I'm amazed how quickly the days add up! I thought I posted here just a week ago--it's been 10 days, as you can verify.....
This is going to be a hodge-podge of things from these past few days. We have spent
a lot of time in the car. It's interesting--when we get in and I enter a destination in the GPS, it tells me how far away it is and the expected arrival time--normal......except the satellite has no clue about what the traffic is like! Neither do we, really, because it is so different from day to day, even hour to hour. Often I will see something that will give me an opportunity for deeper thoughts.......mostly that we have no idea how blessed we really are....... so here goes..........
Roger thought you needed to see our first Sunday meal. I turned out much better than I thought it might considering our little, tiny stove and oven.....and limited ingredients.......
A "retorno" (pronunciation--hetorno--the e is short, the os long) You can see one going each direction. This is the only way to make a u-turn or get across the street. There are
no, well, almost no, left turns......and these retornos are very randomly spaced--kilometers apart--or not......
The little convenience store where we often eat. The white dishes contain different vegetables--usually. Sometimes quail eggs and other things I don't know. The chaffing trays have assorted meats--nearly always there is some kind of beans and rice in two of them--sometimes noodles of some kind, chicken, fish........and then you put your plate on a scale at the far end. Sometimes they give you a small cup of something sweet and you buy your drink and pay at the counter behind me--the convenience store....... I've liked everything I've chosen here. And the wife of the Salvador mission president says it is her favorite place to eat.
Look who I found on the wall at the mission office! We are following in the footsteps of wonderful people! It's an honor to be here. I pray we will be true to the legacy they created.
The full moon just three days ago as it rose over the city--from our balcony......It probably wasn't quite that light......but almost. The world can be lovely even in a city of three million people!
Wow! This is contrast I had not planned........this is reality for way too many people, and it tugs at my heart. This little "street" is one the GPS recognizes, but
no way would I
ever try to get a car on it! And yesterday I saw one even narrower that was all stairs!
We got onto one of those teeny, tiny very steep streets and came to a dead end. Thankfully, Roger is very good at maneuvering in tight places whether it's a school bus or a small car. This is a "back yard" where several people park their cars in whatever direction or place......the red car clear at the bottom obviously comes in and out. I don't know how they do it........
People actually live in these "houses", that are built practically on top of one another right up the hill, and get to their homes through these little streets and allies, up and down stairs.....behind gates and fences or walls. It's a sad thing to me that every house or business or apartment building has a six to eight foot tall fence--more often a wall with spikes or broken glass on top--around it with a guarded or locked gate. I saw one the other day with electric wires above the wall.
One day last week we and one other elder had to go register our visas or something and get fingerprinted--I didn't understand all the ramifications.....but we had to do it to be legal.....Elder Green, one of the office Elders who everyone relies on, went with us to help us through the hoops. I don't think the mission could function without him. He's so patient and kind. So......we left for the airport mid-morning, and waited and waited, got finger-printed, paid a fee of some kind, had lunch (yes, we waited that long)....then stopped at a post office to pay a different fee. Finally, we stopped at the federal building to do the final registration (I think) and waited some more along with several other people. We each took a number. Roger's number came up first. Then the other elder. We waited and waited. Finally Elder Green took my slip of paper and went back to the desk where we got our numbers. They quite crossly asked him why he had that number! They gave him--me--a new number and then it wasn't long before it was my turn. The process took all. day. long. And obviously, we totally wore out our wonderful guide and helper.
Sister Triumpho took us to a market and walked around with us to tell us what we were looking at. It's an inside market, but full of small "booths" with usually one kind of product to sell........
These are caju (causeju)......we would say cashew! Yep. That's the nut right there on the bottom.......but they are selling these for the fruit. We've had some of the juice......not my favorite........I like the nut lots better.
These next two are for Cody..........hot peppers..........really hot peppers. No. I'm not going to try them.
There were several shops with cases of fresh meat.........cuts of beef hanging on hooks.......
We were at another missionary apartment the other day......and startled into thinking how spoiled I have been my whole life! I think you will agree.............. Some other Elders had their free weights really free......on a stick--not even a broom handle--it wasn't straight--and nothing to hold them on--they were free to slide wherever--whenever..........
We had to buy some apartment stuff from a store that is a Home Depot and Bed, Bath, and Beyond merged. A huge store.....at least half again as big as a Home Depot. I thought this employee--who appeared to have the job of returning unwanted and/or misplaced items to the proper place--was creative and smart! He was pretty good on them too........I thought of you, Brielle.
Out near the airport there is a "tunnel of bamboo"--big bamboo. It's beautiful. One of the missionaries told us it was planted there for the U.S. to hide planes during World War II. I wish I could verify that........ True or not though, it's a beautiful place.
While we were out there Roger replaced a plug--one of the elders asked "how did you know how to do that???" And when I picked up the broom he took it from me and swept up the mess.
One of the sisters had been taking cold showers for a few days, so he took care of that too. There are times when I feel like a scrub nurse as I hand him tools and parts as he needs them. The missionaries are so appreciative. It is so fun to serve them.
Sometimes the traffic is so slow and backed up the people walk right down the middle of the road between all the cars and buses trying to sell all kinds of things. This man happens to be selling bottles of cold water. Some sell all kinds of fruits--oranges or strawberries or mangoes--some have candy or sunshades and phone charging cords, or something like rolled up tacos........we aren't sure what they are. Some of them are quite persistent. Also, when we get stopped at a light sometimes--especially in the morning--people will come out in the crosswalk to juggle, sometimes on ladders or on a unicycle and then they come through the parked cars for money.........all new stuff..........
...and this one is playing a saxophone...
