Our Last Days in Oaxaca

This is a pretty good example of what A LOT of the intersections look like in Oaxaca's downtown...VERY beautiful buildings with burned out trucks and buses etc. and graffiti everywhere.

As I write this we have just heard from Elaine Swift that the whole city of Oaxaca (approx. pop. 500,000) is being effectively shut down by APPO (the radical group who joined the teachers demanding the ouster of the Governor). It is a very dangerous situation now. Please be praying! The teachers voted to go back to teaching but are very concerned about their and their school's safety. Some of the students at the missionary school, according to Travis, who is getting some email from the students there, are separated from their parents at the moment. The reason that this can even happen is due to the people running the police out of town earlier this year. We saw VERY LITTLE police presence in the city at all. The governor has left the area and there is no access to the government buildings. It sounds like the media has been effectively shut down as well today. >From what we could tell, the local people should be pretty safe if they just stay where they are and away from the main thoroughfares. Casa Hogar is in a village that is up a hill several blocks from a main road so should be ok.

Also, please pray for Sarah Olla again who is organizing the intercessory prayer event (it was actually supposed to happen tomorrow but things look pretty interesting right now!) (Paul or Elaine do you know anything more about the event?)

Thank you for your prayers!



On Saturday we were able to visit Monte Alban (a Zapotec Indian ruin site to the west of Oaxaca) Until we get our pictures up...you can see some information and pics HERE We had a very good visit that day. It was very cool to start with and then warmed up quite a bit. The site is on a mountain that was leveled almost 2000 years ago. The site is very similar to what you have seen from the Aztecs in movies. Very tall pyramids to climb with very interesting carvings.









Later that day we visited a pottery store where they make a very special form of black pottery. An art that was lost for many years until it was rediscovered by a lady in this village and passed down to her children. This is how they make this pottery: "skilled potters using traditional firing methods and add special fuel to the fire and then seal the kiln. Starving the fire of oxygen produces a thick smoke that chemically combines with the clay to form the black color. Prior to firing, the item is rubbed or burnished with a smooth stone. This burnishing imparts the beautiful patina finish." It really is a beautiful form of pottery. Brian and Kristen from Simply Smiles drove us to this factory.




On Sunday we attended a special service at the church that went until 2:00 or so. Elaine Swift then made awesome tostadas for us. After that we were able to take a trip out to Santa María del Tule, or Santa Maria of the Tule. This is where the western hemisphere's widest tree is located. It is a beautiful village with a very interesting cathedral that is located next to the tree. We had a very good time exploring this area and doing some souvenir shopping. You can read a bit more about this village and the very interesting tree that is over 2000 years old HERE
To think that this tree was alive when Jesus walked the earth was fascinating! We had a very very nice day with the Swifts.



On Monday we spent some time with the kiddos and helped around the home a bit. Then Paul Swift took us downtown to do some souvenir shopping and to visit a very large, beautiful cathedral called Santa Domingo. We were able to walk through the Zocalo area where the teachers were holding their "sit in" strike. It was quite interesting to see how they had blocked all the road ways and were all camped out with their protest signs etc. There was still a flurry of life going on around them, including many little shops selling their wares. We visited a very crowded market and bought a few souvenirs. Needless to say we wanted to get out of there before dark. We were then treated to a meal at a very nice restaurant by Carol and Fran Marin (directors of Casa Hogar) and Brian and Kristen from Simply Smiles. It wasn't the same Mexican food our boys were used to so they had to try some different things. I really enjoyed the food a lot.

On Tuesday we were able to start helping with the tiling of the bathrooms in the dorms for the children. They were painted and plastered but will now have very nice tile on the walls and floors. It was a very interesting job, as it was something I hadn't done much before, and needed to learn how to put some of the tiles on walls that weren't very straight at all. But the results will be well worth it. They have a very skilled construction worker named "Marcello" (sp?) who oversaw all the concrete and tile work. His work is truly awesome. Tuesday evening was another special evening with the church. The focus was on family as it was the Pastor's mother's 87th birthday. It was a very awesome celebration. People gathered in families to pray and many surrounded the orphans to pray for them as well. It was a tear jerker! Then there was a "Mexican Potluck" afterwards. Lots of great food!

Wednesday morning was very difficult. We had to get all our things together, do some cleaning and then finding a way to say good bye. Those kiddos really get in your blood quick! If you would like to see more of what we did and saw please visit our other picture blog at sorensen7pictures.blogspot.com