Vecinos

     When I came to this house about three years ago, I met my neighbors Jamili, Miguel and Jorge. At first I only played with Jamili because she was the only girl. All we played was school and house, school and house. I really had no idea, at the time, what she was trying to say to me, so I just went along with what she showed me to do. After a while I started to understand her and she started to understand what I was trying tell her. That’s when I started to play with the other kids. We built clubhouses, made mud cakes, planted pretend gardens, and played soccer. One time we found an old Christmas tree in the vacant lot down the street and we spent a whole day making ornaments and decorating the tree for our clubhouse. Every spare minute that we had, we spent together playing. Jamili and Miguel come to church with our family almost every Sunday.
     Jamili’s family is not the richest family in Mexico, but they aren’t poorest either. Both her parents work so they can live in their very small house. They can’t afford to play sports or go to private school. Jamili’s mom works as a housekeeper at the Rosarito Beach Hotel; that’s why their hair always smells like hotel shampoo. When I play with them, I don’t worry about how I look, talk or act. Most of the time we are all barefoot and I feel like I can just be myself, act silly, and be goofy. Sometimes though I feel like I have to be careful when bringing her in our house with the things I show her, because I don’t want to make her feel like her house and her life is not as nice as mine. It is so easy to have fun with them, we just play and have fun.
     Today we had a good-bye party for our family since us kids are heading across the border tomorrow while my parents move our stuff to the Baby Home. We did what we usually do: play games, have fun, eat, and spend lots of time together. Jamili’s mom made tacos and my mom made a cake. We made posters and hung them all over the house. Everybody made cards for everybody else. We played this game where we tie a balloon to our ankles and we have to run around and try to pop the other people’s balloons. I was the first one to lose of course. That was super fun. The whole time I had Spanish worship music playing just trying to make a last impression on them. We also had a water balloon toss and everybody lost at the same time.
     I’m really going to miss this house, this neighborhood, and especially our neighbors. Mom says that we will still come by on Sundays to pick-up Jamili and Miguel for church, but it will never be the same. In Mexico when you move 15 minutes away it’s like you are moving to another world. We won’t see them everyday and I won’t wake-up to the sound of them banging on my gate to come out and play. We could come get them and bring them over to our new house, but it will never feel right because everything is so nice and new looking. This house was really perfect for us. I’m going to miss it because I’m going to miss my life that came with it.
     PS - If you are viewing this post by email, you will have to go to the blog to see the photos.

Swim Meet at the YMCA

           A couple weeks ago I had a swim meet at the YMCA in Tijuana. I had to get up at 6:00 am to get ready. Everybody on my team was going to meet at our pool in Rosarito and ride a bus to get there. The bus left at seven but the meet wasn’t till 9:00.

            On the bus, my friend and I were taking pictures of everything we saw. There was probably like one thousand pictures on her camera! Then we got bored and almost fell asleep. It took about an hour and a half to get there.

            When we got to the meet we got in the pool to warm up. The pool was a 25 meter pool and I couldn’t imagine having to swim in an Olympic pool! After we warmed up, we went into the bathrooms to dry off and stuff. The bathrooms were awesome! They had lockers and a ton of showers. I think the best part of the whole event were the bathrooms!

            The events I swam were 50m free, 50m back, 50m breast, and 25m butterfly. I came in second place in three of the races and in third in the other. My favorite was butterfly and that is the one I posted. In the video I am all the way to the right. I came in second place.

            Well, you are all in my prayers. The Baby Home is looking great! Make sure to check out the blog! Hopefully soon I will get to post pictures of me and Lily's bedroom. A friend gave us a gift card to buy new bedding from Walmart. I can't wait to show you what we picked!

Swimming

          My brothers and sister all do Taekwondo. My mom had asked me if I wanted to do it too, but I said no. She even said that she would do it with me, but I have never really liked Taekwondo or Karate. So we started looking for something I could do and enjoy.

            We tried out soccer, but I didn’t want to do it because there were only 14-year-old boys on the team and I felt weird being the only girl. Then my mom suggested swimming. At first I didn’t really like the idea, but as I thought about it I decided to give it a try.

            In about the middle of the first class I signaled to my mom that I didn’t like it. She said that I had to finish. At the end of the class we played a game and I had a great time! It took a few practices to make friends and learn all the strokes, but since then I have enjoyed swimming a lot.

            I have been to four meets. The second one my parents didn’t go and I went on a bus with all my friends. I was a little scared to go alone, but it was fun. I think the good thing about swimming is that you can do it your whole life. Even when I am old I will still keep swimming.

            The first photo is of me swimming freestyle. The second photo is of my two friends, Itzel and Evelin, and me. There is a funny story that goes with this photo. We were getting ready for our race and my mom came up to take our picture. She said, “OK niñas, buscan aquí!” Well, buscan is the word for “to look for”, but miran is the word for “look”. My mom was really saying, “Ok girls, search over here!” My friends still laugh about it and when my mom comes to pick me up they whisper to me, “buscan aquí!”

My Friend and Example: 13-Year-Old Elise

          A few weeks ago I spent the weekend with my friend Elise. She and her family had come down to Mexico on a Saturday. They stayed the night and went to church with us on Sunday. After church we took them to see the Baby Home since it had been a while since they had seen it. Then they took me back across the border to stay with them for a few days.
          On Monday we went to the pool and got our nails done. On Tuesday we went to the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. I had a really great time doing all these special things, but my favorite part was just being with my friend Elise.
          Elise is one of the most unique friends I have. Elise is not the kind of person who sees the worst in someone and points it out. Instead, she sees the positive in everything and the best in everyone. Even though she is almost a whole year older than me, she has never made me feel unimportant or lower. Whether we are playing together or chatting long-distance on the computer, she always makes me feel special.
          Elise is probably the most kind and compassionate person I know. Though I have a tendency to only play what I want and sometimes exclude those who I don’t want to play with, Elise never does. She always makes sure that my little sister, Lily, is included in whatever we are playing. She is careful that nobody’s feelings get hurt and tries to play something that everybody wants to play.
          In our family we talk about two kinds of people: those who walk into a room and say, “here I am” and those who walk into a room and say, “there you are.” Elise is a “there you are” person. She is pretty and smart and really good at so many things, but she never brings attention to herself. She is always interested in how and what I am doing.
          I think that Elise is a great example of what all 13 year olds should be like. If any of you know Elise, then you know exactly what I am talking about. I try so hard to be like her when I come home from being at her house, but a lot of times my patience wears off in the first hour that I see my family. When I turn 13, I pray that God will give me the same patience and kindness that Elise has.

Elise and Me Swimming

Getting Our Nails Done

Balboa Park

YUGO Retreat and Dentistry

           This past Monday and Tuesday we went to a YUGO Ministries retreat. My parents had meetings all day and so my friend and I helped in childcare. The property was amazing! It had a beautiful view of the islands that are off the coast, and the sunsets were incredible. Even though all I did all day was pretty much take care of little kids, I had a good time seeing people I had only seen in pictures in the YUGO office. It was amazing to see so many people who have left their lives in the States or Canada or wherever they lived, to come down to Mexico to serve. I wonder how God worked in that many people’s hearts to get them to come down here. I’m sure they all have their own story just like we do.

            On Wednesday I went to the orthodontist. I thought I might get my braces off, but they said I am going to get them off on March 16! My grandpa is a dentist, so whenever I go to see him I brush my teeth extra. He comes down to Mexico to do kids teeth sometimes. When he comes down I am his translator. As I watch him I think, “I could never be a dentist.” This past time that he came down, he had to take some teeth out of some kids. I thought I was going to throw up from all the blood I saw! Luckily all I did was start translating for someone else and forgot all about the blood.    

            I know you all have things to do, but thank you for taking the time to check out what’s going on in my life. You are all in my prayers.

Leidy

           Now that I am not in school anymore, I don’t really have as many friends. I have one really special friend who lives at GCH because her mom works there. Her name is Leidy. Leidy is the same age as me and she is a great friend. I don’t really get to see her that often, but I do see her at church on Sundays and on weekends when she spends the night at our house. That is when we catch up on things.

            Leidy’s mom is working on getting their passports so they can cross the border. I pray that this happens someday. Every time I experience something in the States, like being at my grandparent’s cabin in the snow, I think of how I wish Leidy could be there. One day I want to share that part of my life with her. I would love to just see the look on her face.

            I think Leidy is a great example for everybody of how Christians should be. I love spending time with her. I would write more about her, but she is not the kind of person who would want people reading about her, that’s just how she is (not that she can read my English).

My Christmas

        I had a wonderful Christmas this year. The Sunday before Christmas we celebrated with my dad’s dad, Grandpa Manny, and his family. It was raining so we mostly stayed inside and played. We decorated gingerbread houses and made friendship bracelets. We also played a really fun dice game with wrapped gifts as prizes.

       Three days before Christmas we headed out to my Grandma Bonnie’s (my dad’s mom) house to celebrate with her family. We stayed two nights and saw the new Narnia movie there. I especially loved playing with my newest cousin, Jackie. She is so cute!

       On Christmas Eve we left and went to Mamaw and Papa’s (my mom’s parents) house in the desert. I woke up that night like five times thinking it was morning. The bad thing though was that I was not feeling good at all Christmas morning. My stomach and my head hurt. We started the morning off with my dad reading the story of when Jesus was born. We sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus and ate birthday cake for breakfast. Then we opened presents. My parents gave me clothes. From my grandparents I got a pair of flip-flops and two beads for my bracelet that they got me last year.

       Two days after Christmas we headed up to my grandparent’s cabin in the mountains. There was so much snow and the icicles were huge! We had a great time, but I missed my dad. I am glad to be home now. I hope your Christmas and New Year celebrations were as fun as mine!