The day the plane landed, I was pretty tired and had a hard time speaking Spanish with anyone. We are staying at a Catholic women’s convent. They are all very sweet and polite. My favorite is probably one named Candi (I hope I spelled her name right). She always smiles and is willing to talk to me. I realized that I know much less Spanish than I thought I knew. I am excited for the Spanish training I am going to receive in Tepoztlan so I can communicate better.
The first day in Mexico during breakfast I met a family who recently had their aunt (a sister at the convent) pass a way. I sat at their table after I finished eating to offer my condolences. The mother lived in San Francisco and works at the university teaching English. The family was very good at English. I have enjoyed their conversation the most because we had an understanding that I would speak Spanish and they would speak English. We also corrected each other when we said words wrong. The mother is trying to receive a visa for the United States but the cost of doing the paperwork would be the value of one month’s salary for her. The Father works at a mine fixing technology issues with the machines. He is the only one in his company that does that work. He works ten hours a day and has to be on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for any unexpected issues that might come up. Working in the mines is a little dangerous but he is happy because he has a job. He said that many others in Mexico do not have that opportunity. They were providing for a son and daughter who were around the ages of eight and ten respectively. I felt happy for them because of how joyful they were despite their situation. We exchanged email addresses. I am going to see if I can find them a lawyer to help them with their situation.
I received my first stipend of money before we went into the city by the train system. It translates to about $56.00 USD. Walking down the streets of Mexico City, I saw a lot of PDA (public displays of affection), Men dressed up in suits, homeless people sleeping on park benches and on the ground and people in the shopping districts on the streets trying to get us to come into their bars and contact glasses stores. We saw the remains to the Aztec pyramid, a beautiful Cathedral. The city is beautiful but despairing at the same time. I was moved by the woman and daughter left on the street begging for money. It hurts me to see a culture where there are so many beautiful dedications to God, civil statues, evangelical street preachers, people with physical/mental disabilities, homeless people, thieves, families with nowhere to go, simple people trying to make a living and professional business people all together. Seeing this currently moves me to tears and I am eager to see where I fit in on all of this.
I had a delicious cup of coffee for about 50 pesos. We were now on our way to the train now to go back to the convent. It is rush hour. How people get on the trains in rush hour is by pushing their way onto the train and cram themselves in like sardines. We were crammed up against people we didn’t even know. I found it a little fun. As we exited the train I discovered that my wallet has been stolen. Tim (another volunteer in our group) had his iPhone taken. Our country coordinator told us not to bring much in value on the train system. I lost about 40 pesos, both my credit cards, a new wallet, my eagle scout car, driver’s license, copy of passport, copy of international insurance and student Id. I had an extra stash of pesos on my just in case as they told us. You could tell that as we spoke English people were staring at us and targeting us. On the second train back we got on the booth with women and children for extra safety. What I learned is to not speak English near public transit and to keep my hand on my valuables and keep them in a hard to reach place. I am glad I learned this lesson now. A first day in a new experience is always a good day to slap someone in the face and say “wake up, be more alert!” It sounds like this type of thing happens frequently; it will probably happen again but I will be better prepared to block it next time. I am okay, really. I feel a little violated that someone took my stuff, but I will get over it.
I found out who my host family is! I get to live with the pastor of the Lutheran church in Mexico City. I can’t wait to get to know him. He sounds like a really good guy and who I could have some good conversation with.
Thank you all for your prayers. I do need them. I am having a difficult time but it is a lot of fun here. The other people in my country group have been very emotionally supportive through the entire process. We look out for each other so much. We consider ourselves a Mexico family, I don’t think I could do this without them.
