Buenaaas! Hooo...Jorge! The call came from the street. Jorge laid down his spoon and rolled tortilla and went out through the sheet rippling in the doorway. His wife and three daughters followed him out, wondering who could be calling in the middle of the afternoon. "Hey, old friend, how's it going?" "Jorge, what's going on?…
Let’s Travel! Campeche, Campeche
Is this post cheating? maybe. I'm not doing much writing. Instead, it's an invitation for you to pack those bags and travel to one of the most iconic cities in the southeast of Mexico. Walled and fortressed against pirate attack by the Spanish, Campeche was a hexagonal shaped, compact colonial city founded in the 16th…
News Updates are Boring
But people, sometimes they're the only way to just get the info out there. So, the second week of February we were in Oaxaca. I wrote about that here. The week or so after we got back, I began having bimonthly get-togethers with the sisters. We meet and eat cake and exchange burdens and ask…
Wah-HA-ka
As soon as we open the doors of the van, step out and stretch our weary muscles, we know we're in Oaxaca again. Maybe it's the dryness, the dust or the mountains, maybe a distant whiff of tasajo and string cheese. Or maybe it's just the kids tickling the baby and saying "oooh Gali, are…
in Him is light
Every year I have this weird block when it comes to my first post. Like maybe I’m supposed to be coming up with some great inspiring saga to set us all aglow with renewed spiritual fervor. But I have no fantastic stories, no slideshow worthy presentation. So maybe it’s better to just give you what…
Starry Reflection
The oval window is restrictive. Annoyingly so. I crane my neck this way and that, trying to get a better view and mainly just succeed in hitting my forehead against the glass which is surprisingly closer than I thought, even though I’ve flown on probably hundreds of airplanes. I hope the individual behind me is…
Sorry, I Can’t Sing That One
When you’re missionaries or church planters or whatever you want to call people in that sort of ministry, you sometimes (often….) have some fairly small meetings. It’s your family and a few others and so from a tender age, you instruct your children to make sure they belt out the hymns. Actual singing ability is…
That Feeling of Smallness
Thursday night I was getting ready for bed when David came in from several visits. “Penelope!!” he whispered lest he rouse little miss G from her light slumber. I heard his excitement but could little guess what the next words would be. “Doña I.... was saved last night during meeting.” “What?!” I replied, incredulous and…
The One Room School House
and a few other points of Interest from the Alves Home Gone are the days of my coveted slow farmhouse breakfast. I distractedly shovel some cheerios and blueberries toward the teething baby who throws most of them to the floor while banging her tray for more. My mind is on Spanish adjectives and math facts…
Hi I’m 30, plus Life Update
My desk is a mess. It's covered in cut out foam letters and stencils and scraps. There's a stack of books and an even huger one behind me. File folders and spreadsheets. Leaning against the wall is a newly framed Rand McNally Map of the World, Classic Edition. I'm wondering how this is all going…
penelope alves 