You know you've acclimated to El Paso... and a little bit of 4th of July Weekend!

From the fireworks show

Fun night, Erika :)

Erin, Sha, and I excited about the carnival

Waiting for the fireworks show

It's now impossible for me to imagine not seeing these friends everyday

Typical picture of us! Erin just casually petting my hair

Lilly and I waiting in line for the rides at the 4th of July carnival!

Erika and I at the 4th of July carnival!

You know you've assimilated to El Paso if you're use to the following...

• 93 degrees feels "great!"
• 83 degrees feels "chilly"
• Anything less than 83 degrees is uncomfortable. (My poor body is going to wig out when I get home)
• You prefer dry heat over humid heat.
• Your body KNOWS when there's 2% humidity.
• You feel sweaty for maybe 10 seconds, and then, before you know it, you're dry! And you no longer grossed out by that.
• You stop putting on sunscreen...it's a lost cause here.
• You hear more Spanish spoken around you than English.
• You've become accustomed to greeting people with a hug and a kiss.
• There are Jalapeños in almost everything you eat. Even popcorn at the movies.
• You know to stay away from the green or really red salsa.
• You think it's weird seeing grass outside.
• No allergies! (no grass, no pollen, no problem!)
• You see more lightning/dust storms than thunderstorms.
• Any type of rain or downpour is a big deal.
• You stop blowdrying/making an effort with your hair because it dries within 5 minutes of stepping out the shower/swimming pool. And frizz doesn't exist!
• You see kids eating more Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Takis than candy...and you also develop a new love for Takis :)
• You've heard of the colonias.
• Although you don't enjoy it, you're use to seeing border patrol driving around, and can point out their vehicles from a distance.
• You see more border patrol vehicles than police cars.
• Paying more than $6 for a meal seems expensive.
• All of the fruit you eat is a billion times more delicious and sweet!
• You prefer lemonade and iced tea over soda.
• Manzanita soda is your favorite soda flavor!
• You listen to the Spanish radio station.
• Anyone who is extremely patriotic or even the slightest bit racist makes you uncomfortable.
• There are more local coffee shops than Starbucks, and it's better that way.
• You develop a much better habit of personable relationships. All relationships are very personable in this culture.
• Your prime times to be outside are before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m.
• The desert scene is rather enjoyable :)
• Horror films and techno music are common conversation topics with children of all ages.
• This is a no brainer, but you hear more Latino names than Irish/Norwegian names. And you like it like that.
• You are no longer freaked out by seeing fake, dead bodies of Jesus in Catholic churches. For some reason it's a cultural thing.
• Well, in all honesty, I'll never get use to this, but you are constantly stunned by the beauty the mountains bring.

There are probably much more statements that can fall under this blog post title, but these are the ones that instantly came to mind.

The 4th of July was a wonderful evening with my Border Servant family. Erika, Erin, Lilly, Sha (our new friend from Australia - Lilly met him at church), and I spent the 4th together. We went to Chili's for an attempt of an American dinner, and then went to a carnival at one of the churches here in El Paso. The head pastor of the church said a very, very long, never-ending, extreme, blessing/prayer before the fireworks show. The prayer/blessing literally kept going. He apparently was just so thankful for so much stuff. In all honesty, I felt very uncomfortable the whole time he talked. However, after it's length and depth, I'm pretty sure I'll never have to pray/attend church for the next year ;)

So, enough with my sass rant, the carnival was overall enjoyable. We waited until 9:30 to watch the fireworks show. While we waited, Erin, Erika, and me decided to play the ABC story game. Each person adds a sentence to a story, and the sentence has to start with the next letter in the alphabet. I actually remember the first part of the story very well, and can recite it back on here :)

"At Cristo Rey, we were getting ready to take the kids to the El Paso Exploreum. But suddenly, we realized that there was a dilema in the schedule! Ceci forgot to give Jennifer the check for the admission tickets. Darn, that Ceci! Enrique, luckily, ran over to the Exploreum and gave Jennifer the check. Finally, the kids were able to go inside. Gosh, what a relief. Hazard struck! Jennifer was suddenly struck by a motorcycle as she was walking in the street (thanks Erin). Injured, she was. Justin was so sad that he began to cry (good one Erika). Kids were freaking out and didn't know how they were suppose to feel. Luckily, Jennifer was revived by the ambulance and came back to life (so apparently I died)."

My heart lit up watching the fireworks show. It was one of the best shows I've seen. I felt so strongly about this because of our view! The show took place literally right above us. The sky was clear (as always), and the fireworks were big, bold, and beautiful! You could actually lie down and look up at the fireworks, outside, without worrying about getting bit by mosquitos. That is exactly what we did, too. I will never forget that show. The whole time I was watching the show, I kept reflecting about my time here in El Paso, and how I've very much enjoyed the shared moments with my friends down here. We've had so many of these moments and feelings of shared happiness. Those moments are such a gift. Memorable 4th of July, to say the very least.

Yesterday, Friday (July 5), was also quite eventful! Cristo Rey's sanctuary was empty, and so I used it as a dance floor. I blasted my itunes and did some old jazz exercises and warm ups. It felt amazing to have a huge floor to myself and just let loose! I danced and worked out for about an hour. Afterwards, Erin and I decided to get our haircut! We have both been talking about wanting to get it cut/trimmed due to this heat. Up to yesterday, my back, neck, and head in general felt suffocated at times due to the heat. Well, we both got $14 haircuts at Supercuts. Erin had 2 inches taken off and I had 3 inches and added layers. I tell ya, the difference is incredible! I could actually feel the breeze through my hair, and my back and neck no longer felt like it was being choked. The funny thing about hair salons here is that they do not dry your hair after they cut and style it. I mean, your hair dries within 5 minutes after being wet, so what's the point? :) I'm definitely getting my hair redone when I get home, but for now this $14 cut will do just great *insert thumbs up here* :) Lilly came with us, as she was getting a pedicure at a nearby salon. Erin and I had some time to kill while Lilly was at her appointment. We went to Big 8 Foods, of course. Erin bought a gallon of apple juice for herself, and I bought some Whoppers. Erin asked me in a nervous tone, "Would you judge me if I bought a gallon of apple juice and drank this straight?" Of course I said no. Although watching her drink it in the parking lot and having people stare at her was priceless. We picked Lilly up from her pedicure, and the 3 of us headed back home to have some downtime before our evening. The four of us plus Sha met up with Justin and Amy for $1 margaritas and tacos. Erika and I had been to 501 Bistro before when we arrived to El Paso our first night. (Aw, memories) It was great seeing Justin and Amy again! They were both pretty tired, but it was so fun chatting with those two. I would like to share something that Justin mentioned while we were together, and I later found out that he set as his facebook status. I was pretty disgusted to hear about this, to be honest. This is taken directly from his facebook.

"Instead of a fireworks show, Fort Bliss had a "laser lights extravaganza" to several patriotic songs. At one point, there was a song that started "From East to West, from the third world they know we're the best..." It continued with something along the lines of, "people think it's hip to knock America, say we're bad, but have you seen the nightlife in Leningrad?" Same song, later on: a visual of a soldier walking through crosses in a graveyard to lyrics, "And if I have to die this way" change of scene to a soldier holding an automatic weapon, "I'll carry my cross with honor."

My intention is in sharing this is not at all to degrade those serving in the military. I must say I'm troubled that our way of honoring the founding of our country is by denigrating other peoples and glorifying violence and retribution believed to be sanctioned by God."

Justin presented that opinion in a graceful manner. I personally couldn't agree more with him. Amy and Justin were saying that their group felt uncomfortable and angry about that. When I asked them if the laser lights were at least cool, they both said no. I'm sure that there are people living on Fort Bliss who are not completely 100% I love America, but it would be interesting to see those demographics. 

We stayed with the group and continued chatting. Erin, Erika, Sha, and I decided to go walking around downtown and explore slash look for dessert. We found no such luck on the dessert, but did have a fun time walking around! As sad as this sounds, it was only 93 degrees, so it was perfect walking weather. We had a blast walking and chatting and watching the sun set. It was an overall high quality evening spending time with high quality friends.

I really love and enjoy my time with the Border Servant friends. I feel like I've found a great group down here. We always have a blast when we're together, and someone always says something hilarious. One of my favorite questions Erika has asked this entire summer happened while we were at $1 margaritas and tacos. Sha and Erika were talking about kangaroos in Australia, and Sha mentioned that Australia is currently in their winter season. Erika asked Sha in such seriousness, "So, what are the kangaroos doing during the winter? Are they burrowing, or something?" We all then got on the topic of  pole dancing and strip clubs (don't ask, I honestly don't know how we got on this topic). I brought up how pole dancing actually takes a lot of upper body strength and energy (again, don't ask, I don't know how I know that). Erin asked "Do you really need a lot of upper body strength to strip?" Erika responded, with confidence, "Yes!" We all looked at her and she just said, "I mean, I would think." Of course we all laughed and joked with her about how she could possibly know that. Erika just said, "I'm pretty sure that was the margarita talking."

Trust me, we have really great in depth conversations as well. We have talked an awful lot about faith, where we've been in our struggles and what we want in life, our own perceptions of our experiences, our own personable beliefs, etc etc. My border servant friends have helped me grow in ways that I never thought possible. Hopefully, all of these changes and new insights will stay with me when I leave. I definitely plan on coming back here to visit when I'm done student teaching. All of these connections and people I've met down here are ones that I always want to have. It's amazing how you meet such insightful people and find yourself in a place that you never imagined to end up.

The 3 of us in downtown El Paso! It was also our first night sporting the new hair doos! Maybe I'll take Erika and Erin's advice and be a baldie someday.

Free time at the park!

How can you not feel happy looking at this picture? :)

They see me rollin', they hatin' - This would be the 17 passenger van that Erin and me use to chauffeur children around El Paso. Don't worry, mom and dad, I feel like I can drive anything after driving in this bad boy.

The kids just flock to Mister Justin :)