Mexico Trip - Day 2



Local flora

After a fitful night of sleep, I woke up to the sound of everyone else having breakfast. I showered quickly and joined them, though I will have little work to do today. The equipment that I need to do my work here is stuck in customs, and probably won't be here until sometime Tuesday.



After breakfast, we went to visit the mine site. Rather, we went to visit the future mine site, as no excavation has begun yet. It's just a barren desert, with roads carved into the steep hills, and exploratory well sites scattered here and there. The local employees had a little work to do, collecting latitude and longitude information on each of the newly drilled wells, but it didn't take long. The company owns other working mines in the area, but this one is just beginning to get explored and developed.

Mining Camp

We also toured the camp, where miners stay when there is actual excavation taking place. The camp probably holds 50 people or so, with 4 to 6 miners living in each of the small units pictured. The camp includes a cafeteria, laundry, infermary, and office space for the supervisors. I'd seen photos of the camp from the client's website, but it all looks so much smaller in person.

Among the features of the mining camp was a small core library, where all of the core collecting during the drilling operations are stored. Core is the column of rock collected during drilling. This type of drilling is slow and expensive, but it also provides a relatively undisturbed sample of the rock, which can be analyzed for ore content. In this mine, they will be mining mainly copper, but also have some gold and silver as well. This building probably housed about a mile of core.

Core library - each shall box holds about 5 feet of core

After the tour, we went back to the hacienda, so the local employees could take care of some computer work. Jim and I didn't have anything to do, once we had checked our email, so we decided to take a walk and explore the town of Tepalcatepec a little, which leads us to the Spanish phrase I wish I knew for today:  "Please don't kidnap me."

Jim and I only walked for about 15 minutes before a small guy on a small motorcycle drove up and asked us what we were doing. Honestly, we were just walking through the town, but we must have stood out like sore thumbs. We are several shades paler than anyone else in the city, Jim was wearing shorts, and I had on a tie-dyed t-shirt. I doubt there we could have stood out more if we were carrying signs saying, "Future kidnapping victims".

At first, I thought he was just a curious guy. We told him we lived here, which he didn't believe. (I'm hesitant to announce my U.S. citizenship in these settings, though my tie-dye may have announced it for me.) I told him we worked here, and he wanted to know where. We told him the mines, and tried to shake him off. He left, came back in a couple of minutes with further questions, and asked if we had identification. He was no police officer, but we were quickly realizing that he wasn't just some curious kid. We told him that we had papers back at our house, that we were walking back to our house now, and wished him well. He got on a radio, and was just in the act of calling someone to report us when some of our local coworkers drove up and rescued us. They viewed it as amusing, as we must have had a panicked look on our faces.

It turns out the guy most likely worked with drug traffickers, and was checking out the gringos. We are apparently in an area that serves as a border between rival drug trafficking gangs, and they routinely question and detain anyone who can't explain why he's here. Ruben, who is serving as our client contact, translator, and guide, suggested that we not take anymore walks through town without a local.

Mexico Trip - Day 1 - January 14

My temporary home

This is my first day of a work trip to Tepalcatepec, Mexico, where I will be doing some exploration work for a gold and copper mine in the area.

The day was a long one. I was up at 3:00 AM, packing the last of the clothes and supplies I'd need for the two week trip. I also had a second thing on my mind: making sure my 14-year old son had everything he needed for a trip to Canada. Ironically, the very day that his French Club left for Quebec, I left for Mexico. That's big news in the rjeffy household, where we really don't do as much traveling as we would like.

After a flight to Denver, I met my coworker, Jim, and we caught a nonstop flight to the Ixtapa - Zihuatanejo airport. There, after a painless trip through customs, we met Ruben, who is a local, and who drove us the 4 hour trip to my home for the next two weeks or so.

The scenery is severe and beautiful. We drove along the Pacific coast briefly before heading inland through a low coastal mountain range. We passed through dozens of small towns, with colorful names like "San Juan de los Platanos" (St. John of the Bananas), with venders standing along the side of the road selling nearly anything you could imagine. Close to the coast, I saw a group holding lobsters in the air so passing motorists could see the fare. Later, as we drove inland and the scenery became more arid, we passed a group of vendors holding iguanas in the air, to tempt our tastebuds. We didn't stop for lobsters or iguanas.

The front of our hacienda

In fact, we didn't stop for much of anything. We paused for gasoline once, and at a convenience store to buy water and snacks. Four hours later, we finally made it to Tepalcatepec, where the client has a home for the workers. Three local workers live here when they are on shift, and there's plenty of room for us two gringos to join them. Apparently, a housekeeper and cook stays here during the week as well, but we have yet to meet her.

I went to bed by 8:00 PM, completely exhausted with the day's travels. Jim and I are sharing a room and bathroom, which doesn't look like it will present any problem.

The Spanish phrase I wish I knew today:  "I think slowly in Spanish."*

*(This phrase was a favorite of mine while working in Chile. I used it to explain my confusion and stupidity so often that I hardly needed to think about it, the phrase just flowed from me naturally. Today, as I tried to summon the phrase to my lips by way of apology for not understanding the simplest instructions at the airport, I couldn't come up with it at all.)

Required Reading for My Daughters (If I Had Any)

There aren’t that many books that hold up to multiple readings, but I found Jane Eyre to be one of them. I read it for the first time about five years ago, when my elder son got it for me for Father’s Day. I’d never read it, but it was on my long list of books that I intend to read someday. (That list, by the way, seems to grow longer rather than shorter with each passing year. I just can’t keep up by reading at the same pace that I add books to the list.)

I enjoyed Jane Eyre the first time, but had no intention of rereading it so quickly. However, as part of a study I’m doing of British women authors, I revisted Charlotte Bronte’s classic, and I’m glad I did. That old saying that we can never step into the same river twice really holds true with great works of literature. Bronte’s work hasn’t changed. In fact I read the exact same copy each time, so I wasn’t exposed to new commentary or notes that I’d missed the first time around. Nevertheless, my life experiences as a parent in the last five years influenced my reading of Jane Eyre in ways that I wasn’t prepared to see in my first reading.

Toward the end of Jane Eyre, I was struck with this thought: if I had daughters I would wish them to read Jane Eyre before they married. Bronte paints such a powerful portrait of an intelligent, confident young woman that it is an inspiration. Famously, Jane rejects two suitors in the novel. When we look at her reasons for those rejections, and hear her explain them to herself later, it becomes clear that this young woman has the confidence to know precisely what she is looking for in a spouse, and more importantly, precisely who she is.

Not being the father of daughters, (I am blessed with two 8th grade boys), I still wish for my children to read the novel at some point in their early adulthood. I would like for them to read it for the inspiration coming to know the confident and intelligent Jane Eyre can provide, and for the pleasure of reading a master of the art at her best.

The 5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman

I struggled with rating this book. It's the kind of book that brings out the Book Snob in me, and I found myself hiding the cover when reading it in public. However, I also found it inspirational, and perhaps transformational, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in understanding and improving their relationships. I read it at the recommendation of someone I trust, after expressing my concerns about my relationship with my children. Though the book is written with the goal of improving marital relationships, the concepts can be applied to all sorts of relationships.

The negatives: the writing is a little condescending, the anecdotes get way too long making the book twice as long as it really needs to be.

The positives: the concepts expressed are powerful, I would recommend it to almost anyone, and it's one of the rare books that may actually change your life.

Marathon!

For most of the past six months, I’ve been working away from home and family. In addition to the usual challenges of trying to be an involved husband and father from long distance, my normal routines were turned on their head. I consider myself a savvy traveler, and proudly bear with the challenges and opportunities of life on the road with no complaint. (Years ago, my wife and I were speaking with a couple who recently returned from China. Among their first comments about the trip was that it was hard to get a Coke with ice in it. Some people just shouldn’t travel. I’m not that guy.)

Among the routines that I missed (but didn’t really lament) was a regular relaxing visit to a coffee shop. So, I was elated a few weeks ago when I discovered a Starbucks near my jobsite. Since then, I’ve stopped by a couple of times a week, and worked while enjoying a cup of coffee and the atmosphere.

The first morning I fired up my laptop in the Out of Town Starbucks, I saw a reference to a new book by Hal Higdon, Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. Normally, I don’t enjoy reading “how-to” books, but I’ve been considering running a marathon for some time. I pulled up the free first chapter, and found myself immediately captivated. Higdon is a very capable writer, which can’t be said for every writer of training books. Within a week, I purchased my own copy, and I’ve been reading it with relish, which is something I never would have expected of myself.

I didn’t run at all until a few years ago, when a friend suggested doing a 5K together. We both were avid bicyclists, and considered ourselves in shape, but I was hesitant to sign up for a 5K. I hadn’t run more than a mile in years. Still, my friend was confident that we wouldn’t hurt or humiliate ourselves, so we signed up. He was half right; we didn’t hurt ourselves. I made it about two miles, and ended out walking and running the last mile, while telling myself I would never do anything like this again. What I meant was that I would never run a 5K again, but within a few days, I decided that I would challenge myself to successfully complete a 5K. I did it, then moved to a 10K, then moved to a half marathon, then found myself looking at the full marathon.

So, I spent most of the summer trying to juggle the demanding field work, and training for a marathon in the Southern heat. I couldn't do it. I was working 12-14 hour days through June and July, and I just couldn’t maintain the marathon training program on top of that.

So, I’ve set my eyes on a spring marathon in the Midwest, and have committed to doing what I can to make this training happen. Higdon’s book is serving as both an inspiration and a resource, which is more than I expected.

In Praise of Doubting Thomas

In The Case for God, Karen Armstrong quotes a story from Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner. It’s a story I’ve heard in several other contexts, as it illustrates a beautiful approach to religious faith in the face of tragedy.

“Even in the camps, some of the inmates continued to study the Torah and to observe the festivals, not in the hope of placating an angry deity, but because they found, by experience, that these rituals helped them to endure the horror. One day a group of Jews decided to put God on trial. In the face of such inconceivable suffering, they found the conventional arguments utterly unconvincing. If God was omnipotent, he could have prevented the Shoah; if he could not stop it, he was impotent; and if he could have stopped it but chose not to, he was a monster. They condemned God to death. The presiding rabbi pronounced the verdict, then went on calmly to announce that it was time for the evening prayer.” pp. 277-278

What I find heartbreakingly beautiful about this story is that sufferers had the audacity to throw their anger and suffering in God’s face, but also recognized that they couldn’t walk away from God that easily.

This reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the New Testament. It’s recorded in John 11:1-16. I will paraphrase.

Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, fell ill. When Jesus heard of it, he waited for a couple of days, and then announced his intention of returning to Judea, where Lazarus lay. The disciples pointed out that this might not be the best idea, as Jesus had narrowly escaped a stoning at the hands of the Judeans. Jesus and his disciples have a brief conversation, where Jesus cryptically speaks of death, resurrection, and faith. Then, Thomas gets the final word. Yes, that Thomas. The only disciple to have his own personalized adjective permanently affixed to him; “Doubting”. Here’s what good old Doubting Thomas says. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

What I hear Thomas saying, and what I hear the victims of the Holocaust saying in Wiesel’s story, is “I don’t understand this. I don’t understand what God is doing. I think it’s a terrible idea, in fact, if this is truly God’s plan. I think it’s a terrible idea, and I’m not afraid to engage God in a conversation about what a terrible idea this is. However, when it all comes down to it, I’m going to continue to follow Him. I’m going to keep following because I know that, despite my questions and confusion, despite my disagreements and anger, this is the only path toward peace for me.”

To say, “Let’s follow him so we can die alongside him”, acknowledges confusion and questions, and also an incredible depth of faith. It’s hardly fair that Thomas has been so freely labeled as The Doubter.

I can’t follow like Peter or John. I can’t. I can’t be the disciple who enters an empty tomb to look for God, or who steps out of a boat to follow God across the water. I just hope I can follow like Thomas, who Jesus pitied. I hope I can follow like Thomas, who had the strength to admit his questions, and the faith that God would accept his questions and even his anger.

Michele Bachmann and the Fundamentalist Gigolo

I’m not going to pick on Michele Bachmann, though I am going to quote her. “I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'” Apparently, when God speaks to Michele Bachmann, he does so through earthquakes and hurricanes. (OK, I guess I am going to pick on Michele Bachmann.)

There are so many ways I can go with this. I think it’s dangerous when we smugly claim that we know who God is, and what God wants. The danger is when God appears to want only our happiness and success. This kind of thinking reeks of wish-fulfillment. The danger is that we become complacent, or hateful, or even cruel, and we do this with the conviction that God approves of us and our goals. We feel that we are the chosen people, so we don’t need to question our motives or our actions. We feel that whatever we do is God’s will, so that excuses a host of horrors. This is dangerous politically and personally.

When I say that it’s dangerous politically, I don’t mean that Mrs. Bachmann is in danger of losing any elections because of this kind of language and thinking. What I mean is that if the electorate endorses this kind of language and thinking, we are in danger of losing our way as a country. We are in danger of setting up our self-interest as our god, and claiming that we have divine sanction whatever we feel driven to do.

When we, either as a people, or at the prompting of our leaders, think that our country has been given a God-given directive, we are engaging in idol-building. We are identifying God based solely on projections of our own hopes and fears.

This kind of thinking is also dangerous personally. I know a man who feels that God loves him, and wants him to be able to live a life of sexual promiscuity. (This man is married, by the way, and his wife does not feel that God’s message is quite the same.) Here’s his line of reasoning. “God loves me. God approves of me. I can do no wrong, as long as I continue to have God’s favor. Abraham had multiple wives. David had multiple wives. Hell, Solomon had 1,000 wives. God obviously condones promiscuity among his men of faith, as each of these men were patriarchs who lived in God’s favor.”

By the way, this man would identify himself as a fundamentalist. He claims that the only way to read the Bible correctly is to read it literally. His very biased study has made it clear to him that the Bible contains no contradictions or difficulties. It has also made it clear to him that he is one of God’s favored people, and God wants him to have sex with as many women as possible. Needless to say, this has created many problems for the rest of his family, who don’t read the Bible in quite the same way.

The temptation to reduce God to an idol who agrees with our politics, both in and out of the bedroom, is nothing new, as Karen Armstrong makes clear in The Case for God. She also makes it clear what a disservice we are doing to ourselves when we limit our concept of God in this way.