A few of my favorite things

As we head into a new year and a new term of school, thought I would tell you about two of my favorite moments in Tijuana last fall.

1. The Mariachi Party at the local nursing home.

I went to visit one Saturday with a few of the students. We entered into a very festive scene. A band had come to play for the residents. This meant clapping and dancing...and a piñata. I think this was probably my favorite thing of all, the piñata. The residents were taking turns striking the piñata, but not with a bat, or sticks, but with their CANES:-) What a sweet scene. Never too old to play!

It made me think of 2 Cor 4:16 which says: Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our inner man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

2. Making Caldo de Albóndigas.

This is meatball soup and is one of my favorite foods in Mexico. I got the chance to make it with our friends Maria and Chewy. (Many of you know them from eating tacos at Rene's, Maria and Chewy are his parents). I enjoyed the time with Maria, and now I know how to make one of favorite soups. But again, I was so impressed by the hosptitality of the Mexican Culture. First, the three of us sat and had caldo together and then she sent me home with a whole pot of soup for the rest of the BBS family. And all of this was done on their one day off of the week.

Caldo de Albóndigas cooking on the stove.

Our dining area in the midst of their restaurant (the restaurant was closed, but Chewy put together a little seating area for us)

The delicious end product... YUM!

Happy New Year to You! May it be a year filled with peace, joy, and contentment.

Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas! We finished our first term at Baja Bible and now both staff and students are on break visiting family and friends in the states.

I wanted to share with you something that I have really enjoyed in the pre-Christmas season in Tijuana; cars dressed up like reindeers! I first saw cars driving by the Castillo in November sporting both antlers and a nose. As we moved into December, I saw many, many cars decorated with this seasonal flair. It is a strange thing, but I really enjoyed seeing the festive cars drive by. See for yourself...

But, it does get better. The students were entertained by me. I was easily distracted by these reindeer cars as we were out driving in the city. So, one morning, to my delight, I found my little Subaru decorated for Christmas too! Before leaving for Christmas break, I did get a chance to drive around Tijuana displaying the antlers. I decided to remove my antlers before crossing the border as I wondered about them flying off. I was informed by the border guard however, (he asked where my antlers were after spotting the nose), that they would be fine at high speeds :-)

Another fun holiday shot... coffee at the local Starbucks. My name is very confusing in Spanish :-)

Fall Term Life

Week 7. Hard to believe it, but today begins our 7th week of classes at Baja Bible School. Life has been filled with time studying the Word with our instructors, studying Spanish, getting to know the city, eating Mexican food, and getting to know one another. Here are a few photos that show a bit about school life and our lives here together in Tijuana.

Recently, we visited CECUIT, which is the home of the local IMAX movie theater, museo de los Californias (museum telling the history of Baja California), and a garden area filled with many Mayan statues. This photo shows La Bola as it called down here and home of the IMAX screen.

Meet Katie and Leah. These are the two women that I get to be dean to.

This large head is part of the garden that you can visit at CECUIT. And joining Katie and I in this photo is our neighbor, Alex.

Meet Rory. This is another one of our students and he graciously let me take his picture as he headed out to do his laundry. The students get to use the local laundry mat down the hill, so he has wisely developed a system using his suitcase with wheels. He weekly rolls it down the hill. I always get a kick out of this.

Every Saturday and Sunday night the students have been eating dinner at the local taco stand down the street.

The fall fog...beautiful morning views

this time of year.

Meet Elena Sorensen. Maybe one day a future student, but for now she adds a lot to all our lives as we get to watch her grow up.

Perspectives Course in Tijuana

This winter, Baja Bible School is going to be the site of an intensive perspectives course.  What is perspectives?  Well, it is a course that takes students through the biblical basis of missions, the history of missions, and concludes with classes on church planting, culture, and how we can partner with God as He works among the nations.  Normally this course is offered over 15 weeks, but it can be structured in what they call an intensive format.  So, this is an invitation to you all to join us in Tijuana on the campus of Baja Bible School from January 18th to February 5th.  For three weeks, you have the opportunity to take this course and to do it in a cross cultural setting.  

We would love for you to partner with us as we prepare for the course in January.  Here are a few ideas:

1.  Come!  Be a student and be very blessed by an awesome class.

2.  Tell a friend.  If you know someone that would want to take this class, please tell them about this opportunity.

3.  And most importantly of all, please PRAY with us.  PRAY that God will guide specific people here to take the perspectives course this winter.

For more information please check out http://www.bajabible.org/perspectives.html

Gracias!

Independence Day in Tijuana

This past week was an exciting time for us at Baja Bible School as we shared the week with our first ever class of students.  They spent their first week with Dave Burdette going over culture and spending a lot of time in the city learning from the people of Tijuana.  So, in the theme of being learners and getting to know Mexican culture, we headed out to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day.  It is a very celebrated event down here, and is celebrated on the 15th and 16th of September.  We participated in the evening events on September 15th.  This is the night that people gather in the city squares all over the country to participate in El Grito.  This occurs at 11:00pm traditionally and is done in honor of the war heroes that were part of Mexico becoming independent from Spain.  As El Grito begins (which is a shout), the president yells !VIVA! and then proceeds to go through a list of war heroes... !VIVA HILDALGO! and the crowd yells back !VIVA!  This went on for a few minutes followed by three shouts of !VIVA MEXICO!  Then there was music and shouting and fireworks and lots soap being sprayed out of cans :-)  It was really cool to be there and celebrating with them.  I have posted some pictures from our outing together, including the results of what happens when you get caught in the soap spraying festivities.  (I really thought it was silly string at first, but very glad that it was soap :-)

Students and Staff celebrating and wearing the large Bigotes (mustaches) that they were selling on site  (We were not the only group wearing these :-)

Being Sprayed

More Soap

The fireworks after El Grito were amazing

Time for School

Baja Bible School starts on September 14th!  This means we are now less than a week away from opening for the first year of school!  The dorms are finished and the classroom is ready after the new floor was just recently poured.  If you would like to see how the floor was transformed, check out bajaandbeyond.blogspot.com to see photos from the concrete pour.  

The next week will be filled with many finishing touches to get the campus ready for the students.  A few will be joining us on Saturday and then we officially begin the year together on Sunday night.  

I have included the most recent photo of the dorms (as of today) and the finished classroom.  For those of you that remember the campus in the earlier forms, I added a couple of those photos too...pictures of His faithfulness in supplying countless workers and supplies.  

The dorms, ready for students!

The finished classroom

The Graduates of 2009

This summer, I have been able to attend two very special graduations.  The first was for our neighbor Pablito.  He graduated from Kinder.  As the class of 2009 celebrated and prepared to head out to 1st grade, they had a short and very sweet ceremony.  Each student received a certificate and walked forward to the sounds of pomp and circumstance playing in the background.  I was invited to attend the service as one of Pablitos padrinos.  As young people graduate here in Mexico, they have sponsors that come and bring a special gift.  Depending on the graduation, you may walk forward with the graduate as well.  As it was kinder graduation, my duties were very simple, and I presented Pablito with some candy and a special graduation balloon.  Below are a few photos from the ceremony...

Class of 2009

Pablito receiving his certificate

Pablito and his mom Betty

The second graduation was very special to me as it involved my mom.  She just finished two years of serious study and received her Masters in nursing education.  We made a family trip over to Phoenix, AZ to celebrate with her.  Congratulations MOM!  I am very proud of you!

Mom and her Masters Degree

my sister, me, Mom and Step-dad

Albercas y Toboganes

I grew up loving to go to waterslide parks.  In the summer, it was a special treat to visit the Tri Cities (WA) and go to Oasis Waterworks for the day.  So, yesterday we took a summer day and spent time together as a staff at one of the local waterslide parks in Tijuana.  Tijuana has several parks that have pools (albercas) and waterslides (toboganes), and we decided to check one out.  So... off we went, the Baja Staff, local friends and our guests visiting us from Washington State.  I will just say, it was awesome.  Fast slides, short lines, and not too many rules.  You could go down slides backwards, headfirst... 

The group before the sliding began

The park has been in Tijuana for over 50 years

The Medusa.  Imagine the ride at the fair with the gunnysacks... add water and you have the Medusa.  

I tried out the white one and really liked it.  The blue slide next to it is called the Kamikaze.  It was definitely the tallest slide at the park and even our neighbor Chewy knows this slide.  I am not sure this picture shows the top part well, but I was told that the tube was probably there to make sure you stayed on the slide :-)

This was my favorite slide.  You went down the tube and it shot you out into the larger bowl.  Once you entered the bowl you could go around inside 1-3 times before being dropped out the bottom shoot.

There were several water games throughout the park too.  In addition to this one they had a rope swing, a river and a wave pool.

It was a really good day.  We came home tired, content, and a little sore from playing so hard.  I would gladly go and do it all over again.    

Episode 6... A Baja Morning with Dave

This past year, we have had the opportunity to meet with Dave Burdette on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  We have been working our way through the book of Mateo (Matthew).  We've been discussing what it means to follow Jesus and live Kingdom life under the Father's rule and reign. This past week talked about the themes that characterize kingdom life.   Words that were used were wholeness, liberty, authority, and hope.  This is the good news and that is what Jesus spent time proclaiming to people, the good news of the Kingdom.  We just finished chapter nine this past week and it ends with Jesus saying this:  The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.  Matthew 9:37-38

In just a little under over two months we will beginning our first school year.  As we talked in class this past week about the good news of the kingdom and workers being sent out into the harvest, I thought of our students and of us as a staff.  May we be people that enjoy living under the reign of our Father and partner with Him in seeing His kingdom extended wherever He leads us.  

Now onto class time...

Time for some Ice Cream

Time for a little more Tijuana life.  This episode takes you to a very popular stop; the Michoacana.  The place of ice cream, popsicles, strawberries and cream, fruit salad... lots of delicious treats.  My personal favorite is the paleta.  This is a popsicle and I highly recommend the coconut if you get a chance to try one.  Enjoy!

Karaoke in the Park

I have driven past this sign many, many times and finally made it down to Karaoke Sunday.  Every Sunday afternoon, from 2:00-6:00pm, one of the neighborhood parks has a free Karaoke time.  People are invited to sign up, choose their song, and then perform for all the locals in the park.  The performances ranged from junior highers singing Latin Pop to more mature performers singing what I believe would be considered the classics here in Mexico.  Lyndsay has challenged me to get up there one of these Sunday's and sing a song of my own... but... I am not so sure.  Singing in public on a microphone and in Spanish; I think I might need a little more time :-)

The karaoke stage 

 A place to sit and enjoy the show

And here is a bonus photo... possibly my favorite photo of the week.  Lyndsay and I were sitting on the park bench, enjoying karaoke, and we spotted this local dog.  He looks a lot like Yoda, but in dog form.

Time for more episodes of Tijuana Life

Well after taking a few weeks off from life in Tijuana, I am now back home.  I enjoyed seeing LOTS of friends and family up in the Pacific Northwest.  But speaking of Tijuana Life, we have some exciting new episodes for you to check out.  I was slow in posting Episode 3, so now get to watch not only one great episode but two!  Enjoy watching the quest for the infamous apple fritter followed by an exciting morning in the city walking with the locals.  

Adventures of the Subaru

Last week I had a run in with a garbage truck. Not a serious one, but it made an impression on my Subaru. I had given one of the volunteers from the nursing home a ride home, and after we had visited for a bit, it was time for me to head home.  It turned out that it was garbage day, so the garbage truck was also slowly moving down the road. The men had a lot of work to do as there hadn't been a pick up for three weeks. As I was leaving, the garbage truck was just a few houses down from my car and was parked diagonally. I couldn't get by. After some time they had picked up a small area behind the truck so that one car could pass at a time. I didn't really want to do that because there was still a good amount of trash on the road including a few glass bottles... but soon other locals were choosing this route and I realized I needed to as well. I started to drive through and in my efforts to navigate through the pile well, I ran into the back of the garbage truck with the side of my car.  The garbage guys just shook their heads at me, and then  straightened out my mirror for me.  Then, I backed up and continued on my way.  In the end, the car has a few small marks and I will know better how to drive around the garbage truck next time.  :-)

The Subaru

I like to think of this as a racing stripe rather than a scratch

This is the part that got stuck on the truck :-)

Tijuana Life: Episode 2

Episode 2 of Tijuana Life is here:   Caffe Sospeso.  I enjoyed being part of this episode as it included having a really good cup of coffee.  It turns out that the owner of the cafe is one of only 358 Q graders worldwide.  What is a Q grader?  Well, they are professional cuppers accredited by the coffee quality institute to judge and certify specialty coffees.  This means that he knows coffee VERY well and they serve a good product.  I enjoyed  un cafe del dia.  The coffee of the day was a blend of beans produced in 3 different states of Mexico:  Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Chiapas.  Enjoy getting to know more about Tijuana Life!

Weddings and Picnics

This past weekend, I was able to attend a wedding with my friends Shawna and Miguel.  In traditional church weddings in Mexico, the couple have padrinos (godparents) that present symbolic gifts to them throughout the service.  In can vary depending on the wedding, but at this wedding the couple had padrinos that presented them with cojines (small pillows they kneeled on up front), Libro (a Bible), and their rings.  They also had Padrinos de lazo and Padrinos de arras.  The lazo is a decorated cord that is in the shape of a figure eight.  It is placed on the shoulders of the bride and groom for most of the ceremony and then is removed at the end.  It is a symbol of their unity and commitment to one another as a couple.  The arras are 13 gold coins that are passed from the groom to the bride.  This is symbol of his wealth becoming her wealth, and his commitment to provide for her.  

The bride arrived in this vintage car... it was a surprise from the groom.

The bridal party preparing to enter the church

There were three little girls wearing these beautiful dresses.  They passed out rice and bubbles to all of the guests toward the end of the ceremony.

And then the next day...

Sunday morning I arrived at church with Ryan and Stephanie, and we discovered it was the El Dia de los Niños.  Kid's Day is actually April 30th, but we celebrated early.  The kids had seats reserved for them in a special seating area and we began the service with songs that were familiar to them.  We were dancing, singing, clapping, hugging... it was a lot of fun.  We also got to sing praises bluegrass style which I particularly enjoyed.  The kids were all assigned a certain color to wear (and the parents matched the kids) depending on the age group that they are a part of.  The church was filled with lots of color:  red, green, yellow, white, and orange.  The funny thing was that everyone was dressed extremely casual for a Sunday.  When I say casual, I mean the ladies were wearing jeans and that is not a normal occurrence.    Stephanie and I were laughing because we were intentional to dress up for church and it turned out to be "casual Sunday".  

After church the celebration continued and the church had a picnic out by the beach.  A few of us headed out there to join in the festivities.  There was a lot of food, games, music, and again celebrating kids and how much God loves them.  Pretty cool.

One of the first games they played was tug of war.  They started out with kids and parents on both sides.  

Here is the Red Team

And here is the White Team

It turned out though that the brute strength of the parents proved to be too much, and after breaking two ropes they moved to a kids only competition.  It was very entertaining to watch people fall down like a row of dominoes (not just once, but twice).

Red Team in the kids only version

And the White Team Kids... they were the champions!

The next game was one of my favorites.  The little ones got to compete as pinguinos.  They tied their feet together and they waddled like penguins (no jumping allowed) to a tree and back.