Ay ay ay ay...Canta Mariachi

Sorry to get this to you so late. We spent the whole day out in service and it was fantastic! This morning was like going in service with Rachel Crist (love you, Abuelita). Sherry McCasland is HILARIOUS and we got to spend a little more time with Lesley. Today was a little different from yesterday…we had a car! So first off we drove to some territory, worked at one block where Sherry talked with a really nice young Mexican woman who learned English in school. The woman’s baby was fussing so she was very distracted, but Sherry offered the magazines and set up a time to return. After that we went to a 7-11 (they actually have them in downtown Zapopan and even in old town) where we were trying to get these cheesy little iced lattes but the machine wasn’t working. A nice man came over and helped us, and it turned out that he had spent some time in Colorado so he can speak some English. We gave him some magazines on marriage and he was very appreciative. We really got to enjoy some of the Mexican flavor this city has to offer today. We’ve included just a few pictures of the colorful houses we saw.

When we got back to the Kingdom Hall, there turned out to be only one car for all of us (6). Still we all went together in a Mitsubishi Lancer. Human sardines!!! Then we stopped at a different taco place for lunch and the waitress, whose name is Rosalina, asked if we were the people from that place on Avenida Guadalupe. We asked if she meant Jehovah’s Witnesses, which she didn’t, but she must have misunderstood and she said yes. She didn’t speak any English so Irving gave her some Spanish magazines. Then she directed the guys to a man who speaks English. This is a picture of the people we went in service with in the afternoon (and me…happy mom???) They are Irving, Josh (again) and Marjorie. Marjorie has been here 7 years and she was pretty shy, so we didn’t get to know her very well. After lunch we worked the block where the taco restaurant was and the one next to it. Marjorie had to go home for the day, and we were hot and our feet hurt so Josh suggested we go to “Galleria.” That is a very ornate, ostentatious mall that is fancier and pricier than a lot of what you’ll see in America!

We walked around a little, which was nice even though we were hurting, because the ground was all even and we didn’t have to worry about tripping on it! There was another Starbucks on the third (yes, third) floor and we got a refreshment there. We, as usual, held up the line with our butchered Spanish and all the baristas gathered ‘round to make fun of the gringas. Kate wanted a pumpkin spice latte (which they don’t have here) but didn’t know how to say it. Irving told the barista what he thought was pumpkin, they said they didn’t have that, Kate said it’s really popular in the States. Then Irving realized that he had actually asked for a zucchini latte. EWWW!!! No wonder they thought we were gross. Anyway, there were lots of chairs there and we sat for a little while to rest up. A cute little girl was playing with the high-tech sign (it’s interactive and touch-screen…really!) and her mom was sitting next to us. So Kate talked to her, she ended up speaking English, and being as she was Catholic, she was very interested in “How well do you know your Heavenly Father?”

The overwhelming sound of a mariachi band filled the mall and, as we got closer to the origin of the fiesta, we saw a real Mariachi band with about 20 members. There were horns, violins, guitars and of course singers. They even did a little dance “para las mujeres” at one point. That was so much fun to watch! After walking around a little more, we realized that a lot of time had passed and it was already 6:30! We took the bus to our side of town and it ended up being the yucky one (route 51) but we still tried to witness to people there although no one spoke any English.

Turns out we got dropped off a little further away from our house than usual and ended up having to walk 8 blocks to get to the restaurant where we wanted to eat. We weren’t impressed with their food, but the view was incredible. Our server had a strange accent, didn’t talk loud enough and couldn’t hear or understand us. Oh yeah, and one of the guys that works there kept sitting at a table and smoking, even though the host assured us there was no smoking in the restaurant. We won’t be eating there again, but at least we tried it! After dinner, we walked probably 8 more blocks to get home. It was getting very dark, but we were very careful. Plus, we were armed with umbrellas which we decided could be considered weapons if the wielder of said umbrella had some sort of martial art training. Keys in hand, we entered the courtyard of our apartment and promptly closed the gate behind us.

Have we told you guys just how hot it is here? Maybe if it wasn’t the rainy season and there was no humidity it wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s like we can’t ever dry off. After several nights of being almost unable to get to sleep for being so hot, Kelsey went and asked Ezra for a fan or something. This fan is awesome and I can’t believe we didn’t think of doing this sooner!

We have tomorrow all planned out. First, we’re going in service until about 2. Then we’ll attend the book study with the McCaslands. After that, we’re going out to Tlaquepaque where Tom is giving the public discourse that they have on Saturdays. Then we’re hitting the discos. Just kidding, but we’ll explore the area and (this one’s for you, Miss Bobbi Bottoms) do a little souvenir shopping. For any of you who don’t already know, Tlaquepaque is the shopping district but we’ll let you know more as soon as we know!!! So, for now, we leave you with this: Ay ay ay ay…Canta y no llores!

Love ya!

K3LSO and Kate