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| Our new home for the next 2 weeks. |
A theme for this week of classes has been transitions. In reality, that has been our family theme for the year. We learned yesterday that transition and change are two different things. Change is something that happens physically, but transition is something that happens psychologically. In order for change to be successful then transition must take place. Last week, we stayed in an apartment here in Mitla which was pretty modern with three bedrooms and 2 baths. It was probably a little larger than our place in Dallas. There were some things we had to adapt to such as the lack of heat, concrete floors, and an active ant population! However, Monday we made our first big transition since arriving in Mexico. We moved in with our host family. They are a very nice Chinatec family who also speaks Spanish (no English). About 10 minutes after arriving Kieran was starting to melt down because there was “too much Spanish”. We knew that this move was going to be more of a transition for the kids because the way of living is much different for this family. We are staying in a one room addition to their family home with our own bathroom. Now, when I say bathroom, I mean outhouse…complete with a tin roof and hole in the ground! Yes, the kids are not the only ones who had to adjust to this one!
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| Kieran enjoying the morning smell of our outhouse! |
After getting settled into our new living situation, we enjoyed a delicious dinner with the family. By the end of the evening, our family’s 10-year-old daughter had Kieran and Elyse playing and giggling in the living room. It is amazing how long three kids can play together without speaking a word of the same language. When it was time for us to turn in, neither of our kids wanted to leave.
Step 1 to transition…here we come!
Another aspect of transitions is going through a grieving process. Even when someone is excited about the upcoming change, he or she will go through a period of grieving over things and people left behind. We’ve all experienced this in one way or another since arriving in Mexico. For the first couple of days after moving into our new room, I thought I was going to have to grieve over the idea of a hot shower, but, thankfully, Tuesday evening, our host “sister” showed us a HEATED shower in the main part of the house that we could use. It really is the little things!
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| Our sweet host sister. |
We have already learned so much since arriving in Mexico…cooking techniques, water purification, electrical wiring, language acquisition and medical information. These are all very practical lessons which will make change less difficult, but a notebook full of facts and data will not always make the transitions easier. I have begun to realize how important it is to form relationships and to look at all the changes with a positive outlook. At around 3:30 am Tuesday morning (after our first night in our new room), a rooster started crowing (obviously, Mexican roosters are quite advanced!). Being the lightest sleeper in our family, I heard it crow off and on until 6:30 am when my ipod alarm went off (I’m not sure why I thought I’d need technology). Needless to say, I was ready to have chicken for breakfast (bring on the butchering class)! However, a little after 6, Kieran woke up to the sound of the rooster. He looked over at me, smiled and said, “Mommy, isn’t it cool to be woken up by a rooster?”
Step 2 to transition…we're on our way!
Yes, I know. My dad is a retired agriculture teacher. I grew up around chickens, pigs, cows, and other various farm animals. I’ve never had to wonder where chicken nuggets come from. Today’s activity should not have been that big of a stretch for me. However, the idea of catching, killing, plucking, and butchering a chicken is not my idea of a fun afternoon! I consider myself to be a pretty adventurous person, but...
Thankfully, there were only three chickens that needed to be prepared for our lunch. We had a big comida (lunch) to thank our host families, and what better way to say thanks than freshly butchered chickens?! I decided to let some of the more eager participants do the actual killing. Kris volunteered to do one. By the way, the expression, “he’s running around like a chicken with its head cut off” is very true. The first bird tried to fly away after losing her head! 
