¡Hola from Rachel! : Sweet Goodbyes

This is it! This is my last blog as I am about to say goodbye to my El Monte family and what has been my home for over four months. Thank you for reading my ramblings and looking at the El Monte ministry and Mexico through this gringo's eyes. Most of all, I want to thank you for your encouragement and many prayers. God has heard and answered in bigger and better ways than I could have asked or imagined.

Monday morning I got to visit the local market at nearby Ticuman. We also had a quick meal there; the dough had just arrived in a pail. The lady made the tortillas in front of us and cooked them on her grill. The top left pic is of a hardware store--batteries, extension cord ends, screws and all sorts of things are displayed in the trays. The man in the bottom right pic is scraping spines from a cactus.

Traffic somehow flows in many, many places without stop signs or traffic lights. A big part of that is that drivers "take turns" at intersections--even real oddball ones. There are many "topes" or speedbumps in the road strategically placed so drivers have to slow down before an intersection. (Also strategically placed near certain business entrances!) Some of the topes are wide and people will paint pretty designs on them. One of the El Monte students told me that when he was in Venezuela, the topes there were called "sleeping policemen". Clever name. They do force drivers to slow down.

There are five people in the first pic and four in the second. Yikes! This is not unusual. However, I do feel for these people as this must be the family's only mode of transportation.

Another surprise has been the number of shirts I have seen for American sports. This guy even has a Lambeau Field hat! Sadly, he said he also had a Viking shirt. :)

Can you spot the Chicago Bears shirt?

The trees and cacti here also amaze me. Note how the roots of the yellow-bark tree actually can grow in the rock which is quite porous. The cacti with the two vultures stretching and sunning themselves is just outside my apartment. The morning I spotted them they hung out for over an hour. Paul W explained that when a cactus gets old, it starts to rot and will fall over--"Splat"!-- like a rotten watermelon. Remember there are really only two seasons here--rainy season and dry season with each lasting about six months.

Please pray with me.

Praises

I am thankful for my time at El Monte and how God has blessed me.
I am thankful for the sweet goodbyes to the students and with the staff as I leave tomorrow morning.
I am thankful for God's provision again and again. Daily God has been my Deuteronomy 31:8.

Requests

Please pray for an English teacher for second semester.
Please pray for the missionary Tina for God's clear direction for her future.
Please pray for El Monte's many needs--staffing, resources, future planning, and so much more, but most of all pray for the impact this ministry will have on people's lives around the world for eternity.