The first photo is in my bathroom. For those of you that share my love of fine paper products, you will appreciate that I am determined to never run out. On the left is a roll of Bounty paper towels, the "quicker picker-upper." I honestly don't know how people survived before the Bounty towel. On the right are a couple rolls of Cottenelle. It's not my preferred brand, just the best available. I am still looking for a place where I can buy some Quilted Northern.

The bottom picture is some delicious chicken stir-fry that I made on Saturday night. It was so good I had the leftovers on Sunday night. This was the first time I cooked in the new apartment. All I have is a stove (no oven), so I am somewhat limited in my options. I do have a nice microwave, so I will get by. By the way, if you are admiring my silverware and dishes, they can be found at the local Super Wal-Mart.

Before and after.

The first picture is my dining room/living room now. The second is when I moved in. The third picture is part of my kitchen now. The last is my kitchen when I moved in. The whole place is being transformed and it is nice to see some hard work pay off.

Mexican Recreation.

The first picture is my friend Gerardo playing ping pong wearing shoulder pads and a paint ball helmet. Mexican ping pong is a full-contact sport.

The second picture is me playing soccer. Check out the legwork as I move towards the goal.

The final picture is me riding on the back of a car on the way home from playing soccer. You can fit a lot more people in a car when two are riding on the truck!

El Cerro de la Silla

This is me near the summit. This was a pretty challenging climb, despite the fact that there was a trail. There is no trail on the mountain I want to climb next, so it should be pretty interesting.

View from the roof.

This is me on the roof of my apartment building. The building has four floors, and I live on the second. The view out my windows is similar, just a little lower. In the first picture, the two odd-shaped buildings are science buildings on the Tec campus. The mountains in the background are called El Cerro de la Silla, due to the saddle shape of the peaks. About three weeks ago I climbed the far left peak that is visible between the two buildings. Next month I am going to climb the tallest peak that forms the left side of the saddle.

The second picture shows the front entrance to the Tec campus. The location of my apartment could not be any better, as I simply walk out my door, down the steps, and across the street to get to the gate.

I'm back.

I am sorry for the long delay from posting, and hope I will be able to update much more frequently in the future. The last two weeks have flown by. In early February, I finally was able to get into my new apartment, and I spend several days cleaning and painting in preparation for a Super Bowl party I had last Sunday. I still have a lot of things I would like to do here in the apartment, but it is coming along very nicely.

This week, I was blessed to have two bags arrive at the airport with some books, shoes, and clothes. As I am still trying to figure out my best option for washing clothes, it was great to get some clean ones in my bags. I also received my Spanish language materials, and so I am looking forward to spending more time studying.

I have been fortunate to make several new friends this week, and a couple of them were due to a flag football game. I have been invited to play on a couple of teams, so I can't wait to use one of my favorite activities as a means to build relationships.

Many of you have asked that I post pictures on the blog, and I have actually been attempting to do so. Hopefully I am able to get some up tonight. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Josh