NOE bug

It's our second full day here and my have we been busy!  I'm a little mixed up on days given the fact that we left at midnight on Monday, had a 4 hour flight to Houston, a 3 hour layover, a 2 hour flight to Toluca and then a 3 hour drive to Morelia.  Then we had about a 2 hour rest and were off to NOE for the evening to meet The Dream Team and eat some of the best tacos in the world... tacos al pastores!  Don't even try to order them in the states.  They're on the menu, but not even close to the same.

Then we broke off into small groups and 1:1 for a little spanish conversation with The Dream Team.  No, The Dream Team isn't the popular basketball team of the 90s, but rather the group of advanced english students at NOE that will be coming to Portland this summer for a month.  I met with Marco, my little mexican brother.  I first met Marco 2 years ago when I came down.  He was one of the first Morelians I came to know and my has he come far. 

He barely said 2 words to me 2 years ago the first time we met and was extremely shy with his English.  On Tuesday we could have talked forever.  He was conversing fluidly telling me how his dream of going to Portland is finally coming true and just how much the NOE center means to him.  He's 20 now and works at the NOE center helping with computer class and all of the tech equipment while going to university and finishing up his english classes.  He is the epitome of what NOE stands for and exemplifies why this place is oh so special!

Coming down here is addicting!  It's been fun watching the newcomers in our group be forever impressed upon by NOE.  Some of them came down with a little trepidation and after only 2 days have come to understand and love NOE.  Their eyes light up as they talk with the students and in the evenings as we reflect on our day.  They've caught the NOE bug I caught two years ago that I still have shaken!  ... and don't plan on shaking anytime soon!  :)

Oh Mexico!

And so begins a new series of blog entries.... I'm headed off to Mexico this time!  At this moment I've taken a pause from running around frantically trying to remember everything I'll realize I later forgot so I can appreciate the moment and the journey ahead.  

This is a relatively quick trip, only a week, to a place very near and dear to my heart... Morelia, Michoacan, home to a wonderful non-profit called NOE www.noeinternational.com.  It's a trip nonetheless, that I couldn't pass up, even though I tried.

When I heard my friends Chris and Carolyn were putting together another small missions trip to NOE, I immediately told them I was in.  But then I thought of the busy spring and summer ahead and the fact that I wouldn't be able to go for longer than a week and thought, "nah, I'll wait till I can get away a little longer," so I told them I'd decided not to go.  They must have known I wasn't totally convinced because both Chris and Carolyn independently sent me updates as they made travel arrangements which made me rethink my 2nd original decision.  With a little encouragement from Evin and some desperate need for a little soul food, I was in... and here we are--- already!  Ahhh!

What will I be doing you ask... I'll be spending my days and evenings at Centro NOE, an incredibly spirited and special place, reconnecting with friends from 2 years ago, practicing English with the kids (and some adults) that attend NOE and hopefully practicing a little spanish too --- but more on all that later!

This couldn't have come at a better or worse time given all that's going on, but it's the worse part that makes it all the more important because there's nothing like changing the scenery and getting outside of your world to put some good perspective on things.

Unpause... continue panicking......