Mexico Travelogue - Day 5

The three expectant birdwatchers (as mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post) didn’t spot their special owl early in the morning after all, but enjoyed a good time tromping around anyway – a great kick-off for the weekend!  Kevin returned to his room to prepare for an outing to a "comic extravaganza" in Tijuiana with several other orphan boys, and I prepared breakfast of gluten-free French toast, cinnamon apples, and homemade breakfast “sausage” from ground turkey for my guys. After fueling up, they got busy and installed new towel bars in the bathroom, a throw-back to years past when they worked together to complete various handyman-type projects.

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I've got to stop for just a second and get real.  This visit to Mexico is changing me.  Causing me to look deeply into myself.

I continue to marvel at the “family feel” of everyday life here, how very diverse people live in community such that experiences, food, tools, possessions - both big and small - are shared in common as needed. For example, when breakfast included French toast as I mentioned above, a neighbor provided pure maple syrup when we had none. On previous days I’d borrowed a cookie sheet, soup pot, and grater – it is common practice for kitchen items to float around freely.  It was also normal operating procedure on Day 4 for Fritz sr. to use a community lawnmower to mow the side yard, and a community chainsaw to cut up firewood for the new fire pit.  And when the fellas installed the towel bars, their drill was a common tool. It’s all about community.

It seems I can easily be focused differently.  An independent spirit can propel me, as well as hunger (entitlement?) for convenience and comfort. I say this thoughtfully.  Introspectively.  

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But I digress.  Back to Day 5!  In the afternoon the two Fritzes decided to tackle the repair and rebuilding of a wooden swing with rotten legs. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when the saw and tools came from a common pool.   The heavy-duty, comfy swing turned out great, and is now repositioned with a superb view.

As they engineered the swing project (which inspired plenty of flashbacks to the good old days), I continued working with succulents, weeding and transplanting in the side yard. In the process I whacked away at some tenacious weeds with leaves that look like geraniums – the locals say they’re tasty when cooked, and high in antioxidants, but we haven’t had the courage to try them (yet).  I do know they have roots that go deep and don’t want to let go! 

As daylight dwindled we attended Vespers in the candlelit chapel, the Saturday evening service to prepare body, soul, and spirit for Sunday morning Matins. Here’s a picture of the outside of the chapel – Cosmo wanted to come with us, so we had to coax him to stay outside.

Our neighbor, Zach, is in charge of the house-building mission sector of Project Mexico - his wife Sophia (who happens to be a full-blooded Greek American from Minnesota) sang at this service with a trained soprano voice that can only be described as spine-chillingly angelic. We stood the entire time (about an hour and a half), as was the expectation.  The service was conducted in Spanish, and since we aren't fluent our experience was more observational and contemplative than intellectual. My little friend Adrian with the broken fingers (see post for Day 4) chose to adopt Fritz sr. as a source of comfort during part of the service, and leaned into him deeply several times to invite extended hugs.

After Vespers Kevin (our photographic orphan friend, see post for Day 4) stopped by to return the camera he’d borrowed to take on the Tijuiana "comic extravaganza" outing. He ended up staying quite a while.  I opened my computer to iPhoto for a photographic show-and-tell of pictures from Michigan, and he was amazed by pictures of sunsets over our lake - especially ones when the lake was covered with ice and snow. The concept of actually walking across a lake on frozen ice seemed almost incomprehensible to him! He requested both Fritz sr. and jr. play the piano, and he seemed to relish the “cultural” part of our evening together as photographic art and music bridged the gap in our otherwise very different orientations.