We also had time for fun

This is the pedestrian friendly street in Oaxaca. The buildings have a lot of European influences.
Santa Domingo...a church in Oaxaca
Me, Beny and Mixie at Monte Alban, a Zaportec ruin.
That's me on the steps.

I'm back with a case of the Mexicos

After a week in Mexico, I'm finally home. It has felt like I've been gone forever. Anyway, I brought home with me a nasty stomach bug. So, I apologize if this post doesn't make a lot of sense....I haven't eaten solid food for almost 2 days and the trip home was BRUTAL! At least I'm in the comfort of my own home. Here are the pictures that I promised. They definitely speak louder than my posts. Thank you for all for your support and I especially thank my wonderful husband who supports me in everything I do. I love you.

Day 1 of making pisos. This is our mostly women team riding in the back of the pickup with all the supplies: cement mixer, wheel barrows, buckets, shovels and great attitudes. From left to right: Izmerna, friend of the church; Mixie, piso supervisor and the muscles of the group; Lucie, girl from Pimpollo.
This is a great example of what the floors look like. We're just adding the cement on top of the dirt floors. This was our first piso and this is the kitchen area. Yes, it's outside.

This is just evidence that I did actually do some manual labor, for those of you who thought I'd be sitting around drinking margaritas.

This is what the average home looks like in Vicente Guerrero. Made out of tin, not like anything here in the States.

This was the last piso we did on Friday. This is the whole family....yes, it's a huge family. Not really uncommon here.

To learn more about my trip or to donate, visit http://missionoaxaca.org/

3 F´s: Family, Friends and Food

One major thing I´ve learned here in Mexico has been the importance of family. Coming from a Chinese family, I´ve been taught that family is always first. After this week, I´ve been reminded that not only is family important, but friends are treated like family too. We have been blessed with amazing Mexican families that have taken us in as their own. I´m touched by the generosity and selflessness of the people we have met. I can´t say that I could prepare a meal for over 20 people at once, but maybe I´m up to the challenge when I get home.

For the last 3 days that we have been doing pisos, a local family cooks for the whole crew and their own family. It´s been a lot of fun to be immersed into the culture through family, friends and food.

Tomorrow I´m heading home...it will be bittersweet.

Machismo

Today was day 2 of piso building. I think I´m getting to be a pro at this. Yesterday we built 2 pisos: one kitchen and one outdoor space. Today we built 2 pisos for one family. The difference between today and yesterday was that yesterday´s team consisted of mostly women and Pastor Beny. It was highly efficient and we had a lot of fun. Today´s team was a few more men from the household that we were building the pisos. It was a more interesting dynamic because the men (who were all shorter than me) didn´t let me do any heavy lifting. It was hilarious trying to pick up a bucket of sand or rock and having someone steal it out of my hands the moment I even lifted it. Can´t wait to post some pictures.

I love the summer Olympics

Okay, so this is a little late post, but the opening ceremonies was off the hook!! The best ever. The amount of people doing the performances, costumes, fireworks...I thought they did a great job showcasing China. I was glued to the tv. I haven´t talked to anyone else about it, but what did everyone else think?

So it´s been interesting watching the Olympics here in Mexico, what a different perspective. I love that they showcased archery, since a 14 yr old Mexican girl won it. Sorry, but that is a boring sport to watch. Also, I don´t understand anything they´re saying, so it sounds like: "blah, blah, blah...Michael Phelps." Looking forward to coming back and seeing the US perspective!

Maya-bear

Most of you know that I have a dog named Maya that I completely love. She´ll be 3 years old in October and is my first dog. I´ve taught her tricks, take her on walks and have recently taught her to ride along side me on my bike. Since being in Mexico and seeing all the scavanger dogs, I keep thinking how good Maya has it. She´s not out on the streets looking for food, fending for her life, and pregnant with her 4th litter. Yes, Maya is a dog that I love, but she´s not a human. So to me, putting dogs in doggie day care for $25 a day is a little overkill. Do you think it make us humans feel better about ourselves?

China (pronounced Chi-na)

Yesterday we went to visit Pimpollo in Jichitan. It´s like an orphanage, but people don´t adopt these kids. These kids were dropped off and abandoned, sometimes the parents come back for them, most of the time they don´t. The sight was almost too much for me to bear, unsupervised children and children who just need a little bit of love, affection and some structure in their lives. There´s too much to write about, but the one thing that I love about these kids, is that they are completely honest and have no filters. First thing they did was stare at me and asked everyone around me where I was from. I don´t think they´ve ever met someone Chinese. They couldn´t understand that I was American and Chinese. Americans can be Chinese too, hmmmm....I can see how that can get confusing for kids, but then I thought, it can be confusing for adults too. So this post is about traveling to other countries as an Asian American. I´ve always struggled with identifying myself with being American and Chinese. This experience makes me think more about it. Good, bad, indifferent....still thinking about it....Thoughts?