The End of One Adventure

The view from the airplane as we left Mexico City shouldn't have been that inspiring. I was placed right over the wing, it was a cloudy day, and conditions in general were anything but perfect. But I suppose the last three months, more than any time in my life, have taught me to love the imperfections in every situation of my life, and my emotions were particularly near the surface that whole day. It was long (20 hours from Mexico home to Utah home), and I couldn't stop thinking about the places and experiences and people that I was leaving behind. Mexico has changed me forever.

This blog post is not only going to attempt to sum up my last week in the country, but also (hopefully) express some of what I learned and how I changed from the experience. Such things are not easily expressed in writing on a blog, so if you really want to dig down deep just ask me more.

To begin with, last Monday I was blessed to attend a family home evening (right) with several investigators in the home of the dear Frías family. Momma and Papa Frías have been like second parents to me while I'm here, partially compensating for their son who is alone in Utah right now. They were so sweet. We met with them in one of the nicer homes (and neighborhoods) that I have seen in Mexico. The sister missionaries also visited, and for some reason their lesson made me particularly grateful for the Gospel in my life. The people and the lifestyle that our Heavenly Father gives us through it are irreplaceable.


I spent the next couple of days riding the bus around (below), getting homework done, and teaching Career Workshops. It's been a blast to get to know public transportation, though I'm not sure how much I'll be using it when I get back to the US of A (it's so slow and inconvenient in Utah, plus I have my dear car Bridget). Also I ate some excellent food, including this fried halibut (below) and the classic Puebla (poblano) dish of chile en nogada. I will miss Mexican food so much.

 

Saturday was spent with the local YSAs, including on an awesome bus tour of Puebla (left). Taylor and I got to see some sights that we hadn't seen yet and would have liked to explore some more -- as we commented later, we should have done that our first week instead of our last. At any rate, we went from there to an excellent lunch followed by karaoke. Fortunately I had spent some time before Mexico listening to Mexican songs, and I managed to pick a familiar one and hold my own with the rest of them. Of course we couldn't escape without a YSA dance, but fortunately this time I found two extraordinarily patient girls who spent much of their time with me teaching me some basic steps and trying to get me to dance naturally. I'm a pretty tough cause, but not quite hopeless I think.

On the bus tour, overlooking the central plaza of Puebla.

Our second-to-last day was marked by several teaching appointments for the workshop, and in the middle a quick trip to Santa María to celebrate Raquel Tiro's fifteenth birthday (right). The quince años is typically the biggest birthday party for a Mexican girl, but between the tight financial situation and Raquel's aversion to big parties, they just had a few friends over and served the best pozole I've ever eaten! I will miss that family.

Finally it was time to go home. Due to a misunderstanding with flights, I sat in the Mexico City airport for about 7 hours (left). In the immortal words of Babs from Chicken Run (the movie), "It was very boring." But I got some great reading done, and my next-seat-over neighbor on the flight out of Mexico City made up for it -- a Korean/Peruvian coming to study in Las Vegas!

Speaking of meeting people, I suppose I will close this blog post with that. Mexico taught me an extraordinary number of things. I learned how to understand people's actions inside the framework of their culture, not mine. I learned to understand Mexican culture more deeply. I gained a greater experience for what I have in the United States. I was blessed to grow in knowledge about and faith in my beliefs. I learned more about teaching, job-hunting, and success in a career. I became more conversant in politics, economics, sociology, theology, spirituality, cultures, psychology, and a host of other subjects. I can never thank my Heavenly Father enough for all of that. But overarching it all is one theme that was most central to the experience: love. I learned to love my Savior and my Heavenly Father more, and I learned to love people more as well. I include, to finish, a few pictures of some of the people in Puebla that most taught me love one way or another. Many are not included, for lack of time or batteries or memory, but I learned more from them (and through my experiences with them) than I can ever express.

The Employment Center Staff, who became some of my best friends and mentors during my stay there. Not only did we coordinate to pull off the workshops, but they also taught me examples of hard work and dedication to the Lord through their words and examples. They are, from L to R: Marco Flores, Ranulfo Cervantes (manager), myself, Hermana Figueroa, Hermana Vargas, Hermana De Zarco, Hermana Cardeñas, Hermana Marín (a dear friend), Hermana Zequita, and Taylor Fletcher.

The Tiro family. This family lived off of farming and some odd jobs, and taught me a great deal about sacrifice, love, and trust. We became dear friends. From L to R, we are: Miguel, Antonia, Raquel, Miguel Ángel, myself, and Julio César standing above the group. 

Some of our best workshop students, gathered on our second-to-last night to receive training on how to teach the workshop. It was a wonderful group, a wonderful way to finish up our instruction in Puebla, and a fabulous reminder of what Welfare work is really all about.

Ricardo, the best security guard one could ever ask for. We became good friends as I passed his desk almost every day to go to the Employment Center, and had some really significant long talks about work environments, religion, family, friendship, and other such important matters. Such people are few and far between.

Hiking on my last day in Puebla -- I couldn't have asked for a better end to my stay. From L to R: Vico (from our ward), Nancy White (a student from BYU-Idaho down teaching English for the summer), Taylor Fletcher, and myself.

One of my favorite families from Puebla -- the Ramirez clan. Tonio and Pati are on the left, with three of their four kids to the right (Abraham, Ashley, and Zhelem). Their oldest daughter (Darian) was on a study abroad in France, so I never met her. Then we have Nancy White in there, along with a new girl named Ari (behind), because the family hosts the young English teachers for four months each. And I'm in front.

I suppose it's all right that I miss it. As much as I love the United States of America and my family and friends here, I will never forget the time I spent in Mexico. It was as challenging as any three-month period in my entire life, but the blessings that came into my life there and continue to pour down now more than justify the cost. And I speak not so much here of monetary cost as I do emotional or spiritual. Sacrifice, as the LDS hymn so beautifully relates, truly brings forth the blessings of heaven. My understanding of that line, and of so much more, has been deepened tremendously. So, as the post title indicates, it is indeed the end of one adventure -- but the beginning, I believe, of one even bigger and better than the last one. So whatever it is, bring it on.