¿Hay alguien que habla ingles?

The rest of yesterday was spent “touring” centro. Unfortunately, we had a duffel bag full of groceries and stuff that we had to lug around. In case anyone wants to see just how far we walked, the Starbucks was at the corner of Vallarta and Chapultapec and we walked up Vallarta past Federalismo all the way to this hotel/restaurant called “Hotel de Mendoza.” Still, it was really cool to see a bunch of what makes Guadalajara unique. If it hadn’t been for our map, some really nice people and sheer determination, we never would have make it! A nice man who spoke perfect English showed us on the map how to get to Museo de Carmen, an art museum not far from where we wanted to eat. On our way over there, we saw some really interesting art. In the courtyard of the Cathedral there was a real mariachi band playing.

About dinner…we have a confession. We each ordered a margarita (not half) and slowly drank them over the course of the meal. No big deal for Kate, but Kelsey inadvertently obeyed her mom and was only able to drink half. We aren’t lying! The funniest part about dinner was the busboy, who kept staring at us and smiling. He would go to the kitchen, walk out and do seemingly nothing, start walking away, look back at us and smile, go to the kitchen and repeat. He was innocent, and we were flattered but still leery.

So today was our first day in service. Wow! First thing this morning, we made our way over to the Kingdom Hall. The meeting starts at 9:30 because most people don’t have a car so they take the bus or walk. We saw some of our friends there and started to get eager to start the real adventure. Even though the people here are very friendly, we learned at the meeting for service that we need to be succinct in our presentations. So here’s how it works. We go to doors and say (loosely translated from Spanish) “Good morning/afternoon. We are looking for people who speak English.” There’s also a lot of emphasis on informal witnessing since it’s fairly difficult to find foreigners door-to-door. Anyway, it turned out that we got to go with two sisters, Leslie and Lizbet. Leslie (on the right in this picture) is from Michigan and Lizbet is from Norway! Since no one in our “car group” had a car, we took a bus to get to the area where Leslie’s calls were.

It was really cool watching them take advantage of every opportunity to talk to people about Jehovah. For example, we had to catch the bus around 12:30 in order to get back to the Kingdom Hall by 1pm. Waiting at the bus stop, Lizbet sat next to a woman and asked her in Spanish if she spoke any English. Thus began a nice conversation about the Bible and the woman was happy to accept the magazines. When our bus got there, we got on only to find there were hardly any places to sit. There were however just enough for the four of us. Leslie sat next to a girl (Anna, maybe 25 years old) and again asked if she spoke any English. This conversation ended with the exchanging of phone numbers and Anna saying that she might come to the meeting on Sunday. Incredible!

We met back at the Kingdom Hall at 1 to find even more people meeting for service. We switched car groups, only this time there was actually a car involved. We ended up going with three pioneer brothers. You can see them in the picture here (Andy, Jesse and Josh, the other is Albert but we didn’t go with him, though we have been fighting for the attention of such a distiguished dreamboat such as he...just kidding, folks). Andy and Josh are from Canada, but only Josh speaks French. Jesse is from Hawaii and has been living here for about a month, just visiting. Andy drives like a maniac, as do the rest of the people here. Imagine New York City taxi drivers and then you’ll have an idea of how they are. Anyway, Josh wanted to eat at a little Taqueria (like a taco bus but not in a bus) that is known locally for it’s fish tacos. Get ready for this dad: I ate a shrimp taco and LOVED IT!!! While we were there, Jesse walked around the area and asked people if they spoke English. He apparently had some success in talking to some of them, but we were too busy enjoying our pescado and getting to know our new friends.

As the fire in our mouths died down, we drove to the territory, which was admittedly quite ritzy. We went with Josh, door-to-door, but it’s not the same as back home. They have a general rule: every four houses. It’s not important to go to every house, but just to ask the neighbors if anyone there speaks English. Since this was a fairly upper class neighborhood, each door had an intercom. Neither of us has ever done intercom witnessing, but after Josh demonstrated a couple times, we tried it. It wasn’t so bad, but neither of us got a listening ear. We did have one good call when we met a man who said his two sons speak English. He went to get the one boy, Ivan, and Josh demonstrated the Bible study program with him. He set up a time to come back next Thursday and Ivan wanted to know if it was ok if his brother joined in too! How awesome. Jesse and Andy had a study after that, so they took us back to the hall and we waited for the bus.

“Turquesa” is what it’s called, which means turquoise. As one might imagine, it’s turquoise in color (who woulda thunk it?). It runs all the way from Zapopan (where the Kingdom Hall is) to Centro (where we live). It’s a pretty nice bus! When we got off the bus, it started raining. Guess who left their umbrellas at home? It was ok, though, since we just kept ducking for cover in little shops and under overhangs.

We were exhausted, so when we got home we asked Ezra to help us order a pizza. (While he was on the phone, he had some funky music on in his office and he turned it up and started dancing. He’s a strange man, but cool nonetheless.) When we got the pizza inside, we were a little surprised to see the sauces they included. See for yourself. Yes. Those are SALSAS!!! How strange. Also, see that a large pizza cost us $99. Eleven dollars with the tip. Oh yeah, salsa + pizza = pretty yummy!

Honestly, it’s been an all around great day. We’ve gotten a real taste of what things are like here and we’ve started to make some really great friends! On Sunday we’re moving to Zapopan for several reasons. One is that it takes us about an hour to get to the Kingdom Hall, and as you all well know, we are not morning people. Also it’s an all-around better neighborhood that is more centrally located than this one. Plus, it’s free. The McCaslands have to go to Texas for a while and they offered for us to stay there. We’re excited, and just going with whatever happens. Now, as we relax, nursing our aching feet and (not)scratching our plethera of mosquito bites, we bid you “adieu.”

Much love,

Kate and K3LSO

Negrita de Mis Amores

We did it! We survived our first day in Guadalajara! On just a few hours of sleep, we set out to discover the local area. It might as well have been a different world! We knew it would be different, but we really had no idea how drastically. For example, in most neighborhoods, you will find a hole in the wall selling Coke and other local beverages of choice. A few blocks from or apartment was a large outdoor mercado (market) where fruits of every shape and size can be found for relatively low prices. This morning we bought a liter of jugo de pina or pineapple juice for only $18! No not 18 dollars, the peso sign is the same, $18 here is only $1.80. Good deal huh!

Another example is, this morning as we were walking to the bus, we passed a food stand near the big market. Simultaneously, we turned around to see what the delicious odor was! After not much debate, we ordered whatever it was that the old man on the seat next to us was having. Juevos, arroz y frijoles with the most delicious salsa you could ever imagine. As we cleaned our plates, two men came up behind us. Before we knew it, they attacked! Just kidding. They did however whip out their guitar and accordion and did some mad serenading. "Amor" Thus the title of today's blog. Stefani at Starbucks (yes, we found another "Starbooks" as they call it here) told us about a song specific to Guadalajara with that title. It means, the dark-skinned people in my heart, and is a love song to una mujer morena, a "dark-skinned" woman.

Back to our first day though. After our journey to a supermarket we returned to our apartment exhausted. We both promptly fell asleep, though we really didn't mean to since Brother McCasland was coming to get us at 4 to take us to their house for dinner before the meeting. "PSSSSST! PSSSST!" we heard as we awoke from our comas. How embarrassing, especially seeing as how we both were snoring like two elderly, overweight men with sleep apnea! Oh well. We hurriedly got ready and were off. On our way in the cab, we both acknowledged that we were feeling a slight bit overwhelmed by so much culture shock! It was a nice transition to have some salad and spaghetti from Sherry. That's their dog, Lulu, by the way. But the real comfort came later, as we pulled into the kingdom hall parking lot. All our anxieties melted away and we both breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing something so familiar. It really gave us a feeling of a refuge from the overwhelming feeling of not belonging. Finally, we were in a place where we belonged. A place where everyone had the most important thing in common with us. We quickly made friends, and lots of them. Kate wasted no time in outspokenly procuring for us a couple of tour guides! ( they're sisters, I promise)

The congregation was amazing. There are a LOT of younger people, and very spiritual! Most of them are there to help the congregation. Everyone who had a ministry school assignment, were doing it for the first time in English! We wouldn't have known though, if the school overseer hadn't announced it. The Bible reading by a younger brother was so full of feeling, so from the heart that we had the feeling as if Paul was right there talking to us. We could feel the love in every word, how appropriate since the reading was about none other than love. Later, as we sang the second song entitled "Here I am, Send Me" we were reminded of what a privilege it is for us to have the opportunity to be here. By the way, brothers and sisters!!! They NEED you here!!! The english congregation that we visited has only 3 elders for its 80 publishers. At this meeting, two were unable to be there and the third, Brother McCasland had to do both of the talks for the service meeting on very late notice. The aforementioned school overseer, Arnie, is a ministerial servant! The majority of the congergation's territories have never been worked. One amazing young sister named Kandi speaks 5 languages (Spanish, English, Russian, Chinese and ASL) Out of these, though, the most needed is English! Although they have difficulties, their work is very productive! They've just started a new congregation with an indigenous spanish/indian dialect.

We've also learned that paraguas are a necessity, paraguas are umbrellas. Edie, you'll appreciate this. Every afternoon, right now in fact, clouds roll in, and the lluvia (rain) falls. Yesterday, as we were eating at a restaurant recommended by our landlord, we were able to enjoy this thoroughly as the restaurant had a courtyard where we could watch the rain fall, while being protected from it ourselves. It was beautiful.

Last night after being escorted home by a brother who lives near us, we fell asleep to the pouring rain. A nice end to a fun, then slightly stressful, then spiritually refreshing day. Now as we sit in a Starbucks watching the rain, we quietly contemplate what the next few days might hold for us. Whatever it is, we like to think of you, our friends back home, working hard for Jehovah and we know that you are obviously thinking of us as well as indicated by the fact that you are reading this now. Until next time, friends, we will stay safe and we will keep in contact.

All of our love,

K3LSO and Kate

"The OTHER Guadalajara Girl"

Hola! It's "The Other Guadalajara Girl" here! Just thought I'd put in my 2 centavos. I'm SOOOOO excited about this trip! Something tells me that this is the start of a beautiful adventure! I really hope that the adventure will help me with my spanish a bit... because I need a lot of help.
I think the trip will be good practice for me in other ways too! A good stepping stone toward reaching my bigger goals. It will be an excellent oportunity to adjust to a new culture, an oportunity to see what it's really like in these areas, these "dream territories" that we hear about, an oportunity to grow and learn... an oportunity to sound like a 2-year-old. Not quite as excited about that last one, but hey, it's part of the experience. If nothing else these things teach humility, that's for sure!
So be sure and tune in and watch us on this grand adventure! COMING SOON TO A COMPUTER SCREEN NEAR YOU; )

-K3LSO

Adios America, Hola Adventure

The time has arrived! We're finally leaving! Here we go, passports, luggage, and cameras in hand, ready for just about anything. Oh yeah, by the way, we're nervous!

First we take off on the most exotic leg of our journey: Pocatello to Salt Lake City. I know, how will we ever make it in the vast jungles of the northwest United States? We'll be careful, promise. Here in Salt Lake, we decide to take a gamble on what some might decidedly call Dick Clark's greatest endeavor. That's right. We ate at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Restaurant (surprising good and fairly cool.) So the lady that got seated at the table next to us is carrying this huge political sign that says "Jesus Christ for Lasting Change." We remember that have some magazines packed in Kelsey's carryon and begin planning how to start a conversation with this lady. We started by agreeing with her and a wonderful conversation ensued. She took the magazines, as we told her it would be just the thing to entertain her on her way home to Elko, NV.

On our way now to another wild destination: LAX. Don't worry, friends, though it will be much later while we're there, apparently LA isn't known for it's intense nightlife...well, at least not inside the terminals! :) In fact, the extent of partying consists of eating a single scoop Haagan Daaz ice cream cone and watching a friendly old Mexican man make friends with multiple strangers.

Now on to the REAL adventure: the three hour flight from LA to Guadalajara. Wait! We almost forgot to tell you one of the coolest (and unexplainable) things that happened to us so far. We got upgraded to first class...for free! No, we didn't bribe the lady, NO we didn't even have to kiss the pilot!!! As you might imagine, we slightly overjoyed when we got to our insanely spaceous seats with pop-out tray tables, adjustable lumbar support, pillows, space-age televisions that appear and disappear from the ceiling, and of course a well-rounded meal. Did we mention it was FREE??

Now we've just arrived in Guadalajara. Unlike the other airports, we exited the plane onto a bus. We made friends with a local woman who just got home from business in China and Europe. She was very helpful. As soon as we got our passports stamped, we went to baggage claim where our bags were literally strolling toward us as we walked up. That almost NEVER happens!

By the way, no need to worry about us little Americanas, there are more than 30 different Starbucks here, a luxury of which we take full advantage at the first oportunity, before we even leave the airport (I know that was your main concern.) You thought Starbucks was expensive there? We got two caramel macchiattos for 70 pesos (about $7).

After enjoying our cafe delicioso, we head to the taxi booth where we are welcomed by several anxious bellhops eager for tips. They were very "vigorous". Soon we're on our way with a more-than-accomodating taxisto who doubled as a tour guide... and a personal land-lord-finder since everything went so well and we were here much earlier than expected, in fact, it was still dark and we were a little nervous. He stayed with us and knocked until we were greeted by a nice Austrailian woman who checks out today, then our landlord Ezra. So now we're "home" at our casita bonita, it's about 8am and we're just waiting for our apartment to be ready, taking advantage of the opportunity to post to all of you!




Don't you feel like you were there?

Love you all,

Kate and K3LSO

PS: Though it says this was posted in July, we really just posted it September 9, 2008 at 7:54am.

Bienvenidos al Mexico!

I want to take a moment to welcome everyone to our Mexico blog! You can view all of our entries as long as you have access to a computer, but if you want to comment on anything you need to sign up for an account. All you have to do is click the "comments" link below this post and that will take you to the screen where you can sign up for an account. It's really easy, so please sign up because we'd love to hear from you!

The title of our blog is the words of Jesus at Acts 1:8, where he said in part, "you will be witnesses of me...to the most distant part of the earth." As most of you know, our purpose in going is to help the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses there to reach as many people as possible with the good news!

Some neat info on Guadalajara: The city itself has the same population as the whole state of Arizona, at around 6 million people. There are two congregations in Zapopan (a little section of the city, close to where we're staying), one Spanish and one English, and their territory contains about 1/3 of the population of Guadalajara. As you can imagine, our help is desperately needed!

Anyway, this is just the first of many entries we will have to document our awesome journey south of the border. I hope you're all as excited about it as I am! Love you all!

Your sister,

Kate :)