november 1st and 2nd

November 1
Awaking before the alarm I lay there listening to the sounds of the city, roosters crowing cars passing on the street below my open windows and the inevitable barking of the perros. Oddly enough one of my first thoughts was of some online banking I needed to attend to. I got ready and went down to the lounge area and did what I needed to do and then Cindy checked her email. It was time for devotions and prayer. I presented some thoughts from Hebrews 5:8 about Jesus’ prayer life and the answer he received to His prayer in Gethsemane. He was delivered from death but not until after the cross and three days in the grave.
Breakfast followed and it had been two days since I had oatmeal so I inquired about avena and got a positive answer. Oatmeal in Mexico is served sometimes almost as a warm drink. Today I got a bowl of cream with butter floating on the top and grains of oats filling the bottom portion and a banana on the side. After slicing the banana into the milk I proceeded to enjoy a hearty breakfast finishing up with some Day of the Dead bread. Loaves of bread prepared for Day of the Dead come in many creative designs. This was one of the simplest with a plastic face on a spike decorating one spot on the top crust.
After breakfast we loaded the van and headed out of the city toward the Pacific coast. The road is primarily a two lane highway which has almost no dotted lines. Since it was Sunday morning there was little traffic and the primary barrier to moving more quickly was the endless string curves back and forth and forth and back. Nausea is a real concern for anyone prone to motion sickness and group members use a variety of medical remedies and preventative measures. The scenery is breath taking as we follow a deep river gorge from about 6000 ft. down to sea level. One stop at a rest station produced the necessary refreshment to continue. For me it was a Magnum Classic bar which is like a dark chocolate Dove bar on a stick.
We arrived at our hotel Quichoba in Tehuantepec after about four and a half hours of travel and had about twenty minutes before supper in the restaurant. Then we had about forty five minutes to get ready for church. Scheduled for Five o’clock some sound systems problems held it up until 5:30. I was happy that the singing went on and on and on. Two different worship leaders led and the words were projected on the wall from an overhead projector which was a real help for someone with as small a vocabulary in Spanish as mine. Two of our group gave testimonies. Cindy read hers in Spanish and Bruce who is a short term missionary here translated for Bill. The JoEllen read a sermon prepared by Malcolm who was unable at the last minute to accompany us. After a list of announcements by Carmello, the pastor, we adjourned to the church yard for delicious tamales which were served from a large galvanized wash tub. They were in being steamed in several large pots over open fires in the yard when we had arrived. During the service whiffs of wood smoke were wafted into the auditorium as a forecast of the good things to come. A warm coffee drink with doses of cinnamon and sugar was served in white foam cups. Soon it was time to head back. To explain how tired I was I did not even join the group headed for the Pemex where a case of frozen Magnum bars was waiting. After a short cell phone conversation with Ann in MT. I did gain enough energy to get the Wi-Fi code from the desk. The signal in my room was weak so I sat on a stray backless resin chair near the back door to the office to delete most of my email messages and respond to two.
Then after plugging in everything that needed recharging Rodney I checked with Rodney, my roommate and an EMT from Kansas City about stetting the alarm and deciding on 6:15 AM as in 6:15 in the middle of the night. I then fell into bed and was soon fast asleep.

November 2nd
The cell phone alarm awoke me from a deep sleep and since it was on the dresser I was up immediately. Devotions were scheduled for 7:00 and after a frustrating search for things in my luggage which had never really recovered from my hasty departure from Mitla it was all dumped on the bed. Things I thought I would not need were packed in the smaller bag leaving me lots of room now in the larger one. We were all out in the van by 9:00 AM and on the way to a small church in the village of Mixtequilla. When we arrived children and adults were gathered waiting for screening. It took some time to configure the equipment according to available electric outlets and soon we were operating to do health screenings. My job of recording was not needed so I had time after the set up to catch up on my blog. Young faces appear all around the screen but soon leave when they see only English text and no action on the screen.
As the morning progressed I started showing some of the videos I had taken in Oaxaca. Even some of the parents came to watch and one little guy who couldn’t see ended up on my knee. We were finished early in the afternoon and so we opened our cooler and shared lunch with some of the Mexican volunteers. They had taken care of all the registration, heights and weights and were trained to do hemoglobin and sugar levels by Rodney and Jan. We left and headed for what had been described as a Mexican swimming hole. It turned out to be a warm spring that was contained by stone walls about three feet higher than the water level. Every few yards were stone steps leading into the crystal clear 80 degree water. Only three brave souls went in, Rodney, Bill and Art. The bottom was sandy although there were boulders and other stones on the bottom. When I first sat on the edge to put my feet in to test the water a swarm of half inch long fish swarmed out. Soon three inch fish actually began to nibble my toes and tickle. I was able to actually video them.
I came out for a while and sat with my huge hotel towel around my shoulders. When I ventured I put it down near Jan and Cindy. Coming out some time later I grabbed it and went up the hill only to discover that I had a tiny pink towel in my hands. Embarrassed I quickly returned it next to some ladies sandals and bewildered I began to search for my towel. JoEllen asked if the man sitting nearby had it. He did! I tried to get a better had to go. “Mi toalla”, I began wondering if he would be belligerant. He jumped to his feet obviously embarrassed handed it to me while heading for the little pink one. Carmello told him I had taken his and we all laughed about it for some time. On the way home we stopped in downtown Tehuantepec. A couple of us had worn shorts so we really looked like Amercanos not that the tall white people did not stand out before.
We got home and had dinner at the hotel and then we made some Skype calls. Of course mine was to Montana. While watching the world series I caught up on my blog and talked to Rodney.