Weekends

with one of the NOE basketball teams.

"B" is for...

B is for befos ("beh-fohs").
That is a new (and made-up) Spanish word, which comes from the English term "BFs" or "best friends".

Guys, LAINIE IS MAKING FRIENDS.
(Applause! Applause!)

That is not to say I was friendless for the last six months. (By NO means!)

But these friends are different because they are not from the NOE Center.
They are from church.

And they spontaneously showed up in my life.
I wasn't looking for them.
They were given to me-- a gift!-- straight from Jesus himself.
Because HE knew that that is what I needed.
A group of my very own girlfriends, here in south-central Mexico.

So, meet Anita.

And then, through her, Vanessa and Michelle and Fany.

photo from Michelle

They took me to the beach.

(Beach, which also starts with "b". : ))

Tour de Amistad. (The Friendship Field Trip.)

Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato, Mexico

(no, that is not snow. but pretty cool, huh?! : ))

photo credit: NOE International

photo credit: Erick

photo credit: Marco

with Monse and Helen
(photo credit: Helen)

Things about Mexico #10 (The Back-Story.)

For your giggling pleasure, the story of how exactly I learned "#10".
(Click here for the original post.)

It all came out during lunch this week. 

I was talking about the neighbor (who is our age, and who I work with at NOE), and I was saying that he was really good at math and science...

But then the table erupted with shock and laughter.  "Lainie! He has a girlfriend!" Yes, I know that! I'm friends with her! But then they explained (that my body-language/ hand-motions changed the context), and I turned red and covered my face and focused on my food.

The end : ).

Things about Mexico #10

(Body) Language Barriers.

It is one thing to memorize words.

It's another thing about knowing how to use them properly in a sentence.

But still another, much overlooked "language barrier" is that of body language.

For example:

This means "okay" or "very good". But only when talking about THINGS.

When talking about PEOPLE, it means "hot".

That is good to know. (After six months of using it incorrectly...) 

(Oops. I'm blushing.)

Walking. (Revised)

I posted "Walking." in October to trace for you the steps between my host-house and the NOE Center. I have since moved. Here is the new path:

Turn left.

That is quite nearly it. I now live on the same street as the Center. It is incredibly convenient, I must say. : )