More About Mexico

POST No. Four.
This week has been a good week. We are both starting to feel better. Mom’s foot is still a bit of trouble but you know her she just keeps on truckin’ along. The whole country of Mexico is poised for a grand celebration of their independence. We see Red, White and Green everywhere. The guys with the canons are keeping very busy from dawn ‘til dusk every day and all night and day on weekends. It sounds like we’re at war.
This weekend coming up should be busy. On the 14th the stake will have an independence fiesta. Thursday we will be working with the Relief Society making tamales. That should be fun. Friday is the fiesta, Saturday we are eating with the elders at the Perez family’s daughter and son-in-law’s home, Sunday Eduardo, and Angelica have invited us to dinner and Monday we are having a “Noche de Hogar” (family home evening) at our house for new members and investigators.
We are managing to get in 2 or 3 hours of tracting each day, and 3 or 4 new referrals a week. The work is slow, but very gratifying. We just wish we could follow up on our contacts and do some teaching. We study the language and the gospel every day, in hopes that this will be a reality before it is time to go home. Right now the teaching we do is very basic. As soon as the person asks a question or makes a comment we do not understand we just invite them to church, and try to get a referral, and then move on to the next door.
Here’s a little about Mexico, that Cordell asked us to include:
The streets are busy, and the drivers are crazy. We are glad we don’t have to drive. You see everything from backward three wheel tricycle to mopeds, to motorcycles, buses, trucks of all sizes, combies (VW busses with the seats rearranged so as to accommodate 15 or more) and donkey carts. To make things even more interesting there are very few street signs, and no one seems to know where one town, state, colony, village or whatever ends and the next starts. It is really just one continual spread of humanity. Except for the District Federal, where the real Mexico City is, there are no buildings over five stories, and the majority are just two or three stories and they are all connected together like a beehive. The people who have there own businesses just build an extension on their homes and operate curbside. There are little shops on each block that sell all kinds of food, services, products, or what have you. Let your imagination run wild here. There are barbershops next to mechanic shops, and a hamburger stand next to a fruit stand or flower shop. The mechanics will work on the cars right in front of their shop while the car is parked at the curb. There are people whose business establishment is their tricycle, these include: shoe shine, knife sharpening, bread sales, tamales, tacos, cleaning supplies, ice cream, car washing, toys, sweets, novelties, clothing and just about anything you can load onto the front of a three wheeled backward tricycle. I’m not sure, but I don’t think a license is required to be in business here. Some of the vendors just carry their goods to the side of the autopista (freeway) and walk up and down the lanes of traffic and sell to the motorists who are trying to commute to work, sometimes like a snail, and at others like a roadrunner.
Our apartment is one of 60 on our street that runs at right angles to the main avenue. There are 7-1/2 units on each side of the street, each unit has 4 apartments. The end of the street is a dead end on the next group of similar units on another street. Our apartment is 550 square feet and is exactly like every other apartment in size and floor plan. The avenue has ten streets five on each side, and there are two avenues in our colony. Our avenue, is a little different. In place of the last two streets there are the two schools one on each side of the avenue. One is younger children, K – 4th or 5th and the other is 6th & 7th.
Each apartment has a gas tank or a cylinder for heating water and or cooking. And a water tank for bathing and washing clothes and dishes. Most of the water heaters are only lit for the 20 or 30 minutes it takes to heat the bath water. Dish water is heated on the stove, hot plate or with a heating wand you put right in the sink. Clothes are washed in cold water. The water in the tank is not for drinking, or brushing your teeth. We buy bottled water for that. We buy it in 5 gallon bottles called garfons. We also have small bottles we keep in the refrigerator, new ones for company and refillable bottles we use for ourselves. We keep a 2 liter bottle of drinking water by the sink in the hall where we brush our teeth. The bathroom is small about 24 square feet. There is a shower and a toilet. The washbowl is in a small 1’x 2’ alcove in the hallway. We have a bedroom and a study, then in the front is a living room, dinning room, and kitchen. Halfway down the hall between the kitchen and the bathroom is a door that leads to the spiral stairs that go to the roof. On the roof is the washroom and a closed in (with steel cage) patio. This is where our water tank and gas tank are located. If you wash clothes there are clotheslines here also. On the landing outside the side door is the water heater, and if you use a gas cylinder (20 kg) instead of the tank it is here also.
Mexico city itself is divided into various political subdivisions: states colonies, towns, villages, suburbs and whatever else they have I’m not sure. I never know exactly where I’m at, other than Mexico City, the largest city in the world.
The winter weather here is very mild, even when the native born citizens are running around with coats and sweaters and complaining about being cold, I’m comfortable in my short sleeved shirt. I don’t know about the summer weather, but when I lived in Cuba which is about one degree further north it was never really unbearably hot, just humid. We are still in the rainy season. It rains every day, but it is normally over in no more than two or three hours. It does get very intense at times with thunder and lightening, and the wind can kick up in no time at all, then after it’s over, it calms down and the sun comes out and dries it all up. There are all kinds of flowers, plants, trees, shrubs and fruits here. We have seen roses and poinsettias blooming side by side.
The people are very friendly, and polite. They work very hard every day and they work long hours. They all seem to like noise, any kind of noise. This seems to be like a connection to life for them. The brain knows it is alive when the ear hears the noise. They are a very reverent people when they attend church. They are very teachable, but not too dependable when it comes to keeping commitments. We invite them to church or make an appointment, with them, and it is not uncommon for them to not show up, or not be at home when you come for the appointment. It is truly a test of patience and persistence, working with them. But once they are truly converted they are very sincere and faithful, even though not punctual. Sacrament starts at 8:00 a.m. sharp, and there are maybe ten people in the chapel, including the Bishop and his councilors. By the time we are ready to bless the sacrament, the chapel is half full. After Sacrament is over the chapel is full. A few more might trickle in during the talks.
The food is good, at least what we have had that we didn’t cook ourselves. The little stands we go by that serve tacos and tamales all smell so good, but we have been warned by our leaders, not to eat at these places. We have eaten out several times, at the California restaurant, Burger King, Popeyes (Cajun fish and chips), Wal-Mart, one or two private roadside eateries, when with friends, and last week we ate at a place called Taco Inn in the food court in the Mall. We are still alive and kicking. We also have eaten at six different members homes and the food they prepare is excellent, just a little on the pico side but not too much for our Gringo pallets. Marjorie has developed her own style of cooking with the available ingredients. It is different but we like it. We have found a great little tortilla maker right here in the neighborhood. Tortillas, 2 cents apiece. They make great Chihauhauas. And we found some small hot dogs that just fit. I can eat about eight or nine, but seven are more comfortable. During the Avocado season we had Avocados several times a week. They are cheap and good. Watermelons, and Cantaloupe are also cheap and good. Despite all this good eating, we have lost, between the two of us, a total of 75 pounds. Our clothes don’t fit too good but we feel great.
Well enough for now. Maybe more next week.