27.3.13

Today was bien lovely. We had a workout this morning, warming as the sun came up, then chips covered in beans and cheese for breakfast. Legit, my kind of breakfast. I like way Mexico does it. :) Then at 8:30, the 11 of us (soon to be 10- Jahir’s leaving…) headed out with two younger boys from EV for the huge public market to ask for donations. We split up in different groups this time, and I was with Jose Luis, Andrea, Lalo, Jahir, Manuel, + Angie. Me, Lalo, + Andrea asked vendors on the left side, and the other half asked on the right. We switched who was asking with each vendor, and for the first seven minutes, everyone was like “no, right now no, my boss isn’t here, not now, maybe another day, other people already passed by.” Also me + Andi were scared to ask men, and Lalo just didn’t want to participate. But after the first ten minutes, we started to fall into comfortability with rejection, and people started giving generously- I think we filled up 3 cartloads in the first 90 minutes. Then Andi + Angie stayed back with our bus driver to pick up things from a store, so I went out with the boys, and me + Lalo kept our team, racing ahead to ask more and more. I decided to stomp out my fear several times today and just ask, without worrying about what would happen next- yayy! Anyways it just felt adventurous. At one point we found ourselves trailing three men who we didn’t even know, because they had yellow shirts that looked the same as that of Jose Luis, and I couldn’t stop laughing hysterically. Another time we strolled around a market we had just covered, entered into it through a different entrance, and without recognizing the place, started asking again for donations. Exhibit B of what the heck are we thinking! Haha.  Then at 1:30, we all got on the bus, and waited for Richie, our bus driver, to return with tortillas. Meanwhile Lalo’s in the back, digging through the food, and brings two green chiles to the front, asking “who’s going accept the chili challenge with me?” Naturally, I said yes, choosing to live the #whynotlife. Alisha taped it, and goshdang did it burn the crap out of my tongue. I had tears streaming down my face combined with the hiccups, and Lalo was screaming “MAS MANGO MAS MANGO MAS MANGO!”  Then when we got back, we ate, washed dishes, and then had a “faith challenge” which churned  my stomach, but I managed to complete most of it anyway. I’m learning to act on God’s impulses, little by little, and I’m glad for this.