Baja Bible Staff Retreat

Last week we headed south from Tijuana for our Baja Bible Staff retreat. We visited an area called Laguna Hanson. What a cool place to visit.  In just four hours, we found ourselves in a whole new world from the city that we live in.  We were surrounded by trees, cows grazing in the fields, and the calming silence that comes along with the camping life.  At night, you could see thousands of stars which in itself was an extraordinary site.  During our stay there we spent time as a group getting to know one another better, preparing for the year ahead, and we also did some exploring.  I took a multitude of rock pictures as I have not seen so many interesting rocks in one place before.  Enjoy the sites of Laguna Hanson and another part of Baja California Norte.

This one I am going to call Little Rock 

Steph and I out exploring

Our home at the campground

Other visitors at the lake

I like to call this one Whale Rock

Early morning by the lake

Adventure in the forest

Los banos

Steph, Lyndsay and I out enjoying some rock climbing or as we called it scrambling

For the first time

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the chance to do some new things in Tijuana.  So I thought I would share my list with you.

For the first time I...

*went to a quinceanera.  Stephanie and I joined our friend Ruth Gollings and we celebrated Sarai's 15th birthday.  It was a beautiful celebration, much like a wedding in the states.  There was a ceremony in the church to start and this was followed by a reception.  Throughout the ceremony she was presented with gifts from her family and friends including her first pair of high heels!  I think this had to be my favorite part.  It was a sweet moment as her mom and dad took of her sandals and placed the high heels on her feet.  The pastor had her take a turn around the chairs to prove that she was ready to walk in them :-)  In addition to the sentimental value of the moment, I am just impressed with Mexican women and their ability to wear high heels.  Whether the terrain is good or bad, they look lovely and walk well.

*celebrated Independence Day in Mexico.  September 16th is Independence Day in Mexico, and the eve before is the time to celebrate.  The Baja Staff went over to our church for dinner and games and we ended the night at the Palacio Municipal.  Here we found thousands of people out celebrating with music, food stands, carnival rides, and probably the biggest pieces of cotton candy I have ever seen.  It is traditional to yell !Viva Mexico! at midnight, but we missed the offical grita (yell).  I have heard that the best place to celebrate this event is in Mexico City.

*ate a hot dog in Tijuana.   A friend of ours has been claiming to know the "Best hot dog stand in Tijuana" and so we headed out as a group one night to give it a try.  I admit it was good.  Beans, salsa, onions... and much more than that all on a hot dog.  Pretty tasty.

*have my own functioning bathroom.  That is right, this past week I had the first flush and first shower in my new bathroom.  The water was officially turned on.

Stephanie, Ruth and I joining Sarai at her quinceanera.

The site of one of the best hot dogs in Tijuana!

Staff laundry day at the Castillo

Duane and I working having fun sanding the walls

Another view of my little room and the functioning bathroom in the background

Welcome to Tijuana

Hi from Tijuana!  I made it home from language school and have been settling in at the Castillo.  I returned from Chiapas to find my new room waiting for me.  I have really enjoyed making it my new home for this next year.  As you can see in the photo, I have a view outside of my front door, and then a ladder to take me up to my loft.  It is currently a storage loft, but a loft none the less.  

The current projects at the Castillo have involved working on dorm rooms and finishing housing for the incoming staff members.  This year at Baja Bible there will be 8 staff members living on site and preparing for the upcoming school year.  It is our hope to open the school to students in the fall of 2009.

I have been learning some new construction skills, so here I am learning how to tile sinks.  The other highlight that day was learning how to use power tools... a tile cutter.  That was a new one for me!

Here is a photo of the current staff living at the Castillo.  We took day to visit the beach after church last Sunday.

It has also been a neat time to have guests visit the Castillo.  We had the Baja Bible board meeting this past weekend, which meant friends from Oregon were here to visit. I enjoyed catching up with Becky and yes true to our days at Ecola, we had some coffee together.  Michael is also on the board and was able to stay for our beach/Starbucks outing.  It was refreshing to see good friends from home.  

My Family in San Cristobal

Here are a few photos of the people that helped to make my time in San Cristobal very, very special.  

This was my last day in the city, so we had a special lunch.  In this photo, Jorge (my teacher), me, my good friend Merideth who moved in my last week, and Reynaldo... the dad of the house.  In the back row is Coco, my Mexican mom :-)  She was a wonderful hostess.

This is a photo of Merideth, Ricardo, and myself enjoying a good lunch in the backyard.  Ricardo was visiting for two of the weeks that I lived with the family.  

Merideth and I visited La iglesia de San Cristobal.  This was one of the two churches that sits at the top of many, many stairs.  We climbed to the top one day to visit the church during the festival of San Cristobal.  

And finally, this is Yoli.  She works with Coco, and was one of my favorite people to speak with.  I miss her!

LAS RUINAS

PALENQUE!  I finally made a trip to Palenque.  Palenque is the site of well known and often visited, Mayan Ruins.  It is set in the jungle, and has a humid/hot climate.  It was quite a change from San Cristobal.  I left San Cristobal on a Saturday morning and made the five hour bus ride to Agua Azul.  This is a park filled with waterfalls and many places to swim and cool off.  After taking some pictures and waiting out a rainstorm, I joined a group of backpackers and headed to Palenque.  We arrived in El Panchan which is a place well known on the backpackers circuit.  It hosts many hostels, cabanas, and restaurants.  I ended up staying in my own little cabana which was very comfortable.  It had two beds, a bathroom, and well screened windows to protect against the mosquitoes.  I slept great in my little cabana, and enjoyed listening to the sounds of the jungle as I headed to sleep.  On Sunday morning, it was time to visit Palenque.  I arrived early to enjoy cooler temperatures and fewer tourists.  All I can say is that it is an impressive place to visit.  The work of the Mayans is amazing.  I wandered through the park for a few hours, visited the museum, worked on my Spanish homework, and then once again waited out a rainstorm with a nice couple from Guanajuato.  (This is another state in Mexico)  It was a full day as I returned to San Cristobal at 11:30pm.  I was very happy to home!  I missed my Mexican family and was ready for a  post jungle shower!  I must say that the buses are the way to travel in Chiapas... much nicer than the Greyhound.  They have reclining seats, movies, and they gave us a complimentary beverage as we boarded the bus.  

Lluvia...it was a weekend of rain here as we experienced some of the effects of Hurricane Dolly.  It has been a bit cooler in San Cristobal and wet, but nothing compared to some of the other states in Mexico.  We have been watching the news in the evenings and there is a lot of flooding and damaged cities.

El Palacio...the main center of the ruins.

Me and the ruins... I drank A LOT of water!

My favorite pictures of the day!  The leaves from the trees were huge and this little guy was helping his sister stay cool.  People were using the leaves as umbrellas and hats.  

Waterfalls at Agua Azul

Welcome to El Panchan!  I stayed at El Jaguar.

My Cabana!  I stayed in only part of this building... the stairs are leading to my room.

MY DAY AT TONINA...Tonina is a smaller ruin compared to Palenque.  It has menos turistas (fewer tourists), but it is still a beautiful place to visit.  I headed to Tonina two weekends ago.  It was a good lesson in the cultural practices of public transportation.  I left San Cristobal on a colectivo and headed to Ocosingo a city just over 2 hours away.  Many, many curves and many, many speed bumps.  My biggest traveling dilemma has been several boughts of car sickness.  Oh well...Once I arrived in Ocosingo I headed out on colectivo number 2.  This dropped me off at the ruins.  It was a very quiet place as there were about 10 tourists visiting this huge ruin.  I wandered around for a couple of hours and then headed back toward San Cristobal.  On my trip back, I met a couple from France that just happened to be Spanish teachers.  I talked with them a bit, and then joined them on the colectivo to San Cristobal.  It was a cozy ride as I was in a seat reserved for four persons!  It ended up being me and three men.  Uses of space are very different here in Mexico, and this was a very good opportunity to learn about that!  Below are a few photos of the ruins at Tonina (Toe-nee-na), and the views of the surrounding area.

Daily life in San Cristobal

Here are a few photos from my life in San Cristobal.  Many different colored buildings and a variety of churches to visit.  I think there are over 16 churches listed on my map of the city, and I have two more I still need to visit.   

A few things I have been learning about the culture in the city... walking on the sidewalks.  Well, some of the sidewalks here are very narrow.  Really, there is just space for one person to walk.   In most cases, the younger person moves to toward the street when a older person is walking toward them.  This  is a sign of respect.  Also, if a man is walking toward a woman, it would be respectful of him to move to the outside and let her pass by.  These courtesies are not always followed, but I try to move to the outside of the sidewalk as I approach the more mature people of the city.

Doing your laundry in San Cristobal... well they have shops called lavandurias that wash and dry your clothes for 10 pesos a kilogram.  The first time I went, I dropped off most of my clothing and it was only a little over 20 pesos.  That is essentially $2.00.  When you go to pick it up, you will find your clothes neatly folded and packaged.

I have been visiting the markets during the week as there are many people to observe, both vendors and buyers.  One of my favorite things to buy has been roses.  They grow beautiful flowers in a village not too far from San Cristobal.  I hope to visit it this weekend.  The roses are 4 pesos each, and at some markets they are 2 pesos each.  I have enjoyed having fresh flowers in my room, (just a few) as they are a bit more affordable here.

Chedraui... this is the plaza in the city that has a movie theater and a large grocery store.  It is a bit like being in the states as you go here as they have McDonalds and a Dominoes Pizza.  I have gone to visit there a couple of times because movies are just $2.50 on Wednesdays.  I am trying to learn to use public transportation, so I headed over by taxi, watched WALLE, and then headed home on a colectivo. 

This is a city that is great for lots of walking.  Everything is relatively close, and there is a lot to look at.  The street filled with people (in the photo below) is called Miguel Hidalgo. It is a street for pedestrians only and goes through the main center of the city.  It is usually full of people during the day and in the nights as well.  

I hope you enjoy seeing a few of the sights from San Cristobal... 

Chiflon and Los Lagos de Montebello

Well, for my second weekend in San Cristobal, I headed out to visit Chiflon, which is a park with beautiful waterfalls.  As you can tell from the pictures, it was a beautiful place.  I had my raincoat on because I started to get really wet as I got closer to the waterfall.  The trail ended at a platform that sits in the middle of a heavy mist. I walked up to the top of the stairs, but I didn't stay on the platform very long.  My pants were completely drenched in about 5 seconds.  I decided to head down as those were my only clothes for the day and Chiflon was our first stop.  I am thankful to have lived in Oregon because I am well trained for walking around wet.  The mist from the waterfall definitely surpassed the rain storms in Cannon Beach.  The good news, I dried off in about an hour.  Once I hiked back down from the waterfall, it was warm and a bit humid.  Perfect conditions to dry off in.  I was ready to get in the van and head off to Los Lagos de Montebello.

The lakes were about an hour from Chiflon.  There is a park that contains over 50 beautiful lakes of different colors.  We were only able to see five of them as we had a 2 hours there. Our travel group was made up of 13 people.  Seven of us were from the US, and the other six were from Mexico.  While we were at the lakes, I ate lunch with college kids from Georgia. They had brought along PB & J and were kind enough to feed me.   My favorite part of the day though was talking to a Mexican woman and her daughter.  It was very encouraging.  It is tempting to spend time with the tourists that speak English, but on this particular tour, it worked out to spend more time with the Spanish speakers.  I thought she was a teacher at first because she was very patient and spoke very clearly.  She encouraged me to keep practicing and that I was off to a good start.  At our last lake, you could see the border of Guatemala and Mexico.  So in the mountains behind me and my patient friend, you can see Guatemala.  I thought that was pretty cool.