Ok so we wanted to sum up the last month or more to let you know what we have been up too. Life as we know it here is now normal…and now we are on our way out. It’s crazy to think that we have lived in Mexico for three months, but it is true, and it has been a great opportunity that God has given us. We are blessed to live in this amazing city with some of the most amazing people. A final letter will follow up about our trip completely, once we have crossed the border.
But this letter is about the last month or so summed up of course. Some highlights that will be included in this summary will be the “Bull fight” if you want to call it that, Alyx’s birthday on 5-5-07, and just recently Africam. Some daily updates will follow up at the end. So if you were wondering if this was worth reading…there is a small index for you of the upcoming literature…if you want to call it that.
“Bull Fight”
I am completely shocked that they would call this a “bull fight” yeah sure the men put their life on the line….well kind of, but for those of you who are in love with this kind of thing, or actually honor the tradition….I am completely sorry, because I am going to shred the concept at this moment. We bought tickets with this knowledge in mind….there is a bull, red capes, and men in ring, and at the end the bull dies. Let’s see, we know that if we would have gotten all of the information on this so called “Bull fight” we probably would not have gone. But I will explain this event to you in colorful steps. READY
1. Lots of men in amazingly colorful glittery spandex come out and everyone cheers…yeah.
2. Then they all hide behind these things in the ring on the outside except one real fighter. The bull is let loose and they wave their little cloths behind the security of the wall, except one guy who stays near one. The bull is complete healthy and trained to run around this ring and charge at these cloths and there is white dots to guide the way for him. This we find to be the only somewhat exciting part.
3. A man wearing armor, full armor on his legs and lower body comes out on a horse that is seriously padded on one side with a spear, that is correct folks spear….um…a part we were not informed of. The man goes out and is job is to stab the bull in-between the shoulders and injure him and make him bleed A LOT!!!!! When he is done the bull runs around with a big hole in his back, and the blood is like… spurting out. Um…this was not in the introduction to “Bull fighting”….and in case you were wondering while the bull is getting stabbed the horse is being rammed by the bull…padded of course…but come on…..people.
4. Then two different men have these two little gadget thingies that have hooks in them and the bull charges them right after he has been stabbed, and they try and stick those hooks in his gaping hole. Ouch four or six I can’t remember…..Mann…are you guys thinking this would be fun? Nate, do not even answer.
5. So after this bull has been tortured….halfway dead….the “brave” bull fighter comes out for a show….PLEASE. A few “oles” (o-lays) here and there and then he hauls out his sword….and when the bull can hardly stand anymore he waves his little red cloth again, the bull slowly charges, and he sticks him in this “tiny” area in which the bull stands around for about 30sec….to a couple min and then falls down dead. Except when they miss and the sword comes out and they have to do it like 4 or 5 times to kill the thing. Ok folks this was not just once, or twice, three, four, or five times folks but that’s right 6 times…..six tortured dead bulls in one night….this was not in the informational packet. Ok so just so all know…they do sell the meat so this is totally humane right? So now if you are ever in Mexico you will be fully informed of what you are getting yourself into. We stayed till the end hoping one of those animal jerks would get trampled or something…I know cruel huh…but no luck. If you’re interested pictures are above.
Next, a much more cheerful event….Alyx’s B-day.
Here it is a big deal…Cinco de Mayo, but we didn’t celebrate it at all…no parade just a party for Alyx. There are millions of people all crowed around to see a bazillion schools walk by with there bands and somewhat floats…don’t really know…we didn’t go. Instead we went to a place in one of the malls here. It has a princess store where they do the girls make up and hair and take pictures…it’s really fun, so for Alyx’s B-Day we took her there with our friends daughter and they did that together it was fun and they looked so adorable. Pictures above are above. We did that…then Aaron took real pictures, and we headed off to lunch at a place where they have a sit down restaurant with play place for the kids. It was fun, and relaxing…the ones with the play place always are. We headed over to our friends house for a good old fashion piñata that Alyx choose….little mermaid. However the little girls had a hard time smashing it…so it was all Judah. He had a great time, while the girls were almost in tears…it was funny. The candy came out…and they all collected, and then it was time for cake and presents. Then the kids played all day at our friends’ house….it was great, and Alyx got to look like a little princess all day. They were all exhausted by the end.
Next, Africam
Africam is a place where you drive through in your car and animals surround you. It is really cool. All different kinds of animals, some you have to leave your windows up, and some they can be down. Then they have a kind of walk through zoo part, which was really great too. We went with our friends this last weekend and had a blast, and so did all the other kids. We had 6 in all….it was a ton of fun. Pictures above…it was really cool place.
Ok so over all we are still doing great and preparing for the trip back. Not all is in stone yet, but for those of you expecting us we will be getting a hold of you all soon with dates. Aaron’s web site is up and running it looks amazing…..you can go to www.eikonproductions.com and check it out. Spanish is coming along, I can have a decent conversation with most Mexicans if they talk a little slower for me….but it is good. Aaron’s has improved a lot; Judah is still resistant, but not as much. Alyx is doing great…and we are looking forward to establishing Spanish at home and English everywhere else…she is getting a little confused, and other than that it’s life here in Mexico pretty normal. We leave this Saturday and are looking forward to the future and what God has in store. We are excited to see everyone that we can and we will talk to you soon. Love you all and have a fantastic week.