Monday morning we went to the church and started helping with a couple different projects. Most of my family helped with painting the exterior of the pastor's family's house, which was right behind the church. It was a small house, no larger than 800 sq ft. My brother and I worked on the house right next to the church, where we'd done VBS with the children the day before. We tore down some walls, built some new ones, and put up sheetrock. This house was even smaller than the other one, being roughly 500 sq ft.
We then had a lunch which had been prepared by some of the women from the church. It was delicious - corn burritos with rice and some sort of meat. They'd also made fresh strawberry juice, which tasted just like strawberries. The meal felt surprisingly less Mexican than a lot of meals I've had at Mexican restaurants in the U.S.
After lunch, we went back to the mission and most of us took a nap. Coming off several nights without much sleep, I decided to sleep through the afternoon VBS.
That night we had our first of two hour long training meetings, where the long-term missionary who was based there taught us about the cultural differences between the Mexican and American people. One of the biggest differences that stuck out to me was that Mexicans care much more about peace than they do about always staying active and having ambitious goals like we Americans. Obviously not all Americans are the same. But overall, we do tend to be more goal-oriented. For example - the American Dream. If there were such a thing as a Mexican Dream, I'm guessing it would be more encompassing of their peaceful, stress-free of living. (Actually, it would probably be getting into the U.S. somehow, but that's a whole other story.)
Anyway, due to the Mexican culture, whenever we showed up late to the church, it was natural to them. And that was a good thing too, because we seemed to like to test it!
Due to the length of this entry, I've split it into several entries.
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