You Know the Honeymoon is Over When...

We have lived in enough cultures, mentored enough LST (Let's Start Talking) workers, and taught enough cross-cultural classes to know that there are several stages through which one goes when living in a culture that is not one's own. The first stage is the "honeymoon"stage. Everything is exciting and new. The day is filled with adventurous experiences. The sites and sounds...even the smells usher in new learning. One wonders why he/she did not move to the new culture years ago. THEN, without warning, those new and wonderful things of the culture become irritants. One wonders why the people of the culture do things the way they do...after all, don't they know there is a better, more efficient...and certainly smarter way of doing it????? Yep...that's the clue...the honeymoon is over!!!!
The gas truck with the amazingly loud recording of the "charge" theme bellowing out its front megaphone speakers used to make us chuckle....Gloooooooobal Gaaaaaas...dadada, da, da da.....Now it's just loud and obnoxious...and do they have to be sooooo loud, sooooo early in the morning?
The 15 minute drive from Playa Azul to Lazaro Cardenas is a gorgeous drive. The first part of the drive runs along the coast so the ocean view is great, all the while traveling through a continuous coconut tree grove...I love this drive, always hoping to catch a quick glance of one of the crocodiles in their lagoon or a darting iguana as it scurries across the road. Seven weeks later, when we have to make the all too familiar trip, I inwardly groan...all those "topes" (speed bumps) and the rough washed away parts of the road...ugh... The groan is even more exasperated when the trip has to be made to buy groceries. When we first walked into Soriana or the Bodega, I couldn't believe all the things we could buy. It wasn't like that 20 years ago. I was pretty excited to be able to buy the things I couldn't fit into our few suitcases when we traveled here. (Everything except muffin pans and cookie sheets!!! sigh) Now, after numerous trips to the store, I hope that we don't get yet another jug of sour milk...and I walk away wondering how the Mexicans can afford the prices in these supermarkets. How is it that a little plastic portable table could cost the equivalent of 82 Canadian dollars??? Who will pay that??? Not to mention having to check the prices on half of the contents of our basket because the prices are not posted on the shelves...truly frustrating for these two Canadians!!!!
Remember how excited we were about Logan starting school here in Playa Azul? We finally found where to buy his uniforms, the shoes are purchased (that was quite the ordeal), and his one, comprehensive school book has been secured...but now we never know when he has school!!! How is that efficient??? We're up at 7:00 and out the door by 7:40 for our 15 minute walk to the school, only to be met by school children who tell us there is no school today. "Will there be school tomorrow?" "We don't know...we'll see." Well, there was no school all this week...we'll see what happens next week!! sigh...
Now about those roosters...No, Belinda, I have NOT gotten used to them, and they don't know their day from their nights. They crow at bedtime, and they crow at daybreak...Anyone have a recipe for a good rooster stew???...Yep, the honeymoon is over,
BUT WE LOVE THIS PLACE...AND EVEN MORE, WE LOVE THESE PEOPLE!!!!
No, I still don't like fish that much, even though several Mexicans have helped me clean, gut, and cook them. I always give it "one more try", and I still don't like having to spit out the bones...and I'm still hungry after a meal of fish.
No, the screens do not keep out the geckos. I'll never get used to their beady little eyes, but we have an agreement...If they stay up on the wall rather than in my bed, they can live...but if I ever find one in my bed, they ALL go!!! (We did find some gecko eggs under our mattress; some had hatched, some had not, but I'll not count that experience against them.)
No, I still don't like the fact that I don't always understand the conversation that is around me...especially when all eyes are suddenly on me, and I know I have been asked a question, yet I have absolutely NO idea what I have been asked...humility is a wonderful thing to have in another culture!!!
No, I do not like being so far away from our twins. I miss them and wish everyday I could be with them...
BUT IN ALL OF THIS...WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO BE A PART OF THIS TEAM, THIS LITTLE COMMUNITY AND THIS BABY CHURCH!!!!
We have passed from the honeymoon stage to the "looking beyond the inconveniences" stage. We thank God everyday that we have been chosen for this work. This little community now knows we are here. We are meeting more and more people. Now we need to nurture some of those relationships by making opportunities to have our new friends in our home...to enjoy deeper dialogue...to allow them to see within us the Master whom we serve.
Would you like to join us as we grow closer to our new friends? Join us in prayer that God will lead us to those who are searching for Him...that we would have a keen eye to see people as God sees them...that we would recognize and discern the opportunities that God brings to us...that we would create opportunities to have people in our lives.
Thank you to all who are partnering with us in this work. We are humbled by your trust in our integrity to carry out the work God has planned for us in this corner of the world. Thank you to all who are following our blog and pray on our behalf. We know your prayers are covering us here, because we are totally inadequate to do this work on our own. Thank you for all those who are checking out ticket prices so you can come see us (wink wink). We would love for you to come see the work that God has started here...and experience the beauty that He has created, as well. We are excited to have found some economical tickets for Ashley on Northwest the first of January. She plans to be a part of the week-long medical mission planned for the second week of January. We are also excited to announce that the team has decided that we will request a Let's Start Talking team for this spring (before it gets too hot). Exciting things are happening...and we love being a part of it!!!
Until next blog time...
Bernard, Alicia and Logan Krogsgaard