Tepa

We pulled into Tepatitlan around 3 pm and grabbed a taxi to head to Martin and Blanca's house, who were going to help us get settled. I had met them last year when I was here with Rotary for the Festival de Hermandad...Martin loves to sing and is a real party guy. When we got to their house, Martin was out of town but Blanca was in and welcomed us warmly. We spent the day visiting and getting acquainted. They have 4 kids, one of which is the same age as Sierra so they had a good time playing.

Blanca explained that Martin's aunt lived alone a few blocks from the plaza and that she didn't really like to live alone and had said we could live with her. I wasn't too happy about this as I really wanted to live alone, but Blanca explained that there really aren't any furnished apartments here in town to rent. We went to visit with Martin's aunt and she was a nice woman. Her home was very small and filled to the brink with breakable, valuable stuff. She wanted $300 per month. I explained that I really couln't pay more than $200. She said this would be fine. We would have the upstairs room...I felt that even $200 was a bit expensive for just a room, and was concerned we wouldn't be comfortable there because it was so fancy. I expressed my concern to Blanca.

Later that night Martin came home and Blanca told him that we'd visited his aunt...he understood how we felt and we decided to try to find another place. The house next door was empty as the owners live in Mexico City so Martin thought maybe they would be willing to rent it out to us for a few months.

The neighbor across the street also lived out of the area with their kids in the US. The wife had recently died and Blanca was helping to clean up the house and get rid of old stuff. That night they spoke with the owner Ramon, who said he would be happy to rent it to us. We agreed on $250 for the house and we would be responsible for the utilities we used. We got in and cleaned the house over the next few days....it hadn't been lived in for awhile so everything was really dusty and dirty. However, we were glad to have a place to call our own and were anxious to settle in.

We spent the next week or so going to the grocery store, settling into the house and getting acquainted with the town. I was still getting tired quickly from having been sick, so we rested as much as needed.

On weekends Martin would invite us to go with them to various ranches in the surrounding areas to visit friends and family and eat dinner with them. This was always fun and everyone is very welcoming.

The second week we were here we went up to the orphanage to talk with them about what we were to do. We went several times, but every time the Mother Superiour was busy or not there. I was getting very frustrated. One of the nuns then gave me her phone number so I called to set up an appointment...she told me to come in the next day.

We went in and spoke with one of the nuns for quite some time. She seemed excited to have us and we met briefly with the Mother Superiour...she remembered me from last November and also seemed happy to have us there. We were to start off teaching English in the afternoons and then help with the children in the evening preparing them for bed and getting their clothes out for the next day. This would work well for us as then Sierra could do her schoolwork during the day.

While we were there two women came in...one them had a 10 year old daughter and didn't want her anymore - she said she was too rebellious. I couldn't believe it!! Giving up your 10 year old daughter!! I was heartbroken and wondered if I should offer to take her. The nun responded that they don't take children simply because they are rebellious...the family must be too poor to care for them, or the government removes the child due to abuse. They wouldn't take the child. The woman was well-dressed, as was her friend. Money didn't appear to be a problem. What a heart-breaking situation, especially for an unwanted 10 year old little girl. How rebellious could she be?

The next day we headed to the orphanage to get to work. We taught English for awhile, and then played with the kids for some time. At dinner I asked what we should do and a nun said she needed to talk to me. She took me and Sierra to the seating area and told us they only wanted us to be there from 4-5 pm to teach English. I asked why and she didn't really have an answer...I expressed that we had intended to work 4-5 hours per day, and this is what we'd talked to the Mother Superiour about. She just nodded and looked at me. I was so disappointed. I wanted to cry. Did I give up everything back home for this?? What was wrong with us? I was angry and felt ashamed. This is not what I had imagined.