Road trip

Monday we left to travel to a town five hours away, its a town where the pastor at Chrissy's church used to preach and live. We traveled with the pastor, his wife, and daughter. We left here about 10 am and arrived around 4ish. We went to the house of his son's mother-in-law. We met the pastor's son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and extended family. They prepared for us some tomales, which where really yummy.

We later had several visits in homes and one at the church. Chrissy was promoting the new program that the Bible Institute is implementing. We stayed with some of the pastor's family. They were all very nice and hospitable.

We took a detour to the beach, just for fun. It was cold and rainy but still lots of fun. I have never been to ocean/gulf before. It was beautiful, i loved the sound of the waves crashing in. If only it were warm and sunny. We stopped and had some sea food: I had some steemed fish and a shrimp cocktail, which consisted of shrimp in a cup with avacados and cocktail like sauce. The detour added an extra hour on our trip back home, thus it was about a six hour ride back. We got back pretty late. Chrissy drove the whole way and I admire her driving endurance.

Today we went to a ministry that Chrissy is involved with. We sang songs with the children who live in this little swatters community. We sang songs, they colored pictures, and they all got to milk and sweet bread. Later we returned and had a meeting time with the ladies. Two ladies came and we had a Bible lesson. We also did a craft and made place mats.

Tomorrow we plan on painting a room that is going to be a classroom for the Bible Institute. We have some holes in the wall to fill and are going to paint the room tan and put Bible verses on the wall. The floor is a bluish tile that is really difficult to match, but we will find something that works. Also tomorrow is the New Years celebration at the church. I can't wait to see what that entails.

Things I knew:

• Don't drink the water
• Don't flush the toilet paper.
• Beware of spicy food.

Things I already knew but experienced for the first time:

• The when someone enters a room the greet everyone. Ladies shake hands and do the little kiss on the cheek thing.
• Saltillo is cold! It was 65 today and felt much colder. Yet, ít is still warmer than Ohio.

Things I learned:

• There is one gas company throughout Mexico called Pemex. The gas prices stay pretty much the same and only have only fluxuated about 3 pesos in the last three years. (about 12 pesos to the dollar).
• Also, the roads are really interesting in some parts. There is a center yellow line like normal, but there is a dotted white line on the sides. It's kind of like there are one and a half lanes on each side. Some people drive down the middle of the white line. This makes it easier for passing.
• Also, most Mexicans don't have drivers licenses

Trip here

Monday, Dec, 28, 2009
I arrived in Saltillo, Mexico yesterday. There was only about 15 people on the plane to here from Huston. It was the quickest I have been through customs. After I had my baggage scanned the guy instructed me to push the button, I was so confused as to why I had the push the button when he was standing next to it. On top of that I got the red light and he inspected my luggage, all for about five seconds. Apparently, everyone has to push the button and it randomly assigns a green or a red light. Green means go and red means inspection. Who knew.

Chrissy picked me up from the airport and we stop at Carles Jr. for some burgers, fries, and a milk shake, It was very yummy. My burger had guacamole and bacon on it, it was very good but wa the messiest burger I have ever had in my life. Chrissy is fun and I look forward to getting to know her. I have a feeling that we are going to get along just fine, considering our shared love for Pride & Prejudice and for the fiber arts.

Today we are going on a road trip to promote the Bible institute. Where we are going is five hours away so it should be a nice long drive. Considering we are not sure where we are staying tonight it should be for a fun experience.

We are going to be relatively close to the coast so here's hoping for a trip to the ocean!Well, we're off, already running late!