buy anything large that we would have to take back to the U.S. in a few months. So basically we gave each other clothes and food (Rachel's showing off her futbol t-shirt and Dr. Pepper.) In the afternoon, we got together with three other couples for Christmas lunch. We had a great time of fellowship together.

This past Wednesday, Brian, Rachel, and I went to Las Margaritas. It was the first time since 1995 that I'd been back to where we lived for almost three years. Many things had changed, of course, including several more paved roads inside the town! We walked around the center plaza and past two of the houses we lived in. Since Las Margaritas isn't exactly a tourist town, twice people stopped to ask us if we were lost!
Our first stop was to visit Alberto Gomez and his family. Alberto is a Tojolabal paramedic who moved to Las Margaritas from the jungle area back in 1992. We got to be good friends with Alberto and Virginia and their children, attending many church services and prayer meetings together. Our girls spent many hours playing with their daughters. We hadn't told them we were coming, so they were very surprised when we showed up at the door! It was great catching up with them and hearing about Alberto's on-going medical ministry (the picture shows Alberto, Virginia, Virginia's mom, and three of their eight children in front of their kitchen.)
Our next stop was to visit Francisco and his wife Candelaria. Francisco is a 75-year old Tojolabal man who over the years has done an incredible amount of evangelizing among the Tojolabals. When we lived in Las Margaritas, Francisco would accompany us to different villages every Sunday to preach and encourage the believers. Unfortunately, Francisco wasn't home when we stopped - he was out working in his cornfield. His wife said he loves working in his field and plans to continue as long as he's able. She also told us that their three sons all serve in various capacities in the church, as elder, youth leader, and lay-preacher. Sometime in the next month we'll make another trip to Las Margaritas to visit with these dear friends once again.
Once again, we hope that 2010 is a year filled with blessings! Donna

Christmas Letter 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas! What an exciting time of the year this is as we celebrate the birth of our Savior! As always, the past year seemed to fly by and was filled with a number of exciting events.
On August 7, David McAlpine joined our family as he and Amy were wed at Carmel Church. What a privilege and blessing to welcome another member into our family.
On Father's Day, we found out that our family will be growing again! Alec and Becky are excitedly expecting a child in February. Amy informed us that now we are officially old, but we can't wait for our first grandchild.
In 2009 we had three daughters and two sons-in-law in college. In June Lori received an Associate's Degree in Accounting from Colorado Tech University and will receive a Bachelor's Degree in December, 2010. Amy finishes this month at Central College with majors in Linguistics and East Asian Studies. David also completes his degree this month, with a major in Banking from Iowa State University. Alec is attending Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon for Computer Science, and Becky is studying photography through the New York Photography Institute.
In the spring we began to make plans for Rachel and I to travel with Brian for a year. I received a leave of absence from my ESL responsibilities at school, and we left home in August. So far our travels have taken us to Alaska, Spain, Turkey, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico. It's been an incredible experience to work with so many translation teams as they work to put God's Word into their own languages.
Because of our travels, I'm home-schooling Rachel for her 7th grade year. We enjoy incorporating our travels into our studies, learning about Alaskan landscapes, Muslim beliefs, and Peruvian history. Since we're based in Chiapas, Mexico for 2 1/2 months, Rachel is able to experience where our family lived for five years before she was born.

Although it will be strange not to be "home" for Christmas this year, we can still celebrate the Reason for the Season - Jesus's birth. May you be filled anew with awe and wonder of this miracle. Brian, Donna and Rachel

Guadalupe Day

Today, December 12, is Guadalupe Day in Mexico. I have to admit I knew very little about this holiday before coming here. I knew that the city of San Cristobal had been preparing for it for several weeks, but the actual history was not something I was familiar with. But in school this week Rachel and I have been doing some research and study on what some consider to be Mexico's most important religious holiday.

In 1531, an indigenous man named Juan Diego had two separate visions of the Virgin Mary in a remote area outside Mexico City. After the second vision, during which the Virgin Mary instructed Juan to build a Catholic church in her name, the Catholic officials demanded proof of the visions. When Juan gathered roses in his blanket from the spot of the visions and then showed it to the church officials, there was an imprint of the Virgin Mary on the inside of his blanket.
Since San Cristobal has a church named after The Virgin of Guadalupe, there have been a number of festivities the past few weeks. The area surrounding the church is filled with vendors selling churros, fried bananas, pizza, other foods, toys, and CD's. The church itself is decorated and lit up for the hundreds of people who come to visit it each day and night and worship there.
Another aspect of the celebration includes parades. Several times a day there are a variety of small parades throughout the city. Last Saturday we saw a parade made entirely of candy and potato chip delivery trucks. Other parades include torch runners, replicas of the Virgin de Guadalupe, and musical groups.
A final part of the celebration is fireworks, which have been going off at all hours of the day and night for over a week now. Unfortunately, these are not the fireworks that explode in a colorful shower of lights. These are the fireworks that simply make a loud bang. Hearing these fireworks during the day isn't a huge issue, but at 2:00 A.M., we're not particularly enjoying this part of the festivities!
It's been very interesting learning first-hand about this part of the Mexican culture. Especially since Guadalupe Day is considered to represent the essence of Mexico, the fusion of Catholic Spain and indigenous Mexico.

Misc!!!!

   Random things we have learned the past weeks in Chiapas........

-We can walk one block and get freshly made tortillas. :) Yum!

-Coke is very popular in Mexico; Pepsi not so much. You very, very occasionally see Dr. Pepper and 7-Up, and never Mellow Yellow, Mtn. Dew, or Mr. Pibb.
-Sunday brunches happen a lot here, but they do not start until 1 or 2 pm.
-You can find a lot of places selling tamales on Saturday night.  Some of the kinds are mole, azafran, chicken, pork, frijoles, and many more. My favorites are azafran and chicken.
-Occasionally there are loud bursts of fireworks going off, and it scares me a lot!
-The streets and the sidewalks are not even, and so it makes walking very difficult.
-There are a lot of bakeries selling all different kinds of bread. A bread that is very popular here is Pan Coleto, a sugary, cookie type of bread.
-Most of the streets are one way because they are quite narrow. If there is red arrow, then the cross street has the right of way. If there is a black arrow, then you go first.

-There is one big grocery store, a couple medium sized ones, and a lot of little ones, including lots of fruit and vegetable stands.
-If you hear a clanging sound going by, it's the gas truck. It goes by several times each day.
-If you hear the "Mission Impossible" song, it's the water truck selling big containers of drinking water. It also goes by several times a day.
-If you hear a cow bell, it's the garbage truck. This goes by only once a day, and it's in the morning.
-Graffiti is on a lot of the houses and stores around here.  I'm not very observant, but my mom thinks there's more graffiti every day! 

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