However, the biggest reason for my melancholy mood is because of our neighbors. We not only have Carlos and Susana for neighbors upstairs but on this property there is also an older house that a family has lived in for free. I say "lived" because I think that they have been kicked out of the home. Antonio, the landlord is also somewhat of a local pastor, and has allowed this family, who goes to his church to live in the house for the past couple of years for free. The most difficult aspect of this situation is that Carlos, Susanna, Gary and I probably were directly responsible for their being removed from their home! UGH! This is not how I planned to treat my Mexican neighbors!
There is so much we understand about the Mexican culture but for each thing that we understand there are a thousand things yet to learn. In our confusion, we aren't really sure what happened but it all came to a head on Friday when the neighbor boy Christian brought home a little puppy.
Christian has been a difficult person for us to adjust to. We have been around many Mexican children and they all have been very well behaved sweet children. Christian is six years old and he is like a loud hurricane. He has the sweet Mexican smile but has learned no sense of discipline or respect for other people's property. We have paid attention to how other children and families behave and this family is extremely different than the other Mexican families we have had the privilege to observe.
We know families who are quite poor, living with simpler means, and yet the children are respectful and the parents work hard to put a few tortillas on the table.
Vickie and her husband and two children have been very difficult since the moment we arrived at our house. There is a very narrow cement corridor behind our bedroom windows that Christian ran up and down, riding his bike and screaming the whole afternoon that we moved into our apartment. I felt I was near a break down and terror gripped me as I thought we had made a horrible mistake in choosing where to live. 
Thankfully, school was still in session and the following days, shortly after we moved in, were more tolerable. Yet, anytime Vickie or the boys were home there was an intolerable amount of chaos and noise.
We were puzzled, was this behavior simply the Mexican culture slamming us in the face or was this abnormal behavior that other Mexicans would despise? We hadn't a clue so we suffered in silence.
During the dry season when our water ran out, Vickie and her husband opened our well and pumped out the last remaining water into their sistern. Water is a larger issue in Mexico than it is even in Colorado. Water rights are huge and sometimes something to get killed over! We were told clearly by our landlord that our well was for our building and not for Vickie and her family. Yet, we watched them go out after dark and open the well and for two hours they pumped the well dry and into their sistern. The next day we were totally out of water and spent the weekend without one drop of water in our house! Still we were totally unsure of whether these things were common as part of the Mexican culture or whether we had moved in beside a very difficult neighbor.
We kept our eyes and ears open to the people around us. We noticed that when Vickie and Christian got on the combi buses, she was the only one with a child who climbed the seats like a monkey and screamed all of his words. All of these things gave me peace that this was not part of the typical Mexican culture but was an isolated difficult family.
One day Bethany had just taken shower and was dressing in her bedroom when Vickie proceeded to sweep out the space behind our bedroom windows so that Christian and his 14 year old brother could ride their bike just inches from my daughter's bedroom window!
This is a narrow space of a couple feet in width that separates our bedroom windows from the property retaining wall. This is not a public space in the slightest but in American terms it would be part of our back patio.
To be honest, I was hopping mad! Here was my daughter getting dressed with a 14-year old boy ready to ride his bike past her large open window. The protective parent in me was boiling mad! As soon as Vicky was finished sweeping the area I stuck a large and HEAVY plant in the corridor so as to block any human or bike traffic! The children looked at me shocked as if to say, "How could you possibly interrupt our bike riding time???" I smiled and said, "Buenos Dias!" and went inside. I really was furious! I had to go pray as my attitude was anything but Godly! Yet, I knew my actions were correct in protecting my family and my daughter. There is no way God wants us to sacrifice our children on the altar of being a missionary. God gave us our family to love and protect. We are not to ignore their needs simply because we are sent to minster to the people of Mexico.
I have kept my plant firmly in it's place which has accomplished what I wanted it to in keeping our bedrooms a private place. Now that school is out life has been more difficult. When Christian and Alex are home there is an enormous amount of noise. The frustrating thing about this is that there is actually a large amount of out door space on the property that our three families share. There is a driveway area that would be perfect for throwing around a ball as well as hills and land to run and play on. Not to mention the large soccer field within spittin distance to our houses. Yet, the boys insist upon screaming loudly right outside our kitchen door and our entry way door. And always, there seems to be a soccer ball bouncing off our steel entry way door, which is so loud it nearly sends me through the roof every time it hits.
Last week the amount of screaming seemed to increase. I was beside myself but kept quiet as I prayed and fumed and prayed and fumed! On Friday Christian brought home a little sweet puppy, which he proceeded to kick around like he kicks his soccer ball. I was in tears! I couldn't stand the way he was treating the dog. When the family left for the afternoon the puppy was left to wander loose and of course he pooped and peed on our patio. I fed him some kitchen scraps because it didn't seem like they were feeding him at all and I felt so sorry for the little helpless thing. On the other hand, I couldn't handle his constant yelping and pooping on our patio. If I were going to have a puppy, I would bring him in, give him a bath, hug him a great deal and take care of him. It was so difficult to have this sweet little thing just outside my kitchen, who needed me, but who wasn't my dog to take care of. Yet, I still had to clean up his messes and listen to his constant puppy yelping.
When Carlos got home, he and Gary talked. As it turns out Carlos and Susana have been equally frustrated with everything that we've been experiencing and more. Apparently, Vickie goes up to Susana and begs to use their computer and asks for diapers and all sorts of things. This is not an extremely poor family in the sense that they couldn't provide those things for themselves. They both have jobs and live rent free. Their children have toys, bikes, and soccer balls! (Boy do I know that they have these toys!) Yet, Vickie is constantly going up to Susana and begging for many things all day long. Susana was clearly upset by this as well as Christian's constant screaming. It seemed for both our families that the dog just sent us over the edge. He puked on Susana's stairs and pooped and peed everywhere else. The dog was a sweet heart but he was not penned in so as to not come into our patios and defecate, puke, and cry all night!
Carlos called Antonio, our landlord and told him about the puppy and the other situations. This is where things got really tough for this soft hearted gringa!
On Saturday morning the dog was dead and was floating in a bucket of water for everyone to see. Nathaniel and Bethany walked past the bucket on their way from the laundry. Thankfully I didn't see it but I heard what had happened I just started to cry. Apparently, Vickie and her family were told that they couldn't keep the puppy. But here in Mexico there isn't a humane society and there certainly isn't any public funding for such things. It seems that it is a common practice to drown an unwanted puppy! It was so difficult on all of us to experience this rough side of Mexico. I am still having a hard time picturing that sweet little puppy struggling for his life. Drowning is not a humane way to end an animal's life. I have no problem with euthanizing an animal but drowning is awful!
The property manager came to verify that the puppy was dead on Saturday morning and then took him away in a bag. So apparently, Vickie and her family were forced by Antonio to get rid of the puppy.
But the story doesn't end. We haven't seen or heard from Vickie, her husband, and the children since Saturday morning. And today the property manager is over at their house cleaning. From all intents and purposes it seems as though they have been kicked out.
I am not sure how I am supposed to feel. On one hand, it is SO peaceful without Christian's constant screaming. I walked out of our front door and I started to see life without this family as being a wonderful and peaceful blessing. But on the other hand, we did not come to Mexico to demand our own rights and to have a neighbor evicted! I'm just not sure how all of this happened. Thankfully Carlos told us that they have a second home in Iguala (a neighboring town) so they aren't homeless and destitute!
I was awake this morning around 2:00 and spent time in prayer. I have a lot more peace but there still is a meloncholy tone to our household today. I wish I knew what really happened. The inside of the house is still intact so maybe they have just been away for several days. We do know that they have jobs and family in the area so they aren't in a desperate situation financially. I still feel bad for them though. On the other hand, the peace of our household is tangible today. Not having them here today has made an enormous difference in our home. This is a good thing but did we cause it? Or did they cause it by their actions? I have a terrible time with situations like this. I hate for people to suffer, yet many times people bring suffering onto themselves.
Well, for now we will wait and see what transpires. Maybe Carlos will know what is going on when he gets home from work tonight.
For now, I think I will take a walk with my husband and enjoy the Mexico I love rather than think about an isolated difficult situation.
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