buenos tiempos ; )

Thanksgiving was great... saw my family and friends, stuffed myself silly... watched movies and even slept in a couple times. Misael is getting taller, Abi looks even prettier with her new haircut... Sarai is even bigger... lol... and I thought it was impossible... Mom and Dad were running around working hard, as usual, but we got to spend a lot of time together still... hehe... we even went shopping : ) and my kids and I put up the xmas tree... and we did "hw" together.. hehe... we even slept together, as big and old as we all are... night-time conversations are the best.. lol... I love my family!
Got to see Val too ... hadn't seen the girl in forever... since the summer? it was nice to see her (and she looks great : ) ! ) and catch up and get our hair done and all that stuff... it was great ; ) I missed her so much. we'll see each other during the xmas break, and then she'll be off to her new job in McAllen (hehe... can't say it, but I think I can spell it...lol... ). Good luck to the crazy girl : )
The downside to the weekend was that Grandma got sick on Monday morning... she is doing great now, but she is still having surgery to prevent it from happening again... Dad and Mom are with her in San Antonio right now, and I think that they are all a lot better now that they know what the problem was and that she's had no complications. please keep her and my Dad in your prayers.
Friends are doing well... Janie is working at a Pizza place now... she sounds happy again ; ) ! I think she's glad to not have all that stress she had.. and she was able to see the kid, and he's doing well. looks like a merry Xmas to me : ) maybe we'll do that dinner thing w/ Akshay and Ashish this weekend, depending on how things go... finals are going to make a knot of nerves out of me... but I'm very glad to be almost done with this whole thing... almost done... almost done.
I need to find out about Yuritza's bf... been thinking about her the whole week...
The Boy had a final this morning... he studied so much for that thing... I'm sure he did well. We had dinner tonight... it was beautiful... I missed him so much!! Being away from him for the break made me realize how hard it's going to be to not see him for an entire month... thank God for internet...
Well... I get to sleep tonight... gotta start on a paper tomorrow... good night everybody..

locuras.... puras locuras con esta familia

Val, si estas leyendo esto, llamame... aunque sea por cobrar. olvide mi celular y no pude llamarte ayer. En fin... tal vez te pueda llamar desde aqui... ahora mismo pregunto. pero bueno, llamame.

La familia Briones esta loca. Es un hecho irrefutable. Ha sido agradable estar en casa, y no hacer nada, y comer a lo barbaro, y hablar del Minino con todo el mundo, y contar las historias mas raras que pude recordar. Hoy pusimos el arbolito, como es debido, al dia siguiente del dia de accion de gracias. Le ayude a Mama con algo de sus deberes, revisamos examenes, hicimos algunos proyectos... y Dios santisimo, como he comido!! Llegando me dieron discada, y luego pozole, y ayer en casa de mi tia Sandra comimos pavo y jamon y pie, y postre de bomobones y fruta y clar, camote!! me pregunto si tienen camote en Dallas... bueno, y hoy Mama hizo enchiladas para comer y acabamos de cenar lonches de colita de pavo (que rico!!). Mañana voy a cortarme el pelo, a revelar las famosas fotos, y a todo ese rollo... bueno, despues de tener una mañana productiva, claro, porque tengo MUCHO trabajo que hacer. Ya me he organizado y tengo un plan de trabajo (es la unica manera de conseguir hacer algo). En la noche tenemos la piñata de mis primitos, los hijos de mi tio Daniel. Hace ya rato que cumplieron años pero se han esperado hasta este fin de semana para que pudiese estar yo aqui, asi que mi madre les ha comprado unos bonitos regalos. Mi tio Daniel es mi tio preferido... jeje... solo que, porsupuesto, nunca he dicho nada porque tal cosa provocaria drama mundial en la familia Cruz.

El domingo sera dia de Iglesia, y despues de eso es cena en casa de mis abuelos. Ayer mi primo David me dijo que hoy se iria a Orlando a estudiar mecanica, asi que el nos faltara. Pero a excepcion de el, estaremos completos ahora que estoy de vuelta. Mi abuela ha conseguido que mi primo prometa visitar pronto... creo que teme que la familia termine desparpajada por todo el continente... o el mundo entero... Existen los rumores de que manden a mi tio Daniel a Taiwan, asi que mis abuelos estan que brincan cada vez que se menciona ciudad alguna, fuera de la nuestra. Me imagino cual recepcion va a tener la noticia cuando me acepten en la universidad otra vez... mi madre tendra que escuchar a mis abuelos... "Esa niña la mandaste y no va a regresar." La verdad es que tengo sentimientos mixtos hacerca del asunto entero... tal vez tengan razon... soy la primera de la familia en irse... y parece que he puesto ejemplo. Mi prima se caso, y se fue. Y ahora David... y tal vez mi tio... Dios mio, van a matarme... y que si tienen razon?!???? !!! que si en verdad la familia empieza a salirse de la ciudad y las reuniones familiares acaban y la unidad de los Cruz se va por la borda y que si la familia Briones termina tambien repartida por todos lados. recuerdo que cuando mencione que el chico español me habia propuesto matrimonio, la familia entera brinco, aun sabiendo que yo habia dicho que no, que no porque no amaba al chico, proque no le conocia, y porque me parecia una locura... y mi abuela me hubiese matado. simple y sencillo. Mi familia es una locura, tejida de tradiciones e ideas nuevas y extravagantes. en fin... la realidad es que me quedo al menos dos años mas en los EEUU, y me temo que mi familia entera va a dar un suspiro en el cielo. pero en fin, un problema a la vez, un problema a la vez. Si Valeria ha tenido el valor de enfrentar a su madre, he de tenerlo yo para enfrentar a mis abuelos; yo que tengo a mis padres detras de mi, no tengo excusa alguna. no es cierto? sin excusas.
Bueno, espero ver a Val mañana o el domingo... entre una cosa y la otra. de lo contrario, el lunes funcionara. solo espero poderla contactar... la chica es mas escurridiza que el agua, y con el asunto de que ahora vive en el Paso, me es imposible encontrarla. nimodo, pagaremos larga distancia.
para el lunes no hay muchos planes... solo que en la noche tengo que partir de vuelta a Dallas. para el martes tengo dos ensayos y mucha lectura (y olvide el maldito libro!! tendre que leer el lunes en la noche).
Es increible, como tengo dos pequeños mundos, y casi dos identidades. Existe muy poco en comun entre mis dos vidas, y sinembargo ambas las vivo yo, con los mismos valores y las mismas ilusiones y el mismo cariño... A veces pienso que es necesario partirme en dos... pero tal cosa es imposible. lo unico que pasa es que mi vida se vuelve una pequeña locura porque una parte la vivo aqui, en español, con mas tranquilidad pero con muchas mas responsabilidades, y otra la vivo alla, en ingles o en spanglish, con un estres increible, al que no he logrado acostumbrarme, y con menos rsponsabilidades pero mas jaladas...
bueno, ya me despido... Mama necesita la computadora... un beso a todo el mundo... felices fiestas... los veo pronto.

I need to sleep

I’M GOING HOME TOMORROW!


It feels great… almost done… almost done. School has been challenging this semester. Not too intellectually demanding, but exceptionally time consuming. Add to that the fact that I cannot concentrate or get organized. And then the butterfly effect. Forget about physics… this is telephone calls, random assignments, lots of errands, and a multi-dimensional sense of responsibility. One small event at a time, one minute after the other, the day drifts away, never to come back… and the list doesn’t get any shorter… good Lord, no wonder America produces so many businessmen. Had I been brought up here, I’d be a machine… I am afraid I am quite insufferable as it is. lol… craziness…

I am glad I am so busy, though. The craziness keeps me accountable. I stay busy, I get things done, I make sure I know what I need to learn and I make sure things work the way they are supposed to.

And then I go home, and I think. I ponder. I reflect on what I’ve done, on what others around me have done, on what I can learn and what I can reinforce. I go over things over and over again until I either make perfect sense out of them or they make a mess out of me. It is a terrible thing. And yet I cannot help it… and even sadder, I enjoy it. I live a chaotic, yet quite enjoyable life.

---


My family is doing great. Dad’s feeling better… might go to LA to buy more merchandise. Mom is going crazy, the end of her semester also getting near, and has been writing exams and finalizing most of the paperwork. Sarai is doing well, no complications of any kind so far, still pretty sure she will be having a baby boy. Abi and Misi will be going through final exams after Thanksgiving… and so will I. I called Grandma last Sunday… the entire family was there, and it had been my Dad’s turn to cook, so they were having great food… they all sounded like they were having a good time. Some of my uncles might be coming to Dallas for my graduation, which is amazing… I’ve never been visited by my family, other than my parents and my sister, so this is all very exciting.

The boy’s brother is in town : ) Poor thing must be having a blast… sitting around while we are in class… which reminds me… I have class in 6 mins… lol… gotta go…

…that one can wander without being lost

La vida es…
Y hoy, por puro capricho, se nos vistió de seda

Lack of food has made the bears lethargic

You are going to want those options

In Japan, during the winter, we eat this type of cucumbers
ANSWER YOUR TELEPHONE!
Variety is the Spice of Life

The Boy Leaves
Text from Arely: "Did you get home safely?"
Reply from Me: "Not yet baby."
(Keep in mind, we're all in the same room.)
After this incident, there was an attempt to assault me,

as the message was intended for the boy.
~Janie

I dreamt the night had stages… each night had a book for me to complete
You think too much
I am either the most boring or the most fascinating person you have ever met.

Necesitamos que tomes una decisión y nos dejes saber
SLASH don't stab

Extraño las noches de café en el Limoneros
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser

…the mysterious human tendency to record these thoughts and imaginations has become, more than just a simple fascination, a portal into a world of extraordinary, unprecedented ideas –which my own mind would have, of course, on its own never discovered, and with which, for that same reason, my mind can barely start to argue with…
I love you.

"That's more than the Turks are getting."

Scott: Te llamo
mañana,
vale?

Extraño tu voz… nos vemos en diciembre

Que rollo, pollo?

IT’S BEEN A PRODUCTIVE DAY

bueno, pero sólo lo ha dicho una vez

"...ojala que esto pronto suceda,

así podrá descansar mi pena,

hasta la próxima vez.."

todo a pulmón

It's been an odd, odd day

I saw the chicken

I just got a friendly reminder that I should be writing my essay… I said right away, sir… but then again, I am so sleepy that if I don’t do something to wake up I won’t be able to concentrate… hehe… at least that’s my excuse : )

It was Fer’s birthday this Monday. we all went to his gf’s apartment for some cake : ) I think it was a nice surprise… lol… well, sort of… hehe. Fer saw The Boy’s shadow walking infront of the window and knew that it couldn’t be Alek’s roommate : ) … I had so much fun. It had been a while since we had all had the time to hang out (ok, none of us really had the time that night either, but oh well). Minino got to see me in my environment… heard un-heard stories about my personal habits, and I am sure he must have realized how sophisticated and well-mannered my friends are. Various informative conversations on personal health/grooming, linguistics, relationships (gosh, those were my favorite) and of course several highly entertaining stories about Valparaiso’s embarassing past experiences had to come up. Oh… and they kept making fun of the way The Boy drank his root beer (ok, that actually was cute… they assume that he must be some kind of abstemious saint just bc he’s my bf…jiji… I kinda like it). And of course… the chicken.

I have a rubber chicken hanging from my car’s mirror. It isn’t mine. It was my sister’s. he’s my hostage… hehe… stole it from her bc she wouldn’t give it to me. he’s just the size of a real baby chicken, yellow, ugly… ugly as they get. and he waggles when my car is in motion… I think he’s the most hilarious thing on earth. He’s cool like that. well, anyway… I was telling the story to one of my friends, and I was pretty surprised she hadn’t seen the chicken yet. either Janie or The Boy immediately said “I saw the chicken!” We all burst out laughing, and 15 mins of rubber chicken jokes (which I am sad to say I can’t remember any more) followed… my sister's chicken is famous. we’re getting t-shirts, so he'll be world-famous soon… “I saw the chicken.” I’m dead serious. We’re getting chicken t-shirts.

I’m just very glad Fer stopped half-way through his cake-biting ritual so I could splash his face on the cake. (For those of you who might not know, it is our tradition to bite your BD cake after blowing the candles… your friends try to push you, and you try to fool them or bite it as fast as possible so they don’t get you)… in any way… Fer’s old, very old. 22, and my oldest acquaintance here at SMU—met him the VERY minute I stepped out of the taxi that brought Mom and me from the airport. Three and a half years from then, he’s my frat brother, dating my ex-roommate (one of my best friends, whose life I must have ruined by introducing him to her), and he is old as heck… but we still love him. Como dices, Minino? Ah, si. Life is good.

Well... all of this to say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRO!!




On another note... I'd like to thank the boy for last night's hot chocolate. Thanks for listening to my little self-examination. I was actually able to sleep a little bc of that. Tonite’s Indian was pretty darn good too! We will have Pollo a la Poblana this weekend, whatever happens! : )

…and now, back to my essay : )

oh! just wanted to say that this blog was written in English, even though I started writing it in Spanish at first… just so that Michael (hehe… hi, you!) and Janie could read it. Jeje… don’t think I didn’t hear you guys complain : )

...and I locked myself out of my room today. hopefully the girls will be back when I get home : )
ok, ok!! lol... he keeps popping up on the screen... yes, yes. back to my essay.

Old friends

I had dinner with Janie and Akshay last night. got me thinking about my group of friends. I have a small, eclectic group of friends… perfect to fit my flowing personality. Janie and Akshay were roommates my sophomore year. Akshay was doing his masters in ME and Janie was a sophomore like me. Marlon, who was a Jamaican dancer doing his masters, was living with them too. It was a bizarre living situation for me… a girl and two guys! So absolutely improper! I am amazed at how much I’ve changed because of the friends I have. I realized, for one thing, that there can be a friendship between a guy and a girl, but absolutely no sexual tension. They were simply three good friends living together, and there was such a welcoming, friendly environment in that apartment that I ended up spending most of my free time (and my study time) there. I was the unofficial fourth roommate. Ah, the good times. We had such a great time making fun of each other, being silly, eating (without a single exception, all my great friends have discovered the mysterious joy of feeding me) having great eye-opening religious conversations… simply spending time together. it was great.

So we had dinner last night. and we were in a completely different setting. Akshay is here only till the 28th, and will soon go off to work.. to God-only knows how many places. Akshay and Marlon have both graduated… so I hadn’t seen Akshay in a very long time… a year?? Marlon is teaching in a university in Jamaica… so he wasn’t there. So Akshay was a different person, a lot skinnier, a little less shy (oh gosh! He was NOT shy at ALL)… Marlon’s dry humor was altogether absent … and the three of us were eating OUT –not in their apartment, not in my A-Psi house, not at SMU—and Janie hasn’t lived near me for a looong time, so we don’t spend as much time together any more (and we’re both in serious relationships) and so everything had changed… but nothing had changed. oh gosh… absolutely nothing. We had a blast, we talked about silly and serious things… we even got a mingled speech from Akshay on greencards and the restrictions of time and work and stress on personal relationships (yes, this was Akshay talking about his personal life!)

… AND JANIE IS GETTING MARRIED!!! GOOD LORD… SHE’S GETTING MARRIED!!!

She said she wouldn’t have a wedding, so I thought that meant she wasn’t gonna get married soon… but no… she is. After graduation… Janie is such an amazing person. she’s managed to live exactly the way she wanted to. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t care what others say. she cares about what’s right and what’s not. Simple enough. She’s the one that took that homeless kid in and took care of him and did all she could, even when it meant sacrificing her so treasured personal security… that’s the kind of person she is. And she’s almost married already… but there’s that traditional part of me that can’t help but think that marriage is a pact, and that even though implicit pacts are beautiful and mysterious, there is strength in the boldness of making the pact explicit, definite… and I think she knows that. that’s why it takes us both so much to say things like “I love you.” such words have much more meaning to us than they might have to other people… they are explicit feelings that we save for the special few… the very few.

And so I think back on my friendships.. the kind of people that I befriend… Philippino, Indian, Jamaican, American, Guatemalean, Mexican-American, Macedionian… gay, bi, straight, inactive… hard-core Xan, non-practicing Christians, Hindu, how was that? Buddhistian? Business, Psychology, ME majors, Education Majors, dancers, Econ, history, languages, philosophy…
What do we all have in common? We love life. And in our own different ways, we love God, and we love our families and our friends, and we all know what we want, even if we don’t know how or when we’re getting there… and we give a damn about what’s going on… my friends all care about school, about their careers, about being better people, about helping others out… we love each other too… lol… even if we don’t always say it. and I am just so happy, thinking of all of this… realizing that I have friends. Great friends.

I am such a fortunate person..

Patoaventuras : )

I talked to Dad this morning… called him like 5 or six times bc his phone kept losing signal. Dad and Mom are in Kansas, visiting friends and raising scholarship money for our kids. They do it every year, but this year’s trip has so far been beyond memorable. The plane they were in went through major disturbances, and both Mom and Dad say they will have a difficult time getting on their plane back to Mexico. Dad said they're happy to be back on safe ground, and I think he's also very happy to see old friends and preach, which he doesn't do on a constant basis anymore. I think he does miss being a pastor, even if he brings out the Church Council every time I ask him.

My sister is doing very well. She has been asked to stop working, and I hope she will eventually give in. We’re worried about her driving to and from, and I wonder how healthy it is for her to both stand and walk for such lengthy periods. I’ll have to find out about that.

Val and I talked on the phone a week or two ago. She is doing well too. Still worried about her family. I’ll see her in November, I hope, when I go back home for thanksgiving. If not, then I’m sure the Xmas holidays will give us enough time to visit. I am amazed at how enjoyable and cultivating our conversations are. She challenges my ideas, makes me consider options I hadn’t even thought of, sees right through me when I try to avoid things... and I have a feeling she does all of this quite effortless too. We are so different and so much alike.

Janie is also doing well. Jeremy, her boyfriend, will start working the night shift, and she has decided to take a year off before starting to teach. It sounds so good… she’ll be taking fun classes and maybe keep working at the library or go to back to UPS. She says she loves it, and I’m sure she does. She’s the kind of girl that enjoy that type of jobs… all I’m worried about is the hours… she had trouble with it last time. We’ll see what happens. Ah! Janie, if you’re reading this, would you email me your xanga web address? My computer crashed, and I don’t know it, so I haven’t been able to keep up with it. The A-Psi boys are in Nationals. I’ve stayed because I wanted to get stuff done, but I do regret not being able to see the northern peeps… and my friend from Laredo called me to see if I was gonna go… it made me a little sad… but it was very nice being able to talk to him after such a long time. He’s graduated and is now working, and seems very happy with his job. I’m very glad for him. Joel and, Yuritza, and Michael didn’t go either. Joel had auditions this week, and was gone by Thursday night.. hehe.. which I completely forgot about, as is usual… we called the kid while he was still in Chicago to see why he wasn’t in chapter… “ay Ms. Thingy”… I could almost hear him say…

The boy and I went to the opera last night. My friend Joel is a vocal performance major and he had the tickets but couldn’t go. He had just gotten back from the auditions, and he called me last night and asked if I wanted to go and take someone else. Of course I want to go! So I called the boy and asked him if he wanted to go, he said sure (and didn’t tell me he doesn’t enjoy opera too much –but he liked that second one- until we were on our way back) and so it was that the adventure started. I was like 15 min. late (had one of those what-to-wear crisis that I usually don’t have). Joel gave us terrible directions (as in take 75 North, instead of South, to 35 instead of 30… lol…. he was like “you’re gonna laugh” …and I laugh now, but oh gosh, I was stressed out by then… we had 20 mins to get there and we were lost, and there was an unbelievable traffic everywhere (the boy ha already called someone a jackass) … and I was starting to wonder if going back was a better idea… you know… let’s just go back and rent a movie and I can cook dinner (which I haven’t since the spaghetti surprise) and we’ll just have a relaxing evening… I have three hrs of sleep on me and I won’t be able to stress for much longer… and then the boy found the exit! …and so we got there, and my pantyhose and I were the first show of the evening… and we finally got to the theater just in time to hear the voice on the speaker say “The presentation will start in three minutes. There will be no seating after the doors close.” We got in, right on time. The opera was great. it was actually two one-act pieces. He liked the last one and I enjoyed the first one… mainly because by the time the second one had started my eyes couldn’t stay focused anymore. But the acting in the second one was much better. Minino and I had Wendy’s afterwards, and then I got to sleep : )

…and now I have to go back to work : ) hehe… already spent a long time writing this thing… : )

Someone got engaged tonight!!!

Please don't have a heart attack. It wasn't me. The boy jokes about posting the news like this though, given the end-less jokes we were an object of at the A-Psi party last night... two, peeps, two...
But anyways... on to the great news: my boyfriend's sister got engaged tonight! It was such a fun day, and as their mom said, the news were a very pleasant end to a very pleasant walk. The boy's dad got the first call early this morning, when we were all coming back from a half a mile walk in the trail. It was the sister's boyfriend, wanting to ask for permission from the dad. The sister's boyfriend asked the question later on this evening, while we were having dinner, and the sister called her mom right when we got done with the meal. It is official. They are getting married! So today was full of expectation, laughter, tears of happiness, and good wishes... hehe... and lots of phone calls. I got to talk to the boy's sister, right after the news were given to all family members : ) And then I talked to the boy's brother too...
I have a small treasure in my purse... we took pictures of the mom, talking to the daughter, hearing the good news. the dad took the very first pictures of the boy and me together, and the waiter took a picture of us all. fun times, fun times.

a random thought on sonnet 116

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/116.html

The thunderous divine summoning that I expected never came. Even in my second year of college, I refused to acknowledge my call to the ministry, believing the assurance of such a call to inescapably involve some kind of a momentous, miraculous, divine apparition. Moses witnessed the burning but inconsumable bush, Paul set his eyes on the resurrected Jesus, and I wanted a sign too, a certain and loud voice telling me that my burning, inconsumable desire to serve the resurrected Jesus had more than a human naissance. But Moses is not the accepted author of the Pentateuch, the historicity of Paul’s vision is surely not demonstrable, and I find myself at the beginning of another stage in my life, knowing exactly where God will take me, and believing in the spiritual power and significance of the Bible, but not knowing how to abide it…

My father has been my spiritual leader for most of my adult life. Throughout my numerous personal disputes with my Hebrew Bible professor, with the Asianist of our department, with the Jesus Seminar, and with countless New Testament scholars, my father has been my ever-fixed mark, the one constant support and voice of advice. His faith seems to be as unshakable as his love. And his example opened my eyes to the beauty of being a wondering bark: that one can wonder without being lost. That if Shakespeare was ever wrong, he erred in making of change a potentially harmful thing... no, it is not the nature of change that is piercingly dangerous, but the nature of ...human condition.

My condition? Still in the middle of Midian...

Una luz... por mas pequeña... sigue siendo una luz

Dad sent his Newsletter today. For those who might not know, my parents are missionaries to Anapra, Mexico. Anapra is a neighborhood in the outskirts of our city, the tragic result of unsuccessful immigration and successful foreign maquiladoras (cheap-labor-exploiting industry). This is the place where many of the people that have immigrated to Mexico or have migrated from Southern Mexico end up at: a place where houses are made out of trash, a place where electric power, water service, and draining systems didn't exist until the end of last year; a place where only a half of a street exists. Where a thousand children are rejected each year by the two elementary schools because of insufficient space. That’s where my family serves.
I read my Dad’s report a few minutes ago, and I remembered. I remembered we’re not as lost as I think. I remembered there’s the heroes… the men and women of God… the people that are strong enough to forget about themselves and give to others. Those who leave a more promising future, and stay where they are because they are needed right where they’ve been placed. That’s my parents. Working as missionaries in Mexico when he was nominated to be a Bishop and she was offered a great job in Mexico’s main university. Teaching the children my government is trying so hard not to acknowledge. Making a difference. Changing the world one life at a time. Or 87, really. Plus teachers, and all of us who are in awe, amazed at them and learning from them every day.
Yes. The world is a terrible place. But man, it’s full of great people!

So here it is, the letter my autodidactic father wrote in English. Getting better every day, isn’t his English great??? Please overlook the lack of spaces btwn some words... a problem I had when pasting... I think I got them all, but then again... this is me talking : )





OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Today is the first day of November and at the time weare writing this letter, we can’t but thank our Lordfor the blessings he has given to our school Colegio“Susana Wesley” and to our family. We can see Hisfidelity supporting us every moment and under anycircumstances. This year is almost gone, but has leftmany proves that He is Faithful even though we notalways are.

We started this school year with 87 students,unfortunately by now we have lost 4 of them. Two movedfrom Anapra and the other two, who are Americancitizens, have been sent to live at El Paso with arelative. Diana, one of the 4 who left our school,was in third grade, she was with us only for these twomonths. Her parents did not tell us she will not comeanymore, but she did, and she was very sad because shedid not want to go to her old school with “badchildren”. We miss her!

This Monday we received acouple asking information to register their daughterin second grade. If they happen to cover therequirements, she will join us this next Monday. At least 17 students for first grade were not acceptedthis year for not having space for them. We think that next year we might open two groups for firstgraders.

We’d like to ask for your prayers for two of ourstudents, a boy from first grade and a girl of 3rdgrade. Last week employees of the DIF (government office that takes care of family matters like child abuse) came to our school asking for information of these two children, brother and sister. We are worried about this family, and many others, and trying to minister them; unfortunately this is not easy because right now they are so worried about notloosing their children that do not care for spiritual support.

Alter two months now of having our new students, we start to identify the ones that urgently need a changein their lives and in their families, unfortunately many of them are in this situation. Family problems are seen not only in their behaviour but also in their grades. Some of these students failed last year, they come from our school and also from others. With the time you can see a change in their behaviour, their vocabulary, and even in their attitude, but unfortunately as soon as they come back to their homes, real life is again before them with more negative than positive things, so we struggle everyday to help them manage with their family problems.

A few weeks ago we had here in Juarez, the mostimportant cyclists’ event from our state and one ofour students from 3rd grade won a very honoured 2nd place among 250 competitors. Next day, in school, hewas very sad because his father was angry at him for not having the first place. He said his father toldhim he was “disappointed” and that he spent a lot ofmoney on his bicycle. In our weekly worship servicewe told everybody that he was a winner and gave him asa prize, the chance to have whatever he wanted fromthe little store for a week. Besides that, P. E. teacher gave him two extra points for hisaccomplishment. This is only an example of how some of our children are treated, the kind of change that families from our Anapra need is the kind of change that only God can do. We’d also like to say also that many parents are doing their best on raising their children.

We are very surprised to see that many of our students stay late at school, some of them stay because of the Rondalla rehearsal until 2:45, seems like they prefer to be here at school than at home. It is sad to hearfrom them that they feel better at school, I rememberthat I hated being at school, I was anxious for the bell to ring so I could go back home; so, they wanting to stay at school is something I cant really understand.

We have good news too: The land of the school has been totally paid! We would like to thank a family from Ohio for their generous offering that we received when visiting them, we pray for blessings for them and for all of you that are supporting ourministry spiritually and financially. Another good new is that we finally were able to install a phone at the school office since this month. We do not like thenumber, but there was nothing we could do about it.
The number, dialing from the USA is:
011-52 (656) 666-4436

We are at school, but not often in the office,weekdays from 8 to 2:30, soon we will start classes half hour later because of the winter season, ourclasses really end at 1:30 but for many reasons we areusually there at least for an hour more. There is a lot of work to be done at Anapra and honestly more than this time is needed. Dina is now helping not only as the principal but also as a 4th grade teacher, but she still has to go back at 12:00 for her second shift at the high school that starts at 2:00.

Today was paid day, and again we had to use our faith, for until last Friday we had money enough to pay only two of our 6 teachers, we did not have money for the lady (wife of a missionary from Chiapas) that helps as a janitor, nor to pay the Social Security (about 600.00 dollars a month). We praise the Lord that we finally received a check from one of our sponsors whopromised to send a monthly check. It was good enough to pay our teachers and the Social Security Fees! Sometimes I think that the Lord keeps on testing our faith, and that He knows we need a lot of praying.

FAMILY:
Sarai is 6 months pregnant and it is a baby boy, both of them seem to be fine. Misael and Abi are about tofinish the second period of their “six weeks” anddoing very well at school. Arely is already making plans for her graduation (Praise the Lord!) from S. M.U. and they took her pictures already. Dina is still working hard and has an appointment this coming Fridayto see when her surgery will be performed (pray forher please). And about me, well I have to say that Ihad a “little” accident while playing with Misael andhad a few stitches. I hurt my arm and the problem is that I have an infection almost immediately and still dealing with that since last Friday. I am doing well, it really does not hurt that bad, and I am ready for the next wound!Please keep praying for our ministry and for our family. We are still waiting for the answer of theschool’s certification. We were told that we will haveto wait maybe until next year, we are worried about it. All the work has been finally done, just waiting for their answer. We need your prayers! We are praying for you all, and our children pray for you every day and especially every Friday at our worship service when we read your names from the wall and thank our Lord for your support. God Bless you!

In His Service,

Antonio y Dina Briones

my computer crashed...

... it won't even turn on. I haven't been able to take it to get fixed. I think I'll have Fer look at it first. I had to write the first two pages of an essay three times that day, though. It was fun... so much fun. Not having a computer is a surprisingly strenuous situation. I am such a terribly forgetful person, and a very in so I have to keep up with emails, memos, paperwork… so I’ve been running to and from the library quite a lot lately…
Pero bueno, sin importer que mi computadora y mi carro se han tomado turnos para vovler mi vida miserable, todo va bien… jeje…
Ay Dios… que contarles? Solo estoy feliz de que el semestre este a punto de terminar (solo falta un mes!) y de que cada vez tengo menos trabajo por terminar. La lista se vuelve pequena, gracias a Dios.
El pastor de Kansas me ha escrito. Ya empezaba a preocuparme por mi futuro academico… aun no le he dicho a mi padre que se Perkins no es una opcion. Pobre familia mia, cada vez que llamo es para dar malas noticias. Que el carro, que la computadora, que las 22 hrs que me quedan por cumplir… una cosita sobre otra. Llevo ya varias noches sin poder dormir. Anoche me fui a la cama muy temprano, pero aun asi di vueltas hasta temprano en la manana, y luego sufri mas de lo comun (que en si ya es mucho) para levantarme.
Janie had a dream last night that I was doing cocaine with Salma Hayeck, got caught, and run someone over when we were trying to escape. Good gracious… I don’t even think I like Hayeck all that much.
I haven’t really gone out with my friends lately. Aleks is going crazy with school, Janie lives 45 mins away from campus, and the chapter has been going nuts too with all the stuff we need to do before the semester is over. I need to get a book. I feel so guilty, though, reading a book of my choice when I know I have so much to read for my classes… I think what I need to do is sleep. But for some reason that hasn’t worked all that well either. Maybe I just really do need my social life back. But no… gotta get through this semester. I have to pull off this 18hrs business so they’ll let me take 22… May. It will all be over in May… December, really… my insomnia does go away when I go home : )

I was looking at my tree the other day… I have a favorite tree on campus… I think it has a very poetic structure. But well, I realized there has been an important tree at every stage of my life. My life has been marked by trees. The lemon tree in front of my house in Monterrey, the papaya, the fig tree in Chihuahua, that Chamizal tree, my grandmother’s berry in Cd. Juarez, and the tree at SMU. Each has a story…
Trees have a strong symbolic power. In ancient mythology, they are what connects heaven and earth, they are the symbol of a long life, they represent strength, and they embody the very nature of life, and of life after death. Jesus’ birth, life, and death are deeply connected to this same tree symbolism… trees… trees…

I do need to sleep.