We started to settle into the pattern of life here in Cenovia. There are a few things that I will never get used to; pigs running all over the roads, towering over men and women by 1 to 2 feet, waking up to the sounds of turkeys, and finding spiders in my bedroom and cockroaches in my clothes. By the way, I found out that it was not a tarantula, but a poisonous spider. My source seemed to think that it was a deadly spider, so I have been sleeping in a tent inside the house.
Women continue to bring us fresh warm tortillas; we receive at least two stacks a day. Brienna and I watched a woman make grind up the corn to make the dough then pat it into a ball. It must take a lot of time to make as many as we have been receiving. Our pile is growing because we cannot eat them as fast as we receive them. We started frying them so they would taste like tortilla chips; we call them tortitas. We were hanging out in the kitchen eating tortitas when a chicken came in and went to one of the corners. It sat for a while then started making a bunch of noise and laid an egg. Apparently the chickens come in and go to the same corner when they have an egg to lay.
Today we got a small picture of the beauty of the land that surrounds us. There is a small mountain made of rocks that we passed with some boys in town. They called it the head of someone and told us we could climb to the top. The climb was tricky because the rocks pulled away when we stepped on them or grabbed them and we had to dodge piles of horse manure everywhere we went. It was hard enough for us to make the climb I don’t know how a horse would do it. The weather had been rainy all day, so there were clouds lingering just above the surrounding mountains. Each mountain was unique in its shape, size and vegetation. Some mountains jutted up with pointy peaks and tall trees, others had rounded knolls of grass, but all shared multiple shades of green. From the top we looked down to see the town and noticed that a small crowd had gathered to stare and point. Everywhere we go it seems like a parade. People stop and watch us walk and kids follow close behind us.
An answer to prayer came to us this afternoon. The high school English teacher, Moises, has agreed to translate our evening services. He is from the bigger state of Tabasco in Mexico and came to Cenovia Aguilar for the teaching job. On May 12 he will marry a 19 year old girl from Cenovia; he is 30. They will continue to live in Cenovia Aguilar. Moises said it is very difficult for him to teach because even his high school students do not speak Spanish very well. They speak Chol as their primary language and then mix in Spanish and he does not speak Chol.
The service went better this evening with Moises translating. We sang songs, played games, did a craft, and a short skit. Moises explained that the Bible we have been using is written for Spain Spanish, so the children do not understand a lot of what is read to them. Our message for the week is, “God loves you.” Hopefully we are communicating that most through our actions and time we spend with them. We really want them to experience the love of God through us. By the end of the night each American usually walks away from the church with about 5 kids hanging from them, so I think they are picking up on that love.
