Puebla Bound

It’s been a while.

I’m not even going to try and catch up to life as it’s happened since my last entry. To sum it up, I worked and took three classes at Wake Tech. Life has marched resolutely forward, leaving me quite breathless, but I have managed to make it this far, and I type this post as I sit in a plane on my way to Mexico.

I suppose I ought to explain a bit about the whole Mexico thing. I constantly forget people don’t know what I’m doing with my life (insert obligatory “I don’t have any idea what I’m doing with my life either” blog snippet here), and apparently that carries over into blogging. Also, the word, “blogging” still makes me feel weird when I apply it to myself.

So, I’m flying to Puebla, Mexico, being sent my 1-2-4 Project to teach English with English4Life at the BAM Center (Business As Missions) until July 31^st, starting today. Which is still really weird to think about. I don’t feel like I’m leaving for three months, I just feel like I didn’t plan out my Saturday and this seat in the sky is simply where I found time to open my planner. Teaching is a new adventure for me, so I’m praying that I manage to hit the ground running and adapt quickly, though I do anticipate a lot of learning I’m going to have to do. A common theme in life, I see.

So far, the trip seems to be going well. As soon as I got to the airport, I found my ticket was messing up somehow, and then that it was because the flight was overbooked. To fix this, they just cut out the unnecessary flight from Raleigh to Washington, and bumped me up to a first class seat on the way to Houston. This is why I sit eating a complementary banana along with my usual choice of tea. And on top of it all, I didn’t have to pay for my checked bag. Heck yeah.

Side note though: Having to sit in first class while everyone else shuffles past me, looking at the ample foot room as I’ve done in the past, feels super awkward.

Upon landing in Puebla, I am under the impression that I will meet up with my friends at the airport, and they’ll show me around a little bit. I’ll live for a couple days at the BAM Center itself, and then I may or may not be frequently moved until I can rent a place in two weeks or so. Flexibility is important, as is being comfortable with packing and unpacking quickly. I hope to sit in while others teach for a bit, to get the feel of the class before jumping in myself. We’re still not sure about how many classes I’ll be teaching, or when those classes will be. Again, flexibility is important.

I just got a fig newton type treat from the flight attendant that actually tastes delicious, and it was lemon flavored. I love lemon. What is this place? Also, these clouds are legit the coolest. But I digress.

I really have no idea what else to share, as that’s really all I know for now. Teachers wear business casual in the classroom. I might get a bike at some point. Bus rides could be a regular thing. Flip flops are frowned upon. I need to wear sunscreen because I’m white and it’s Mexico.

Of course, prayer is a pretty big deal to me in this venture, and I would like to invite any who would to pray for me and for those I meet while I’m here. I want to be following the Spirit and listening for what he has to say, to see the needs of those around me, and learn of things to work on in myself. The goal for me here is to teach English, yes, but it is mostly to fill the needs of others and share the love of Christ with them. I will post more specific requests to pray about as I go along (I hope to put one post out a week), but for now my requests are that I stay healthy, that I learn quickly, that I don’t get too frazzled from so much new stuff, that I find favor regarding financial support, and that I don’t get a wicked sunburn.

Should anyone have specific questions for me regarding anything at all, or if you would like to help me out financially, feel free to get in touch with me, I’d love to talk. I won’t post my contact info here for the masses of the Internet to find, as I trust my base of readers to already know me personally, or know someone else who does.

As per a request from a friend of mine, I shall now list a couple things that came into my head just sitting in the airport:

“For whatever reason, airports make me sad. Not like, depressed sad, but ‘The bird that’s been raised from its hatching just learned how to fly and has joined his people in the great migration and is gone forever’ sad.”

“Wouldn’t it be so cool to run on a massive treadmill sped up to 45 m.p.h., but go in the same direction? You would be flying, but if you fell, it would only be like a normal fall, not getting smacked into oblivion by the Earth whizzing past you.”

That’s all I’ve got, folks. I end my scatterbrained monologue here. I would not be surprised if I read this post later and find it to have been written horrendously, but as it is, I’m lucky it’s getting posted.

*Munches pensively on lemony fig newton while gazing out first class window into the horizon* Maybe someday I’ll write in a way that's less like a rambling squirrel with attention issues.…maybe someday.

Adventure is out there.