Newsletter 9: Mucho Worko :)

Wow - to think I've written 9 newsletters in 6 months!  I can't work out if that's good or bad!  Nonetheless, I hope that you have been able to get a little window into Mexican life, the ups and downs of serving in a Christian ministry and some of the amazing things God is doing amongst the Mexican poor through Armonía.

First the weather report.  Skip it if you don't like it but Lynn (M) complained last time that it was missing.  It's hot.  Most days reach 25 degrees and it is due to get hotter over the next few weeks.  Most people like this - I don't.  Give me snow over sun any day.  Thankfully, there's been a huge snowfall in the States which, combined with a Rossby Wave shift and polar highs has brought the temperatures down to a much more pleasant 10deg this week.  Spot the geographer.  Although this is too cold for the Mexicans it makes my room beautiful at night; just like 'The Fridge' in 24 Oak Tree Avenue.

The last month has been truly 'loco' as Hansell (so hot right now) would say.  As I re-read my last missive, I realised that it was pretty tame compared to the last 15 days!  The last two weeks I have averaged a working day of 8.30am to 11pm.  Lunch falls around 4.30, which I have discovered is quite a long way away from a 6am breakfast!  Don't worry though, not eating has never been much of a problem for those with Rimmer genes and I'm pretty sure that I'm not fading away.  Well, not that much.  

About two weeks ago, while I was busy trying to miss my thumb with a hammer in the Santa Cruz centre, Dani approached me and asked me to work in Casablanca.  At that point I thought I would work tuesdays and thursdays.  How wrong I was!  I quickly discovered that the Nico and Lupe had painted 3 dorms in 2 weeks and that no-one had ever taught them to paint.  Therefore it was surprising to all when a role-reversal occurred (normally they teach me manual labour) and they found themselves under the tutorship of the master painter-artist Rimmer (1985-) in a desperate attempt to have some walls without the post-modern 'dribble' effect and windows with enough unpainted glass to see through them.  Unfortunately, various sessions on preparing, painting technique, finishing and cleaning up seemed to fall upon deaf and paint-splattered ears!  The enormity of the task was realised soon after and the labour team (and skill-base) grew rapidly and I stayed there every waking hour of the day.  By last weekend, we had almost 30 people working on painting, plumbing, office reorganisation, computer networking and much more, including local labour, the ladies from the Santa Cruz community center and all the guys!  Great fun, if a bit chaotic.

In the middle of all this, things became more hectic when Liz returned to the States.  Because of a number of factors, this triggered a period of disillusionment with the leadership and their ways of working, augmented somewhat by tiredness after probably the hardest fortnight's work I have ever done.  Apart from my personal feelings, this obviously also upped my workload as I took on some of her jobs, including all her classes (I now teach 15 hours of English a week!).

And so this all continued to a climax last Thursday when the first visitors of the year arrived.  And what a shock awaited them - Casablanca looked stunning.  Even I was surprised when we finished (just 30 mins before their arrival!).  At this point, I feel like I should explain that Casablanca (the Armonía 'hotel') is a genius idea - an income-generation project.  Visitors that come and stay contribute directly into the income of the organisation, paying for salaries, student scholarships, subsidies for the lunches at the centers and many other things.  Money left over is saved for the winter when guests don't come.  It's well equipped to host groups of up to 35 people and even has a swimming pool.  Check out the photos through my blog at www.mexicanchris.blogger.com  I think you'll agree that all the work was worth it.

But I am happy to report that I am now alive and well after some good sleeps, and in generally good spirits.  There is still much to do but we've slowed down to a more sustainable rate.  Working so much has given me lots of time to really interact with each staff member and I feel even more like a part of the community here.  

I have learnt much this month - speaking in Spanish 24/7 means I'm really getting better (although I still can't roll my Rs).  God has again proved himself trustworthy in the midst of me being absolutely knackered as most of the work-related difficulties I had before Christmas have gone.  As far as I am concerned, I have continued trying to work my hardest so I thank those of you who have prayed especially for this – I can only put it down to His intervention.  

I have particularly enjoyed working alongside Saul over the last 2 weeks, writing correspondence and organising the group trips.  He's giving me more and more responsibility – I'm now in charge of tracking when everyone' arriving and where, and making sure we don't double-book or have him and Pilar yo-yoing back and forth with Oaxaca.  He's asked me to translate when he's not here – my first attempt last weekend with the visitors was OK but I had never really appreciated how difficult it is to listen in one language and speak simultaneously in another.  More practise required on this front to avoid speaking a strange kind of Spanglish into visitors' ears!  I've also learnt that the human body is quite resilient since I've adapted almost entirely to getting up at 5am every morning (Josías has had to return to his village so I'm running the house).

So much more to tell but I'll leave it for there now.  I'm aware that this time I've talked much more about me but, to be honest, there hasn't been that much time to get to know other facets of Armonía.  I'm going to Oaxaca in a week so I hope to give you an update on the amazing work going on down there.  In the meantime, keep an eye on the blog for amusing stories or thoughts (www.mexicanchris.blogger.com) and/or the new-improved Armonia UK website (www.armonia-uk.org.uk) for more general information and recent newsletters.

I'm off to make some chocolate chip cookies :)  With blessings,
Chris