Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas from Tijuana! Our first term of school has come to an end, which means staff and students are on break and enjoying time with family and friends. For the first time, I have been spending most of my break in Tijuana/San Diego. I have enjoyed the christmas lights, the champurrado, christmas tree lots lit up at night, and a multitude of cars driving around with reindeer antlers.

A December day in Tijuana

Our Baja Students celebrating at the Christmas party

Lots of great decorations around the city

Staff ladies enjoying some fun with our Christmas antlers

Car with antlers...

Champurrado. A thick chocolate drink that warms you up on a cold winters night. It is made of masa, cinnamon, abuelita chocolate, milk, and of course sugar.

Merry Christmas!

Mi Casita

I received a great gift this year... the opportunity to live in my own little house on the campus grounds. It has been titled "Heidi's cottage" by the students which is quite appropriate. It is small, but also very cozy. I thought I would give you a bit of a tour.

This is the downstairs. God provided furniture, a rug, couch, and most of the stuff even matches :-)

And if you were to turn back toward the entrance you would find the kitchen area. I love having my own little oven. I baked my first fall treat yesterday... pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

The staircase

And the upstairs level. This the bedroom area, and I have a little bathroom up here too.

And this is me having fun decorating my own little home.

Tijuana Life

After taking a summer break from blogging (and from life in Tijuana), I am home now, and so it is time to blog once again. I had the chance to live in Oregon for the summer. It was a summer of waitressing (lazy Susan Cafe... wonderful breakfast place in Cannon Beach, OR), catching up with good friends, and rest. The time of rest was good, and now it is very nice to be home in Tijuana.

Here are a few shots to highlight the new additions in my life as year 2 of Baja Bible School begins.

I left Tijuana in April and drove up to Oregon. At the time of departure all four doors were red. In June, I became the proud owner of a red Subaru with a blue door. I am thankful for this little car, and now it has a bit more character.

Meet our new students. Natalie, Megan, and Jonny have joined us for year 2 of Baja Bible School. We are very thankful for a great group of students.

My dear friends, the Magees, have moved to Mexico. So now one of my favorite families lives just about 1.5 hours east of Tijuana. Meet Abigail and Audrey Magee.

And finally, I learned about the world of root canals this summer. I started the process in Oregon, and then received my crown in Tijuana. As a root canal survivor, I can honestly say that they are not as terrible as everyone says. Today my friend Richell and I were driving in the city though and this dentist's office (actually a root canal specialist) caught my attention. Here in Tijuana, many medical offices have pictures on their signs/front windows that are associated with the work that they do. Please look at the tooth in the upper left hand corner... ouch.

More highlights of Tijuana life and the adventures of Baja Bible School coming soon.

A visit to Bol-Bol

I had a chance to visit Bol-Bol a few weeks ago. I had never gone bowling in Tijuana before, and it was a lot of fun. Much like the states, they have bowling leagues, cosmic bowling, the crazy shoes, video games, and all the other familiar features you would find in your local bowling alley.

This particular bowling trip was special because our friend Miguel went bowling for the first time. He did great and scored over 100 in his first game ever. In fact, he nearly won.

Here is your word lesson of the day. In Spanish the word for bowling is Boliche.

Here the men are studying the lane as we prepare to begin our game. Giving Miguel some tips before he plays for the first time.

And here he goes... bowling for the first time ever!

This was just the third frame, and notice the fun spellings of our names.

Almost finished...Ryan ended up winning, followed by Shawna, and then Miguel.

Rainy Tijuana Days

We just had another rainy Tijuana day, so I figured it was time to post a few photos of what that looks like down here. The driving in Mexico becomes a little more interesting after a good rain. Depending on where you are in the city, the roads can become like mini rivers. Here are a few shots coming down the road from the Castillo.

This group of rain photos came from a rainy day adventure that Stephanie and I took last year. We had been out visiting some friends and it began to rain pretty hard. It was a good thing we had the Sorensen's Jetta that day because the roads were full of water as we headed home. The Jetta is able to tackle just about anything :-)

The rain adds a few things to Tijuana life. One thing... Potholes! After a good rain, you have to be extra careful as you drive. New potholes have likely developed on the roads you were once familiar with and can easily catch you by surprise, or at least your poor car by surprise.

The rain also adds beauty to the city. The hills turn green and the city looks really beautiful this time of year. Here are a few shots from Eastern Tijuana.

Graduation Week

Last week we had a celebration! It was graduation week here at Baja Bible School. The first year has come to an end. Thank you all that have prayed, given, and walked with us (staff or students) in our very first year. Both staff and students learned a ton this year and the staff is looking forward to coming back and starting our second year of school in September. After some good rest this summer of course :-)

Here are a few shots from the last week... me and my dear girls, Leah and Katie, and of course a photo of the graduates. Congrats to our first group of graduates from Baja Bible School! We will miss you. Andrew we will miss you too!

Andrew and Chuy. Andrew has been with us the past two years as the Business Manager. He joined Chuy and family in working at the family business :-)

Leah, Katie and I enjoying a meal at the taco stand.

The graduates. The red sweatshirts became our version of the cap and gown. :-)

Leah and I

Katie and Leah... very dear to me!

El Dia del Amor y la Amistad

I enjoy watching Mexico celebrate Valentine's Day. I blogged on this fact last year, but seeing it is only my second Valentine's Day ever to be celebrated in Tijuana, I decided to write another Valentine's Day post.

A few things I appreciate about the celebration down here:

1. It is not just a romantic day. Everyone is invited to celebrate because it is the day of love and friendship. ( Amor y Amistad)

2. The streets become very colorful with lots of pink and red. As you drive down the street on Valentine's Day you find bouquets of balloons tied to cars, lots of flowers, cellophane wrapped gifts ready to be given to a loved one or friend.

3. The gifts are bigger and more creative than most things I have ever seen in the states. I took a picture of what I am hopping to receive next year :-)

Here are a few photos for you:

Setting up for Valentine's Day .

So, if I was to pick a gift, I would vote for this tree of roses :)