The Garden Song/Easier to Lie Wednesday, Mar 21 2007

Since this blog has nothing to do with the other one, I figured I would give it it’s own post. I wrote this a few weeks ago, and I think it pretty much describes how I felt, and what has been happening with it. It’s really hard to decide that you want to live a certain way, and believe certain things when almost nobody else thinks it’s a good idea. I guess God knows it too, and He’s really happy when we take steps to get closer to Him, and further away from what the world would have us be.

Verse 1:
Can you see the trees?
When you’re wearing green?
All you care about
Is not being seen

Can you see the vine
Growing past your eye?
It’s so beautiful, but
You just cant describe
How you feel…

Chorus:
You are living, growing
Your life won’t quite slow down
So you wait.
And you are changing, amazing
If you’ll just believe it now
Come awake

Verse 2:
Can you smell the spring?
waking everything.
Are you still asleep?
Do you know what you’re missing?

There’s a flower white and pure
That is asking to be yours
But your hands stay where they are
Because you’re too afraid of thorns
And you ask,
yourself why.

Verse 3:
Do you feel your heart collapse
As you let the seconds pass?
As the trees spread out
And you put on your mask.

Do you remember feeling when
It could still be felt
When you first found your love
And discovered this garden?
Now your eyes,
open wide.

And now, as a kind of heart-breaking (to me) opposition to that thought:

“Easier to Lie” by Aqualung

To bear the weight and push into the sky its easier to lie its easier to lie
And honestly to look you in the eye its easier to lie its easier to lie

To be the one to be the only one something has to give a lot something has to give a lot
And who am I to give you what you need when I’m learning just learning
Learning how to live and bear the weight…

To fill the space the space you made for me try to be the one you want try to be the one you want
And maybe i could be the one you need if you’d only show me
Show me how to live and how to bear the weight

And push into the sky its easier to lie easier to lie
And do what’s right when everything is wrong its easier to run its easier to
Never have to look you in the eye its easier to lie its easier to lie

To bear the weight and push into the sky its easier to lie

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Recent Happenings in Mexico Wednesday, Mar 21 2007

I learned how to surf in Puerto Escondido. They almost gave me the key to the city, but then I woke up.

I decided not to write part 2 of the spring break story because the first one took entirely too long. Basically, people fell of horses, we bathed in some super-hot, terrible smelling water, I now own a large sugar plantation, and we had an awesome time hanging out on our balcony and taking in the sun.

Our puppy broke into my room and tried to sleep with me last night, after which my family assured me that they would change the sheets on my bed. I told them it wasn’t necessary, but they inisisted (vehemently); hence raising even more questions about a) the dog itself and b) why they have the dog in the first place.

I was walking to the gym three days ago when a young mexican man or, “chavo” called me a white man wh0&* (este gringo puto). I figured it was more creative than the typical “guero” or “whitey,” and noted it for this blog.

I went to a mexican pre-graduation party and saw an oversized bottle of Corona that said, “Corona Familiar” on the label. The spanish word for family is familia. Add an “r” and you have the Corona saturday night family fun pack.

I was offered beer on a bus in between two towns by a mexican man who swears that drinking beer on a bus should be the official mexican past time. This would replace soccer and…fiestas?, two things that I believe have intrinsically more value than getting soused on a charter bus. Either way, I had a Tecate. It was very average. The good part was that I got to talk to him about what a perfect world would look like (if you know what I mean)

I went to the Centro Cristiano (Christian Center) here in Cuernavaca and had a great time. I was really encouraged to see a super-active church planting church, and get hooked up with Jesus and some brothers again.

My friend Vanessa and I went to an english bible study with a few families from Centro Cristiano, and ate some amazing Brazilian food…seriously. Bible plus brazilian chicken=heaven. I’m willing to debate the theology of this.

I found out that there is a market where I can get the entire Adobe suite of software for $30 (retail $HOLYCRAP). Apparently they hack Xboxes as well as selling all kinds of other crazy (and completely illegal) stuff there. I’m really excited to check it out .

I listened to “Tiny Vessels” by Death Cab for Cutie and it really made me miss talking about music with Luke and playing with the band.

I have four and a half weeks left down here, and I can’t wait to see all of you again.

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Spring Break/Horse Riding, Part 1 Saturday, Mar 10 2007

March 4th, 2007

Location: Puerto Escondido, state of Oaxaca, Mexico

Characters: Rachel Kapke (girl from Iowa State), Sarah (girl from switzerland whose last name I don’t know), Ashley Bitonel (girl from Texas), Mark Voelliger (roomie), and Me.

Reason: Character building?

This past week I was traveling around the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, in particular the city of Oaxaca (pronounced wuh-ha-kuh) for one day, and the coastal city of Puerto Escondido for three days. Before we get into the story that I really want to tell, I’ve got to say that this was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on, and I appreciate the experience I gained and the fun I had a WHOLE lot.

We got to Oaxaca from Cuernavaca in about 8 hours on the 3rd, traveling by bus (1st class…nice) and didn’t have any problems. In fact, we all felt pretty great, and our hotel was super clean, and very chill (all for $10/night). We spent the night hanging out in the Zocalo in Oaxaca and checking out some live music. We toured some ruins the next day near the city, and that afternoon Mark, Sarah, and I went searching for the best way of getting to Puerto Escondido from Oaxaca. There are three highways that lead from the city to the coast: two that traverse the somewhat rough and unwelcoming sierra (mountains), and one that takes a very long, smooth route to the south that utilizes a pass through the mountains, but also costs more because it is first class service. So we made an executive decision (heavily influenced by me) to take a 5 and a half hour ride in a 15 passenger van through the mountains for $13. We saved a lot of time and money, but I think everyone but me almost lost their breakfast, lunch, and stomach several times during the journey. The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I was driving with Anton…

Ok, so anyway, we get to Puerto Escondido at about 5:30 at night, which means there is about one hour of good daylight left. Our mexican friends Robert and Pablo had recomended a very cheap hostel to us in Puerto Escondido, so we hooked a taxi down to the coast and arrived at Hostal Shalom about 10 minutes later. I’m not sure if you can all picture what I’m about to describe, but this place appeared approxomately like Hawaii and the 70’s had concieved a child, and the hostel is what you would find in its diaper. What I mean is this: Rachel made the comment pretty quickly after we had arrived that there was a strange, wafting scent of something in the air. Maybe another comparison would be helpful here. How many of you have smelled dead fish? How many of you have smelled marijuana? Imagine if someone made a bong out of a dead whale, and then sat on the beach for the day smoking it…

Apart from the smell and the potheads, I was still relatively hopeful. The place did have character, and it was $5/night per person. That’s really cheap, and we weren’t going to spend much time in the room anyway. Since there were five of us the receptionist, Norma, gave a seven bed dorm style room together with a private bathroom. We went into the room, and looked around. It wasn’t very clean, which was a downer, but it would be totally do-able for at least the night, although nobody was very thrilled about the idea. We paid at the desk, and that was when our next great adventure was born. Norma invited us along on a little excursion the next morning. Apparently her and a few other people from the hostel were going horseback riding the next morning. She told me there was hot spring up in the mountains that was supposed to have healing powers, and that it was pretty cool in general. I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea, so we told her we would see her the next morning at 10. Next up was supper plans; we all headed back to the room to discuss our options.

After we’d been talking for a little while, Ashley sidled up next to me and whispered in my ear, “Look over by the door.” I didn’t see anything at first, then Ashley told me to look for something living. I glanced at the door frame, and this time I definitely saw something. There was a spider about as big across as my pinkey finger is long; Ashley wanted me to kill it without Rachel realizing what I was doing so she wouldn’t freak out about the room. Unfortunately, that didn’t work, and Rachel noticed me killing the monster. We went to supper that night, came back and tried to make the best of our dirty, bug infested room.

Ok, i’m done writing for a little while. For the really entertaining part, wait for Part 2: The Horses.

Adios dudes.

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