El Campo
Hillside near El Campo 
Mural tribute to Michael Jackson
I'm glad to hear all is well back home. I appreciate the advice from everyone. Although right now I often feel like I can't take it, there must be some reason why I am still here. Apparently, the president has told several people that he wants to keep missionaries with their companions for longer periods of time. I guess it will just be something we have to get used to. On the bright side, we will all be better prepared for marriage by the time we finish.
This week I had an interesting experience. So I've mentioned that we have been teaching a man named Jose Cruz. Jose and his uncle grow peanuts. Because he is always busy, this week we told him that if he ever needed help we would be willing to do whatever. After a while he gave in and said the next day we could meet help him work his field. I didn't think it sounded too difficult when he described what we would be doing. We met him at 9, changed our clothes, and walked down the road until we got to the very last field. At about 10 we started working. The field had already been plowed and the plants were growing well in the soil. What we had to do was make little mounds of dirt around the plant until it was almost buried with a few leaves sticking out. We each had a little hand hoe thing, and we went to work doing two rows at a time. After about twenty minutes I wanted to die. After about an hour I already had some good blisters developing and some pretty sore legs and a sore back. We finished the first set at about 1:30, and we took a short break to drink some coke because we didn't have water. I thought we were done, but to my dismay we got up to start again. We didn't finish until 5. One can only go for so long on just coco puffs. We finally got back to the apartment and bought some tacos at around 8:00. The next day, I couldn't walk. From being in a hunched over position all day, my hamstrings were pretty tight. For the next three days, I could barely walk, and today is the first day things have begun to loosen up.
I learned a lot from my day in el campo. The life of a campesino is no easy task. I commented to my companion that I now understand why it is important to have an education. The campesinos or field workers are usually considered the lowest class of citizen because those that work the fields usually have little or no education and live in poverty. That day I learned the difficulty of the life they live, and now I understand more why so many turn to alcohol to take away the pain of life. I think my views definitely changed a bit. Also, I was given just one more reason to hate peanuts.
Ok well that's my big story for the week. I don't have much else to say.
I included a few pictures of the campo, some mountains near it, and a mural I saw in Cuautla in memory of Michael Jackson.
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