What is life?

The inspiration to write began very unexpectedly when I saw a small boy who unknowingly would make a deep impact on me. I was in the back seat of a mid-size vehicle minding my own business and thinking about the daily tasks that lay ahead when we pulled up to an awkward intersection. I took little notice to the people walking through the stopped cars selling candies, magazines, and other home-made goods (cause that’s normal in Mexico). As I stared out the window my eyes caught the flash of a little red backpack with spider-man’s eyes staring back at me. The wearer of the backpack was a boy of no more than four or five years old. He was wearing a ratty oversized  t-shirt, a dirty pair of jeans, and he had an even dirtier little red rag hanging from his right hand. He hurried to the first car that had stopped at the intersection and reached with his tippy tippy toes in an attempt to clean dirty side mirrors. With his little red rag he very likely only smeared the dirt that was already covering the glass. The front window rapidly rolled-down part way to reveal a large man’s hand holding some pocket change for the boys efforts and the window was immediately rolled back up as quick as it came down. What happened next struck me to the core. With a far-away gaze, the boy slowly and with precision put his fingers together and touched his forehead and lowered his hand to his chest before crossing it between his tiny shoulders. Four or five years old… he taught me a lesson on faith and giving appreciation where appreciation belongs. I was overcome with an appreciation for my life and the possibilities before me to help and serve.

On another occasion we were approached by a young boy (also cleaning side mirrors at a stop light) and I was taken off guard. We gave the boy some change for his efforts but there was a part of me that was angry because such a young boy was out washing windows trying to survive. As those feelings started to grow I looked back to see the boy quickly reunite with his father who had been washing windshields. The father patted the boy on the head and they sat down together for a rest.

Not too long after this I was walking down our alley rather quickly to grab something from our apartment when I passed by a man and another young boy. It was a few minutes after I passed them that I realized what they were doing. The man had been digging through the trash and the young tike was holding a bag open for cans. Again, I didn’t really know what I should be feeling about this situation.
I think if you look at these situations at face value there is reason to sorrow. If you only see young boys struggling for survival than there may be even cause to question faith and maybe even God’s existence. You might even be angry at a world that would allow such things to happen. I was touched by each of these situations and the question I ask myself is, “What can I learn?” or, “What is to be done?”

Another part of me is happy about what I saw. In reality you might call me crazy after a statement like that. Let me explain… What a miracle that at such a young age our spider-man backpacked and tiny red ragged boy has developed enough faith to form a habit of appreciation towards God. Someone had to teach him that. How special that the second window-washing child is able to spend his days working along side his father and spending time with him. What principles were our trash digging father teaching to his small son as they looked for cans? I would like to hope that there was teaching taking place. Maybe these situations weren’t as devastating as I first thought? Maybe they were. These are my thoughts.

Home for a Visit

As many of you already know, I’ve made my way back to the United States for a couple of weeks. Thinking back on the last four months I find it hard to believe that I did so much in such a short period of time. I still have so many more things to blog about and I think the list just keeps getting longer day by day. I hope you all got the memo that life is wonderful!? Something happens everyday in any given person’s life that is worth writing about.

I’ve come to the following conclusion. Each and every day something spectacular happens. I mean let’s think about it… what is something out of the ordinary that happened to you today? I’m not talking about anything strangely bizarre or extraterrestrial, although I wouldn’t rule those out, but rather something small and simple. Something that you could have missed if you weren’t paying attention. What is it that made your day unique?
In an attempt to illustrate my point I’d like tell you about my experience in the Cancun airport. On my flight home there was a slight “delay”. From the following picture you can see that there was quite a line.



Yep, that is three hours of waiting time right there. I was intrigued by the difference in attitudes while listening to random people’s conversations in line. Yes, I’m a bit of an ease dropper. Many people were very impatient and quite vocal about their disapproval of the airline. Others held their peace and quietly waited without saying a word. Yet there was another kind of group who would open up to their neighbors and start conversations with complete strangers, telling each other about very personal issues going on in their lives.

It was kind of a culture shock standing in that line listening to all the English speakers that I haven’t heard for four months. But I was taught a valuable lesson as I listened to the people. The people who were complaining and being impatient didn’t get through that line any faster than the rest of us. In fact, I’m pretty sure they were miserable the whole time. Yet the people who were starting conversations with their neighbors often learned new things and found out intriguing details about people from a different background and demographic. It’s all about the people! Getting to know the people!

Was this an ordinary travel day and airport line? For some I believe it could have been. For me, I think not! Life is wonderful!

And now the view from the plane!

Double Parking

How ironic life can be at times! Last night Camm and I found ourselves inside of our small one-room apartment with some time to spare. It had begun to rain outside and we had some time to kill. So what did we decide to do? Yep, you guessed it – watch Seinfeld, in the true Camm Clark style. We got to one episode that was almost an exact representation of many of the experiences that we have had while we have been down here in Mexico. We got a good laugh and thought nothing of it. Well, there was one thing about the episode that we hadn’t experienced, until today!

And now I present to you… Seinfeld! The Dinner Party

It just so happens that Camm and I are running some errands today and we go back to the car to fnd THIS!



The white car is the one we are driving of course and the red one is directly in our way!



Look how devastated Camm is! He can’t take it! We even decided to take a video of the action. I had just enough room to do a 50 point turn and squeeze my way out.

In some ways it was a relief that these guys showed up to drive away but in other ways I was very disappointed that I was cut short the glory of showing off my skills. Anyways, I found this very ironic that this all happened the day after we watched that Seinfeld episode. Life is wonderful isn’t it!?

Estancia de Boca Cuban Style

Tonight we went to a pretty fancy and happenin restaurant to eat dinner, Estancia de Boca. We teach English at this particular restaurant so the waiters treat us very well when we come to eat. It’s fun to have some good connections here in Veracruz.

Tonight we kicked back and relaxed while listening to some live Cuban music. We of course had to take a picture with the band.



These guys really know how to play. While we there we also got an unexpected extra show. It’s a little hard to see because of the darkness. I hope you enjoy it!

Look at that little guy dance! He really knows his Salsa! I find it rather funny that he is like 5 and dances better than I probably ever will. That is one of the big differences that I have seen in the culture here. The people here learn how to dance from a very young age and everyone knows how. And when I say dance I mean dance, nothing like most of the dancing you see the youth doing in the States now-a-days.

The infamous “Mini Michael Jackson” as they call him here at Estancia. (Or Luis as his parents call him)



















I’ve picked up a little Salsa dancing myself. I REALLY like it! The other night I went out with some friends and literally danced the night away until the morning hours of 5-6.

Successful Shaving

So I was growing out my amazingly attractive facial hair for the entire month because my dear friend Josh Romero informed me of the unofficial but official Mustache March. I found it quite the opportunity to really test my machismo and see what kind of man I really am. So here are the photos at the end of the month and the current cut. Please enjoy!


The Mug Shots



The first cut is the deepest


The next gets silly


     

Attack of the handlebars



And the final product! I’ve been like this for a couple of days now and have some pretty fantastic pictures. It’s all coming off tomorrow but for the last couple of days I’ve been enjoying the creeper status.



Now that you’ve taken a good look at my mug for the past few minutes I hope that at least you got a good laugh. Just remember kids… March is for Mustaches! (and it's the simple pleasures in life that make it so beautiful)

Visitor’s From The North

I realized that I haven’t been writing in my blog as frequently. Have no fear my friends! I am still alive! Life has gotten busier and I’ve found myself with less and less time. Last week was especially busy because a good friend, Robbie Jones, came to visit me. What an adventure! I came to realize last week that the crazy things about Mexico are starting to seem normal to me. Maybe that’s why the blog has gotten slow. I promise to do a little better.

While Robbie was flying from SLC to Mexico City I was on a bus from Veracruz to Mexico city. We spent two days in the big DF, as they say here in Mexico. What a different experience than I’m used to! Mexico city is truly a different world than Veracruz.It’s big, dirty, and not the Mexico I’m used to.

Our first day we spent on the metro, on a bus, and then in the ruins of Teotihuacan! They were huge! Check it out!



The Pyramid of the SUN!



And the Pyramid of the MOON!



And the Sun from the top of the Moon!



We had quite the adventure. This was an interesting place to visit because it was completely different from the past ruins experience I had at El Tajin. These ruins were a lot bigger, a lot more spread out, and in a complete desert. El Tajin was smaller, closer together, and jungle-like. Both neat but El Tajin still has my vote for the favorite. Cool experience.

One of the best parts about the experience was being pulled off the bus on the way back to Mexico city for a drug test! How exciting!



This sums up this adventure! See you soon!

Rash Decision

Well, I feel a little bit like a bum because I haven’t posted a blog for quite some time. Sorry folks. Life just grabs you by the horns sometimes and takes you for a ride. I’ve got stories to tell but find the time at a scarcity. I’ll try to be more consistent.

Today I was thinking to myself, “Self! By golly it’s hot and I’m all sweaty!”  Then my mind continued to wander and I started thinking about some other big events coming my way. One of the projects I’ve taken on is the expansion of a phenomenal business down here in Veracruz. Long story short… I decided I needed to be more professional looking and  more comfortable in the humid heat. Here is the result…

BEFORE


AFTER



Yep, I cut my hair! I’m saddened… I’m going to miss all that hair. I keep getting these phantom feelings that I should toss the hair out of my face and when I swing my head the hair doesn’t move like it used to. Since the cut was done I’ve been accused of intentionally trying to look younger to get with younger girls and of losing my sex appeal (whatever that means). I might cry myself to sleep tonight. The one thing I know for certain is that for now the facial hair is staying!

Beware of the TV!

This picture was the closest one that I had to match the topic of discussion for today’s blog. So here is a small explanation of the picture before moving on to other matters of business. In order to promote the English courses that we are doing we made a bunch of little movies to introduce each of the topics that we cover during the classes that we teach. It was a lot of fun to make the movies and also very random. This picture is a shot of the filming process. Looks pretty legit eh!?

If you would like to take a look at the videos that we made feel free to take a look at http://www.vtcvideos.blogspot.com/. You might enjoy what you see. You might not. If you’re lucky then maybe someday I’ll show you a hidden clip that was never posted.

A small fun fact about Mexican TV is that about a third of the TV channels are actually in English with Spanish subtitles. It makes it very convenient for a couple of gringos to enjoy a little TV every once and a while.
 
The other day Camm and I are sitting in a home eating dinner while a couple of people in the other room were watching a blaring television set. We were enjoying our meal and trying to keep small talk amid the blaring background noise of the TV. We could hear things blowing up, guns firing and, of course, the English was very understandable. All of a sudden we thought we heard a pretty dirty word. We brushed it off and kept our conversation going. Then, out of no where, more profanities than could be kept track of were blasting through the home at high decibels. At this very moment the people in the other room all start laughing and laughing. Camm and I took one glance at each other at couldn’t help but crack a smile. We knew that the people had no clue what was actually being said because of some fancy subtitle work. It was actually quite humorous at the time.

Since that day, and after having some other questionable experiences, we are a lot more leery about turning on the TV (especially late at night). We’ve got the news and sports channels all memorized so we don’t have to go flipping through the other stuff. Ha! Crazy world we live in ain’t it!?

Windy Day in Mexico!

I would like to say something clever here, but to be honest, the movie kind of speaks for itself. Enjoy!

El Tajin- The Ruins

After watching the sky dancers for some time we entered the great city of El Tajin! What an amazing adventure!

I was awestruck and humbled by the beauty of this magnificent place. You know when you see pictures of other people at ruins like these ones and you think to yourself, “Someday I will go to a place like that.”? This is the type of mystic land that I used to only dream about exploring! Even now I have a hard time believing that I was actually there.



The day couldn’t have been any more perfect. It had been threatening to rain in the morning and only started to slightly drizzle while we were amongst the towering ruins. The light raindrops kept things cool and colors vivid.
 


As I roamed the ancient city of Tajin, the Book of Mormon stories, that have been taught to me since I was a child, started to come to life. I could picture people gathering, commercializing, preaching, and playing games. I began to visualize leaders orating, mothers caretaking, children scampering, lawyers convincing, and warriors defending. I felt like my eyes were opened to a whole new way of life. This day for me was a life-like journey back to the days of the Nephites and the Lamanites.



The intricacies of each and every stone was astounding to the eye; the symbols and etchings- genius. How these feats were ever accomplished without the modern tools that we enjoy today will remain a theory and a mystery.



One particular example of the capacity of this former people is the Pyramid of the Niches. This pyramid contains exactly 365 niches or windows representing the solar year. The most spectacular thing for me was the size of this building. Isn’t it gorgeous?



In each adventure lies mini-adventures. El Tajin was no different for me. At one point during our meanderings we saw the backside of a pyramid that had not been fully excavated. It just looked like a big green grassy hill. Looking around and not seeing any signs telling me not to climb, I took the invitation. I even asked two other people if they saw any signs; their responses gave me the go (One of them even climbed with me). I got to the top and took some great pictures and enjoyed a beautiful view. At the bottom of the ruin a lady passed by and told our friend at the bottom what bad people we are and kept walking. I was curious why she was so angry. We snapped a few more pictures and made our way down. We started to walk back to the front of the park and right at that moment we saw the sign. “Please do not climb.” I felt so guilty! We really didn’t see the sign! Now I am certain that this picture must be shown.



Now that you’ve seen my pictures you too can say to yourself, “Someday I’ll go to a place like that.” And you will!

El Tajin- The Sky Dancers!

Upon arriving at the park we were quickly pushed out of the car and told to run because the big show was about to start. They only do this every half hour so it’s kind of a big deal you know. So we are all at a dead sprint to make sure and make it time for the twenty minute flute and drum ensemble. Ladies and gentlement! For your veiwing pleasure… The Drumming and Flute dancing man!

So basically there are four guys up there sitting on that square. They are all roped in for the next big routine. The really crazy part is that the guy playing the flute and drum isn’t strapped in at all. He just stands on the pole and every once in a while he gets all crazy-like and jumps up and down and stuff. Don’t try that at home… jumping up and down on top of a fifty foot pole while playing a flute and drum. Talk about dangerous. So as exciting as this was, it gets better! The dancers started to dance! And again, all I could think of was my viewers back home. So for you my friends, I made this little video. Please enjoy… the sky pole dancers… of EL TAJIN!

Now I know what you’re all thinking because I was thinking the same thing. “That’s it?” “Aren’t they gonna do any cool tricks or something?” “Why would anybody ever do something like this?”

Well, I’ve matured quite a lot since January 30th and now I know the facts. The four dancers are supposed to make a full 13 turns before reaching the ground. If you times 13 by 4 you get 52, or the number of years in the Totonac century. The chief or dancing, fluting, drumming man represents the sun God whilst the four swinging dancers represent the suns rays coming down to fertilize the earth. It’s actually one of the most important Totonac rituals. Pretty interesting. I’m glad I saw it.

El Tajin- The Butterfly

What a trip! This is a post that I’ve been wanting to make for quite some time now. Like Roca Partida, this was an experience that made my entire trip to Mexico worth it. We started the day at about 10:30 with a four hour car ride through some very amazing places. I am continually amazed by the beauty of this earth and the precious gift that God has given to us. I had a special experience at a pit stop on the way to our destination. A butterfly had landed on a small ledge and was moving it’s wings. I slowly moved my hand towards the butterfly and to my surprise it did not fly away.



I made a friend that day. This was a very simple but special experience for me. These are the memories that make life wonderful aren't they?

















 This trip will continue on another day...

Unexpected Company

Checka Checka! The night that we got back from Roca Partida was the night we had an unexpected but very pleasant little guest come to visit our apartment. I was making some luggage adjustments when out he came. He was crawling upside down on the ceiling! Wow, I wish I could do that.



This is my gecko friend, Lex. Get this! He’s actually the cousin of the geicko gecko! Unbelievable! I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity.



Can you see him up there? Up above my luggage? Tiny little guy! As much fun as it was to talk with him for a couple of minutes I eventually had to see him to the door. He overstayed his welcome and I needed to get some sleep.

 

Hard to see him there but he is almost directly in the palm of my hand. All of my boy scout skills came in handy to catch him. After the chase I took him out to a nice little elementary school playground to play with the children in the morning. I figured they could have fun together!

Roca Partida 3

Upon arriving back at the main beach we grabbed some sweet boogie boards and played in the waves. These were no ordinary boogie boards. These were boogie boards made for a purpose- to boogie! Nothing like the cheap little boogie that I bought when I first got here. It was incredible when I caught the wave just right and was taken all the way to the beach. What a rush! I can only imagine what it would be like to surf! I’d be worried that I would catch the addiction. So here you are… a couple of white boys with their boogies.



After a good time just us and the waves, we were called to a little table where we found a very pleasant sight.



These were the biggest shrimps that I personally have ever seen in real life! They were amazing! We dug in with our hands and peeled them as we ate. With just a touch of lime I felt as if I had entered into a different realm not far from heaven. What a life! A day in paradise. This is the life that one could only dream of. I thought things couldn’t get better until they brought out this plate of fish. Some of the best fish I’ve ever eaten.




So after some more eating goodness we wrapped things up, changed our clothes, and got in the car for the ride home. We made one more little side trip to a private lake where they raise fish. We got there at just the right time to take some beautiful pictures and enjoy the view.



One more…



If you look carefully near the bottom left corner of the above picture you can see the rings that they keep the fish in while they are growing large. Then they sell them, cook them, and put them on a plate for our taste buds’ leisure. We jumped back in the car for a trip and my body decided to take a nap. I was awaken by my friend Abril telling me we had arrived at the restaurant for our evening meal. Yep, one more seafood plate to blow one’s mind (shrimp, fish, squid, and crab all on one plate). AMAZING!



Well folks I think this wraps up my trip to Roca Partida. We came home well rested, well fed, and well entertained. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful day. This is Shawn… signing off for the evening and looking forward to more adventures (Which I have plenty more to write about!)

Roca Partida Part 2 (Paparazzi)

The adventures of Roca Partida continue! As I remember we are still at THE ISLAND OF THE BIRDS!!! DUN DUN DUN! So we decided to get out the boat for a while and swim around. We needed to keep our sandles on because sharp rocks were all around us. We spent some time with our goggles swimming around and looking at the rocks, fish, and sea urchins. We are calmly swimming when this boat comes wildly splashing towards us. Imagine with me… A small boat like ours meant for about 6-8 people but this boat has like 15 people piled in and they are all screaming and wild! They all quickly realize that we are gringos and they all pull out their cameras, start taking pictures and saying, “hello” and, “how are you?'” in English. I think I know now what it feels like to be a celebrity and stalked by the paparazzi. At first, I kinda liked it… I felt special. But then, it got really annoying and I was happy when they drove off. Sadly, this is not the end of my paparazzi tail. More to come later in this blog. We jumped back in the boat after I had explored the island a bit and then drove away. Say goodbye to THE ISLAND OF THE BIRDS!!!



And now for some more scenery on the way to our next stopping point,



a lighthouse to keep us safe, and…



a private beach for our swimming and hiking leisure!



Well, I must admit that the beach wasn’t “private” until about 15 minutes after our arrival. Do you remember our paparazzi? Well, it seems that they had gotten to our private little beach before we did. Upon getting out of the boat we quickly made our way to the mountains to climb a trail and avoid the commotion. Of course the moment I get to the top of the ridge and turn to see an incredible view, I realize that I left my camera in the boat. That’s when I commenced as stealthily as possible back into enemy territory. I knew what I was getting myself into by going back to the boat, but the camera was worth it. I had nearly made it to the boat untouched and undisturbed (except for the fact that they were all staring at me like they’d never seen a gringo before), when a couple of teenage girls look at me with puppy-dog eyes and ask if they can take a picture with me. Well, you guessed it! I couldn’t say no to that display and so I obliged. That was my first mistake. The girls both through their arms around me in a very friendly manner and the very flamboyant (gay) guy started to take pictures of us. At this moment it was as if everyone else was invited and they formed this line to get pictures with the GRINGO!

I barely made it out alive and climbed back up the trail to get some pictures of my own.



Camm makes fun of me every time he sees this picture because of the way that my legs are positioned. We get a good laugh together. Take careful note that their are no people on the beach below.



That’s what I’m talking about… mad skills! Now you know why everyone wants to take my picture while I’m down here.



Remember how there are no people on the beach down below? The reason that there are no people on the beach below is because they had all followed us up the trail! At this point I was trying to avoid any more contact with my paparazzi friends but then I had one of those light bulb epiphany moments pop into my head. I said to myself, “Shawn, you’ve got to blog about all these funny people wanting to take your picture!” I thought that was a pretty great idea. But then the thought occurred to me that no one would ever believe my story unless I got a picture of them to prove it. I mean think about it, you haven’t seen any evidence that anything I’ve told you about the Mexican paparazzi is real! Ok folks, only for you and the sake of this blog I went back down and suffered some more pictures with our Mexican fan club. Here you go…

 

If you click the above picture and make it just a little bigger you will notice how awkwardly close those girls are next to me and I just noticed the flamboyant one one over from my right side (yeah, you can see him) is holding out his phone getting ready to take more pictures. AWKWARD!!!! For this picture alone I was then forced to take like three more afterwards. Such a difficult life being a gringo here in Mexico…

The fan club left and we enjoyed a nice little swim before I almost got my feet cut up on some corral. But that is a story that Mom’s who read their sons blogs don’t like to hear about. The key word is ALMOST got my feet cut up. It was a pleasant swim. We returned to the boat and then we were off, leaving our private little beach never to return. I miss that little beach…



Well, good thing for you is that the adventures of Roca Partida are not over! The sad part is that I’m done writing for the evening. Once again you will need to save time to read more about my adventures on another day!

TO BE CONTINUED…