Classic.

This past week, two classic things happened. The first one was classic Mexican. Even though we knew the time was changing on Nov. 1st in the U.S., no one was quite sure when it was changing in Mexico (sometimes they change a week or two before or after the U.S). There was a great debate as we looked on the internet, consulted a Mexican calendar, and asked various people in our church. Naturally, not all of our sources agreed with one another. Finally, about 8:00 PM on Saturday night enough of us were gathered together to reach a consensus and decide that yes, the time was changing tonight (Oct. 24/25). I thought about how different this was from the U.S--they usually post it in the church bulletins weeks in advance and sometimes even send email reminders. We can also look in the newspaper or any online source. I don't even know if there is a newspaper in Fresnillo; there probably is since it's a city of 200,000 people, but that is obviously not our main source of information. Anyway, the whole incident was quite amusing (albeit slightly frustrating) and definitely a cultural statement to me.

The other classic thing that happened this week was in regards to me still learning Spanish and not being able to fully communicate. In the middle of our classroom time at Club, my little girl Fatima kept asking me if she could have the "crayolas." I told her no repeatedly and couldn't understand why sweet Fatima kept asking me this--she knew that we didn't give away the crayons at Club. Once Club ended, she even got her sister go ask me for them! Later, as I was about done visiting one of my other Club girls, I reached in my pocket only to discover Fatima's colored pencils that she had given me to hold for her at the beginning of Club! I felt absolutely horrible! I usually refuse to hold things for the kids precisely for this reason. While it's true she could have more specifically described them, I still felt so badly and could imagine how Fatima probably thought her teacher had permanently taken her precious colored pencils away. So as soon as I finished with my other visit, I ran (literally, since it was getting dark and almost time for my roommates and I to go to home) all the way to Fatima's house to safely deliver the colored pencils back to her. As I tried to explain while also catching my breath, she had a confused but relieved look on her face. All in a day's work...