Finally....

Well I'm finally getting to this!  Sorry I haven't posted anything yet, I know a lot of you have been wondering when I would hurry up and post, haha.  So last week was awesome, as usual.  As I believe most of you have heard about, yes, we were welcomed by a scorpion in one of the showers our first night (Sunday).  I was the one who found it, of course, but Cathy killed it ;)  What would I do without her??

Monday morning we looked for Marcial, the old man I met last year who had to dig his own wife's grave.  We attended her funeral last year.  Erasmo went to his house and asked around for him, and when he came back he told us that the guys who had stolen the deed to Marcial's house last year tore his house down......  The neighbors told Erasmo that Marcial had been staying at a homeless shelter for a little while.  So we checked there, but we were told that he had stayed there for a little while, but then one day he didn't come back and he hadn't been there since the end of January.  One woman had seen him at the market a few weeks ago selling caramel apples, so I'm glad to hear he's still been doing that.  I'm a little bummed that I didn't get to see him, but who knows, I'm here for three months, maybe we'll bump into each other :)  We visited Mercedes and Alfredo (the ones who have a house on the river also), but not one was there.  So we tried Amelia's (their oldest daughter).  Amelia, her three daughters, and her youngest sister were all home, so we visited with them, then took all five of them out to lunch!  It was Lupita's first time going to a restaurant!!  She's five years old.  Apparently Mercedes and Alfredo had gone to the mountains, in Victoria, and Amelia wasn't sure when they would be back...    So we dropped the girls off for school, then took Amelia and her two youngest daughters to Soriana to get groceries for her two brothers, Antonio and Roberto, who were staying at the other house on the river until their parents got back.  I think they appreciated the company.  There is LITERALLY nothing to do except talk, sit, sleep, now they could eat, but that's it.  How boring!  When we got back to Amelia's house, her husband, Juan Antonio, had gotten home from his bus route, and when the women went inside, apparently Dave had a great talk with Juan Antonio.  We gave them $2500 last year to build a house, and we obviously realized they haven't built a house yet...  Well Dave found out that Juan Antonio is secretly building it for Amelia!  She showed us the lot she THINKS they bought, but she doesn't actually know which one he got, because he's already started building their house.  How awesome is that??  I am so excited for them, and what a guy, eh? :)

Tuesday morning we went to Leonor's house, and both she and her daughter, Karla, were there.  We talked about birthdays and found out her "sister" Concepcion's birthday is March 1st.  So with Leonor's help, we started planning a surprise party for Concepcion :)  It'll be fun!  We walked over to Concepcion's house because she and her daughter Perla were home.  Perla is getting so big!  She'll be three on May 15!  We found out things with her husband, Javier's, parents still aren't so good...  They moved to South Carolina, I believe, and they haven't talked to him in many months.  So he's been struggling with that a little.  We got to meet him today, though.  He came home while we were still there, so it was great to finally meet him, and Dave prayed for him.  After leaving colonia Loma Alta, we picked Syntia and her kids up to bring them out to the Gateway for dinner.  We had a great time, and they enjoyed getting to see where we stay.  We then took them to Soriana to buy a bunch of groceries, because Cathy does that for them every year.  It's a little difficult to get her to start putting things in the cart because she always feels embarrassed, but she eventually got a little bolder. :) 

Wednesday morning we went shopping for our surprise fiesta!!  In Loma Alta, we ended up getting stuck in the mud close to Leonor's house.....  It had rained the week before we got there, and also on Monday and Tuesday.  So we were stuck in the mud, but thankfully a bunch of neighbor guys came out and helped get us out...  So we carried the groceries a ways, but a least it was better than getting stuck again.  When it rains here, everything is a MESS.  The meal we had for our surprise party was FANTASTIC!  We had delicious grilled chicken, rice, pico de gallo, salsa and chips, guacamole, and we learned how to make corn tortillas :D  That was SO much fun and they were absolutely delicious!  I was stuffed after that, but all of the food tasted amazing!  Leonor kept trying to get me to eat more, because she said I need to get a belly, hahaha.  Some of the neighbors came over to eat as well, because we had invited them when we stopped to say hi to Guadalupe's family.  I exchanged email addresses with one of them, Moises, who's my age, so we'll see how well I can send emails in Spanish, haha.  We left feeling very full, and guess what...?  We got stuck again :P  So we all had to get out of the van, and Erasmo and Dave pushed it out, haha.  When we got back to the Gateway, we visited Patti and Benito, and their daughter Conchita and her family.  It was a nice visit!  Kristi and I played with Conchita's kids--Oscar (3) and Itzel (4).  Cathy joked with Conchita and said, "Babysitters?"  Haha, sure!

Thursday the guys dropped us off at Leonor's so they could get a bunch of drywall for Leonor and Jose.  Not long after we got there, Leonor broke down and told us Concepcion's daughter, Perla, is really sick.  She had a fever all night long, and a bad headache.  So Cathy called Bill right away and asked him to get some Children's Tylenol, and we prayed with Leonor.  She said Concepcion is actually Leonor's niece, but she's more like a sister to her, and she loves her like a sister.  So she was very worried about both Concepcion and Perla, who went to the doctor before we arrived.  I gave $50 to Leonor for Concepcion--to help out with medicine, food, etc. and $20 to Leonor as a little something for them as well.  As we were driving back to the Gateway after they brought the drywall, we happened to see Concepcion and Perla!  They had just come out of the pharmacy, so we talked for a couple minutes, found out she was feeling a little better, then said goodbye.  We had hamburgers and fries for lunch back at the Gateway :)  We filled our pinata, Cathy and I went on a long walk, hung out for a while, then had bisteak tacos for dinner at 4 :D  They are my absolute favorite!!!  While we were eating, Cesar's wife, Jennifer, called to tell us about an email she received.  It said that there was a shootout that morning near Pan de Vida, in the Sandoval colonia.  They were saying that some people at Pan de Vida were held hostage, they closed the roads, and there was a curfew for the entire city at 8pm.  Bill called Juan, who came in where we were eating, and he asked him how we could find out if this was legit.  Dave wondered about calling the police department, but Juan kind of laughed and said, no.  He called his nephew, who confirmed a shooting and roads blocked off, but there were not hostage situations, and there was so real curfew set by the mayor.  It was just traveling by word of mouth that people should be careful and stay alert.  So we still headed out to Amelia's for a get-together.  We broke the pinata, which was fun, then while the rest of us went inside, Juan Antonio took Dave, Bill, and Erasmo to see the house :)  When they came back, we ate!  Again!  Haha, and it was so good!  She made flour tortillas, which were incredible!  I think I like corn tortillas a LITTLE better, but they're both super great!  Mercedes and Alfredo came back because Amelia had called them right after we left on Monday, so they headed straight back to see us.  It was nice seeing them and all 9 kids, and the few grandkids.  We found out the reason why Mercedes and Alfredo were gone.  They owe some people about $1000, and because Mercedes' mom died last month, they wondered if they could get some money to cover that.  Their truck is collateral, and if they lose the truck, their entire income source is shot.  They need it to take fish back and forth from the river to the market. 

Friday we stopped at Anselmo's place of work (Mercedes' oldest son), to give him a little money to help with a down payment on a house.  Then we went to Mercedes and Alfredo's to give them $600 to help with the debt, school needs, food, etc.  Dave left it up to them to decide what was best for their family.  We just hoped to help them at least keep the truck.  Our stay was short, because we were heading to the market!  After a little shopping we drove to Maria's house, and both of the girls (Mayra and Karla) were there.  Karla's birthday was Wednesday, so we took them to Soriana for a birthday cake :)  While we were there, we also got some groceries for me, because Dave and Cathy wanted to make sure I didn't starve after they left ;)  So we hung out with the girls until Maria got home at 5:30, then we took them to dinner.  It was great to catch up!  After heading back to their house for cake, we left around 8:30 because Maria gets up at 5 to work from 6-5!  That's a long day in a tortilla-making factory!

Saturday was tough....  Saying goodbye is always hard, but especially when it means you're going to be "alone" for a while!  The group that was going to be here with me isn't here, so I am a team of one.  It's okay, it just gets a little lonely at night....  Thankfully, Veronica took me to town so we could do some laundry, grab some lunch, she got her haircut, then we did a little more grocery shopping.  It was good to get out!

Sunday Erin invited me to eat pancakes with her for breakfast :)  I got to meet her friend, Katie, who is engaged to Jaime, Patti and Benito's son.  We talked for a couple hours, then I headed back to the Gateway to journal, Skype, etc, before Juan and Priscilla came to pick me up for church.  Veronica was leading worship, so that's why Juan had to come get me.  The church service lasted for THREE hours!!  The first hour was worship, prayer, etc, the second hour was the sermon, and boy did that pastor yell!  My ears were ringing...he definitely didn't need a microphone :P  The next half hour was praying/crying/wailing, etc.  It's very different, but I've at least witnessed it before, so it wasn't too big of a shock.  The last half hour was talking about things coming up in the future that the church is involved in.  Veronica said it usually isn't so long, but they had a lot to discuss.  After church, she introduced me to my potential future English class.  There are about 15 people interested in learning English, so after I talk to Richard when he gets back in a couple days, I will pick a time for those classes.  Probably about 3 days a week--two during the week and one on Saturday. 

Phew!  Sorry that was so long...I promise the next one shouldn't be!  I just had a lot to catch you up on!  If you could please pray for all of the families I mentioned, Veronica and her family, Gilbert's family (our cook/my neighbors), Eleazar, Richard and his wife, and Erin, I would really appreciate it!  I will try my best to post when I can.  Please don't worry about me and my safety.  Yes it's a little dangerous here, and there's violence, but I am safe at the Gateway, and I'm not stupid enough to go somewhere by myself at night.  I know that God is watching over all of us, and we shouldn't be afraid!  We're working for God's glory, so I know we are protected :)  Prayer is always appreciated, but please don't worry about me too much!  I have lots of people watching out for me, one Big Guy in particular :D

Hasta luego!