Family Reunion

Do you remember when you first met an aunt? I have 7 aunts on my dad's side. I love them all, they are all wonderful women and we have a lot of fun when we are together but I cant remember meeting them. They have just always been there. Even my aunts who married into the family. I was little and don't remember when they first came around. My mission was full of surprises and events that happened at home. Parents moved (twice), came home to no job, and of course she didn't wait. The second time my parents moved they decided to wait and tell me over the phone instead of email this time. During our conversation she also told me some what i consider now even bigger news. My mom has a sister. Crazy right? My mom was 45 and was just now meeting her sister who had at the time 2 (3 now) kids of her own! Things like this don't happen very often. I was so caught up in them moving that sadly it was pushed to the back of my mind for a bit. Let's fast forward a bit. After working on the north slope for 6 months I was introduced to Alaska. The land of my mother's forefathers. Finally I was able to learn about my culture and ancestry. But still i didn't meet my mother's sister. Life was crazy at that time and i never really spent any time in anchorage. After 3 weeks of work i was ready to get back to friends, family, and travel. After a good 8 month break from the slope, I'm back. This time as i came up I ended up with a few extra days in anchorage. It was my first time when I didn't have to rush to catch an airplane. My mom gave me her sister's number and after some phone tag and texts we set a time and place to meet. She has a busy family with 3 kids and works long hours so we settled to meet on her lunch break at the Alaska Native Health Center. I was excited! I wasn't sure what to expect! I had never done this before. After walking around the hospital I found the wing where she works. I began to be a bit nervous, I had never met anybody from my mom's side of the family other than those in Montana, we never knew she had a sister because my grandparents adopted her when she was young. All my nerves and worries quickly faded as I met my aunt Christina. We walked over to window seating area at the end of the hall where we could sit and get to know each other a bit. I got to be the first of 5 to meet our new aunt! We talked and showed pictures of our families, she had recently had a baby in october and my sister just got hitched a month or two before. It was great. I can't wait for the rest of my siblings to meet her! It was a huge blessing to hear her stories and her life. Its a meeting I will never forget.

Coming Back

So this blog was started after talking to a friend about the importance of a journal back in february. Well, ive kinda been slacking. Big surprise. It was meant to keep people informed on how my life was going, my friends span from alaska to mexico and a lot of places in between. Sp to all those people I say I'm sorry. I have decided its time to rededicate myself to the blog. Once a week at least. This first one I'll try to give a quick update to bring people up to speed so here it goes...

Mexico was awesome. I love teaching! It really deserves a blog of its own! I made tons of friends and really found I love teaching English. It was my first experience outside of the U.S. Oaxaca is a unique place. everyone needs to visit. To sum it up here is some advice. Eat quesodillas de flor de calabasa, Tlyudas, and Mangoes lots of mangoes. The zocalo is pretty much the coolest place to sit and people watch no matter what time of day it is. When i left Mexico I flew to California. I bought a van. Most of you probably know Chancho. He is the best. After a long and fun (ask Spence) roadtrip back i made it to montana. I hadnt been in montana since i left for my mission. It was what i needed. 3 1/2 years is too long to be away from the 406. Family, friends, new friends, it has been awesome. Being back makes me wonder why i ever left! No matter where i am Missoula will always be home. If you have never been there come and visit. I have a place for you to stay (chancho) Life has been relatively quiet all summer, just work, school and fun. I am grateful for al the new friends i made! This was a summer full of weddings! 3 I was in! I capped it all of with 2 weeks in mexico again visiting a good friend. It all worked out how it was supposed to.

Thats my life in a nutshell.

See you next week.

Why I Got Scared in Mexico

I love Mexico, sure I've only been here for a few days but my expierences with the Mexican people and culture go back from when I was a little greenie missionary in Bakersfield California. Before I share why I got scared in Mexico i need to share a few background stories. It all starts with Mexican food. I LOVE it! It comes in all shapes, sizes and colors (although its usually just some rice, beans, meat and tortillas) I'm impressed with the variety of flavors you can achieve with a limited amount of ingredients. I attribute my love of Mexican food to the 30 (more closer to 40) pounds I gained after high school (Don't worry I've lost it all and then some, my waist size is smaller than it was in high school). Every Senora has her secrets to getting the flavor just right. Most recipes aren't written down but they are passed mother to daughter in the kitchen from a very young age. Its amazing to watch a Mexican women at work preparing the meal. Even better if yu get to help and learn all the little tips and tricks. If you ever had the chance to learn how its something you will never forget. I had the chance on my mission to help some of the best cooks in California. The first one that sticks out to me is my "Abuela" Hermana Farrias. Weekly visits to her home were always accompanied by some of the best food i had ever eaten! She always had something prepared, and if she didn't she could just whip something up! Even simple things like a ham sandwich seemed like a gift from heaven (ask my good old buddy Tom Smith if you don't believe me). I cannot think of Santa Barbara without thinking of mi Abuela and the other great Senoras in La Rama La Puente (Hna. Garcia, Hnas Mendoza, Los Melessio to name a few). Growing up in Montana i was never exposed to much variety of food. We always had some sort of Meat, usually deer or elk that we hunted, and a form of potato either mashed, baked, fried. That was usually it. So when i got to California I was in for a big surprise. Dinner time with members are some of the fondest memories I have from my mission. It was always a surprise what we were going to get. Like I said earlier every Senora has her trade secrets, lets just say some are just better than others. I would never turn down a meal or not be grateful for the sacrifices made to feed the gringitos its just some dishes were preferred over others. I dont know anyone who didn't love Carne Asada. One missionary even compared the Celestial Kindom to a big Carne Asada party with everyone you know. It truly would be heaven. Other dishes were kinda lower on degrees of glory. Sundays were usually the best days, its a day when the families would invite us over and we could enjoy a nice meal with the family, often with the extended family also. One area a family had the missionaries over every Sunday for Family Dinner. It was often the high light of a hard week. Enjoying the Spirit of the Gonzalez family during some of the toughest months of my mission (but the most rewarding also) was exactly what i needed. Hermana Gonzalez is one of the best cooks I have met. Haha she even agrees how to teach my future wife how to cook! All these experiences with Mexican food and culture deal directly with why I was scared in Mexico. If Carne Asada is the Celestial Kingdom then Menudo (cow stomach soup) is probably Outer-Darkness. Its not always that bad I can remember one time where I kinda enjoyed it, but those kinds are few and far between. As a missionary you learned to fear the red soup. Its just gross. The texture is like soft rubber, the flavor is just different. I learned some tips like putting it on a tortilla or adding lots of onion which kills any flavor and eat really slow so you don't have to have seconds (I also learned that paper cups are handy and always carry your backpack to the table). Which brings me back to Oaxaca and why i feared for my life. It was Sunday afternoon (Menudo is a typical sunday dinner meal) i had just gotten back from a little walk into the city with my host family, they showed me where to go for school the following day, dinner was ready. As i walked into the kitchen my heart sank, i was scared. I saw a red soup on the stove. It also had little white chunks, similar to those of the cow stomach. I sat down cautiously ready to somehow get it down and finish my bowl (Wasting food is not an option, i just dont feel good when I do) but when i asked what it was, dreading the words menudo, to my surprise the answer was vegetable soup! I had dodged a bullet! Instantly I felt better. There is nothing to fear in Mexico, sure it has its problems but im not looking for them. Every city and country does, its no different than downtown Houston where I often go with my little sister. Just be smart and travel safe. Yes bad things happen in foreign countries even if you do all you can to avoid them and that's sad, but it shouldn't stop you from seeing the world. Most problems can be avoided, some cant and that's part of life. One can live in a bubble all their life but that's all they are going to see. It would be sad to miss out on all the world has to offer. Be safe, travel safe, do what you can and learn from what you can't. There are bad people in the world but there are even more good people in the world. I'm going to enjoy these five weeks in Oaxaca, im not scared of what could happen but I do fear the soup!