Straight to Home

Miguel and I pre-rollercoaster ride.
I'll tell you about the fair later, my friends, so don't let me forget.

As you probably recall, there are four H’s to culture shock, and last I heard, I was still in the first one, which is Honeymoon.

But here’s the deal.  It’s been a month.  You’d think I would have experienced the Horror by this point. 

Well I haven’t, and guess what.  Yesterday was Heaven.  Hey that starts with an H.  I think I just invented the fifth H to culture shock.

Anyway, let me tell you about it.  First, I went to church and it was all in Spanish, as usual.  During the last hour, we all combined because it was a fifth Sunday, and the missionaries taught the lesson, and guess what.  It was so crazy, but I actually understood almost all of the second missionary’s lesson!  There were several words I didn’t know, obviously, but there were enough that I did know spread out through his whole lesson, that I actually understood!  It was so awesome.

After church it was swimming time.  So we all piled in the van and headed over to the cousins’ to round them up.  Just so you know, everything we do is with the entire family, extended and all, and it is awesome.  They all live ridiculously close, as I told you before, so we see them all the time and we go to a bunch of places with them (like the fair/rodeo that I have yet to tell you about).  Then we headed to the pool in our van stuffed with more people than available seatbelts worth, but that really doesn’t matter around here.  We listened to music and talked and laughed and it was fun to just be in the car with them.  And we weren’t even at the pool yet!

We got there, set up our stuff at this table, and jumped in the pool.  This is when the fun really began.  First I played with Jorge and this little cousin I had never seen before.  We were chasing each other and splashing.  Then it turned into tag between me, Jorge, and Elvira.  That turned into a mini volleyball game between me, Elvira, a cousin named Roberto who is probably about Elvira’s age, and an aunt who is Roberto’s mother.  That turned into water soccer/football, and let me tell you, that was pretty much the funnest game ever.  It was me, Roberto, and a cousin called Chucho vs. Elvira, Miguel, the previous aunt, and another cousin who is the father of the cutest little boy named Sesa.  It was crazy intense.  There was attacking and wrestling involved and I was a full participant.  They didn’t hold back just because I’m not a blood family member, and I didn’t hold back either and it was hilarious.  And it was so tiring!  We were constantly going from one side of the pool to the other as fast as possible.  But it was way fun.  Then we went to the deep pool and chilled there for a while.

After that it was time to eat.  It wasn’t like a little pool-side picnic, it was legitimate food.  There were tortillas, meat, rice, nopalis, eggs with noodles, potatoes with tuna, chips and peanuts of the Mexican sort, and drinks galore.  It was awesome.  

Then we played games and played on the playground for a few more hours.  There was a teeter-totter which is basically the best playground toy ever invented.  And there was this spinny thing that a bunch of people sit in and you can spin as fast as you want for as long as you want.  I dominate on those things.  I never got sick, but pretty much everyone else did.  Sesa actually vomitted and it was so funny.  Roberto almost did.  I won.  It was great.

Also, popsicles were involved, and let me just tell you, every popsicle I have had here is divine.  They are just better in Mexico, I swear.  I had this strawberry cream one and it was so delicious.

Five hours later, we headed home, sunburn and all.  It was on the way home that I discovered I actually was going home.  We were all exhausted from the day’s fun so we kind of just stared out the window, listening to music and what not.  Jorge was dozing in and out of sleep next to me.  I was just sitting there, thinking about all that had happened that day, how much fun I had had, and how I felt so comfortable around these people, and I was so happy!  Then Evelia (the sister whose name I couldn’t remember back in the day) noticed that Jorge was falling asleep, so she changed the song to this Spanish song I obviously didn’t know, but everyone else did.  And one cousin started fake crying because it’s a sad song.  So the whole song he was like gasping for air and sobbing his heart out, and everyone else was singing every word way loud, and then they pulled out their cell phones and started waving them in the air.  And then a harmonica came on and the crying cousin began to play an air harmonica, and the whole thing was so funny!  It was exactly what I would be doing at home with my real family, only in Spanish, and it was awesome.

And really, I was so so so happy!  I always have such a good time with this family.  They are so nice to me, and I really feel so comfortable around them, and guess what.  We don’t even speak the same language.  How can that be?  How can I have a family that doesn’t speak the same language as me?  I have no idea, but somehow I do, and I love love love them.  And I often forget that we don’t speak the same language.  We find ways to communicate.  I feel like I know them, you know?  And I really do love them.  It’s cool.

So we got home, and Jorge of course asked me to play videogames immediately.  So we did, and guess what we played.  Crash Team Racing – Only the videogame of my childhood!!!! Love it.  Miguel and Roberto joined us and we played some more.  Then we adjourned to the kitchen para tomar cereal.  Some funny conversations ensued at that point.

I asked Roberto to speak Spanish with an American accent.  I don’t know if he didn’t fully understand or what, because at he first did a bunch of other accents, but either way, it was so funny.  He did French and I could totally tell what he was going for.  And he did Russian, and a bunch of other places in Mexico, like Veracruz.  Then I asked him again to do American and he did and it was the funniest thing I have ever heard.  Well first he did me specifically.  It sounded exactly like me and it was hilarious.  Then he did Americans in general and I basically peed my pants.  I was laughing so hard, I couldn’t even handle it.  Then I demonstrated some accents for them and when I did Chinese they laughed so hard.  It was so funny!

Then Roberto peaced out and we were left with the immediate familia.  So me and Miguel played videogames for a second and then Elvira came in and asked if I wanted her to do my nails.  Of course, I said yes!  So we adjourned to the kitchen once again and she did my nails, while Miguel watched.  It was Heaven.  But here’s the best part.  All the while we were watching Nacho Libre on the television.  In Spanish.  In Mexico.  You have no idea how happy that made me.

I WATCHED NACHO LIBRE IN SPANISH WHILE LIVING IN MEXICO!!!!!!

It was hysterical, I tell you.

Then it was like 11:30 and we decided to Hasta Mañana.

So I went up to my room, sat on my bed, and smiled.

Because guess what.  I am home, and I love it.

Roberto standing, Sesa little boy, Sesa's padre with the green shirt, and Diego with the white shirt trying to get up.