This will probably be a shorter blog as we are actually back at our apartment just before 5 PM. Nonetheless, it has really been a wonderful day.
I was up fairly early getting showered and getting ready for the day. I woke up around 2:30 AM and really worried that I would not fall back asleep. But at some point I did. I'm still quite tired as I write this however. As Denise got ready, I spent some time on the computer getting us confirmations for a flight that flies at 10 AM tomorrow. Getting to the USA is going to be easy...lots of seats open. We will be going to Houston. However, seat availability from Houston to SLC is really small from all hubs (SFO, LAX, IAH, DEN and even ORD). So who knows how it will turn out once we arrive there. Fingers crossed. I am doing something for the first time and that is scheduling an Uber in advance to pick us up tomorrow and take us to the airport. It will cost us less than 50 pesos... $2.50 USD. I hope it works!
Juan, Blanca, Neza, Karlie and the boys arrived around 9 AM. Karlie wanted to shower her and the boys which she did. They all got ready and all of us went to church. The church was a quick ride away. It started at 10 AM. I think we were the first ones there. The missionaries were in the parking lot and we immediately struck up a conversation. One Elder was from Brigham City, Utah. The other was from Sao Paulo, Brazil. And, it turned out that they both spoke in church...very good spanish I might add. The services were really nice. I think Juan and Blanca enjoyed. They were very kind to go with us. We did not stay for the 2nd hour. Instead, we went back to the apartment where I quickly changed my clothes. Once changed, we piled back into the van and took off to see the Mexico City Temple. The ride was only about 5 minutes to get there. Really close...which is amazing as I had no idea a church and the temple would be near our apartment. The temple here is an Aztec Architecture and just beautiful. It is a very big temple that sits on grounds where there is a large visitor center, patron housing, a Stake Center and so on. After taking pictures of the temple, we went into the Visitor Center. There they had a Christus, which kind of amazed Juan and Blanca. They sat there just looking at it. A Senior couple from Salem, Utah welcomed us and quickly put an audio on about Christ. We all listened intently. After, we took pictures and then toured the rest of the center. Juan had many questions. In the end, after trying to explain many things in my horrible spanish, I got him a Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. He was thrilled to have it. Actually thanked me again later in the day as we said our final good byes. I think he was touched. I don't know Blanca's thoughts. But she was just happy to be there with all of us.
After the temple visit, we took off to a mercado to find some lunch. We ended up at a place that had cars everywhere. It was a big market and lots of people were there. The funny thing was that we drove around a bit looking for parking. We finally found a place...not too far from the main street through the market...and Juan parked. But as we walked, maybe 75 to 100 yards, he saw another parking spot. So off he went to retrieve the car to get it closer. We just laughed. I don't know if he is worrying about us walking a lot or the security of the car. :-) We walked around to find the right restaurant. There is tons of street food, but few sit down inside restaurants. We found one that we liked, sat down and even ordered. But some of the food items listed, that Neza wanted us to try, were not being served. They were out of them. So even though we had partially ordered, we all stood up and left politely. They were fine with that. We walked a bit further and found another one. They really welcomed us in. And they had the food that Neza and Juan desired (although Juan sprinted to a street stand and bought some special tacos to eat). Also, Juan disappeared again and when I asked where Juan was, Neza told me he was fetching the car again to get it closer. And he got a spot right in front! We all just smiled and laughed when he arrived back. He has been such a gracious host...both he and Blanca.
Lunch was tasty. But, I'm starting to miss other ethnic food...even hamburgers and fries! Another funny thing there, the whole trip I’ve joked that there are no Churros in Mexico. And honestly, I had not seen one. So Juan and Neza told our waiter, cook and bottle washer that we had not seen churros. Well, he asked for money and then sprinted out of the restaurant and disappeared down the street. After a few minutes, he returned with a plate of churros! So yes, I don’t have to go to Costco here in Mexico to get a CHURRO! We at the restaraunnt probably an hour and then we headed to a park to let the boys run around and play. We ended up in a park quite close by. It was a huge park with lots of people there. It kind of had an amusement park feel in one area. It had lots of play ground equipment, a lake and other items to use. But I think it only had one bathroom so the line for the women was quite long. Blanca, bless her heart, was starting to feel ill. So after an hour or so, we packed it up and headed back to our apartment.
As we said good bye, we all started to tear up a bit. It is hard knowing that years will go by before we will see one another again. And if it is hard for us to think about, think about Neza and Carlos (Neza's brother in the USA). Blanca has never seen or met Carlos' 3 children. That makes me really sad. Those two boys are going to have to figure out how to save money and bring their mother to America for a quick vacation so she can be with them a while. I hope that day comes soon.
Fun trip...glad to head home to the problems in our basement. I guess lots of carpeting has been ripped out and who knows what they are doing to our walls. Oh well...it could be worse. These trips kind of remind me of that.
Pictures:
Churros! Finally!
The Christus at the Temple Visitors Center. Juan, Neza, Karlie, Lorenzo and Blanca...
The line for the 6 peso bathroom. Like Europe, they charge here too. But the price here is 5 or 6 pesos versus 30+ (1 euro) in Europe.
Inside the big market. Some pretty gross meat things in there. Strange smells and so on. We did not stay inside much as we found a restaurant that we wanted outside on the street.
The Mexico City Temple....a very beautiful temple on the outside. Wish we would have time to have done a session on the inside!
The Temple Visitor Center with Blanca about to enter in.....
We entered in, sat down and then left as they did not have the food the advertised and Neza wanted.
Sitting under a tree in a park. I had just called my Dad and spoke with him for a few minutes. All well there he said....
Part of the temple grounds...
One of the many stands at the Mercado....
At the park, people were renting and riding these all over the place. We were almost run over many times....
Grandma, Grandpa, Atticus and Lorenzo ... and the Christus of course.
Neza and family at the temple.
Blanca and the boys. Great picture....
Open air market where everything can be purchased. Everything!
Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord.
The park with lots riding bikes and things around.....
Lorenzo doing some gardening on the temple grounds....
A nut candy bar. I never saw this. Not sure where it is or went!
This is what I had for lunch. I can’t remember its name. It was pretty good. It has chicken all over it.
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