We Thank You

Each morning, I drop the kids off at school in the cool dimness of 6:55 a.m. and walk the 8 minutes back to our apartment.

Home alone a little after 7:00 a.m. (unless my colleague picks me up at 7:30) I have a few minutes of quiet. I have often been spending the moments of quiet in the prayers of thanksgiving from the Book of Common Prayer.

“We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, [and] for the wonder of life. . . “

On a Saturday evening, we walk down 16 of septiembre towards the Zocalo. Fellow pedestrians fill the sidewalks. A tiny floral shop offers potted tulips. Across the street layers of roasting meat spin on a spit in front of a shop selling Tacos Árabes. A baby strapped to his father gives Langston a steady gaze. The dizzying scent of fresh bread wafts past us.

As we get closer to the Zocalo, performers fill the street. A couple covered in a bronze glaze poses as statues on a bench. The sound of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” starts up, and a dancer lifts his head. Cords from “Thriller” intertwine with a violin playing “I Did It My Way.” We weave between families, couples, and groups of teenagers.

“We thank you for all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ.”

Two Fridays ago, Veronica motioned to the white chair in her office and sat down with coffee in hand. I had expected her to be in a hurry to get to work, but I sat down to chat. Veronica is a busy person. She teaches and supervises doctoral and masters’ students, travels for school evaluation work, oversees students doing practicums in schools, and so much more. Additionally, she now also often drives this Fulbright Scholar to work.

I had planned to take the bus to work, but Mark asked me, please do this one thing for him and take an Uber rather than navigate the bus system. That seemed like a fair request. But when Veronica heard I was taking an Uber, she told me that it would be “no problem” for her to pick me up on her way to work. Then she started showing up with coffee for both of us.

I have two sponsors with Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Veronica in the Language Department and Chantal in Research and Postgraduate Studies. Both have been more than welcoming, but I have spent the most time with Veronica. On my first day at work, Veronica, several students, and a few faculty had a rosca de reyes to celebrate.

Veronica and I talked for a few minutes before Veronica showed me where to get the key to my classroom for my first day of teaching and then made sure I could get in the classroom and use the technology. The students, all getting their master’s in Teaching English, came in one at a time, greeting me as they entered. Veronica introduced me to the students before leaving to teach her own class.

“We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts and leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.”

One of the classes I am teaching is Academic Writing for the master’s students in the Teaching English program. While I felt confident about the content of the course, I had a lot to learn about the students and, as I prepared, I hoped the Academic Writing class was what they needed.

The classes are three hours long, so I spent a long time working on providing enough information combined with reflection and interaction. As I introduced the topic of academic discourse, it was clear that the students were interested. One student asked a question, and another shared an insight from his own experience. Before we left, several students stayed to express their interest in the class or ask additional questions.

“We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.”

Having had plenty of disappointments and failures, especially during my time in Peace Corps, I had expected so many more of these by this point in my time here. I, and we, have had some, but none that feel as crushing or as impossible as I expected. And this is largely due to the generous hospitality we have received.

Last Saturday, Veronica had the kids and me over for dinner. She drove for about 30 minutes to pick us up and then showed us around the beautiful Cultural Center on the way to her house. Her husband works out of town, but her delightful son and Langston hit it off. Over her homemade meal, we talked about her 107-year-old grandmother who had lived through the Revolution and how we had locked ourselves out of our apartment and had to climb in through a window. After a lovely evening, she drove us all the way back home.

For all this, and more, I am truly thankful.