Briggsblog

Travel!

2015-01-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

The past year was an adventure! In October we traveled to buenos aires, Argentina to attend a special assembly. It was a wonderful experience! Just the encouragement we needed to continue our adventure in Mexico. Friends from Clifton, AZ also attended. It was very nice to catch up on news from our old home. We traveled LAN airlines. We would definitely chose to travel with them whenever possible. The employees were very customer oriented. The food was good. The plane was clean with each seat having its own screen where you could chose to watch movies, listen to music, watch the flight path, or play a game. It also had ports to charge your electronics. Wine was served with dinner. Snacks were served. They had a gluten free meal for me. Great airline! Before landing the sound system announces that the cabin will be sprayed per Argentina's requirement for insect control. It was done so quickly and calmly that it was over before I had time to think about it.

The Argentina brothers and sisters had waited 20 years to host an international assembly. They were so excited and hospitable. Our schedule was full. They fed us whenever they could. The food was excellent! Wine was full bodied and readily available. Argentina beef is delicious! One day we were taken to an assembly hall to enjoy "a day in the country." The friends showed us their horse skills, vocal talents, barbecue skills, and dancing. There also were llamas, donkeys, and other animals. It was amazing and delicious! We could walk the beautiful grounds pausing to enjoy interactive displays about the local customs. At one point we were invited into the assembly hall auditorium where we enjoyed entertainment by our brothers and sisters. Most were amateur entertainers but some were professionals in their field. One was a brother who spun the balls on the ends of ropes. Very fast, very impressive! The regional dances were delightful! I truly loved this entire day! We were offered wine with our lunch! Best barbecue ever!

One afternoon we were bussed to another assembly hall where we were fed while enjoying local talent of all ages. The children were precious. We were eventually invited into the auditorium where our brothers and sisters who are in the entertainment field performed for us. It was so beautiful! One brother sang opera! Wow! Others played jazz type songs. Some danced. Jehovah's people are certainly a talented bunch! We were not expecting such a spectacular show, what a treat! Interspersed throughout all of the entertainment were interviews of long time servants of Jehovah as well as information about Argentina's theocratic history. All of the performances on all of the days were just wonderful! Well done Argentina!

We toured Bethel one day. It is not just one location but several buildings close by each other that make up the Argentina branch. The brothers were anticipating many changes with the scheduled move in April 2014 of all the printing to Brazil. It was going to mean many changes for many of the Bethelites. At the Bethel housing area a white tent had been set up to feed us lunch! Yummy! The grounds were beautifully kept. We toured all of the different departments within the branch. Each department gave us a gift. So sweet! The legal department showed us a video about the legal milestones of the preaching work in Argentina. For decades the witnesses were banned. In the afternoon we were ushered into a large building where a stage and seats were set up. Once again we were entertained by our brothers and sisters but this time they were all bethelites! Fun show! After the performances we were fed dinner! What a lovely way to end our day at Bethel!

We went on a bus tour of the city one afternoon. We did stop in an old part where the original metal clad buildings are still standing. They are painted bright colors. I really wanted to see the inside of one but didn't get a chance to. The area is an artsy/crafty place. Fun but probably best not to go at night. We saw the building where Eva Peron spoke to her populace. It is pinky in color and legend is that the paint was mixed with animal blood. The city is full of ornate older buildings that speak of days past when women still wore fur and men smoked cigars.... In the downtown area many large buildings had been private mansions of the ultra rich but when crime reared it's ugly head the wealthy moved to the country while their former homes were turned into embassies or financial institutions. We did go a local grocery store in the downtown area by our hotel. We noticed that customers would go through the checkout line but their purchases were placed in plastic totes and stacked toward the front of the store. The explanation is that you take what you need right now and the rest of your groceries will be delivered the next day to your home which is probably an apartment in a high rise building. Great system! No one could really tell us the cost of living since most are subsidized. Some are only paying $6 for electricity. Education is free including universities. Medical care is affordable too. The people seem very literate...in the downtown area there are many bookstores. So imagine you in your downtown apartment after you put away your groceries enjoying a glass of wine, outstanding steak and a new book! Lovely!

Everyone drinks mate. It is a tea. It can be in a teabag or loose. Usually the tea leaves are placed in your favorite mate cup, some add sugar which is the way I prefer to drink it, then you add hot water. It is sipped from a straw that is usually metal but some are plastic. The mate straw has a strainer at the bottom to prevent the tea leaves from clogging your straw. Now the thing is that once you sipped the liquid "all gone" you are not really done with it for the day. You would simply add more hot water to your cup throughout the day. Mate is supposed to help you sleep and stay awake if that is what you want it to do. It is supposed to boost all around good health. The country is crazy about it. Their are special carriers for your mate cup and hot water thermos. The assembly halls have hot water dispensers to refill your cup or thermos. When asked if you would like a sip the local custom is to sip and thank them. It is thought that the hot water kills any germs or bacteria. I am not in agreement. I was unknowingly rude because I said no thank you whenever I was offered a sip. Didn't know about proper local behavior until the day I was leaving for which I was thankful! Just like coffee there is much talk about only buying mate that has been harvested mindfully. Some companies are plowing up the rain forest to plant mate. Not good for the local vegetation.

We went to a dinner tango show. Delicious and great show. When the waiter poured the wine he also left the bottle!

The actual special assembly was held at another assembly hall. Beautiful grounds! The seating was in the round. Brother Lett was the guest speaker. The program was in Spanish so Bro. Lett had a translator on the platform with him. He even had his prayer translated saying that it would be better to know what you are saying amen to! Wonderful program! The attendance was about 6,000. Robin listened to the program translated into English on his radio. We were given lunch boxes each day. Our hotel provided a buffet breakfast each day of our stay. The friends were so worried that we would be too hot since the assembly hall was open sided with no a/c only fans to move the air. There was a water bottle station where we could obtain water throughout the day. They were so thoughtful. They even came round to our seats collecting the empty bottles. Argentina recycles! We loved meeting so many Argentina brothers and sisters. 6,000 was just about right to feel close.

Throughout the assembly we met brothers and sisters who were part of the construction team building a new assembly hall by the airport. They would cheerfully remind us that our buses would be stopping by on Sunday on our way back to the hotels after the last session of the assembly. We confirmed that we had been told about this special stop and were excited to see the hall. What we didn't know was what they had planned for us! When our buses arrived we were welcomed by the construction team. The building was almost finished but completion was scheduled for summer if 2014. In what would be the auditorium there was a slideshow showing the progress of the build to that point. And there was....yes! You guessed it! Food! The workers had slabbed a tree that had fallen so that they could use them as tables on sawhorses. Cheeses, breads, sausages, fruit, desserts and drinks were all beautifully presented on these makeshift natural wood tables. Sp pretty! With great fanfare the brothers wheeled in a food cart that had hotdogs for those who didn't want the other food. How thoughtful! A member if the building team was a couple we had met at my sister's home in Santa Barbara! What a small world! Once again we were overwhelmed by such loving hospitality! We have seen pictures of the completed assembly hall...it is beautiful!

We went to a wonderful zoo. Beautiful grounds! Always great to see animals! and of course, eat together!

A highlight was going in service with a local congregation. We had the privilege of working with an older couple who are fluent in over 6 languages each...the wife is japanese and the husband is lebanese but they met in Canada in an English congregation. They are now serving in an Armenian congregation but had hoped to serve in Turkey since they do speak Turkish. We worked high rise apartments and rang the apartments and spoke on intercoms! The friends said to smile because the householder can hear it in your voice! We ended our morning by doing some street work. Fun! We returned to the Kingdom Hall where we met for service and enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by the friends and.....yes! they entertained us!! One little boy was especially sweet.

I will be giving you a link to see our pictures!

The night before we left we attended the English congregation meeting in downtown Buenos Aires. Beautiful KH in the middle of the block...it is very modern looking with three floors and an elevator. The first floor had a reception desk and one kingdom hall, the second floor had two kingdom halls and the third floor was apartments for the caretaker and traveling brothers. It was at this meeting that we met a brother from Tabasco who was studying at cooking school and was part of the French congregation but was visiting English that night. Stranger yet was after we moved to Tulum we met a very nice couple, the husband was Canadian but the wife was from Tabasco and the wanttobe chef was her brother!! Small world!

We were so organized the following morning....packed and ready to get the taxi to the airport. Arrived in plenty of time. Made our way up to the counter to be told we were at the wrong place! Wrong counter? Wrong terminal? No! Wrong airport! No one looked at our tickets to see that our return flight was out of a different airport! We didn't know there were two airports. Was it closeby? No, it was across town and we had to face the morning traffic rush...bummer. We were worried as we passed our hotel....one we thought we might never see again. It took an hour to get across town. We were just on time to check in...not exactly how we had planned it. The first lag of our trip to Chile was shared with many friends from Chile returning home. Really a treat to meet so many brothers and sisters. We had a long lay over in Chile but could not leave the airport because Robin only had permission from Mexico to travel to Argentina.

Forgot to tell you that Robin had some hurdles in finishing his paperwork for his permanent resident visa status...the immigration office called to ask us to meet with them with a translator because there had been a mistake made on Robin's paperwork...and it was their mistake. So we took along a brother who was the best choice...very professional. Robin was asked to sign a paper that explained that a mistake had been made and that his paperwork would have to be restarted but that all of the fees would be transferred to the new application. The mistake went back to when we crossed the border the first time...Robin was treated like a tourist and not as a permanent resident. The problem was that the new paperwork would not be finished before our trip to Argentina so Mexico gave Robin a permission slip to leave the country but it had to stamped when exiting and upon re-entering and submitted to them within 5 days and any deviations could void his paperwork so....we dared not leave the airport. Chile is expensive. We had a hamburger, fries and a beer...came to $33,000 pesos! At the time it figured to about $60.00 dollars! Wow!! Even for airport food that was way pricey!

So we came home to Tabasco. Robin finished his paperwork and in return got his permanent resident green card. Only took about 5 months and around 15 trips to Villahermosa...in hindsight we should have hired a paralegal to help us. They usually charge about $200...it would have been worth it!

Then we moved to Tulum and that brings us to the end of 2013! On the bus ride home to Tabasco from Mexico City our bus was rocked by teachers on strike...they broke a window...we had to change buses later on...but the 12 hour trip turned into a 19 hour trip and when we did arrive in Paraiso I was so excited that I left my 3 month old Samsung tablet on the bus and when we returned, no one could find it even though the bus had not left the station...my fault on two counts...leaving it and for never installing the tracking software...very sad.

A year? Really?

2014-09-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe that a year has passed since I last wrote an entry. So much has happened. Many blessings...many obstacles to endure or overcome but with Jehovah's spirit all things are possible.

We are fine, a little older, grayer, maybe a little wiser but definitely more experienced in living outside of our home country. Let me tell you about this past year...

We continued to travel to Villahermosa, Tabasco to meet with the English congregation each week through December. There was a real feeling of disconnect and feeling isolated. A new bridge was being constructed on the highway to Villahermosa. We could expect traffic delays of half an hour to more than four hours. Since the traffic slowed and everyone wanted to be where they were going often the two line highway became five lanes with motorcycles trying to make their way through the maze of cars, trucks and buses. Amazingly, during this travel period we only saw less than five traffic accidents but lots of close calls. Since there was so much craziness on the highway we decided not to drive but to take public transportation. So our trip went like this...we would leave our home about 8 or 9 in the morning to make it to Villahermosa for a 1pm meeting. We would walk half a block to a main road by the river and try to get a taxi or funky bus, which ever came first, to take us to Paraiso where we would go to bus station where buses left every 30 minutes for Villahermosa. That was what their schedule said but break downs, traffic jams and weather could cause major delays. Sometimes these were very nice large buses but more often they were smaller 21 passenger vans in varies states of road worthiness...one was a smaller van. The vans usually did not have good suspension and bounced around quite a bit. There was no option to prebuy tickets so as to guarantee you would ride in the larger bus. We learned early on not to sit in the last row of the van, aka collectivo. Drivers liked to go as fast as they could and then come to a sudden stop. Very hard on the neck...very painful. If one van was sold out you simply had to wait for the next one. Once we felt quite pleased with ourselves for scoring seats on a very nice large bus. We knew our necks would be spared on this trip. We did not factor in the driver's style...he wanted to stay on schedule at all costs...even if it meant creating a new sixth lane beyond the shoulder of the road after days of constant rain where we saw people kayaking out to their mailboxes..added to this sobering situation was the fact that at one point he was on soft ground with just a drop off to the river below on one side. The nice bus wasn't nice enough to have seat belts. It was scary! And remember at some point all those lanes had to merge back into one or two lanes. Vws, semi trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicyclists and pedestrians all fighting for their right to be on the road and ahead of you. Oh and don't forget the vendors who tried to make a buck selling you snacks! Ughhhh! Sometimes when we started off from our home it was pouring rain and the street was flooded to our ankles. On those days we packed our meeting clothes! Once in Villahermosa we had to get a taxi to go to the Kingdom Hall. Villahermosa has a flat rate for each group of passengers so taxis always want to get as many people in as they can. Taxi drivers have set routes so you cannot flag down an empty taxi and expect them to take you where you need to go. You can stand in the rain and have 20 taxis tell you no. After meeting a kind sister or couple would drop us off at the bus station. One time the buses were delayed due to weather and road construction but the bus office wanted to close so they shooed us outside to wait with the mosquitos. Another time we thought maybe it would be easier to drive our car to the bus station in Paraiso and park it closeby so that when we returned we could just drive ourselves home and not have to find a taxi. Sounded like a good idea except that the return bus was delayed and we did not return until after midnight. We had not been able to find a parking spot closeby but figured two and a half blocks is not that far...but in the middle of the night when we were the only ones on the street it seemed more like 2 miles away! On the trip home from Villahermosa passengers got off all along the way although officially the bus doesn't make any stops. Many of the passengers were college age young women. Some would be dropped off along the way where they would find an unlit dirt street to finish their walk home. Yikes! I worried about their safety...it was explained to me that they would be fine. No harm would come to them if they were harmed the assailant would be quickly punished and life would go on but maybe not his.... So did women feel pretty safe? Yes. Good method? What if someone was falsely accused? Life would still go on but not his and justice would not have been served. So glad Jehovah will met out true justice!

One of the blessings of these difficult months was getting to know a Canadian couple in the Villahermosa English congregation. The hospitality and love they extended to us was just what we needed at that time. We often would go to Villahermosa on Sunday and stay over for their Monnday night meeting. We stayed with this wonderful couple! If we arrived way to early or too wet for meeting we could take a taxi to their house where we could enjoy a hot shower, good company and maybe a nap! They have proven to be a continual source of encouragement. They are still in Villahermosa although their congregation has been made into an English group hosted by a Spanish congregation. They have about 20 publishers and all of Tabasco as their territory!

So now we get to the part of how we ended up here on the Yucatan peninsula...but that is for another post!

Alone but not alone...

2013-09-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

Many, many changes here. Our old Paraiso congregation is doing well. The awesome thing about serving in a foreign language is that everyone there is there by choice and it makes for an outstanding group of brothers & sisters. Everyone was sad by the sudden cancellation of our congregation but they also want to serve Jehovah as fully as possible so like when an RBC project is finally completed we think “What next?” For all of us the next thing was to attend the English district convention in Merida. Some did decide to forego the cost of attending and chose to attend a Spanish convention in Villahermosa. But for those who did attend it was an opportunity to see old friends and to exchange contact information so as to stay in touch. Lots of group pictures were taken. Lots of hugs. Some tears but not much. The interesting thing was there was an air of excitement…a new chapter in the theocratic lives of many was starting. Some are choosing to return to a Spanish congregation that needs help. Some will be supporting their family in a Spanish congregation. Some are going to help in the indigenous language congregations or in sign language. Throughout the convention the new changes in the English congregations was referred to...very nice to hear and not just have it ignored.

Merida was nice. We stayed with relatives of friends here. It was a very busy household with eight house guests. Wonderful host family, wonderful brotherhood! The convention was held at the assembly hall. We took an ADO bus to Merida from Paraiso and the host family picked us up at the bus station. Merida is a beautiful city with all of the stores you are accustomed to shop at along with traditional local artists/crafters shops in a colonial setting with cobblestone streets.We had thought that we have a low attendance at the convention but it was about 200 more than last year with a high around 900. The drama was the most beautifully costumed drama I have experienced so far. Lots of rain. Very loud on the roof so that the sound volume had to be increased. ADO buses are great! Not at all like the Greyhound. Clean and well run.

Interesting scene in Merida is---are you familiar with the vendors and beggars who are always trying to sell you something, clean your window or just get a handout when you are stopped at traffic lights in Mexico? In Merida Mennonites sell their cheeses that way!! Strange to see red headed or blonde tall men in overalls and straw hats between the cars! Apparently there is a large Mennonite community in the Merida area.

Most of our Paraiso Ingles congregation are attending a Spanish congregation here in Paraiso who have started a new group in El Chivero which is between Paraiso & Comalcalco. They want to help make the group into a congregation. The territory is rural, in the jungle. We will be working with them in service on Wednesday. For now Robin and I are isolated pioneers in the Villahermosa Ingles congregation. Villahermosa has their meetings on Sunday at 4pm and on Monday at 7:30pm. It is an hour and a half commute for us. We took a bus to our first meetings because there is a huge amount of construction on the highway. They are building a bridge and redoing how the roads run. You can run into construction/traffic jams that can add 30 minutes or more to the commute time. It costs us 40 pesos each to ride the bus one way. Once in Villahermosa we get a taxi to the Kingdom Hall. The friends have given us a ride back to the bus station after meetings.

Some of you have had some questions regarding the changes in the English field here in Mexico. Sadly we have had to experience the downsizing twice. Our new congregation had to make changes on Monday. This is how they handled it, I hope you find it encouraging and that it helps to answer some questions that you might be asking.

“The Monday night meeting was normal until the How Did We Do Last Year? part. The congregation had accomplished much over the past service year. The brother explained how the goal had changed a little...we are now looking for native English speakers and not people who speak English. 2 Tim. 4:5 So different service activities would be set up including public witnessing using the carts, letter writing on Saturdays, telephone witnessing, witnessing at the airport when flights from the U.S. come in, at English schools, getting referrals of other native English speakers from native English speakers, evening witnessing and during your daily activities whenever you hear English start a conversation with them. Get contact information if possible from the person such as phone number, email address, home address or where they work. This all calls for courage to approach strangers. 2 Tim. 4:17 ...if you hear English find out if they are native speakers and if so, get their contact information The Bro. thanked the 43 publishers for their hard work as seen in the figures for the last service year: 43 publishers, 18,800 hours, 230 books, 300 brochures, 6,200 magazines and 55 Bible studies.

The next part started off with Luke 21:1-4 The Bro. said that all in the congregation were like the widow...giving their all. To remember that Jesus noticed what she did and he notices what you do. You are all cheerful givers. He referred to Jehovah’s chariot as described in Ezekiel’s vision and that it feels like it took a sharp turn but that is really not the case. We are being told to re-focus. Acts 2:8 It does not mean that the work has been done wrong all these years it is just a readjustment to narrow our focus. He read from a letter that said “deported and those who have learned English are not part of your territory.” So, calls will have to be turned over to the Spanish congregations as well as Bible studies. It does not have to be done immediately but he felt sure all of the changes could be made by the end of October. He said to continue conducting your studies and take someone who will take it over for you. Take someone from the other congregation on your calls to introduce them to the new person. He also said that the letter said “in the vast majority of cases” so there would be exceptions as to turning over calls and Bible studies. The English speaker database will shrink considerably since now only native speakers will be on it, so the need for a large congregation will shrink too. Spanish speaking brothers and sisters are being encouraged to return to Spanish or other fields that need help. He announced that some of the Spanish speakers in the congregation will be asked to stay in the English field if possible but that after meeting the brothers and sisters were asked to meet up with their service overseers to learn who was being asked to stay. It was sad but very lovingly done. The congregation is now made up of only 18 brothers and sisters. 8 are native English speakers from other countries. 10 were asked to stay from the Mexican English speaking brothers and sisters.

Many have asked why we don’t just go to a Spanish congregation? Our directives from the C.O. is to stay in the English. So, for us that means we have to move. We still have not decided on where. We plan to move from Puerto Ceiba at the end of the year. Until then we will have to travel back and forth to Villahermosa for meetings. We will try to do our service here in the Paraiso area.

We have to decide on moving to beach cities or to a city on a mountain that is popular with tourists and ex-patriots. One brother has offered a house he owns as a rental to us. We are pretty sure that we will take his offer. It is a condo with a modern kitchen. Right now we are thinking maybe we would like to try living in an “american style” home in a gated community where we should be able to walk our dogs and not have stray dogs around. If we tire of it we can always move to a regular house in town.

For now we have to work on getting to Argentina. The practical thing would be not to go but we would lose our cost of the tickets and that was big...close to $2,000 dollars. So we will go on a shoestring budget. When we come back we will face the expense of moving.

We are going to have to be creative with our ministry here. We are only allowed to speak to foreigners. We are calling on our old calls and Bible studies letting them know who will be calling on them and that there is no longer an English congregation in the area but there is one in Villahermosa. So Rob and I are alone in service most of the time. We will be stepping over and working with the Spanish on Wednesdays.

We just got a call from the Immigration office and need to be there in Villahermosa on Monday morning at 10am. Robin’s paperwork has been such a headache. I will be so happy when he is done with it if ever. They asked us to take someone who can translate Spanish for us because no one in the office can do that for us and nothing is in English. We are not in Kansas anymore where everything is in English & Spanish!

I had waited to photograph our new home so that I could make some changes. Otherwise you might have questioned our choice. But now I will stop working on it since I am leaving. I had really wanted to put in a vegetable garden.

All in all it is exciting to be part of the changes in the English field in Mexico. We know Jehovah will bless it. We are excited to see how the congregations develop and grow. We have loved getting to know the friends here in Tabasco both in the English & Spanish field and in sign-language. We love the beauty of Tabasco. We love the people of Tabasco. We have been shown tons of support and lovingly cared for by the friends. This first assignment has not only enriched our lives it has made our love for the brotherhood grow. Most importantly it has helped us to see how time and again Jehovah keeps his promise to care for his people no matter where they are serving in the world. We look forward to the next chapter in our theocratic lives.

Speaking of which, Mexico was invited to apply for international conventions next year in the U.S. Rob and I will be applying but the choices are less than our favorites. We have New Jersey, Texas and Hawaii to pick from and there are only two that will have English all of the others are in Spanish but by then our Spanish should be getting pretty good. We thought since we will be going state side to visit family why not attend one if possible?

Love you!

Update

2013-09-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

How are you? We are doing well. Still adjusting to living here. Life is better with internet and cable with some English stations! I get to the point that I hunger to hear English. The congregation is made up of Mexicans learning English. One sister is from Belize so she speaks with a British accent. One young couple who are on their way back from the U.S. speak English, the wife is from CA and the husband is from Wales. We are divided into two service groups, Comalcalco and Paraiso. We are in Paraiso since that is where we live so it also makes us the only native English speakers in our group. Not being able to hold a regular conversation with our new friends can make us frustrated. Rob may have imagined a new audience for his jokes but it has to wait until they can understand...and many jokes are based on culture so if you do not know the culture you will not understand why a joke is funny. Poor Rob. One of our young pioneer sisters has just become a private English teacher. She giggles whenever we mention it but she reminds us that she only needs to know more than her students and she is right.

Having internet is wonderful because it gives me the opportunity to communicate with all of you but especially with my children and grandchildren! Love chatting with them and hearing how their lives are going. I have not set up Skype yet but I am almost there so keep us in mind if you use Skype.

We feel overwhelmed at times with the amount of interest we find. Rob could be conducting so many more Bible studies if he just had the time. We are working hard to cover our area searching out English speakers. We go door to door and ask if they speak English. We really do need help!

We have started an English Watchtower study here in Paraiso at the Kingdom Hall here. We have been having an average attendance of around 16, 10 are from our congregation who live here in Paraiso but the extra 6 keep changing each week. If all of them showed up we might have 30 in attendance. The surprising thing is that there are many more men who would like a Bible study than women. More men speak English. Strange.

We have decided to take a bus to our English convention in Merida in an effort to save money and wear-and-tear on our car. We do lots of driving while in service. We drive to Comalcalco at least twice a week. The topes (speed bumps) and potholes are hard on the car. We would really like to have two cars, a smaller SUV for personal use and travel. The mini-van works well for service and meetings.

We have our special assembly day in November in Tuxla, Chiapas. We will probably take a bus there too. Chiapas is very green and mountain-y. Beautiful. Tuxla is a large city with familiar stores and restaurants. It should be a fun weekend.

We will be going to Argentina in October for a special convention in Buenos Aires. We are very excited. We will be seeing some dear friends from Clifton there. It will be nice to see old friends and share new experiences.

It is the rainy time of the year here. Rain almost every day. Our house has a couple of leaks...one is where an a/c unit that went in the wall was..there is a piece of wood sitting there. Rob had run a bead of silicon around it. It only leaks if there is a heavy downpour. The rain has mostly happened at night with lots of thunder. Our roof is a laminate so it sounds loud. I like it. Weeds grow like weeds! I am trying to decide if I want to have grass in the front or gravel. I will have to research which choice mosquitos like then do the other.

We still like our new home. The neighborhood is friendlier than the last one. Americans are still a sort of rarity here especially to have one just living next door. Some people do not like Americans while others tolerate us but most just respond to friendliness. So if you are friendly they are friendly towards you. Our house is older and has lots of little quirks but all in all it is working out. I now have a 4-burner propane stuffa. I still do my laundry by hand. Water has to be pumped up to the water tank, tinaco. Electricity is not 100% of the time but more than where we lived before. We can walk to a store and restaurants from here. We also have a library and a mercado where we can buy fresh vegies and such. We can also get rides in a pochi movil. I haven't touched the yard yet but I have plans to have a vegie garden and an herb garden. Bottom line is that we live in a 3rd world country. To be fair, we do believe that just as in the States, it all depends on where you live and we live where people are slow to make changes.

Sad to report, crime and violence has affected us but it is nothing in comparison to what many of you think of Mexico as being. Our car was broken into. Our belongings were scattered all over the floor board. Rob's precious GPS unit was taken. Michelle Garmin. She was very useful in getting around and finding gas stations while traveling. Rob's service "manbag" was taken too. Usually he has his Bible stuffed into it but this time he didn't so happily he still has his Bible. All of our car chargers were taken along with our ipod player that plays through the radio. We aren't sure of what else was taken since we are unsure of what we really had in the car. Our literature was left, sunglasses left, bug repellent left, territory maps left, inhalers left, umbrellas, left. Brown jacket and blue shawl taken. One of our neighbors who grew up in Pasadena and does not have a car now offered her driveway as a place to park. Our carport is short and the van would block the front door. Right now the car is parked at the neighbors. This experience just reminded us that we must be diligent about locking doors and bringing valuables back into the house when we come home.

We are still dealing with the immigration office. There are people who work as brokers for you with the immigration office. The problem is that it is hard to find them and if you do not speak Spanish it can be extra difficult to locate one. Once in the immigration office you become aware of people who seem to know many who enter...it is the brokers greeting their clients. I think you might want to find out how much they charge and seriously think about obtaining their services so that your immigration paperwork can be completed in a timely manner. Since we are trying to save money & put less wear on the car we tried taking a bus to Villahermosa which is a little over an hour away but has lots of road construction going on. Anyway we went on Thursday to pick up Rob's permanent resident card but we were wrong...after our bus ride we have to find a taxi...once there we waited for our number to come up and then we were told that it was not possible to continue working on his paperwork since he still owed another $1,000 pesos. No one had told us. The office closes at 1pm and it was 12:50 so we said that we could not go and come back in time...so come back tomorrow was the reply. Ughhh So we canceled our service plans. On Friday we headed back out our front door. Catch a bus to get into town and then get the bus to Villahermosa. Before leaving for Villahermosa we went to Bancomer bank and paid the $1,000 pesos...all bills can be paid at banks, the immigration office does not take payments. So we arrived in Villahermosa, got a taxi, got to the immigration office, shocked to see it filled with waiting people...end of the month maybe? Anyway, our turn came up and then we were surprised again. No, they could not accept our payment...the receipt had Robin's Mom's maiden name on it...same as was on the first payment of $3,900 pesos receipt but no, this one was no...they explained that they were wrong to have accepted the first receipt and could not possibly make another error. So we needed to walk to the Bancomer branch about 4 blocks away and get the name changed. They would tell the guard to let us back in. I'm thinking...they could have done this yesterday. So, off we go. Once at the bank there is about a 50 person lane for those without accounts who are just paying for something. So we wait and stand. Did I tell we did not have breakfast and now no lunch... Our turn! and then it was a "not possible" this was not made at this bank...you need to go back to Paraiso and have them change it. It is 1:30 by now and the Paraiso bank closes at 4pm. Oh, the helpful teller says....you must do this today because only today can this be changed or cancelled. Can they call Paraiso and have them cancel the transaction? Oh no, not possible. I point out that they are the same bank but she points out that she is in Villahermosa and the receipt was done in Paraiso.Rob decides to pay again so that we can go back to the immigration office today. So we pay and we walk back and let the staff know that we could not change it...they still said no, they could not accept it. So, we gave them the new one...they took it and said that Rob would still need to get his fingerprints done ...could they do them today? No, it is not the time for it...25 days from the day when the receipt is accepted...which receipt? the first one for $3,900 or the $1,000? the staff person says oh, yes, that would be from today when we finished paying. So Rob and I will be going back 25 days from the first one just in case she is wrong. After that Robin will have to wait 2 weeks to get his card. But this is not the end....we race out of the office, get a taxi back to the bus station, get a bus to Paraiso...we run into construction traffic and then heavy rains. We got back to the bank with 8 minutes to spare. There were about 30 people in line. Finally our turn, and, you guessed it, no, not possible you must go to the teller that made this...so we go stand by his window. Our turn, "not possible to refund...you do not have an account with this bank" Ughh! we ask questions but still the answer is no not possible. I ask if we can speak with the bank manager. She ignores us but there is a man in an office at the end of the room with a desk and a suit on...the suit only, not the desk. We asked if he was the president of the bank, he responded by asking why we were asking. He spoke English! We told him about our problem and how at no point did Villahermosa say that Paraiso would only refund if we had an account there. He said "no problem, please wait..." He went out and spoke to the teller. Came back and said that because we did not have an account he could not give us cash but had to refund with a check. He took Rob's passport info and had him sign the check and then he cashed it for us! What a day! Then we had to find a bus to bring us back to our home, Puerto Ceiba. We had our first food of the day at 7:30pm. I will be so happy when we are done with immigration. The sad thing is that after we are done with Rob we will start with my immigration status.

Today we ran errands. Found a dry-cleaner who happened to also be a lavenderia...where they do laundry. I had planned to find one to leave my sheets, towels and bedspreads at...these are too heavy and large to do by hand. There are no laundromats in our city or in Colmalcalco. No machines to feed and do your own laundry. Your options are to do it at home or leave it at a laundry place where they will wash, dry and fold for you. You are charged per kilo. We tried out a corner comedor---Lupita's which turned out to be a very nice restaurant that offered regular food and not tacos or pollo asado or empanadas. We paid our rent & cable/internet ...found coffee filters...they are sold next to the irons and small appliances at the grocery store who does not sell coffee makers but does sell coffee but does not place the filters next to the coffee because they belong in the small appliance section because they are for a small appliance...okay.

We have found out that we are pretty adaptable and resilient. We can change course when necessary and it is often necessary. One surprise is that there is a slight change in weather to make us think that a change is coming...maybe a sort of fall. Decorations are going up all over the place for Mexico's independence day. Last weekend we missed the Oyster festival because we did not know about it and the funny thing is that it was here in Puerto Ceiba! It was only one day, Saturday and we spent it going in service, coming home for Robin to work on the talk he was giving that evening at the kingdom hall, then we went to the kingdom hall and out for tacos! Totally missed the oyster festival! This week we may be getting our windowscreens put in on all of the windows but the two that already have screens so we will be able to have a cross breeze! It will be so much nicer to open more windows. You learn to appreciate simple things like window screens. After Argentina we are planning on working on getting our house together...washing machine, mattress, bed frame, etc. Until then we have that camping feeling while living in our house! complete with a propane stove!

Thats about it for us for now. Tabasco is beautiful and so is the rest of this area we would love to have you come visit but if you can't please write. Hearing from you on one of our bad days can make such a difference. Love you

Soapbox Time!!

2013-08-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Okay the question is---do you know someone who is living in a different part of the country or in a different country so that they can help the local population? Do you write them? Regularly? Have you thought that maybe you should drop them a line or call? Since I am now living in a "foreign" country I have to tell you how much hearing from home means to me. Those who stay in touch may make the difference between having a miserable day or thinking of how to resolve the day's challenges in a positive, productive manner.
I would like each one of you to make a list of those who you have thought you should communicate with...do you have their email addresses? Can you get it from other friends? Compile a list of people you want to write to and their email addresses. Then think about what day each month might be a good day to do that. Schedule it in. You can do a sort of form letter for friends and family perhaps personalizing it a bit for each. Asking specific questions. They will be thrilled to hear from you and you will be happy that you wrote them. It is a win/win situation. Today was laundry day here...I do laundry by hand; no washing machine yet. A third of the way through the laundry there was no water in the house and so it goes....it came on for a couple of minutes around 5pm but is gone again. My neighbor said that some pipe had broken. I have a back up well that I can pump and turn the pump on to fill my water tank but once done, I still have no water. There must be a valve turned off somewhere. I need to contact my landlord. Yesterday we stopped with friends to visit some friends and ending up eating outside. It was pleasant but the mosquitoes were nasty so today I have about 30 new bites on my legs...and they were just looking normal. Bummer. I have been taking an antihistamine to keep the itching and swelling under control. Some days are just easier. So tomorrow if I have water I will work on some laundry. I really do hope that you take my suggestion seriously and write those letters. You have the power to spread some joy and good cheer. Do it! Thanks for listening!

2013-08-17T19:48:00.001-07:00

Hi,

Hope all is well with you. We are fine. Still adjusting. Here is some of our recent happenings to bring you up to date!

We had to re-import our car which meant that we needed to take it out of the country and bring it back in. The U.S. is much too far away and would have been a big expense, so we went to Belize. It is about an 8 hour drive (400 miles.) Many of you know that I hate the condition of most of the roads here--potholes & speed bumps. The road to Belize was surprisingly pretty good. Rob says it was the best so far. At the border we had to pay on our visa for being in Mexico for more than 30 days. We had to cancel our last car import permit so that we can get our $200 deposit back. Then we went to Belize. We have to admit that we sort of chickened out. Those from Belize say no problem enjoy our country and others have all of these warnings to give you. We had planned to stay a night or two. We got as far as the free zone between Mexico and Belize. If you actually go into Belize you have to pay taxes/insurances which are not huge amounts but add up. We decided to hold off exploring Belize for a future trip, say in six months when we have to do this all again. So we headed back to Mexico and had to do all of the paperwork again. We got our passports stamped (which you may remember is why we had to go back to the states in May--nothing like being being an illegal in Mexico!) Paid for visas, paid to import the car again and paid non-refundable tax. Of course the office needed copies of some documents and of course they do not make the copies, so we had to drive to a small border town and make the copies and go back. Everything is always very complicated and nothing is in English. Our Spanish is improving but understanding government papers is a whole different matter --important not to get it wrong! Afterwards we went back up to Chetumal and found a cute Mexican resort on the beach. It wasn't fancy but clean and the location was beautiful. I will be posting some pictures.

We had to go to the immigration office in Villahermosa before July 25th for Robin to finish his paperwork. We got to the office on Wednesday at 1:30pm...the office closed at 1pm! Bummer. So we drove home and drove back to Villahermosa on Thursday. Rob still has to go back one more time...he has until August 22nd. Once they needed copies and some pictires of Robin and of course they do not make copies or take pictures. We did find a copy place but not a place where they take pictures. So we decided to go back another day. Walking to the mall near by sounded like a great idea...malls make us feel like we are in the U.S.

Okay, now for the new house. We reluctantly agreed that we needed to move out of the jungle for a number of reasons, the top one being not being able to get internet service from any company. We also did not have electricity all of the time which is not a big deal unless it is 100 degrees with 100 % humidity or it is night time and Robin's cpap machine will not run. We also had a neighborhood theif who would take stuff out of our yard. I could not leave chairs in my patio or clothes on the line. He stole shoes from outside my front door. My landlord came and took my mangos off of the tree in the back yard. He came while I was gone and was surprised to find out that we had already chopped down our bananas! The bananas were good and we shared with friends but not with him. So we thought we had a house picked out that would work just fine. The renter had given notice that she was moving at the end of the month. When we came back from the states we met with the owner of the house and arranged for us to rent it and we would give notice to our landlord. We gave notice. Then we got a call from our new landlord who said that the renter had changed her mind and might not be moving until November. Sorry. We were shocked by how flippant he was about telling us that it would not be possible for us to rent his house. I visit an older lady who lived in the Pasadena area for 30 years when she was a girl. She had told me that she had a house for rent but we thought we had found a house so we thanked her for wanting to help us. Now we asked her if her house was still available but no, she had rented it out and the lady was very happy. But she did know of a house that would be available soon. Animal doctors were renting it but had decided to move back to Villahermosa. So we met the owner, later saw the house and rented it. It is an older Mexican house. Larger than the last house. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, dining room, living room, kitchen, storage area, covered palapa (patio), front porch, back porch and a huge yard. The price was the same as the house we were renting. So we saw it on a Thursday, signed the paperwork on Sunday and moved in on Monday. The inside has been painted. The kitchen is orange, the bedrooms are light yellow and the porches are lime green. I will be painting the living room and dining room white. I will take pictures of it for you. Now we have a place for you to stay when you come viist or to give the public talk! Our dogs love the house and yard. The house is down the street from an ice-cream store!! A family in our congregation are re-modeling their house and gave us a refrigerator! Now I need to buy a washing machine. I have been doing my wash by hand except for the towels, jeans/pants and sheets. I strung laundry line around my round palapa. I want to put a veggie garden out in the front planters. Our Boston Terrier loves to help me garden. She cultivates the pots with her paws.....not very effective but very destructive. I plan to keep her out of the front yard. We now have a front gate that can be locked so that no one can enter the property without us letting them in.Never thought I would like to live in a locked gated house but it is better than people taking stuff from your back yard.

We had 16 attend our first WT study in English in Paraiso! We are delighted that 2 Bible students came along with 4 English speakers from the Spanish congregations here. Since we have so much territory to cover and need lots of help to do it we want witnesses who speak English but are in local Spanish congregations to join us. We do not have enough help to do the search work looking for English speakers, call back on those we have spoken with and conduct Bible studies. Forming an English congregation here in Paraiso would be wonderful. Right now we meet in Comalcalco which is about 30 or so minutes away. Not bad you say but most people do not have cars so they take buses and they may take an hour or so. But the buses stop at 8pm so any who attend from Paraiso need to find a ride back or take a taxi which for them is expensive. Also the "highway" is like some crazy video driving game...people crossing, stray dogs, vendors, motocycles, parked cars, u-turns made from the right lane, buses picking up and dropping off, bad roads and weather. The road is being repaired so Rob is being positive and saying that when it is finished we will have a nice road for about a month... also while it is being worked on there are new challenges...there are no "work ahead" signs.. you just see that everyone has come to a stop or is merging to one side or another. They do not work on the roads in sequential order from here to there. So they work on this patch of road for about an eighth of a mile then about a mile or so later you encounter more road work on the other lane and so it goes. People cross to the concrete dividers and then climb over it...some have babies, some are chubby, some have bicycles, some are on crutches (wonder how that happened...), and some are burdened with packages. There are pedestrian crossing bridges but most do not use them. Honestly I believe they should but they do look quite steep...no steps, two ramps to climb up and two ramps not to slide down. So getting Bible students to join us at KH is no easy task when life is so complicated here. During the day people go all over on buses.

One of the differences from living in the states is that I have two machete wielding senior citizens "mowing" my yard right now. They cut to the ground but plants grow back quickly here. I have been working on the house--cleaning, painting but have not started with the outside. I want to plant a vegetable garden. I have only met one person with a vegetable garden and she was raised in the states!

Rob had to finish his immigration paperwork. We started the week by going to IFE office here in Paraiso to see if he could finish up by just getting an identification card but no, they said he had to go to the Secretary of Exteriors in Villahermosa to get naturalized status first. Rob wanted to go back to the immigration office in Villahermosa who had given him a checklist of items to bring back to finish up his paperwork. So, on Tuesday we took a really ugly rickety bus from our house to downtown Paraiso and then got a small mercedes van/bus to Villahermosa for $40 pesos each. The vans are newish and look very nice but ride is crazy. We sat in the last row on one bus and the bouncing was painful...I worried for Robin's neck and mine. When we waited for our last bus Rob said that if the only seats available were in the back we would wait for the next bus but we ended up sitting in the first row. It was a much nicer ride! On Tuesday before we left our house on our adventure a young brother in the Spanish congregation showed up to go out in service with us. We apologized and explained how we had to go to the immigration office in Villahermosa. He said "no problem" and followed that with "I will go with you and help you!" Yeah! He was very helpful and were very glad to have him with us. He helped us get a taxi from the bus stop in Villahermosa to the immigration office. So, you see an empty taxi and think I will wave it down and it will take me to where I want to go....that would be wrong. Not all taxi-s go to the same areas so first you need to ask if they would take you to wherever you need to go. It may take asking over 10 taxicab drivers to find one who is going where you need to go. Secondly, you do not look for an empty taxi....you look for one that has room for your group. On Tuesday we were a party of 3 so we looked for a taxi that only 1 or no passengers. On Wednesday we looked for taxi-s who had 2 or less passengers. We had to get 3 passport type photos of Rob prior to going to the immigration office. In Puerto Ceiba there is a small Mercado that includes a small photograpy shop where the young photographer said that he could take the pics and give them to us right away for $40 pesos. So Rob took the pics. At the immigration office in Villahermosa on Tuesday the ladysaid oh, these are too big! We need 3 mini-pics! Bummer. The immigration office person told Robin and Jose to go to the nearby mall and get the pics made while I wait for our number to be called. Rob was able to get the pics and get back in time to claim his place in line. The pics cost $200 pesos! The immigration officer was still puzzled as to how Robin got "residence permanente" from the Mexican Consulate's office in Douglas. We call it a blessing! Our items were looked through after which she decided that Robin needed to write a letter in spanish stating that he had been given permanent resident status. So, we went home and had our WT study in Paraiso. Got home at 10:30 after cleaning the hall and getting everyone back home. Up early on Wednesday to work on the letter. Jose came by and corrected the letter. I was soo proud and smugly thought it was perhaps perfect..but no. The letter had to include what Robin would be doing here in Mexico, how he would support himself, where he would be living and with whom. Then Jose left. We would be on our own. We took the buses. The road to Villahermosa is being worked on, a new bridge is being built. We had to go to a bank before we left Paraiso. Banks here are the place to go to pay for hotel reservations, electric bills and immigration payments as well as other payments. We had thought that Robin's immigration paperwork would cost the same as a visa about $36 dollars but no, it was $3,900 pesos!! Yikes, it will be a tight budget until the end of the month! (and there goes my washing machine stash money...athough Rob is pushing for a bed first...I still think the washing machine is more important) Happily the immigration office was happy with all of our paperwork and money payments. We need to return in 2 weeks to pick up Robin's permanent resident card. Wahoo!!
We have been having rain. It pours for a short time and may rain lightly for a while. Sometimes we hear thunder but nothing like the monsoon season in Arizona. Strangely, we have not seen a rainbow here. We will keep looking. Our roof is fiberglass so the sound of the rain is loud. We like it. Our dogs are less than thrilled.

So that is about it for now. We love having internet service now. Talk to you later!

Moving!

2013-07-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

Hi, Sorry about not posting. I have lots to tell you but no internet yet. Sad. We hope to move by the end of the month to a house where we can get internet service!!! I will be soooo happy!! Love you!

More Learning Done But Maybe Try Another Learning Method Next Time.....

2013-05-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, I haven't posted a blog entry in a while. We are settling in. The novelty of our situation has began to wear off. There is still much to learn about living in Mexico. We had our first experience with the local traffic police. One of our friends had a slight fender bender. This friend is notorious for being a slow driver so he was probably going about 10mph in downtown traffic when another car tapped his bumper. Both drivers got out of their cars and surveyed the damage. Our friend's suv suffered a small dent to bumper. The other car had a dent on their front right fender by their light. The other driver did want the traffic police called over who were just at the end of the block. He said that he did not have insurance. Our friend said since both cars received slight damage they could just call it even. Our friend is from the States but has dual citizenship. He speaks Spanish. At this point our friend got back in to his vehicle and drove to the grocery store about a half mile to a mile away. The other driver followed him. When our friend stopped, the other driver got out and yelled at him for smashing into his car and driving away! The uproar caused a crowd to form. Police were called. The locals were horrified that a tall American (who cares if the American is of Mexican descent and is a citizen of Mexico) would do such a thing to an older Mexican couple. The police arrived. At this point our friend knew that things were not going well. He asked how much they wanted. How much did he have to pay? The police said that he had to go to the police station to settle the incident. It was at this time that we arrived to help. (We had dinner plans with them, so, they had been texting us as to why they were late.) There were about 10 or more police surrounding him and saying that since he was not cooperating and had such a bad attitude they had to take him in. Our friend was handcuffed. The police only reached his shoulders so if the situation wasn't so serious it would have been comical. The police led him to a police truck with an extended cab. Our friend had to scrunch up to fit in it. We followed a motorcycle police to the station. I asked our friends if they had photographed their cars. No, they had not done so. They asked if I had my camera with me. No, I did not but I had my cell phone. So out came the iphone and I started taking pictures. When I took a picture that included the director of the police station, I was in trouble. First of all the police do not like pictures taken. Secondly, the director does not allow any pictures taken of himself. He grabbed my phone. I grabbed it back! He had a wild look in his eye as if he would throw it against a wall. Couldn't let that happen! He told me that he should arrest me for taking pictures. He told me that in my country I would be arrested. He was very angry with me. It was at that point that I decided it might serve my friends' best interests if I kept a low profile. Before I went into hiding I showed a policeman that I was deleting the director's picture from my phone and to please tell him that I did it. I did call some other friends in to help. One brother wanted to speak to a policeman but no one would...but I did run across the director again and sincerely apologized for taking his picture. He said sorry was not good enough and that I belonged in jail. After that encounter, I had Robin park the van out on a side street and took refuge in it until the entire situation was resolved 2 hours later. Our friend was accused of leaving the scene of an accident. He had to pay $1,500 pesos to the older couple and a fine of $1,200 to the police for “leaving the scene of an accident.” At one point the wife of the older couple complained of stomach pains brought on by the accident so our friend's wife and another friend who was being a wonderful go-between with the police (along with her husband) volunteered to take this poor lady to the hospital to get her checked out...she had an instant recovery! Before the older couple left the station, they told our friends that they were friends with most of the policemen there and that they were good friends with the director's parents so he needed to watch his back! A threat! It was heartwarming to see many of our new friends from the Spanish congregation come by and, as was already mentioned, we were so thankful for our friends from the English congregation. This Mexican couple were so calm and respectful to all involved. One brother from the English congregation works for the city and knows many of those involved. He made some phone calls in our friend's behalf. By midnight our friend had paid up, was released and was driving himself home! Later we learned that if the police impound your car you must pay an impound fee each day in cash and another lump sum when the car is released! Yikes! So, you never want the police to take your car. Another important lesson is that if you have a fender bender it is best to resolve it on the spot. Pay up there. I questioned rather the person would do the same thing as the older couple even after you give them money....the brothers were shocked by my question....they replied that no, the other people would honor the settlement....another one of those “things-that-make-you-go-hmmmmm....” Our neighbor thought that the older couple did not want the police involved at the scene of the accident because then when a crowd formed there would be ones who saw the accident and they could have said that the older couple were to blame so they took it somewhere where they could accuse our friend and no one would know how it really happened. We have been hearing about other newcomer's traffic stories...seems that some have had to spend a night or two in jail due to a traffic/car infraction. Now that would be very scary. At one point one of the officers told our friend that this was how he was treated in the states....could he be holding a grudge? I have to say that up to this night I had found the traffic police pleasant and helpful but this was during the day. At peak traffic times, the traffic police control traffic flow. It helps! I have been always thankful to see them directing traffic. Showing respect to those in authority here is important. One of the big reminders that we are-not-in-Kansas-anymore!

A Visit State Side!!

2013-05-13T13:50:00.002-07:00

We are going back to the States this month for a 2 week visit! I am so excited! We are leaving this Thursday or next. Megan & Sage have been helping us find flights. We still need to work out our internet problems. When we come back we will make getting internet in our home our mission. Our American phones will be working when we are in the States so feel free to call us! We would love to visit with some of you in person.

We will be getting some immigration paperwork done. Shopping. Clothes are pricey here. And I need to tell you about laundry...but that is for another time. Wii & other games are pricey here...about $100 each! American food....particularly a steak!! No, thick steaks here. No roasts either....but that is another story too! For me, gluten free food!! And giant green salads!!!

Number one thing to do in the States---> See our family!! I am so missing them! Especially the grandchildren!! It will be great to visit with them! We might be able to spend some time with our brand new daughter-in-law!

Now that I know a little more about life down here, I know what items I have in storage that would be very useful to bring back. We also want to downsize our storage units. Leaving the country was not the planned organized affair I had envisioned. I did not give ourselves enough time to pack and organize. I think it was part of a denial mentality. I certainly did not expect to be sick when we were leaving. I am still so very grateful for all of the love and help we were given at the last minute. We could never have left on time without it. Our brotherhood is a wonderful, wonderful thing. Jehovah provides the help we need from the least likely source. We had not expected our community to be so involved in our move. But they were....and we are so glad for all of their help and support during that time!!

We have not gotten our return ticket yet but I will be researching how much an extra bag will cost me verses sending myself a box through fed-ex or DHL. A $100 for a large suitcase is sounding quite reasonable!.

A Random Update on Life Here....

2013-04-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, Still no internet in our house. Still fighting with the internet service who sold us a wifi device that would work in our area. It did not work. Very disappointing. Everything else is going pretty smoothly. Settling in to life in a foreign country is bound to take some time. The weather ranges from very nice in the 70's to very warm in the 90's with high humidity. We have a mini-split air-conditioning unit in our bedroom. Rob likes to sleep in a cool room then he can face the sticky hot day ahead of him. Whatever it takes to get us through the day! We now have a dining room set and two smaller tables to use as desks. The young man who made our chairs is now working on a living set for us. It will not be ready until after the 15^th at the earliest. Whenever we get it into our home will be a positive change. I really miss having something to sit on other than the bed or a dining room chair. Robin and his dog have discovered that they really enjoy napping in a hammock! They try to get in some “hammock” time on the days that they can. We go out in service on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. We usually start around 9am and work until noon or 1pm. We take a lunch break that allows us time to go to the wifi coffee shop or for Rob to have “hammock” time. Both activities allow us time to cool down. We regroup for afternoon service at 3pm and then again at 6pm. Our service days end anytime from 6pm to 9:30pm. Long days. Saturday at 2:30 is our public talk and Watchtower study at the Kingdom Hall in Comalcalco which is about a 25 minute drive from Paraiso. Mondays and Tuesday mornings are our “down” days. I clean house on Monday in preparation for the English classes here that start from about 5pm and last until 8pm or so depending on how much visiting one family wants to do afterwards. I also try to do some cooking for the week. I will try to make at least two main dishes and freeze some for during the week. If I make salsa, it is made on Monday. We have a chile bush that is covered with small red chiles that are surprisingly very hot! They are hot even when they are still green...don't ask me how I know this.... Some of our citrus trees are starting to bloom. Our seasons seem to be the same as in the states.

It was hot today...about 98 and humidity. The people here say it will get warmer.... Something to look forward to...maybe. Rain is in the forecast so that will cool things down.

Our van is getting work done on the brakes tomorrow...replacing the pump or something. So we will carefully drive it to the mechanic brother and take a bus to the bus terminal downtown and run some errands and then get taxi back to our house. We will have to get a bus to pick up the car later. If it rains it will be cooler and wet and muddy....if it doesn't it will be hot and sticky.

My neighbor sister runs a chicken ranch about 3 miles from here. We buy chicken from her. It is pretty tasty. Robin and I are not sure what to do with the feet so I have been freezing them. On Monday one of the English class students said she loves them to add flavor to her soup or to cook them up for the dog's food. I gifted her with about ten frozen feet. I did take a picture of some in a frying pan but that was shock value only. Today our dainty pioneer partners smacked their lips while talking about how delicious chicken feet are...okay, another group to gift them too!!

My neighbor has been washing our clothes. She has an outdoor kitchen with dirt floor but she has a washing machine and a real stove!! Such wealth!! She prides herself in getting all the stains out of any garment. Her wash does come back clean albeit a little worn from the extreme cleaning efforts. I am not comfortable with her doing my personal items so I hand-wash some items. I have a clothes line but no clothes pins. My very smart and practical neighbor showed me that with the plastic laundry line that I have you can separate the twisted cords and put corners of your laundry through. Very clever! I have had my clothes ironed but I am so picky about this that it has only been a one time occurrence. I don't mind ironing our clothes in the early morning.

We have had some help with the gardening. The brush was sort of wild around the house and we had been thinking about cutting some of it back when the neighbor showed up with a machete and said that they would like to cut the growth back from the side of the house so that the snakes will keep away....yeah, about them snakes.... Here's the thing...when we first came in September we asked about the critters and challenges of living here aside from the obvious. Everyone said “no problem.” When someone says “no problem” it usually applies to them....”no problem” for them since all of their growth is cut back....”no problem” for them because they know what to do and so on. The “no problem” part usually does not include you...for you there could very well be a huge problem overhead....a huge spider ready to pounce you but hey, no problem...it will not hurt me!

There is also a mosquito season during the summer months. I will definitely let you know how that goes. I have changed my opinion of “Off” and “Raid.” Raid is very effective for ridding a house of bugs and the smell is really not that unpleasant. I use ecologically sound bug repellents as much as I can to the point that I am sure if I were to have a blood test today they would find citronella in my blood. I spray my shoes, Bibles and umbrella with Off. Before we leave the car to walk to an 8pm Bible study that is conducted on the porch, I spray Off on my legs and elbows. I have such a huge reaction to a mosquito bite that I really don't want to get any if I can help it. I have been so against these products for most of my life but now I see how truly helpful they are...much like the invention of light bulbs. I know some of you are saying ewwww...but doesn't problems with mosquitoes pale in comparison to the bugs and stuff in Myanmar? Have you read the 2013 Yearbook?

There are lots and lots of taco places. We have been trying them out as we go. Tacos are usually pork, beef, beef ribs, the hump on a brahma type cow, brains, intestines or tongue. We stick with pastor which is the pork cooked much the same way the Greeks cook gyro meat. I have tried the hump, called ube or something like that..it was tasty but I probably won't eat it again because I am a food snob. Oh, sometimes they do offer the breasts from a cow....and no, I will not try these. I do order argentine chorizo tacos as well as regular beef tacos. The cows here are a Brahma mix. They are very thin. Beef is usually served as skirt steak. If you are looking for a U.S. -type steak just get that silly thought out of your mind. They are not to be found. In San Cristobal, Chiapas we did find an Argentinian restaurant that had great steaks!

It is surprising that beans and rice are not served with every meal like in the U.S. -when you order Mexican food. Tacos come with condiments...salsas, lime slices, onions, cabbage, pickled carrots and other items. It is strange to order a meal and only get meat and tortillas. Tortillas are bought each day here. Tacos are about 6-8 pesos each. Tortillas run about 7 pesos for half a kilo. Warm tortillas are still an amazing flavor for me! Good childhood memories of La Tolteca.

Vendors go through neighborhoods throughout the day selling tortillas, bottled water, fruit, chicken, ice cream, newspapers, snow cones, furniture and some buy scrap metal. Each vendor has a different song or whistle or bell. Robin and I are still not sure which is which. Robin hates the noise from these vendors so he is happy to live on a dirt road where there is only one other house. Few vendors venture down our nick of the woods, or our nick of the jungle.

Vendors can be found on the streets throughout the city. Almost anything is sold from these primitive kiosks. You can buy fruit, pottery, furniture, tacos, hats, hammocks, plants, candy, toys, cookies, empanadas, crabs, gum, and other items that I can't remember.

Small open stores line the downtown streets. Most do not have window store fronts, they just have a rolling metal garage door that is down when they are closed and up when they are open. Most store owners are friendly and helpful. Our favorite type of store is a “papeleria” which is probably spelled wrong. It can be a photo copy center or just an office supply type store with paper and pens. You never really know what you will find in each store so when we have the time we stop in and take a look.

The downtown area has the big Catholic church and a public downtown park where vendors gather to market their wares. A sister sells cut up jicama, mangos,or ciwellas. I picked a large container of jicama to munch on but she would not surrender it before she doctored it up with hot sauce and salt and lime. A brother sells popcorn there too. The park is also a good place to find foreign visitors. It is very nice to be able to just talk to someone in English who understands what you are saying. Saturday and Sunday is the when the park fills with local people out to enjoy the nice evening and treat their children to some delightful treats. We did buy some corn from a vendor. It was served in a cup. Cut corn with cream was ladled into the cup then butter, then mayonnaise then cheese, salt and pepper....did not taste as good as you might think.... They do sell corn on a stick but they butter these, mayonnaise, put some heavy cream on it and then the cherry-on-top is hot sauce....I bought one plain. The corn is not the sweet corn type. Bummer.

Empanadas are popular here. Almost anything can be made into one. In fact there are empanada restaurants where you pick what you want in your empanada. They are usually made with a corn masa for which I am very glad since I can eat these. So, I have tacos and empanadas to chose from; not bad! Marisco empanadas are popular here. You can get shrimp, crab or fish empanadas with or without cheese. Forgot to say that tacos here are usually just the meat in a corn tortilla and then you add the condiments. If you want cheese then you order it “a gringa.”

Let's talk cheese. The cheese is good. Oaxaca cheese is sort of like mozzarella or string cheese. It is great on a quesadilla since it seems to melt easily. Easy to find parmesan cheese. There are gouda cheese around and no that is not the opposite of “bada” cheese! Cheddar cheese seems not to be around. We will have to look around in the grocery stores in Villahermosa, the state capital which is about an hour's drive from here. I have heard that the Walmart there has gluten free items!! Must check that out! There is a mayan cheese that is sold by vendors and in the stores. It crumbles easily and tastes a lot like queso fresco in the States. There are some queso fresco cheeses available for a very low cost. A package is about 3.50 pesos.

I have one less morning chore to do...sadly my large mango tree is done for the season. I did enjoy the mangos. We gave lots away. We learned to make “mangoladas”....mashed mango mixed with the red pepper/limon stuff and frozen with a stick in it. You then pour “chamoy” on top of it before you eat it. It is surprisingly very good! My favorite way to use my mango crop was to make salsa with it...onions, mangos, chile, lime juice and cilantro. Yummmm!!! especially on chicken tacos!

Let's talk chicken....now “gallina” is when the chicken is walking around taking in the sunshine and eating his grub. “Pollo” is what you eat! And Tabascanos love to eat pollo! Everywhere they are roasting chicken on grills---pollo asado. It is usually very tastey but can sometimes be disappointingly dry and flavorless. It is always a good value for the money. A whole chicken runs about 100 pesos but you get tortillas, hot sauce, onions, sometimes cabbage, sometimes beans, sometimes rice, and chiles. So for us it is a great value since it will feed us for more than 2 meals.

Tabasco is Mexico's chocolate maker. I have cacao trees outside my bedroom window. Tabasco is famous for its pozol. Pozol is a chocolate flavored drink made with cacao and corn meal. My neighbor makes the best. It comes in a loaf about the size of meatloaf. You break off pieces and put in the blender with water and some sugar if you want. While you are drinking it you need to swish your cup around to keep the corn meal from settling to the bottom. You will find Tabascanos doing that with any cup in their hand. I like pozol cold and with sugar. It is supposed to help you take the heat. It is sort of a meal replacement...when it is too hot to eat, you can always drink some pozol!

Umbrellas. People here love them for shade. There is a real learned skill in how to manipulate your umbrella while walking through crowded, narrow streets. I am still working on it. Today I tried just wearing my hat but it flew off. Thankfully Rob was behind me so he retrieved it for me. I may have found out why the women prefer umbrellas to hats....I also, think that vanity comes into play....hat hair and all.

I may have trouble finding shoes here...most shops carry women's shoes up to a size 9 which is a Mexican 6. I am a 10! I will keep looking.

Service is very enjoyable. We teach English to those in our car group. We have started doing an English search again. We are working all of our territory, door-to-door and asking if anyone in the home speaks English if they do then we talk to them and invite them to our English Bible meetings. We make return visits when we are too hot. Four of our regular pioneer partners, a mom and her three daughters, do not drive so we drive them to their studies and do a “search” in the area around their study's house. Good times! We just work in the Paraiso area. Since Paraiso not only includes the city but the outlaying beach areas, service can be rather scenic!

Today we rode public transportation for the first time. We got a bus from the mechanic's place into town. We walked around downtown familiarizing ourselves better with the city. We took a bus back to pick up the van. The first short bus was a better ride than the bigger bus we took back. Buses cost 7 to 8 pesos.

Water. We have water delivered to the house about twice a week. It is $14 pesos for 5 gallons. The water to the house from the pipes stops about 9am and comes back on around 7pm. We have to make sure that we have plugged the pump in to fill the water tank on the roof. Taking showers has been more enjoyable now that the weather is warmer. We do not have a water heater. If you order water at a restaurant they want to know what kind....plain, mineral, pina, coco, jamica, orange or something else. So many choices...it is like being at a “subway” for water...decisions have to be made. At home I have made pozol, pineapple water, orange water, jamica, mango water, and horchata.

On my one burner stove I have made American breakfasts...fried potatoes & eggs. I have fried chicken, made chicken mole, chicken stew, quesadillas, fajitas, and more. I have fried bananas. It works. Glad to have the microwave to help out!

All fruit and vegies have to be washed in water with microdyn. They need to stay in the water about 10 minutes. I make it a habit to wash everything before it goes into the fridge.

Since there is no hot water in my house I follow the regional building committee's procedure of giving the dishes one last rinse through bleach water.

Our Life Here Part 1

2013-04-07T14:22:00.001-07:00

(From a couple of weeks ago...but I was not able to post...the no internet problem.)

Hi, Still no internet connection at our house! This has become the biggest hurdle to get past. We heard of a cable company in our area that offers internet too. Let's hope it is true and works! Wednesday – Friday & Sunday are our service days. They are long! :) We start at 9am and sometimes finish at 9:30pm! Our day is varied with return visits, Bible studies, and English speakers search work (where we go door-to-door asking if English speakers live here). So, it really is not too bad. I have been having to pick up mango-s each morning in our yard. Our mango tree drops the fruit throughout the day. They are small mango-s but very tasty! I love mango-s!! I think our tree will be done by the end of this week. We have another mango tree but the fruit is just starting to form; very cute! These mango-s are supposed to be large. It will take a while for the fruit to grow and then ripen. Our dogs seem to be enjoying their new yard. We still leave them in the house when we are gone.

I buy my food both from the local grocery store and from the local market. Papayas, pineapples, oranges, bananas and many other fruit are sold from the back of parked pick-ups throughout the city. My neighbor is a partner in a chicken farm so, we buy our chicken from them. I was surprised to find out that a whole chicken included the feet! They cut up chicken different here so Rob and I are always trying to guess what piece it is...we always get the legs & wings correct! There is a brother who owns a meat market here. I will go check it out and buy some beef from him. Cheeses are different here. Lots of softer types. The Oaxaca kind is sort of a string cheese in ropes that are curled round into a roll. The Oaxacan type works well for quesidillas. We were told that manchego cheese is a cheddar cheese but Robin and I think it tastes more like a Jack cheese. We buy our tortillas from the tortilla shops around town. Our bottled water gets delivered as does our propane for our stove. I do not have a washing machine or dryer so, our neighbor sister does the wash. I really want to buy my own machine so that I can do my laundry my way. I handwash my personal items because I find it strange to have someone else do this. Her husband made my dining room table as well as our other tables. We had a return visit make our 6 chairs. The wood chairs were about $5 more than buying plastic chairs. We did buy a small A/C unit for our bedroom. It works fine. We are in our bedroom right now. Rob is working on his talk for Tuesday night. He also has the special talk on April 6^th in Comalcalco where the Paraiso English congregation meets. Busy times for him.

The beach is about a 10 minute drive away. This week many in Mexico have time off and much of it is spent at the beach. This is probably not the week to go to the beach.

Tire

2013-03-14T13:57:00.001-07:00

No Comments?

2013-03-13T13:41:00.002-07:00

Hi, So I struggle to get internet so that I can communicate with you and then I find that no one has left a comment? How sad. Maybe I will forget updating this.... You might not realize how important your notes are to us. We really miss everyone and not getting any communication makes us really sad. Love you!

The Rest of the Trip Here Story

2013-03-07T13:53:00.002-07:00

Hi! Back at the wifi coffee shop! So here is another trip update---

The day's drive was pretty uneventful, (thankfully), and we ended the day in Poza Rica, Veracruz. We drove over many bridges. The most impressive of the bunch was one by Tampico. It was very tall. I felt like we were climbing a mountain. When we got to the top, Rob told me to look around at the view but I was so freaked out that I did not even take a picture! In Poza Rica we stayed at a Quality Inn. Great hotel—-clean, welcomes dogs, good restaurant with a wonderful breakfast buffet included in the hotel rate and a....laundry!!!!

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast we continued on to Paraiso. Veracruz is full of bridges and most bridges have tolls. The tolls can be $28 pesos per car or as much as $285 pesos. The roads were terrible---full of huge potholes. I complained that with so many tolls you would think the roads would be in better shape. I was sure that anything breakable in the van was broken. As the sun was setting we found ourselves about two hours from Paraiso—the question now was what do we do? Press on since it was only two more hours? Obey the instructions Bethel gave and not drive in the dark? We decided to press on. Bad choice. We were unable to avoid many potholes. With one huge thump, we finally got a flat tire. We drove off to the side of the road and tried to contact the friends from the Paraiso

congregation. Megan was very helpful during this trying situation. The highway is not like in the States. There are two lanes of traffic in each direction but because of the potholes cars and trucks are going all over the road. There are no overhead lights. We kept our hazard lights on. At one point there was a knock on my window. It was a man. I thought for sure that I was going to be killed—not that I am dramatic or anything! The first thing out of my mouth was that we are Jehovah's witnesses on our way to Paraiso. The man said that he too was a witness but I, of course, had my doubts. He told us that he also was driving a mini-van and that he too had not been able to avoid the pothole and now had two flat tires! He wanted to know if we could help him by lending him our spare so that he could go get his two tires patched....there are 24 hour tire shops, muffler shops and local outdoor eateries all along the road. We now found out that his car included four other men who were all on their way to Compeche to work on a construction crew. Robin went off with them and one young man was left to sit on the highway with me. I found out that they were not witnesses but all related somehow and that many in their family were witnesses. After they got back it was their turn to help us. Our van weighed too much for our jack. The jack broke. The men said okay, they would use their jack. They tried to put the van on blocks to help level it off and then a man got under it. I could not watch. It was so dangerous. I busied myself making traffic move over. After the car was leveled the jack was put in place and once again the weight was too much, the jack broke. The man said he didn't know what to do. Just then a brother from a nearby congregation drove up in a white truck. We emptied the van into the bed of his truck. The spare was put on and we found out that we had bent the wheel too. The man said that we were lucky that our friends showed up just in time but Robin told him no luck but Jehovah helping us! He agreed and said that they needed to study the Bible and go to meetings. He also said that he felt that Jehovah used him to help us and keep us safe. I hope he does study. They will be in Compeche for five months. We said our good-byes and they were on their way. The brother decided that it would not be safe for us to go far on our spare so we followed him to his brother's house in La Venta where we spent the night after having a dinner of quesadillas with nopal (cactus). In the morning we had breakfast with the family and then Robin went to try to get the tire repaired and the wheel hammered out. The tire was not repairable and neither was the wheel. I spent the time walking to the markets with my wonderful new friend. She stopped at a brother's photography shop and introduced me. We also stopped by a pioneer couple's home. The market was interesting. There is so much to learn how to do. We returned home in a rickshaw! Fun! After lunch, we reloaded the van and were back on the road being especially careful with any potholes. So our two hours had turned into a day's delay and unexpected expenses. Must learn to be obedient!!

We arranged for friends to meet up with us at a Pemex station in Paraiso. We were very excited to see our new home. We had decided to rent a home in a Pemex neighborhood for $6,000 pesos but when the sister went to sign the paperwork it had just been rented. Then she found us a condo in a gated community for $4,500 pesos without a/c. Both places were three bedrooms, two bath and patio. Kitchens are varied here. A kitchen might include just a sink or it could be with everything just like in the States. The Pemex home had just a sink but the condo had an American type kitchen with cabinets. The sister signed the paperwork for the condo but on Saturday before we arrived that Monday was told by the owner that he was cancelling the contract because he wanted to do some work on the home and increase the rent! On Sunday the sister and her husband were out to dinner with his parents and their friends when the topic of finding a house for us came up.

The parents' friends said that the house across from them had been vacant for eight months due to a divorce. They contacted the owner who agreed to rent to us for $3,000 pesos. It is a two bedroom, one bath, laundry room and a kitchen with a sink, cabinets, refrigerator and a one burner “stove.” It also has an enclosed yard with a palapa, covered patio. There are coconut, mango, lemon, orange, and papaya trees along with pepino brushes (brushes with tiny chiles that turn red when ripe). Today, (3/5/2013), we had an a/c unit installed in our bedroom. In April and May it is supposed to be really hot here. We did have to secure the yard better for our dogs. We did clean up the yard and are still working on it but that is something I enjoy doing. We have a bumper crop of mangos. I harvest each day! I really like this house! On the down side---we do not have water from 9am to about 7pm but we have a water container on the top of our house so we do have water in the house. We do not have hot water. Yes, we take cold showers!! I am sure that in April and May we will welcome them. :)

Service has been very enjoyable. Long days. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we start at 9am and work all day, regrouping at 3pm, 6pm and 8pm. Since dinner is usually around 9 or 10pm here, nobody minds if we call on their house before dinner. Very different. On Tuesday night we have a meeting in Comalcalco (about a half hour drive from here.) On Saturday at 2:30pm we have meeting at the same Kingdom Hall followed by an English class at a nearby brother's home. We just attend and help the brother out who is teaching. On Monday nights Robin has an English class in our home. We will be splitting up into two groups. I will get the very new English students.

Last Friday we drove to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. It is about a five hour drive from here. We are at sea level in Paraiso but San Cristobal is close to 8,000 ft elevation. They had a cold snap so we froze. The city's convention center auditorium was cold. The hotel did have hot water but no heat in the rooms so Rob went to bed early because he was so cold. Chiapas is a beautiful state. They grow lots of grains and coffee!! San Cristobal was just what you would imagine a colonial town to look like—narrow cobble stone streets. They are very smart in developing/preserving the town to be tourist friendly. Many of the streets in the center of town are block off from cars so that pedestrians can shop and walk easily. We want to visit again but take the bus so that we can enjoy the drive and not have to worry about driving around. A taxi ride is $25 pesos. The peak attendance at the assembly was 400 with 5 getting baptized. The audience only filled about a sixth of the auditorium. On Sunday night we ate at La Lupita's. Many brothers and sisters were there. Apparently there is a list of restaurants that give assembly attenders a discount and this one was on it. Rob and I went in for the 'tacos & margaritas.' The nice surprise was that there was live music...a girl violinist. She played 'Kingdom' songs! Yes, she was our sister!

I will tell you more about living here and the changes we have had to make later. Love you!

children

2013-03-03T20:36:00.001-07:00

Children from our congregation who sang to us! So precious! especially my grandchildren! :)

2013-03-03T20:35:00.001-07:00

Hi,

Heading on back to Paraiso tomorrow morning. We have been in Chiapas since Friday in order to attend an English circuit assembly. San Cristobal is a beautiful colonial town. Narrow cobbled streets. We stayed in a Mexican hotel. Nice. Affordable and walking distance to a quaint shopping/restaurant area. Tonight we were at a restaurant filled with brothers and sisters and some joined our table since there was a seating shortage. The food was good. Nice to get to know more people. Benny and Jenny came from Florida. He is from Mexico. The nice surprise was that there was violinist that started to play. She played kingdom songs! She is a sister! Very nice! We are now back in our hotel.

Here are some photos of San Cristobal and of the drive up here. We are at almost 8000 ft. elevation. Paraiso is at sea level. It was very cold here. Love you!
Pictures: border crossing, pioneer mtg, skyscrapper in Tuxla, colonial streets and buildings in San Cristobal

More pics

2013-03-02T20:05:00.001-07:00

2013-03-02T19:57:00.002-07:00

Today's blog will mainly be pictures for yesterday's blog. The trucks full of stick looking things are really carrying sugar can. The road picture is supposed to give you an idea of the shape of the road but it really was much worse...more on that later. Robin and Juan (the new circuit overseer) are taking flowers off of a Joshua tree or agave bloom. Juan was really excited about sauteing them up and then mixing in eggs! Wonder how it tastes. Left before they cooked it. The house pictures are where we stayed with Juan and the car mechanic brother and their wives. Nice. The hotel pictures are of the Mexican resort, Las Fuentes where we stayed.

2013-03-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody!! Yes, we are finally living in Paraiso, Tabasco, Mexico! Lots to learn. The trip down was more crazy than we had planned. Settling in now. We can find our house now which is pretty important when all you want to do is to go home. So, read on if you would like to be brought up to date on our big adventure.

I must not have thinking clearly or at all because the time I had allocated to moving was not enough. Even I was shocked by how much stuff we had accumulated throughout the years. I stored what I wanted to keep in case we ever move back to the U.S. We gave lots of items away—that part was fun! We had a yard sale too! Megan was super helpful with the sale and in countless other ways along with Blaine and the girls—she is an ace seller! In the end our congregation came through and helped with the packing, yard clean up and then with the cleaning of the house. I got sick. At first I thought it was the dust making my allergies kick in but the fever and chills made me think that perhaps I really was sick. So many friends asked if they could help but I said no because I was not feeling well. I was surprised to tears when some friends said that it did not matter they would still help. Some brought dinner. One dear sister baked me a wheat free chocolate cake!! Some young brothers worked hard helping out. I was carefully packing our car but the worse I felt the more that others packed it. Mexico doesn't have a lot of Volvos driving around so mechanics are hard to find and you must wait for the parts to be shipped in. Robin decided to give his precious little Volvo to Sage. We bought a 1997 Dodge mini-van from Levi & Nicole. They even drove it out to Phoenix from Oxnard, CA since they had to be there in order for Levi to give a talk in a sign-language congregation.

One brother took us out for a nice sit down dinner which was much appreciated after eating so much take out food from the local Mexican restaurant. The congregation had a coffee and munchies for us at the hall on our last Saturday in Clifton. It was very nice to see everyone. It was also very sad to say good-bye. Our service group had had a lunch for us the week before...it was a delicious turkey dinner. Missing familiar foods already...

We were so overwhelmed with moving that we asked our very dear landlords if we could have some extra days at the house. Thankfully they agreed to let us stay on. We were under a time frame to cross the border by Friday, February 8, 2012. We had to get an import permit to bring our car into Mexico. The permit expired on Friday the 8^th. We had also decided to try to stay in the U.S. For as long as we could while driving so we planned to cross the border in Brownsville, Texas into Matamoros, Mexico. The problem was that our permit was tied into crossing the border at that crossing. We could not change our schedule. Our dogs (yes, we brought them too!!) had to get an international bill of health from their vet but that too was only valid for a limited time.

February 3^rd found us trying to finish the packing, taking boxes to storage, cleaning the house and yard and leave to see Sage in Phoenix. I felt terrible and Megan was sick too. Friends came to help before meeting and realized that we were really behind schedule so they said that they had decided to stay and continue helping rather than go to meeting. I am truly grateful for the genuine brotherly love they showed us. We could not have done the move in the time frame we had if it had not been for the love and help we received. It was humbling to realize how truly a spiritual family we are...we care for each other as if we were biological family. Still makes me tear up thinking about how family and friends went out of their way to help us.

We were told to just go around 2pm. Our friends said that they would take care of the rest...taking stuff to storage, cleaning, taking unwanted items to a local charity's shop. Thank you just doesn't cover the heartfelt gratitude we feel towards the Clifton Congregation.

When we tried to start the van it would not start. Battery trouble. Guess what? A brother had a new battery at his house that would fit perfectly! New battery in place, good-byes said, tears shed, and we were finally off.

Going to Sage's through the mountains was a little hard on our over packed old mini-van but five hours later we arrived at Sage's only planning to say good-bye and move on. Sage realized that I felt horrible so she insisted that we stay and go in the morning to a Walgreen's walk-in clinic. Megan had gone to her doctor in Morenci after we left. She tested positive for strep. Yuck! Donna, Sage's room-mate/landlord, agreed that we could stay since she too was sick. I too tested positive for strep and had the prescription for antibiotics filled. The doctor made the prescription out for double the length of time she would normally have done since I would be in Mexico by the time I finished taking them and could get re-tested. Robin's doctor agreed to call in a prescription for him too since our situation was unique. We were really worried about all of the friends we had exposed to strep especially a pregnant friend. So far I have only heard of one sister who got sick but may have been sick before, still, I feel very guilty about exposing any of them when all they wanted to do was to help us.

Finally on Tuesday we continued our very long drive. We drove from Phoenix to El Paso, Texas and spent the night with Lela and her very cute and obedient dog. Thankfully Lela is an elephant trainer at the El Paso Zoo and didn't mind welcoming us and our two dogs. We all appreciated staying at her place.

Wednesday night found us in San Antonio staying at a La Quinta hotel since the chain accepts dogs.

Thursday was border-crossing day! Yikes! Would we have to unpack everything? Did we have all of the paperwork in order? We still needed to complete the car import at the border-crossing. The drive from San Antonio down was pretty nice. I had never seen that part of Texas.

Oh, forgot to tell you that Robin had bought a Garmin on Ebay and was enjoying using it. It had a chip for Mexico too.

Robin and I did not know what to expect. We had heard that there could be long lines. We were nervous about what line to get in. We drove over a bridge and suddenly we were in Mexico. We had crossed but still had customs and the car permit to complete. We drove into an area with buildings and parking slots under cover. This was the first stop in Mexico. We were told to park and walk into a building to complete our car importation permit. There was another man being helped and then it was our turn. Yes, the man agreed that we had completed the paperwork on line and then gave us a sticker to put on the windshield behind the rear view mirror. When we returned to the car a customs officer wanted to meet the dogs and asked what we were bringing. He asked us to make a list. We did. Since we could not find notepaper we used a sheet off a drawing pad that I had. As he read down the list he ran across “art supplies” and said such as the drawing paper that the list was written on. Very observant! He said that he was good with everything and that we could go on through but that we would face a federal customs police blockade in about an hour from there and if we got through that we would be good to go for the rest of Mexico. So, maybe it wouldn't be so easy-peasy afterall.

It was strange being in our new country. Everything was so different and had suddenly became so. The Garmin was doing her thing and leading us to Victoria. We saw farmlands and local houses. People living their everyday lives. Wow! Our life was indeed changing! Around about an hour on the road we came to the blockade. The customs officer asked the same questions. What did we have in the van? Household goods was our answer. We gave him the list the other officer had seen. He looked it over. He did ask Robin to open his ammo boxes that he uses to carry his hand tools in. Blaine had mentioned in Clifton that maybe that wasn't such a good idea for this trip. Wise man. The officer was okay with what his random searching had uncovered. He said to have a good trip. We were through!!!! One of the most amazing things was that through all of this our dogs never barked or growled. It was as if their mouths were sealed shut!

We were stopped about 6-8 times more by Federal Police blockades but the officers were nice and asked where we were going. They sometimes asked if the dogs were “brava”, biters...I said maybe, I couldn't really say since all of this was new to them. The officers said okay, they understood...have a good trip! Wahoooo!!

Mexico Bethel had told us not to drive at night so we had decided to stay in Victoria but were having a rough time finding a hotel that took dogs. It was hot. The Holiday Inn were sorry but if we wanted to we could leave our dogs in our car in their underground parking lot. No. The girl was very nice and said that she would call around and help us find a place. She found a Mexican resort that would. She gave us direction and sent us off. It turned out to be the best place on the trip. La Fuentes is an old Mexican gated resort with tennis courts, pools, horses, and a great breakfast buffet. The room was beautiful! We got room service and it was great food with cold beer! In the morning we walked the dogs, had breakfast and checked out.

The garmin now had a name, Michelle. She was still on task in directing us on Mexican roads. Traffic was interesting. Slow traffic stays to the right with one side on the side of the road. Traffic was like a dance....passing, moving over to let others pass, blinking lights to help others know when it was safe to pass. We thought driving in Mexico might not be so bad.

About 30 minutes outside of Victoria, the van started to slow down. We pulled into a Pemex ( Mexican Petroleum gas stations...the only ones in the country) Something was very wrong with the brakes or the wheel bearing. We called Bethel. They promised to get help out. They got the gas station number and the phone number in order to find our exact location. After a while three cars pulled up. Bethel had called the circuit overseer for that area who then called the congregations around there who then called a brother who was a mechanic to go out and help us. We were so happy to see them! Their english was very rough. It was decided that the problem was the brake. We would drive in a caravan to the brother's shop where he could repair it. On the way we started to smoke. The caravan stopped and repairs were made on the side of the road so that we could complete the drive. The emergency brake had stuck so it was burning up. Bummer.

We did make it safely to the Brother's garage. He repaired the brakes. It was decided that it was too late in the day to get back on the road. The Brother invited us to stay at his house. He and his wife lived with her parents who were in Honduras helping in Spanish congregations. His wife's sister and brother-in-law also lived in the home and they were getting ready to leave that Monday for their first circuit assignment. They are part of the Nhautl speaking congregations---the spelling is probably very wrong but it is an indigenous language here in Mexico, in fact, Mexicans think it was their first language. So, it was very nice to meet all of them and have dinner together. The next morning the brother drove us out of Victoria back on the right road. The road was a potentially dangerous road for the inexperienced. Safely back on the road, we were off again! The pictures are from my phone showing the dogs and the border. The group shot is from tonight at a restaurant with the friends from Villahermosa. More later! Love you!

Finally Connected Again!

2012-09-29T05:47:00.001-07:00

Okay, you are probably wondering where we have been. We have been in Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico. We have been staying with a family who do not have wifi. Although the family are extremely nice I find it to be a hardship not to have an internet connection. I realize that I sound like a spoiled, whining American but it has been very hard to not be connected to family and friends. I thought Merida was tough because we only had wifi in the lobby! I was wrong. So my words of wisdom are that if something is important to you you should make sure that whatever it is is included in the arrangements others make for you.

I loved Merida! It reminded us of Antigua Guatemala. It was cleaner and pretty. It has lots of restaurants and great old buildings. You feel safe walking around.

We took Ado busline from Poza Rica to Mexico City through the mountains. Great driver. Beautiful scenery. Veracruz is very green. Then we flew Interjet airline to Merida. Nice flight. Interjet airline was easier to work with than Aeromexico airline.

We have been out in service a couple times. It was interesting...mostly return visits and Bible studies. Tomorrow we will go out in Paraiso. We hope to finally see the ocean! I will let you know how it goes!

Yesterday we finally got to see Paraiso. We are thinking that if we do pick the Paraiso congregation to serve in we would like to live in Paraiso rather than in Comalcalco where the congregation is now meeting. Paraiso is closer to the ocean and smaller.

We are planning on leaving this area on Tuesday. We are not exactly sure how we will be going home. We will let you know.

Robin gave the talk today. The congregation meets on Saturdays at 2:30. Monday night we will go to meeting again.

We have driven by houses for rent. The rental market is diverse. We saw

Cancun

2012-09-26T09:31:00.001-07:00

Very pretty! Very overbuilt! The water is warm and clear--a sort of turquoise color. Sitting at the beach tonight I think will be a pleasant memory from this trip. We missed the ferry to Isle Mujeres and going to Jimmy Buffet's Margaretville restaurant! We hope to leave Mexico on Friday but we still have to buy our plane ticket. We will work on that tomorrow.

Update!

2012-09-26T09:05:00.001-07:00

Comalcalco and Paraiso went fine except we stayed with a family who did not have wifi and lived outside the city. In the city there were Internet places or coffee shops with wifi. I wrote a long note on my phone to add to this blog but it is having trouble uploading. We are now in cancun, hoping to make arrangements for a flight home in a day or two! Love you!

Merida

2012-09-15T04:48:00.001-07:00

We are in Merida now! The convention is at the assembly hall. The assembly hall is a metal building with concrete floors and plastic theater seats. Works well with the humidity. Terrible storm yesterday during the lunch break. Very loud. Ready for day two! Lupe,dave simonian is our bethel speaker,his wife gave us the bethel tour! Chris B lives in Merida with his family. Funny what a small world it is! The friends from Chiapas let us ride with them.

Poza Rica

2012-09-13T12:08:00.001-07:00

Well we left Poza Rica this morning at 5am! I was teary because the congregation is very kind. Our host family were a pioneer couple in their 40's. He teaches English at an elementary school. There is no getting around the fact that it is an oil town. It smells like a toned down oilfield. The most important fact is that the congregation wants and needs help. They were very sincere in asking us to please come back. Robin had 2 parts in last night's meeting. We went on studies, rv's and did some canvassing for English speakers. One young brother drove to the bus station to see us off. Very sweet. Now we are in Mexico City waiting for our flight to Merida for another convention and we will meet the Tabasco congregation. It will be a hard decision to make. Love you guys!

Monday & Tuesday

2012-09-12T12:28:00.001-07:00

In Poza Rica Veracruz, photos of young pioneers we went in service with yesterday until 8pm! When we got back to our host family they had dinner for us! How very sweet! One picture has a mango tree--can you see the mangos? The other pictures are of the skyline from a park. Tonight is meeting and I am looking forward to meeting the congregation. Missing everyone!