Yesterday was an adventurous day! I would have never dared on my own, but I was with my friend Gardenia and she made me feel comfortable. (It helps she can speak spanish) Gardenia is like my 2nd mother & always takes care of me :) She has lived here about 3 years & knows just about everything.
We were in town for nearly 4 hours and this is what happened:
We bought fresh produce right out of the truck
picked up her recently cremated dog.. it was pretty sad/weird
enjoyed some thrifty ice cream
found the equivalent of lattice without the side effects (Jeremy still won't let me use it, but maybe I will get it for my mom)
Looked at a pinata's & streamers store
saw a million stray dogs
fed a poor skinny one
were attacked by 3 crazy ones, when we turned down the wrong dirt road.. Luckily we were in the car, but I was still pretty scared
stopped in the middle of nowhere to talk to a random guy about getting Gardenia direct tv.. Seemed shady & probably illegal, but he apparently hooks up everyones
Saw the sister missionaries knocking on doors
Found a place that sells huge lobsters for just a $1 each
Stopped at a tailors to talk about them possibly making a dress for me
Drove in the "heito" & waved to all the cute kids running in the dirt with no shoes on.
With Gardenia speaking spanish it makes it a lot easier to get around & interact with people. It was really nice to actually see the everyday happenings of the small town of San Felipe.
I am going to make an effort to get out more, find great food in the hole in the wall restaurants, really try interact with the people, & just be more adventurous!
(here is the picture of the poor dog I was talking about above. The streets are seriously filled with stray dogs. Sad to see them withering away.. I felt so bad for it with his ribs sticking out, & you can see in the bottom right Gardenia trying to pull a tick off it :( Sad to know they don't get loved & feed or taken care of like we do Diesel.)
Later that evening I had a primary presidency meeting. Usually we have it at the church, but this time decided to meet at the president's house. It was kind of sad to be in her house & sitting in dirty plastic chairs at her plastic kitchen table, with a hanging light bulb as the only light. Her whole house was the size of our kitchen! It consisted of the kitchen and two side rooms the size of a closet with mattresses covering the whole floor. The floor was just concrete with a layer of dirt over it. No doors at all just sheets separating everything. I didn't ask but I am pretty sure they have some sort of out door bathroom system. She also has no fridge, which I just can't fathom how you get by without necessities like that but of course they do. It was definitely an eye opening experience. I felt guilty for feeling a little grossed out at how dirty everything that I was touching was, sad for her & her small children that this is the best they can afford, & thankful for all that I have & often take for granted.
Usually Jeremy comes to translate our mtgs as 2 of us only speak English & 2 only Spanish, but this time he wasn't available. I was feeling nervous that we weren't going to be productive because we can't understand each other, but by some miracle it was a really good meeting & somehow we all understood each other! (for the most part anyway, usually I just smile & nod whether I understand or not) I know the spirit was there to really bridge the gap between the two languages. Today was a huge step into feeling integrated into MX. I know I have really been dragging my feet, and trying to stay in my own comfortable bubble... but I'm going to try and be more welcoming of the culture & traditions of the mexican people in San Felipe.
