Christmas Vacation and Back

Hello again! Our recent trip back to the States is still fresh in our minds. We saw lots of family and friends in Livermore, the LA area, and even San Antonio Texas! There was lots of traveling, which is both good and bad. Good because we got to spend time with lots of people but also bad because it was very tiring. We will be heading back to the States for Spring break, but we will do as little traveling as possible. Over the break we stayed up late, slept in late, made some cookies with family, Tenaya, Terah (her sister), and mother did a lot of cooking, ate some excellent Texas BBQ (thank you David and Kiley J), we played some games, saw Star Wars, read a little bit, went on a hike, and I surfed and rode my bike a lot. We even got to do some sledding! Doing these things with friends and family reminded us how much we love and miss all of you! You truly cannot replace friends and family. Even doing little things like sitting around a table and talking or going on a walk are irreplaceable and priceless. This was even confirmed by my 7th and 8th grade students yesterday when we did an activity in which they shared about their vacations. Many of them maturely reflected that the best moments of their vacation were the priceless ones spent with their family around the dinner table or just relaxing together. That gave me some hope the future generations of Mexico!

Being back has been a rather strange and tough transition again. Besides missing family and friends and we have to get back in the rhythm of working A LOT! I’ve always heard that the first year of teaching is the hardest. I would agree with that because the first year everything is new. You do not have many (if any) ideas of what works well from previous experience with lessons or whole units. The planning and organization of everything is what’s tough for me; Once all that is done then life is much more peaceful.

For an update on Zapopan/Guadalajara, an Applebee’s and Dairy Queen were just put in close to our homes. We love the local Mexican restaurants of course, but sometimes we like getting taste of the States. On that note, it is crazy how most martinis down here will have lots of salt and possibly chile added. That is Tenaya’s worst nightmare come true. Who wants an appletini that taste the ocean? Whenever going to a restaurant you need to make sure the martinis are not salted and the red wine is not chilled.

Just yesterday we ate something called rosca de reyes. It is like a large pan ducle (sweet bread) that is eaten after Christmas (traditionally on January 6th). Inside the rosca is a little baby Jesus. Wikipedia adds, “Whoever finds the baby Jesus figurine is blessed and must take the figurine to the nearest church on February 2.” February 2nd in Roman Catholicism is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It is also traditionally the day in Mexico when the person who found the baby Jesus buys tamales for the other people who ate the rosca. Fortunately, we did not get the baby Jesus so we will be expecting another teacher to bring some tamales on February 2nd.

All the talk and actions based around traditions makes me think of one of my favorite movies Fiddler on The Roof and the opening song Tradition. There is something comforting in following traditions. There is stability in traditions and all humans seem to seek stability in their lives. Sometimes it seems that in the States the word “traditions” carries with it a negative connotation. Maybe it is something in the American psyche about independence and a blaze-your-own kind of path mentality (which if you read Ralph Waldo Emmerson, Thoreau, or even Benjamin Franklin writings you can easily see where this American way of thinking developed from). I don’t think that traditions need to be a negative thing however! We develop traditions for our everyday lives. We can see traditions in how we schedule our days, weeks, months, and years. The traditions of religious significance are an outgrowth of our need to create balance and even beauty to our lives. The traditions of spiritual significance develop as an outgrowth of how we plan our everyday lives; because we are not only material beings but spiritual as well.

Our goals and ideas for the next few months are similar to what they’ve already been: keep exploring Guadalajara and the surrounding region, keep teaching well, start listening to our church’s podcast at least once a week, keep going to the gym, read, relax, breath, and STAY SANE.

We will try and update you sooner next time! Enjoy your day and be a blessing to someone else!

Saludos + grace and peace,

Adam and Naya Nuñez

ps. In the images below you will see Naya near El Centro. We are close to a HUGE market called San Juan de Dios. You'll also see a beauitiful library near El Centro. Then, Kiley and David and their little baby (so cute!) who live in San Antonio;and our nieces (Jenika, Mayah) and nephew (Levi) making cookies; Terah, Mama Lee, and Naya; and us in S.F.