Monday in Mexico
Monday, Jun. 16, 2003

030616 Just Waking Up

Man, did I sleep good last night. I did dream alot, but not dreams that were unsettling. I think the dreams were based on the lack of socialness that's due to my not understanding the language.

Since I've last written, a lot has happened. Immigration's line at the airport was very long but moved quickly. We had to fill out a form while on the plane and then when we got to immigration we just handed that and our passport to the guy.

After that, we were a little confused. There were several lines for customs. We were nearly the last person in our group through and when we got out of the customs area, we were lost by ourselves for a few minutes.

The customs area is very impressive. It's all frosted glass and polished steel and lit from above from a giant skylight. I think the alienness of the architecture added to my confusion.

But then, the box guys showed up.

What I mean by that is, since we were traveling with boxes of medical supplies, the local guys from the Iglesia de Cristo here had shown up and would carry the boxes for us. If you followed them, you could find out where they were going.

Most of the box guys didn't speak English, and my Espa�ol is pretty bad. Very very bad in fact. You might think you can speak and understand Spanish, but wait until you get into a non-touristy part of Mexico City and you'll be communicating only on the most basic of levels.

After following the box guys, we stood outside. We were waiting. But there were so few of our group of 12 there. There was Alison (mi esposa), Leigh, and Gary. All the others were somewhere else. After about 10 to 15 minutes of waiting, it's difficult to determine how long since I was not only confused but also amazed at the different cars and the billboards and the sounds, we were led through the airport again and out a different door. From there we seemed to wander, but always went downstairs and the same direction mostly.

We got out to the street level and the traffic was amazing. Three lanes of crazy cars stopped to let us, all of us including the box guys, across to our cars.

At the time, I thought we were in a run down part of town due to the fact that it is run down. But as Alvaro (I probably have his name wrong) drove us around, getting lost quickly, we saw a lot of Mexico City and it was all pretty shabby.

I was thinking that the place we were setting up the medical mission was out away from the city. But flying in, the view, I should have realized that in Mexico City, there is no away from the city. This place is enormous and not in a NYC way. It's flat.

But as we were driving through the different barrios, all of the sudden we pulled over and there we were.

Outside is pretty rough. Actually, inside the courtyard is pretty rough too, but the plants make up for it. In fact, to get to the concrete house with no door that we're sleeping at, you walk underneath a 30+ foot arbor covered with all manner of flowering plants.

Our room has a chalky floor that gets on anything you set down on it. There is a bed in it, and after we got back from dinner, there were two chairs that we could use as bedside stands. I took a picture of how I have the keyboard set up on my bedside chair.

Dinner last night was wonderful. Pan fried chicken, mashed potatoes, refried beans, fresh tortillas, and a small salad. But the best thing was the hot sauce that was made just before we ate. Also, the tomatoes, they were fresh. I explained that in Huntsville that the tomatoes are picked green and then sprayed with something to ripen them once in the store an it's just not the same.

After dinner, we had church. If I had a song book, which was bound with that black plastic binding that you get at a copy shop, I could sing. I knew most of the tunes, but was at a loss for the Spanish words. In fact, many times the translation to Spanish wasn�t a translation at all, but just totally different words.

An older man was baptized. I don't think due to Jerry's lesson though. I think the man had let his family know he being baptized that day.

After church, they had a big table laid out with prepoured cups of coffee. I think it had already been sweetened too, but I might be wrong. When I got milk in mine, the gal gave me a ton of it. I talked with Salvador some with my bad Spanish, then grabbed Alvaro to translate for me and him.

Alvaro was the guy who drove us back from the airport. He spent his elementary years in Houston and has to talk in English at least once a week, so he's always in practice.

After coffee, we went upstairs in the building where the medical mission will be and bagged drugs. I was very quick compared to the others. First I bagged Tylenol and then moved on to aspirin. I did a jar that held 500 each time, putting 20 in each Ziploc bag.