Gone Missing: The Sun

Altotonga, Mexico -- It's so cold! And foggy! Today, since early morning, there's been about a half-block of visibility. That's when you are actually afraid to cross the street because of the fog and not-so-smart drivers. The one time that I'm thankful for the myriad of topes (toe-pays-- speed bumps) here.(I saw the sun for about a half-hour on Saturday-- but that's the only time since the 14th).

So, what have I been up to lately? Well, last week it was mostly getting ready for the medical brigade the church was putting on. There is a couple from Perote (Pay-ro-tay) (about a half-hour from here) who does this as a ministry-- and let's just say that I was impressed-- highly impressed at their system. They have things well-thought out, planned out, and they are excellent at training volunteers who have no idea what to do. My kudos to them. Not only are they excellent at what they do, but they are very kind, patient, and loving. Very sweet people. I liked them very much.

So, basically, preparing for this meant moving everything. And by everything, I mean the 3 pool tables, 4 foosball tables (which had to be taken apart-- 2 of 'em at least), all the video games and their boxes (which are kinda what you see in arcades) the air hockey table and the ping pong table. It was a lot of work, but everyone who helped out did a good job!Saturday, unfortunately, due to a lack of good planning on the church's side, there were few results. These things normally attract at least 600+ people. And we have very, very few people. But, as I mentioned to some others, it was good practice for the next time-- the volunteers showed that they could work well together. And we had one little girl with 2nd degree burns on the bottom of her face, her neck and chest from oil. She was the first patient-- 5 or 6 years old, she had gotten burnt the night before and she came in with her parents. A very brave little girl, she didn't scream as the doctor cleaned her up, but she did cry. She was worth the whole thing. I'm mean-- she's a girl right... For girls, scars like that are very difficult. But we're praying that she won't come out with any scars at all.

By the end of that day, I was sooooo exhausted. After sleeping 3 hours, I got there at 6am, and left at 7:30pm, after a long day of going back and forth, doing this and that... of course, with so few people, it wasn't hectic all the time, but all the same, at 10:30 that night I was in bed, without any desire to get back out of it.

Yesterday I was able to sleep in on my day off, and I took a trip to another city to look for some stuff and just enjoy the day away from Altotonga. St. Louis is not a "large" city like Chicago or New York or whatever, but it's like a million times bigger than where I live. So, it was nice to go to a little bit bigger of a town (say, Rolla-size? Not entirely sure) and not work on my day off. The beautiful thing is that the whole trip was less than $40 pesos-- which now is like $3.50. The downside? The curves are terrible, and nausea was my companion.

Today I went to the store to get stuff for my Tday dinner (lunch) and I've been working a good part of the morning on Japanese. It's coming along, I just wish I had more time for it. Some of the words are a little bit hard to pronounce, but it's not too bad. I just have to say them a million times "before I can say them".

Apart from that, in not too long I need to go visit a lady that asked me to visit her (I think I know what it's about)... English class and a meeting tonight and more Japanese in the meantime. Tomorrow we get to put everything back in the Club. But while I'm baking my pie at the club (I don't have an oven at the house), I'll be cleaning the little soccer players on the foosball tables. Their insides are pretty gross, and since I have them apart anyhow, that needs to be taken care of.

This Saturday, with a change of plans, I'm speaking at the youth group. It's been like a month since I've spoken (which is weird! but they need to have the chance!) and I'll be speaking on conflict/confrontation/etc. If that gives you any idea of some of the things we've been dealing with and taking care of down here. Joy, joy!

And, just so you know, 52 days!