I'm taking you down, April.

So.....many of you may have wondered where I've been for the past month. And, by "many" I mean the two of you besides my mom and me. And yes, I do have my reasons for being so slackerish about updating this (I've been to hell the States and back), but I also don't have enough reason that will make up for the whole month. Slap me. It's my blog, I'll do what I want with it.

But....at the same time, I'm sorry. A month is a long time to go without updating you guys on the happenings here. And I plan to make it up to you all. How, you ask?? Well, it's this little thing called BEDA...Blog Ever Day April. Now, since I don't have a camera (booohooo), I can't vlog the month of April away. I wish I could. I'd love to. I want to vlog, but I don't have a video camera, or even a camera for that matter. So I'm going to participate in the Blog Every Day April event. 30 days. 30 blogs updates. One a day. NO guarantee on it being something profound every day (me? profound? What????). Maybe you'll just get a joke or something (What do you call a constipated German? "farfrompoopin." (It only works if you say it out loud.)) Anywho!
Another question you might have: How in the world do you plan on updating this once a day for 30 days when you didn't write a single thing for the 30 days of March?
Well, to be more than honest, I have no idea. But I'm giving it a try. It's going to take about a case of Fanta Fresa and a few bags of Choco Bites.

Wait...what did he just call those? Choco Bites? Really? Oh, the Mexicans and their clever names. First of all, there is no such things as Chips Ahoy! here...so these Choco Bites (hahaha) are free reign to take over. But how can they? Well, I'll tell you. As you can see from the picture, they've got two obvious things going for them. As mentioned before, the name. Who wouldn't want to buy something called Choco Bites?? That fills me up with butterflies just thinking about it. Let's go buy some! Heck, they could call them "Ahoy! These chips are edible!" or "Chips inside this package are Ahoying! at you!" I'd feel equally tempted to buy them. Second...the Scooby-Doo advertisement on the front. I'm curious who turned them down for being placed on the front? How'd you end up settling on Scooby? I want to sit through the meeting where some guy ha to pitch the idea of Scooby on the front and making it sound like a great financial idea. Maybe it's their plea to reach out to the kids...but last time I checked, he was always get him and his friends in trouble. And I can't say I've ever seen him surf. Nor do I wish for that day to arrive.

And, a couple stories from church. Hmmm, well, the first I guess would be the pastor who gave the majority of the sermon...wearing sunglasses. Oh, and did I mention this was at the evening church??? Well beyond dark? Yeah. That definitely made me laugh. He was a good guy though. But the guy sitting behind us? Not so much. He's the one who decided that he needed to answer his phone in the middle of church. And stand in the corner, yelling into his phone? "What was that? I can't hear you!" "Hey, buddy, come over here, I'll tell you what he said, cause I can hear him from over here!" Kelcie Deborah and I were sitting next to each other, and we just turn around, see the guy, look at each other, and laugh. It was rather funny. And, just yesterday, again, Kelcie and I sitting together upstairs, and church is almost over. This little girl, say, like 12, 13 maybe, comes up the stairs walking straight toward us. Her seat is the row behind us. So, what does she decide is the best plan of attack? From the top of the stairs to her row, she pulls off a wicked chicken-head-bobble-thingy. I don't konw the correct terminology on this, but whatever you call that thing that fowl do, chickens, turkeys, like when they peck at things, bobbing their head back and forth in rapid motion. And we deprived human beings, for reasons unknown, imitate it. Well, that's what she did for for about 7 rows of people. I thought maybe something was wrong...but then she just stopped and sat down behind us. One question? What could possibly be going through someone's mind that says that's a good idea? And I thought I epically failed at looking normal.

And last but not least, the story of my awesome neighbor. His name is Edgardo, and he's the pastor's son (NOT the sunglass-wearing pastor). Anywho, a couple weeks ago, I'm sitting in my trailer, have my Bible open in front of me doing my devotions, enjoying life. Edgardo comes over, knocks on my door. I open, and he hands me a soccer jersey FTW! That was exciting, cause he had a matching one, so we could be all buddy-buddy on the soccer field. I thank him, and he goes back to his trailer. Like two minutes later, I hear him yell "Neighbor!" And I proceed to open my door to see him standing there with a bag of hot, fresh, popcorn. He follows that up with, "Reading the Bible is a wonderful thing, but reading the Bible with a bag of popcorn is even better. Here you go." Score one for Edgardo! He can definitely be my neighbor for eternity.

And...I did have some pictures to upload with this post...but they're not on my computer yet. But, hey how many days do I have to show pictures to you guys? 30! Blog April Blogfest. I'm tempted to do it Brotherhood 2.0 style...which, if you don't know, is when I screw up and miss a day of blog updates, you leave comments of some sort giving me something to do as punishment. Then I record myself doing said punishment, and share it with all you. So...we'll see how that goes. If you're for that, say so. If not, say so. That's what the comments are for. Right? Right. Freedom. Democracy. All that good stuff. As for now, I'm out. I'll see you all soon! :)

April, I'll see you on Wednesday. Bring it on.

Juxtaposing Mexican and American churches...

So...not really sure how to start out this post, after having such an interesting week. I guess I could start off with the reason for the title...or, be a typical marketing agent and leave that for the end, forcing you to read the whole thing to get to the point. Maybe I will do that. Wouldn't want any of you skipping out and leaving right in the middle! How absurd. Onto the news!

I don't have any new updates regarding the garbage run for this week...just normal as usual. Nothing extraordinary, so far. But what I do have is pictures from my week with the group from Outlook, Saskatchewan.

Prepare yourselves though...extreme exposure to awesomeness following...

The 6 of us. What did I warn you about??? Yep.
Marvin, Andrew, Lane, me, Luke, Davis

Luke and me.




Our epic ride home, with 7 people in the back of a tiny pickup.




My own little "outreach" program.
P.S. The back of Andrew's head is not, nor will ever be, part of my "outreach" program.




Again...don't forget about the warning. Marvin's especially known for his overflowing awesomeness.



Anywho, that's all I have for now, regarding that at least. I have a couple more pictures to upload, but BlogSpot only allows 5 pictures per post. Amateurs.

Now I guess I'll fill you in on my juxtapositioning. Yes, I just made that a word.
So, last Sunday night, we had our usual church service. And, by "usual" I mean, usual time, usual place, usual pastor, that kind of thing. But in no way whatsoever was it a usual service. My, oh, my. To start the night off, I got there a little after 6. It's supposed to start around 6, and if you know anything about Mexican time, that can mean anywhere between 5 and 7. Just so happens that this specific service had already started by 5:45. So I arrived there, found a seat by Giovani and Oscar near the back of church, unaware of the fact that I'd missed a couple songs already. No matter though, what's a couple songs compared to the coming events?? You'll see. And the service continued...did a couple more songs. Nice, lively, up-beat ones. Typical Mexican churches, right? Right. About the 2nd or 3rd song (can't remember exactly which song it was), this guy a couple rows from the front, hoists up this massive, blue, flag (First thought..."Go, Seahawks, go!!!!"). Upon this flag, he had drawn a picture of a cross, with some words inscribed on it. You may ask, "Hmmm, what did it say?" And my answer would be, "If this guy wasn't waving that flag like a raving lunatic, I'd be all over telling you what it said. But this guy was pouring his heart out into waving that flag, and more importantly, to worshipping God. And then, as if he was some inspiration, for out of nowhere, this lady pops up with another gargantuan flag. White this time. Both, standing in their rows, you know, the typical church rows where they give you negative eleventeen inches of leg room. Can't imagine how the people in front of them felt, what with a flag waving across their face every three or four seconds. Whatevs, they pushed on, accepting the fact they might go home from church with bruises. That seems like an oxy moron, if you ask me. Slightly ironic, I guess.
Anywho, this is all within the span of 5 minutes or so, the length of one song. Yes, the songs are still going, like nothing happened. In fact, I'm sure that just fueled the band. We continue with the songs, two more...three more...four more...and then these flag bearers get out of their rows and start prancing down the aisles of the church. Up in front by the band. Back down the aisles. In front of the stage. Back and forth, back and forth. And the songs continue to play. By this time...I'm just wondering, wow, lots of singing tonight. We'd probably done 9 or 10 songs by now, at least. Just a few more than the usual 5, maybe 6. And Spanish songs, Mexican style, are long, 4 to 5 minutes at least, and they involve LOTS of movement. Moving, motions, clapping, dancing, the whole deal. It's the most entertaining church ever. And one last thing about Mexican church...there's no sitting. Not during singing. Not sure why really...but you just don't. Actually, it might be because of all the movement required for all the songs. It's not worth sitting down, cause the minute you do, the next song will require you to get up.
And, all the while, the flag masters just keep going, and going, and going. Ten songs later, they're still at it like they just started...except for the dripping sweat I can see as the walk by me. Other than that, they've got God on their flags, for everyone to openly see that they're worshipping him, waving for him, living for him. Around this time, 12 songs in or so, we reach the end of a song. Or so I thought...lyrically speaking, yes, the songs was over. But instrumentally, not even close. Boy was I wrong. Altogether, there was a piano(yay!), guitar, bass, drums, and three singers. The singers stand there and act happy while the band continues on, driving the congregation crazy with their mad skills. Eventually they smoothly and discreetly switch into a similar tune, same chords and everything, different arrangement. The congregation is clapping and dancing still. And all of the sudden, I don't know how, or why, it turns into this jam session. Amazing jam session too! The band is totally improvising, on the spot, ripping out some sick licks, and the congregation is going wild. Everyone's screaming (albeit nothing in particular though). Just screaming. Like it's a concert. 5 minutes go past, and we're all still screaming our heads off. Bands continues to play. Sounds like a mosh pit. Even looks like a mosh pit. And yes, flags still being waved erratically. After a good while of that madness (the good, churchy kind of madness, that is), we move onto more singing. Only this time, for some reason that I didn't catch. All the elderly men...50s, 60s...got up and gathered around the stage, in front of the band. And what could they possibly be doing? Dancing. What else? Fast song, lively spirits, presence of God, what else would you do in that situation? dancing is the only option! So that's what they did. I wish I had a video camera, heck, even a regular camera, so I could show all you just what it was like. They were moving like I've never seen old men move (Mr. Dubya Bush running out of Office doesn't count). I'm telling you, Mexican church, quite the sight to see. 1 hour and 45 minutes later, the singing was over. the pastor got up, did a ten minute sermon, and we were done. Yes, it was entertaining. Yes, it was even fun. But yes, it was a LOT of standing and singing, but not enough worshipping.

And, to finish things off: My day-maker. Any sort of event that just tipped me over the edge, and I just laughed...and laughed...and laughed. But today's day-maker really isn't a nice day-maker. Well, it is, it cracked me up. But that's just the Mexican culture, I guess. I liked it though! I'll let you decide. Here goes...
So we're doing our singing, like so (if you missed the first novel above, go re-read, then refer back to here), lively and uplifting, and there is this lady going around and praying for people. Nothing unusual. Quite cool, actually. But...that wasn't it. I continued to watch her (in a non-creepy way), and she stopped on this guy in front of me to the left. Normally, or at least what I'm used to, is, the person puts their hand on your shoulder and prays for you. Or maybe on your back. Maybe your arm. That kind of thing. But nope. This lady puts her palm right on the guy's forehead. Again, not TOO unusual for me, but I continued to watch. Who knows why, I just did. But thank goodness I did. Midway through her prayer, she pulls her hand back from his forehead...and slaps it right back on. And I'm like...what?? What was that for? And she keeps going...getting faster and faster. Slapping this guy on the forehead. Not a little wussy slap, no. It was a full on slapping. And you could tell there was real force behind it, cause the guy's head would sway back a little with each slap. And he just stood there and took it. She was getting a good 2-3 slaps in a second. I don't know how to convey this using texts, but it was a full-on slapping session. And I'm sorry, I was so taken aback within the first couple of seconds. Laughing was not a willful thing. You know those first seconds where you're like, "Did that really just happen? Am I dreaming? Did I fall asleep in church? That really did just happen!" Those first few seconds of questioning were more than enough to get to my funny bone. Cause I just broke out in laughter. But she didn't see me. Thank goodness though...she'd probably walk over and slap me. Repeatedly.

Even though this was hardly a serious note, I tell you this to juxtapose the culture change in churches. What's acceptable, what's not. Traditions, normalcy, approved actions in church, and frowned upon actions. Namely, the US churches(my church) and this church here.(...my church too...?). For beginners, at my church, playing more than 5 songs is only going to get you complaint letters. Not playing enough hymns is only going to get you more complaints. And heaven forbid, after doing music for an hour and half, they'll take you out back and whip you into shape. Everything is all orderly, almost down to the minute. Like we have a certain hour of the day to worship our God. After that, time to go home. Any longer, and God shuts you out. Not true!

But here, at La Iglesia Mision, everyone was upbeat the entire time, as if they couldn't get enough. Even after 15 or more songs in a row. I was tired as can be, just from standing for so long (I have a bad back; kids, don't sleep with more than one pillow!), but boy could you feel the presence of God. Especially when everyone was screaming. Yeah, it may not have beautiful and tuned and on the right note, and in time with the music, or any of that. But it was for God, and it was beautiful to him. And really, how many churches in the US can you go to, and just scream for a solid 5 minutes or so? And how many can you get the whole congregation to join you? Not a whole lot, would be my guess.

Next, trying to smuggle large flag into my church will only get you kicked out. And goodness, if you stood up in front and waved that baby around, they only thing they'd be asking is where to stone you. But in this environment, anything goes. If you have the spirit of God living in you, you're free to worship in whichever way you want. Then again, he did freely give you eternal life. What more can you offer? I just feel like American chuch (at least my church, and most I've been too) are too worried about pleasing the people of the church, but not the reason for the people being in the church. You know, we need this many people to sing, it all needs to sounds perfect, songs are practised till we can all sing them in our sleep, they always go the same way, same pattern, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. 11:00am. Welcome. 11:05am. Music. 11:20am. Announcements. 11:30am. Sermon. 12:00. Home. 12:30. Football. I was even upset when our pastor would go past 12:00. but what kind of attitude is that? A highly not acceptable one, that's for sure. Moving from a strictly one hour service to an anywhere-between 1.5-2.5 hours (usually closer to the latter) was quite the change. Can't hardly complain about my one hour service anymore.

And the dancing old men? Not a chance. No dancing at my church. Ever. Lifting your hands, yes. But that's as far as it goes. And no songs that get the entire congragation moving in unison, dancing and clapping all together, screaming out the lyrics. It all seems so hush-hush compared to here. Don't get me wrong, I do like my church back home...I just think it's a little...well, too organized and traditional. But some people like that. No worries. The next generation is on it's way up. We'll take over soon enough. Muahahahaha!

And we won't even bring up the slapping lady...I don't even know what to say about her. She'd get charged for abuse at my church, that's for sure. But, then again, as horrible as this is, making fun of a lady for praying for another guy, I would pay a lot to see her again. It was just a crack up. Come on, admit it, seeing anyone repeatedly slap someone would be funny in itslef. Watching the guy just sit there and take would only ripen it. And then throw it in church, of all places. Perfect recipe for a day-maker. And...it's way past day-maker time now...and past night-maker...into the morrning-maker. Early-morning-maker. Staying up till three is always encouraged. Especially when your laptop crashes TWICE on you while you're trying to write this. Perfect. Grrrr.

And with that, I'm going to sign off for now. I have to get up in 4 hours for breakfast. Yummy...Can't wait. Hope I fall asleep before them.

I'll accumulate some more rich stories this week to share with you. Oh, I just remembered another one. Soccer tournament. I meant to explain that one this time. Oh well, next time. Much too late for more typing. Must...sleeeeeeeeee....