Highs and lows in Manzanillo

So it's been a fun few days. Last night I took my 2 year old daughter Brooklyn across the street to the park. In the street there were people in the neighborhood playing volleyball again. (They set the net up in the middle of the street to play, forcing traffic to go around the block to go around them.) The first time I saw this I didn't know what to think, but later I didn't think too much of it. Anyways, I was standing there and a guy in English asked me, "Do you play volleyball?" I was stunned, first I was surprised that the guy knew that much English, but mostly surprised that they were asking the foreigner who they'd never talked to (other than "hi") to play with them. I told them, "Claro", which means of course. We proceeded to play volleyball till it was too dark to see the ball. I was introduced to the 8 other players and a couple of ladies who were watching. Afterwards I was asked if I wanted a Sol (Mexican beer) or aqua. I simply said "no thanks. They then asked me to play again this evening. I excitedly said yes and went to my house to share with Heidi what had happened. I remember several times since I've been here waking up to loud music and people shouting and laughing. It would be my neighbors having a party. This would happen anywhere from midnight to 5 am. And since our houses touch, you can distinctly hear and feel the bass to the music. Last night I was glad that all those times I was having trouble sleeping that I bit my tongue and tried to tune it out, (I'm a very light sleeper, if someone snores it will wake me up and I won't be able to get back to sleep!). If I would have appeared upset and tried to yell at them or get them to be quiet, they probably would have labled me a "rude American" and not asked me to join in their volleyball game. I was reminded of the noise of these loud parties again last night. Again there was a fiesta outside, this time till 3 am, and the bass again kept me awake. This morning I wanted so badly to blare my TV, music, or even set off my car alarm and leave it going, but in the end this would accomplish nothing except hindering our ministry here. I must admit that I'm not perfect, we have a new puppy that barks like crazy when put in his crate, knowing this when I left for church this morning I opened the windows in my house so that the neighbors could enjoy his barking. When we returned home 2 hours later, yep, he was barking! I do feel bad, and hopefully next time will take the higher road. Please pray for me as I am excited about playing more volleyball with the neighbors tonight, and that as my language improves and I get to know them more that friendships will develop.

Trying this blog thinggy again.

I first off want to apologize to anyone who has checked for updates on our site: http://web.mac.com/aikinsfamily I was having trouble updating it, then our hard drive crashed, and with the Apple website the info to be able to edit the site is stored on your computer. I can't figure out how to update it, SO here's a new blog.
We have now been here for 6 weeks and are adjusting well. We experience mild culture shock now and then, but nothing too serious. Our house is finally all set up, nothing too serious is broken at the moment, and we are taking language classes. Hudson will be starting school (1st grade) in less than 2 weeks. Half of the day will be in English, and the other half in Spanish. Please keep him in your prayers as this will be difficult and frustrating for him. Heidi was hoping to be able to teach English part-time at this school, but last night she received an e-mail saying there was no openings at this time. Please pray for our family that we continue to trust in God to take care of our needs. We were hoping for this extra income since we are not yet at our monthly support goal yet.
Also please pray for my dad that has been not feeling well and is in the hospital. It's hard to be thousands of miles away during times like this.