very soon to marry - again

Tomorrow is Abraham's and my church wedding. Finally! As anyone who has ever gotten married in a ceremony probably knows, there are so many nit-picky details that come up as the planning happens. Happily, here in Puebla and among the Dios es Amor church community and among the school folks, there are many people ready and willing to help. Librada washed the church windows and curtains and is getting up super early Sunday morning to finish the mole, Janelle drove out to pick up potted daisies for the table decorations, Manuel and Ruth made the ceremony bulletin, Mike took me to get my dress from the dry cleaners and will take me out to church at 8, Joe set up skype so my oldest sister could see the ceremony although she is in the US, Sarah and her sister did the flower arranging, and many more people helped in many other ways.

Today during the Great Church Clean Up, a lot of people turned up to help. We had our fair share of happenings. As my family and I walked up to the sanctuary, our first sight was the corpse of a dog who'd died during the night. Later, poor Abraham and Kevin (my brother) were the lucky ones to cart the body to the dump in a wheel barrow.

After the huge tarp had been put up outside for shade, a torrential downpour lifted it off its poles and filled the basketball court where the tables for the reception were going to go with 4 or more inches of water. About twelve people, including Abraham and I, spent the next hour sweeping and squeeging the water off the court. In one particularly grand puddle, people used dust pans to scoop water into buckets to carry off the court. I kept thinking, "How many American brides spend time before their wedding sweeping water off the church's basketball court? What memories."

Our wedding rehearsal was over an hour late because of the downpour which flooded roads. Our flower girl never even arrived.

There will be hitches tomorrow, but I already have stored up memories of willing help and lots of moments of laughter. When we return from the honeymoon, we'll have even more stories to tell.

good byes, syncretism, Vivaldi's Gloria

Friday the children cleaned out their desks, scrubbed stickers (and germs) off the tops, and loaded their back packs with a year's accumulation of school work. At eleven in the morning, the final bell rang, and the 2008-09 school year ended. What a year it has been! While preparing the Powerpoint that I will be sending out in June, I reflected on how different this presentation will be from last year's. This summer I will be one of the few American missionaries not returning to the States. Instead, on June 21st, I will be marrying my best friend, and the two of us will be staying somewhere in Puebla - although we still don't know exactly where.

Both on Friday and on Saturday, we had farewell meals. Friday was a hamburger barbecue at the PE field, and Saturday we met for a buffet brunch. Each staff member received a Puebla team jersey to remind us that this year's focus was team building. Five of the team members will be gone next year. Two of them will hopefully return the following school year, but three of them are leaving permanently. Saying good-bye is never fun. There are other missionary families also leaving this summer for home assignment or permanently.

Saturday after the brunch, Abraham and I took a bus downtown to take care of some errands. While walking past one museum, we noticed it advertised free entrance. Since the place is rarely open, neither of us had been inside before. We decided to enter, and enjoyed the tour of the mansion. The family had been extremely catholic, and many art pieces showed their religion. Curiously, they also had a Buddha and several Zeus busts. When Abraham pointed out the incongruity of the beliefs, the guide didn't understand. "They gathered art from many cultures," he agreed. Not exactly what Abraham meant.

In the evening, we had the wonderful opportunity to see a free performance of Vivaldi's Gloria at a Baptist church downtown. The Puebla Symphony and choir played and sang beautifully. They opened with Pachelbel's Canon in D, one of my favorite classical music pieces.


Because of a comment on the blog - Where I was standing with my husband and a friend, we didn't even feel the earthquake that happened recently here. The only way we knew it happened was that people came out of the school asking, "Did you feel that!?!" No, we didn't.

Spring Concert

Last Thursday evening, after many months of hard work, all the students of PCS performed their spring concert, entitled The Root Beer Barrel Cafe. The theme was movies and musicals, so the children sang a variety of show tunes, and my little munchkins had a Three Little Pigs skit which I narrated. For the final song, the students and staff sang "Resplendent in Your Glory" in praise to the God who gives us voices to sing.

Today we began our last week of school, and then several of my students and most of the staff will leave to the US for the summer or, for some, permanently. I will not be returning to the States for the foreseeable future. Abraham's and my church wedding is fast approaching, and we have plenty still left to do to prepare. Many of you should have received your invitations in the mail during this last week.

We need your prayers as we prepare for the wedding and plan where to live. We had thought we would live in apartments near the seminary where Abraham attends graduate school, but two weeks ago, the woman who had been renting Abraham's tiny house abruptly decided to move out. It would be best if we didn't have to live in the house, because it is more than an hour away from here, but we cannot afford to make house payments and pay rent at another place at the same time. If you would like to begin financially supporting us, you can make checks to Newport Mesa Church and include an insert or letter explaining that the money is for Rachel Greenlee. The address for Newport Mesa is 2599 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92627. Any amount would be a great help to us as we begin our new life together. Thank you for your support and prayers.

Love in the Time of Influenza

Not that I recommend the movie of almost the same title, but it did seem an appropriate title for this blog. We've got a lot going on here. I'm sure everyone has heard all about the swine flu, but it's another story actually living where it's changing our every day lives.

It is so hard to know what is really true. Are hundreds dying? Thousands? A handful? One report says one thing, another says another thing. The reality is, we don't know, but people are panicking. All public places are closed, by order of the Mexican government. Anyone in public service - bus drivers, taxi drivers, etc. - have to wear face masks and latex gloves. Of the few people walking around outside, about half of them have masks as well. All schools, churches, government buildings, museums, and theaters are closed, as well as some restaurants. The plan is for everything to reopen May 6th, but that will only happen if the ministry of health believes the flu threat to have diminished enough.

During all this brouhaha, the date for Abraham's and my court wedding arrived. We were concerned that the court would be closed, since it is a government office. Abraham called the day before and then again in the morning of April 29th. The office was open! Therefore, at 10 a.m. a 'great cloud of witnesses' gathered with us at the court, and we began signing and finger printing a bunch of papers. Our four legal witnesses also signed, and then all of us went into a back room with the judge. She looked over our papers, and then, with solemnity, read the vows. Abraham and I said our 'I dos' and the judge declared us married. Just like that!

We returned home and the party began. There was plenty of good food and more than abundant laughter. The guests stayed until late afternoon, and then in the evening, Abraham also left. We are continuing to live in separate houses until after the 'real' wedding. Kind of a bizarre arrangement, but we did the court wedding so early in order to avoid last minute snafus.

Please pray for Mexico and for the flu to end. Pray for wisdom for the authorities to know how long to continue this virtual quarantine of the entire country. Pray for Abraham and I as we continue preparing for the church wedding and as we begin married life (although not together yet).

Easter and vacation

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

I hope you had a truly blessed Easter and took the time to remember all that Good Friday and Easter mean. On Friday Abraham, Six, Ken, and I went to Huejotzingo at three p.m. to present the true meaning of Good Friday to the kids. We hung curtains over the entrance to the back room, and Abraham went back there. Another man who had come with us represented the high priest, and he was the only one who could enter the 'Holy of Holies' to communicate with Abraham. After this introduction, Abraham came out, lit a candle to symbolize the life of Christ, and briefly told the story of the events leading up to Jesus' death. Usually, when Abraham is telling a Bible story, the kids are fairly chatty and restless, but this time they listened absolutely attentively. After this, Abraham explained to the children that Good Friday is his birthday, spiritually speaking, and told them that they could talk to any one of the adults if they too wanted to have new life. Four of the children did approach us and pray to accept Jesus into their hearts. Please pray that they grow, and that their parents also accept the Good News.

Saturday night I spent at the Lechugas' house, because Dios es Amor had a sunrise service on Easter, and buses don't run that early. We were supposed to get up at 4:30 to leave at 5, but someone's alarm didn't go off, so we woke up with ten minutes to get ready before the pastor and his wife arrived to pick us up. About half the regular congregation showed up for the pre-dawn service, and we enjoyed a time of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. Following the service, we ate a pot-luck breakfast together, and then some people stayed to watch the movie Facing the Giants. Those of us going to Huejotzingo saw about half of it before leaving.






Once at Huejotzingo, Abraham and I went out inviting the families like we normally do. Once the kids had gathered, I sneaked back outside to hide twelve eggs with symbols of the Easter story inside them. The kids sang some songs with Abraham and then searched high and low for the eggs. Once back inside, those who had found an egg opened them in numerical order and explained what was inside and what it meant. If they didn't know the significance, Abraham told them. We sang a few more times, shared a snack, and then left for home.








Back at my home, Florina had invited several people for a special Easter lunch. We ate good food and shared lots of fellowship, but I was more than ready for bed by 11. It had been a very long day.

Starting today, it's vacation time from school, but there is plenty to keep me busy. Wedding planning continues at a great pace. More and more details keep surfacing, but we've also completed a few things. For example, today Abraham and I finally planned the actual ceremony. We also went into the registro civil and the office of immigration this morning and will be returning there tomorrow to, Lord willing, finish all the paperwork and set the date for the civil ceremony.

After completing our visits to the offices today - and they are not close to each other - we took the one hour bus ride to Abraham's neighborhood so that we could go to a clinic. I needed a mole removed, since a few people had told me that it should be removed and analyzed. Please pray that it turns out to have no suspicious cells, because if it does, the doctor will have to remove all my moles, and there are quite a few.

The Little Red Hen

Last week I read aloud the story of the Little Red Hen to my students. We're starting to talk about chickens since, I suppose, they sort of go with spring. Anyway, once we'd finished reading the story, we then began making a batch of very simple bread, an experience most of the kids hadn't participated in before. They thoroughly enjoyed watching the dough rise and then kneading it after it had risen for a few hours (chanting, "Push, turn, fold" according to the directions I'd given them in how to knead). The next morning, they ate fresh bread with honey, and then the PCS teachers got to eat the left-overs.

Yesterday I assigned the students to teams, and they began writing their own version of the Little Red Hen story. It will be interesting to see how they turn out. One of the teams has an owl as their main character and a meerkat, an elephant, and a worm as the three lazy characters. My little "Happy Feet" student is in that group, and he's loving the chance to write a story. Hm, perhaps I should have the class do more creative writing.

On Sunday afternoon we took a chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, and some chocolate cupcakes for the kids at Huejotzingo. This is our first time celebrating their birthdays, and we combined January, February, and March birthdays. Two of the kids helped me decorate the cupcakes before the others arrived. When the kids came, Abraham told them the Bible story of Nicodemus and about being born again. He explained what Jesus meant by being born again, and told the children they could talk with any of the adults in the room if they wanted to be born again.

After that, those who had birthdays chose which cupcake they wanted to eat with vanilla ice cream, while the rest of the children ate pieces of chocolate cake. We plan to celebrate birthdays every three months, and we would also like to begin doing crafts with the kids once a month, but at present we don't have the funds to buy the supplies. Please continue to pray for the kids and families of Huejotzingo and PCS.

weddings and things

I am finding out, like all brides before me, just how many details go into planning a wedding. And this is a simple wedding! - and many people have offered to help as well. Still, there are details, and soon there will be more, since my certified birth certificates have arrived today. That means Abraham and I can start on all the paperwork to required by the Mexican government. That's a good thing, I suppose.

One of the details that I don't think many American brides have to think about is how to decorate the tortilla cloths. I wouldn't have thought about that, but my future mother-in-law Six asked me what I thought we should decorate them with. Would it be easier to paint them or embroider? Definitely paint. So, since yesterday was a holiday in Mexico, I went to their house for the whole day, and we painted tortilla cloths. They look very nice, by the way.

On Saturday my roommate and I went to her favorite downtown market. I hadn't been there before, so we first stopped in to the fish section to browse first. I simply couldn't resist buying a few octopus tentacles. They are so slimy and unappealing looking, that I just had to try them out. I've eaten squid and octopus before but hadn't had the fun of cooking it myself before Saturday.



A week ago Sunday, Abraham told the story of Jonah to the kids at Huejotzingo. I have the Jonah and the Big Fish dvd from Veggie Tales, so this last Sunday we took Abraham's computer, the church's projector, my speakers, and lots of popcorn and a popper, fruit, and soda so the kids could watch the movie. We told them to try to notice the differences between the Bible story and the movie (for one thing, Jonah wasn't an asparagus), and next week, if they write down five differences, they can get a prize. Thirteen kids showed up and mowed through two kilos of popcorn, sliced oranges, two large sodas, and water melon. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy the movie as well. Please continue to pray for these kids and their families.

Save the Date and green eggs

Abraham and I have to wait until the certified copy of my birth certificate, complete with apostil (or something like that?) comes to Mexico before we can start on the paperwork to allow us to get married. Therefore the only preparation I've done so far is to make and send out save the date cards. Many of you received them, but due to printer errors and other technology bloopers, I didn't have quite enough to send to everyone. Consider yourself 'save the date-ed' now with this picture. It's the one I made and sent out, except the color is supposed to be blue. It appears blue everywhere except here:
Last week in school I immersed the kids in Dr. Seuss. The kids are at Spiritual Emphasis Camp this week, so we would have missed Read Across America. Can't have that! Therefore we read many of Dr. Seuss' books, made silhouettes to go with The Shape of Me and Other Stuff and recorded on cat-in-the-hat shapes plot, characters, setting, and the title of favorite stories. And no Dr. Seuss unit would be complete without green eggs! On Thursday the kids went to my house to whip up their green eggs. Only one of the kids didn't like them; the others agreed green eggs are scrumptious.

On Sunday we went to Huejotzingo with a group of five young ladies visiting from Ohio. Throughout most of the afternoon, only four of the kids came, but just as Abraham finished the Bible story and songs and the four began reviewing, a group of several boys came. Since there were plenty of adults to help the four girls with their review, I started retelling the Bible story to the boys. It was a good workout for my Spanish, and the boys listened attentively - something they don't always do.

Please keep my students and the Huejotzingo kids in your prayers. They are two very different groups of kids, but both groups need to know the personal love of God in their lives.

Huejotzingo

On Sunday, Feb. 15th, we went to Huejotzingo as we normally do. Abraham and I walked around the neighborhood knocking on doors and inviting all the families in the area to come to a little party to celebrate el dia de amor y amistad. In Mexico, Valentine's Day focuses much more on the love of family and friends than on romantic love. When the kids and a few of the parents arrived, we first sang some songs and then read a few Bible passages. After that, we moved chairs outside in order to have enough room to play musical chairs.

When we'd played two rounds, amid much laughter, we returned indoors to eat from the small mountain of taquitos that Six had prepared. The day before, I had spent several hours preparing 250 heart-shaped gingerbread cookies - 200 for snack at church and 50 for the kids at Huejotzingo to decorate. At least in Puebla (I don't know about all of Mexico), people don't make cookies. In fact, hardly anyone uses the oven for anything except storing extra towels or dishes. For most of the kids in Huejotzingo, it was probably the first time they'd decorated cookies, and they really dove into the experience.

Throughout the afternoon, I took close-up pictures of each child. We will take the pictures to Dios es Amor and give them to families in the church in order that they can specifically pray for the children. Many of the children live with their grandparents, since their parents are working in the States. The majority of them can't read very well, if at all. With prayers of believers, we hope to see these children come to know God's love and care in the midst of challenging circumstances.

100 days and wonderful news

On Wednesday we celebrated the 100th day of school in my classroom. Like last year, I put aside the regular math and language arts curriculum, and instead we filled the day with activities like making necklaces from 100 fruit loops, measuring a row of 100 objects, and drawing pictures of "what I will look like when I am 100."

Just before lunch, they worked in teams to put together 100 piece puzzles, and I thought back to the previous year when I had done the same activity. Last year's class had a great time assembling the puzzles and working together. This year - well, it didn't go so well. Two of the three teams almost gave up after trying for only a few minutes. To keep them going, I cheered on every success and nudged pieces toward the correct place. The third team worked harmoniously and completed their puzzle before the others had finished half. I assigned the two from that team to help with the other two, and the activity went a little better after that. Each class has its own personality.

A few times in this blog I have mentioned my most difficult student. He is the one who is farthest behind in all the subjects and who is very easy to distract. God has answered prayer for him in part by supplying a man who comes in for an hour, sometimes more, almost every day. He works one-on-one with this student, helping him to learn letters and sounds and also helping him to focus better. The rest of the day remains a challenge, but it is a great blessing having an hour of help so often.

I have also mentioned my boyfriend Abraham in previous posts. He is not my boyfriend anymore...He is now my fiancé. On Tuesday last week he asked me (on bended knee ;-) to be his wife, and I accepted. We are planning to have the church ceremony on June 20th of this year. There remains significant paperwork that we have to complete in order to have the civil ceremony which is required in Mexico for marriages to be legal. We have not set a date for the civil ceremony, since it depends on when we can file the variety of papers necessary.