Los Tabicones….Ahora en Chiapas!

Warm Christmas Greetings to you all from San Cristobal de las Casas. We are thankful that arrived here in time to settle and experience the Christmas season in Mexico. I have noticed how many “holiday songs” apply to cold weather climates…we are not quite riding in a one horse open sleigh or making “Frosty the Snowman”, but we are still enjoying the anticipation of the birth of the baby Jesus.  And so each night we light our candle and sing some Christmas songs together as a family. Hilary especially is enjoying learning the actions to Away in the Manager and I am singing quite meaningfully the last verse “Be near me Lord Jesus” and while the first time I sang Little Drummer Boy Ezra cried (I guess I sang it a little too melancholicly) it gives good reason to share about a spirit of giving what we have and from our heart. But we also throw in some Jingle Bells too as Ezra likes to dance around and be jolly, and this to is an healthly and happy part of celebrating Christmas.

So it is the 23rd and already today we enjoyed a good walk up into the hills and mountains that surround this beautiful city with our fellow mcc worker Clifford, a young man from Zimbabwe who is 4 months through his 1 year term. While hiking in a t-shirt may not seem overly like a typical Christmasy thing to do, we thought we should take advantage of the 20 degree weather we were offered. (I should say small space heaters, warm drinks and blankets are very welcomed when the sun goes down and there is no central heat to turn up).

After being here for 3 weeks we have discovered plenty of places to buy a few Christmas presents. The number of places to buy things here is actually a little fascinating to Rick and I. The city has its own version of a Walmart – but in our community there are countless little stores that sell food, candy, clothes, toys, shoes, hardware and office supplies (you name it)  not to mention all the sidewalk vendors offering the same variety of items to purchase.  I haven’t even mentioned yet that about 2 min. walkaway is a large semi-outdoor market where we buy most of our fruits, veggies, fresh ground hamburger, spices and if I wanted a live turkey. We are also privileged to be only about 7 min. walk from a very well known artisans market showcasing beautiful blankets, clothes and jewelry from the local Mayan people and other places in Latin America. The streets in these areas have been overfilled these past few days making it hard for the cars to get through the pedestrians – local people, tourists from Mexico and many foreigners as well (the latter much more so close to the town center and more trendy area of town and less so in our own neighborhood).

But while the kids are quite excited to see Christmas presents under our nice little tree tomorrow – we are hopeful that through the songs we sing, the scripture we read and in our own actions as parents our children are also learning of the joy of the gift of Jesus.  This gift of a Savior and King. I rejoice that we are waiting again for his return someday and I am also  deeply thankful for the the work he has and continues to do in my own life – bringing a spirit of love, peace, humility, grace and generosity internally and hopefully at times through me to those of my family, friends and neighbors.

So while I admit the song “I’ll be home for Christmas” rings a little bit differently in my ears and might even come close to bringing a few tears. There are a multitude of things that bring me joy and give me reason to celebrate! Merry Christmas!

Greetings friends and family,

Lately its been rare that I’ve had a night with little to do.  The past two weeks has been bien ocupado with getting ready to move to San Cristobal, getting here, and getting settled into a house that was bare-ly empty when we arrived on the 7th of Dec.   We (our family plus Luke, a fellow MCCer who came with us to help us get settled) will always recall the comida we had that first afternoon, sitting on the floor eating a roast chicken and tortillas with our hands, thinking that in 3 hours it begins to get dark and cold.  Yet as we have experienced before, God’s provision had gone before us, and within several days (including many things that went much easier than anticipated), we were a functioning home unit.

San Cristobal is an interesting and lovely small city – the cultural heart of the Maya in southern Mexico, a tourist/traveler’s trap, and a regional trading point for the numerous Indigenous communities that surround the city.  What this means is that the city has a unique culture, one that we are only beginning to see and experience.  Perhaps a first observation has been that while local folks are very accustomed to the presence of foreign travelers, at least some of our neighbours seem somewhat surprised to see foreigners living in their neighbourhood.  Although I will certainly say that several folks in our Colonia have been quite friendly and welcoming.  Today we attended a Nazerene church in our area and were very warmly received; it was wonderful to be part of their worship and teaching.  For us, being a family with small kids, we believe that being part of a local church community may be one of the deepest and most fulfilling ways to understanding our Mexican brothers and sisters, and their culture from the inside.  This is one of our most earnest prayers…..please join us if you wish!

Life is beginning to settle down for us, and we are making every effort to enjoy the Christmas season, through the new and exciting ways of a new culture, but also to retain some of our traditional Canadian (or perhaps Mennonite) customs…..for example, Jacquie and the kids found a home of some American ex-pats who sell traditional Christmas baking….mmmmm…cappuccino squares with my coffee today!  As for Christmas plans we will likely stay around San Cristobal for the most part, although we hope to go to Tuxtla (capital city of Chiapas and significantly warmer!) for a couple of days as a family, and as well we will host my parents for a few days over the New Year (as they venture by bus from west-coast Huatulco to visit us in the mountains!).

I was able to participate in a youth workshop yesterday with my fellow workers from INESIN (the organization that I will work with for the next 3 years).  It was a youth forum on the Environment and the Bible.  I was grateful to be part of a team that is very like-minded to myself, and appreciated their rootedness in Scripture yet challenging of some of the default reactions of Christians in not considering and/or caring for creation.  Needless to say I am excited to become fully integrated into the INESIN team in the New Year – as a family we were invited to their Christmas comida, and we thoroughly enjoyed the close-knit sense of community amongst the staff and their families.

Wishing you all a very blessed and wonderful Christmas wherever you may be….

Well it took some more effort than I’d hoped but here are some pictures of our new home in San Cristobal plus a few extra of our days in the past week.

Front Entrance and Porch

Check out the “San Cristobal” section of our photo gallery. The quality of the pictures aren’t as high, but I think they still will come out pretty clear on your computer. More details to come from Rick…when he gets a chance!

So this past week Ezra’s met a new friend, Ziko. His family is from Canada and they are in the last year of a MCC term serving in the state Guerrero.

Ezra's Twin - Ziko

While Ziko is just a couple of months older than Ezra their biggest connection was their like for superheroes. So much that before he could say his name Ezra simply called him “my friend who likes superheroes.” The other day Rick asked Ezra if he would like a haircut like Ziko’s – sure enough he was all into it…so here is the new Ezra.

New Country ... New Haircut

Well we are happy to say that we have found a home for ourselves in San Cristobal de las Casas. We will be about a 15 – 20 min. walk to Rick´s work and 10 ish to downtown. Thanks to the help of MCCers here in Mexico and your prayers we will be settling into our place sometime next week. It has been a good journey these past 2 + months living in various places (10 different beds I count) and we have been blessed by the hospitablity of many. But we are also joyfully looking forward to calling a place our home. Interesetingly at various times one of our kids has asked if we can go home and Rick and I look at each other wondering exactly what they mean, thankfully for the most part they seem content to return to the place whatever their home base is for that moment. Rick was able to travel to San Cristobal de las Casas last week and walk the streets of our new hometown … and apparently we all have much to look forward to in the coming months! Since it is now the beginning of December we will have to quickly unpack a few Christmas items we brought along and catch up on our advent calendars, apparently there even is a place quite close by that sells Christmas trees! Que Suerte!

We will try to post more pictures soon in our photo gallery of the past days … for now if you are at all Google Earth or Map sauvey and/or interested look for – #16 Magistero, 14 de Septiembre, San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico and you will find a front picture of our house. In this picture it is a kind of blueish color with a few brown doors and both a yellow and red car parked in front. Google earth has great panoramics of this town is you want to journey around a bit too! Perhaps when we know the town better we can direct you to some of our common stomping grounds.