May 12, 2014

Earthquakes and more....

The week started out great.  We spent Monday working on details for the arrival of our new missionaries (they arrived today).  Then Tuesday, we explored a new part of the city--Estrella--which is actually several "pueblos" which kind of grew together.  The result is that the streets are narrow and twisty, and it is difficult to get from one place to another.  We visited two apartments, one was gorgeous, one not so gorgeous--but both had been cleaned and were presentable.  We got a ride from a taxista in our ward who knew the way, but he had to leave us at the first apartment.  The missionaries then helped us get to the second apartment (you have to know where you are going and how to get there before you step into a taxi--this city is just WAY too big for any taxista to know the way.  The taxista that returned us home was interesting, filling us in on the Passion Play at Estrella--which is the 4th largest (according to the taxista) in the world.  Estrella is a hill, and every year there is a Passion Play about Christ's crucifixion in excruciating detail.  It is broadcast on ALL the Mexican television stations, with a blow-by-blow narration.  Kind of like the Macy's Day Parade, but with a totally different subject.  There are approximately 2 million people who throng Estrella on Good Friday.  The Elders have orders to stay in their apartments all day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Not safe!  Wednesday was more work in the office, as was Thursday.  However, on Thursday, we had another earthquake.  This time we were in the office and evacuated with everyone else.  We stood in the streets for about 15 minutes, while the APs, the DLs and the President starting calling to be sure the missionaries were OK.  It wasn't too bad where we were, but elsewhere in the city electricity was down, cars were "wobbling" on the road, and people were evacuating like crazy.  It measured over 6 on the Richter scale, but was about 150 miles away.  We had some interviews in Culhuacan that night, and they felt the quake much more than we did.  On Friday, we had our "planning" meeting, in which we met with the President and figured out how to handle all the timing and details of the arrivals and cambios that were coming.  Saturday was supposed to be a quiet day.  We were woken up by Tom's phone at around 8 am, it was a message from the Hermanas in Taxquena wishing me a Happy Mothers Day--which is celebrated on Saturday in Mexico (a surprise to us).  When I got on the computer, I found an e-mail from Caryn asking how we had weathered the Earthquake.  Earthquake?  What Earthquake?  Seems there was one at 2 am, and it was a strong one.  We slept through it!  We did our chores and headed out--looking for an alarm we could use to wake us up the next time.  People basically looked at us like were crazy.  Apparently earthquake warning devices are not sold in Mexico.  We are going to have to order one from Amazon and have it delivered.  We ended up in the office working on the new transfer board (changing the mission organization)--when around 12:30, another quake struck!  It was over really quickly, so we didn't evacuate, but 2 in 1 day was enough for us!
What a week!  Two mother's days, three earthquakes, and a lot of work.  Glad we have a new one to work on!

Sunday May 4, 2014

The day started out beautiful--sunny, blue skies, warm.  Now it is gray and cloudy outside, the wind has picked up, and it looks like it will rain again like it did yesterday.  Thunderstorms in Mexico City are a far cry from the violent thunderstorms in Kansas City.  We watched a movie last night with the windows wide open, enjoying the sound of thunder in the distance, rain pounding down, but NO SEVERE WARNINGS, and NO TORNADO WATCHES!  I guess we are into the rainy season here--at least the weather forecast for the next week shows only a few days without thundershowers.  AND, our temperatures have dropped from the high 80's to the mid 70's.  I might have to break the sweaters back out.  Everyone at church today was huddling and shivering--we still think the climate here is perfect!

This week was marked by a venture to a new part of the city--Del Valle--which is further north (really, on the northern edge of the mission).  It is close to the airport, and the homes are more expensive, the streets wider and better kept.  We have two sets of sisters living in an apartment in Del Valle, and they had a repairman coming, so they needed chaperones.  We sat and waited with them for 2 hours--no repairman.  Eventually all of us left to do other things.  It was an interesting trip, though.  Del Valle is completely different from our part of the city--more modern buildings, office buildings, high rises, modern apartment building, etc.  An interesting look at how a 20 minute drive can completely change your surroundings.

We started the week out in the office again--I baked chocolate chip cookies and took them in.  Over a hundred cookies disappeared in about 10 minutes.  We had several groups of missionaries in for English evaluations, and did an update on our incoming missionaries.  All are from the CCM, and I think we are ready for them.  Tuesday we did an update on missionary telephone numbers.  Seems that a lot of missionaries have been shifting phones out of their areas--so we are trying to get the phones back where they belong.  That is an important issue, because referrals and other messages go to areas, not specific elders.  If the phones are moving with the elders, the messages aren't being delivered.  We think we are update now (we called EVERY area to check), but will be waiting to hear about updates....

We also have a new referral program--which took three calls to SLC to straighten out.  It looks easier and better--it will certainly be great if it gives access to the Elders to the Google Map aspect.  I'm waiting to hear back from the Elders this week.

Friday we had an all-day leadership meeting with the ZLs, APs and Presidency.  It was long but a good discussion.  Sure love listening to the leadership evident in these young missionaries!

Saturday we got up early, did our housework and headed for Plaza Hidalgo to take a tour on the Coyoacan trolley.  It was a quick 30 minute tour in Spanish, but a great look at this very old, very significant city we live in.  We learned all about Leon Trotsky (who died in Coyoacan, killed by agents of Stalin), Frida Kahlo (a modern artist, wife of Diego Rivera), saw the "house" where Cortes' men bivouacked, saw the street where there used to be a pyramid, which Cortes ordered dismantled and the stones used to build a church (which we also saw), plus lots of other things.  When we finished the tour, we went to our favorite pasteleria and got goodies, then hit the artisan's mercado and bought a light blanket (red and orange weave), and a hat for Tom.  We also took time to go into St. Juan Bautista, the church on Plaza Hidalgo, to look at the paintings, etc--since the church dates to shortly after Cortes.  There was a wedding in progress, so we stood in the back of the church and watched the wedding.  (Lest you think us rude, there were tourists all over the place, wandering almost to the altar as they examined the murals, ceiling, sculptures, altars built to saints, etc.)  We have been in the church 3 times now, and there has been a mass, wedding or other service going at all times.
Tomorrow we need to kick into high gear and be sure all is in readiness for our 9 new missionaries.  We think we are ready--but the week promises to be a busy one.

April 27, 2014

What a great an uplifting week!  We started the week in the office, checking up on necessary details needed to welcome our new Elders and Sisters--all from Mexico and South American countries this time.  We'll miss welcoming Northamericans, but the following transfer (at the end of June).  The Office Elders are pretty much caught up--or ahead--of what we needed to get done, so I mostly worked on Referrals.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were Zone Conferences.  Zone Conferences come along every three months, and involve instruction from the President and his wife, his counselors, and whoever else he calls on.  This time, President Valadez and his wife took an hour each teaching about the importance of being disciples of Christ. based on Matthew 28: 18-20.  Once again, the President (who is one of the best teachers I have EVER had the privilege to listen to) hit a home run.  He picked the scriptural reference apart verse by verse with the missionaries, pointing out that being a missionary means that they are endowed with power, but that to access that power, they need to be strictly obedient.  He noted that the word disciple is rooted in the word discipline--and associated the two.  Then he directed their attention to "id y haced"--go and do--meaning that you have to actually DO something, and that something is finding and teaching.  He also noted that we are to "guardar" the commandments--meaning to not only obey, but to place them securely in our hearts and souls--such that they are a constant directing force in our lives.
Our part was reminding our Latinos that they DO need to be working on English.  We handed out slips of papers with reports on how they were doing on English--and hope to see a few more as a result.  We also talked with them about referrals--which are a bear to assign, since people apparently don't know how to write correct addresses.  They put down incorrect Colonias, Delegaciones and States (I can't tell you often I see D.F. placed in Aguascalientes--a little like saying that Kansas City is in California!  We do the best we can and send them out. Unfortunately none of the missionaries is reporting on what they did with the referrals, so it looks like they are disappearing into a black hole.  We also (we think) discovered that there are problems with the telephone numbers that the referrals are being texted to.  We will work on that one tomorrow in the office.
Saturday we attended the Ermita Stake Conferences.  We took the subway and arrived in time to greet our great missionaries (26 of them) and be invited to sit on the stand (unfortunately in my opinion--I just wanted to listen to President and Sister Valadez, who were talking, and then slip quietly out and go home.  No such luck.  However, it was a great meeting.  One of the Counselors set up a demonstration in which he had people running all over the chapel as an illustration of how missionary work should be done--by the members--which was a hoot.
This morning, we returned to Ermita for the Sunday session.  This time we had to do the speaking.  Each of our talks was VERY short, but I'm happy to report I managed to get through the spanish without major errors--only minor ones.  I'm feeling like a success!  Speaking in front of a stake full of people in a foreign language is NOT easy!
No fun pictures this time around.  Guess we need to get out more--although we are pretty tired from this week's travel by car, taxi, metro and foot.  By the way, the Ermita Stake Center is on a quiet, gated street.  Very charming....

We take a trip to Veracruz and see Cuicuilco Pyramid

April 20, 2014

We have been so busy we haven't had time to do much more that work, go to church to teach piano (6 students now), and come home happily tired.  I can report that the weather in Mexico City is absolutely perfect! It is comfortably warm during the day and refreshingly cool at night.  Never too hot (although we are in the hottest month of the year now--so I may have to change that report) or too cold.  We have yet to wear heavy coats, mostly getting by on sweaters.  The flowers are beautiful and surround us everywhere.  We are so grateful that the window off our apartment opens to a small "garden" complete with jacaranda trees, rose bushes, geraniums, elephant ears and a host of other beautiful plants.  The bougainvillea is ALWAYS in bloom--and always is beautiful. The noche buena (poinsettias for those who haven't been to Mexico yet) are STILL in bloom and are beautiful.  We have hibiscus, bird of paradise, and a host of others I don't recognize.
On Monday night, the mission delivered two twin bed mattresses to us so two of our hermanas could spend the night.  So far we have no bedframes--but the mattresses worked fine.  Tuesday morning we got up early (5 am) and after time for getting ready, all 4 of us headed for TAPO, one of the big bus stations (it is right next door to the airport).  We caught a bus bound for Veracruz!  One of our two sisters(Hna Solarzano) hadn't had a chance to visit the temple before her mission began 2 weeks ago (she is from Nicaragua--no temple), so we got the privilege of escorting she and her companion (Hna Schuetz) to the Veracruz temple.  We rode a "luxury" bus--which is about as far from Greyhound as it is possible to be.  There are only 26 seats on the entire bus.  Each seat is plush, wide, and reclines almost fully--and comes with a footrest.  The windows are equipped with dark shades that shut out all light (although I chose to ride with my shades open--I wanted to see the countryside!)  There were tv/dvd players at each seat, and controls that allowed you to choose your programming.  Certainly changed my view (not favorable) about bus travel.  At 8:45 we left the terminal and spent the next 1 1/2 hours trying to get out of Mexico City--there was LOTS of traffic.  This is "Santa Semana"--Holy Week--and everyone was on their way out of town on "vacaciones".  A little like Spring Break on steroids.  The trip took about 5 1/2 hours, and took us through some wonderful scenery.  Everything from Popocatepetl to high plains (like Wyoming), plains (like the midwest), desert (like Arizona), and finally the plains of Veracruz and the beach.  It was fascinating to watch the countryside change.

Hna Solarzano Hna Schuetz, Hna Brailsford (back)

When we arrived at Veracruz, we expected to meet Joaquin's family, but had miscommunication and missed them.  We did, however, have a great experience at the temple.  We were back at the motel (a very nice Holiday Inn Express with the best breakfast I think I've ever had at a motel) at around 9 pm.  We finally made contact with Joaquin's uncle Luis at 9:30--and he picked us up at 7:30 the next morning and returned us to the bus terminal for our return trip.  Veracruz was beautiful.  The beachfront property looks like Hawaii, Aruba or anywhere in the Caribbean. A few blocks inland, it was typical Mexico--beautiful homes mixed in with homes not so beautiful.  The homes were much more widely spaced, though.  At times, I could easily have mistaken it for Ft. Lauderdale or Southern California. We arrived home around 2 pm and pretty much collapsed.  Traveling is not easy--even in a luxury bus!

Uncle Luis, Tom and I in Veracruz

Friday we took off early from work.  We had intended to go to the Zocalo to see the square and visit the Templo Mayor.  We were warned that with it being Good Friday, and with the big Cathedral that is on the Zocalo, it might not be a good idea to visit.  The catholic churches all celebrate the "Stations of the Cross", re-enacting the crucifixion and the events preceding it.   We decided to go to Cuicuilco instead.  Cuicuilco is an ancient settlement and religious center--probably the first in the Mexico City basin.  It has a unique circular pyramid.  We had heard about it, but never seen it--so we decided to go. What a site!  The pyramid is amazing!  It predates the Christian era by hundreds of years, and was the foremost city in the area in its time.  It was abandoned when the volcano Xitle erupted--several times--eventually covering all but the top of the pyramid in lava.  We had wondered where all the lava around Coyoacan had come from.  It was the same eruption.  The eruption spouted ash, then tons of lava that covered over 70 square kilometers--to a depth of many, may feet.  All the smaller structures at the site are covered with lava.  We learned that the area we live in is called "Pedregal" because in Mexico pedregal means "lava field".  (I thought it just meant rocky)  We walked all around the site, up on top of the pyramid, and to the few existing structures that are visible (not covered with lava).  It is a fascinating site!  Look it up on Wikipedia!
Anyway, yesterday was more mundane.  We went to Costco in search of a ham for Easter dinner (there is no ham in Mexico City, apparently!).  We settled for baby back ribs and strawberries for a pie (love Costco for fruits!).
I was scolded for not posting to this blog by a missionary who said his Mom found it and was disappointed that I had quit posting.  Sorry!  I'll try to be more faithful.
Our missionaries are the BEST by the way.  We love working with them!  They are los mejores misioneros en el mundo!  Hasta luego!

  

Circular Pyramid at Cuicuilco--most of it is under a lava flow!

 

Tonight we are going to the Feria National de Chocolate in Coyoacan! We are excited!  Not only is the Plaza Hidalgo in Coyoacan beautiful (built in the 1500's by the Spanish, Coyoacan is where the Spanish set up their government as the conquered the Aztecs.  The buildings are beautiful, the streets narrow and cobbled, the traditions still very much Latin.)  Tonight's traditions include pan de muerto (a citrus flavored roll, covered in granulated sugar, with a little spider/skeleton shape baked on top.  You can see pan de muerto in the picture above.)  Halloween is celebrated here--the children go trick or treating, but the real celebrations are the days following Halloween--the Dias de los Muertos.  We had no trick-or-treaters last night--which was really sad.  We spent the night cooking and pulverizing pumpkins so we could have pumpkin pie and chocolate chip pumpkin nut cookies.  Not sure what it will taste like, but it took 3 hours to cook one pumpkin and osterize it.  Sure is easier buying a can at the store!  :)

 

We have discovered many things about Mexico.  1:  There is a limited amount of gas coming into our departmento (apartment).  If we want a shower, we can't use gas anywhere else.  If you want to use the oven, you can't wash the dishes or cook on the stove.  If you want to wash your hands in hot water, you can't use gas anywhere else.  If you want to run the washer, you can't be cooking at the same time.  The water drains and sewage system are not great--not good enough for garbage disposals, anyway.  We have wet and dry basura (garbage) and have to take it out every day.  2:  There are a limited number of kinds of beans in the dry bean aisle (which takes up a WHOLE aisle in the grocery store).  No navy beans, kidney beans, split peas, etc.  I guess that means no 9 bean soup for us!  3:  There are limited frozen foods available.  No frozen dinners, etc.  We can buy limited ice cream, no frozen juices (but they have AMAZING boxed juices by JUMEX.  4:  All milk has been irradiated and is in boxes on the shelves.  Irradiated milk is awesome.  It tastes great, doesn't need refrigeration, and can be stored in cupboards or wherever.  Unfortunately, the only flavored milk we can find is in little lunchbox size containers--all chocolate.  We are missing Shatto milk!  5:  Amazon doesn't work down here.  Who knew that Amazon was such a big part of our lives.  We keep saying, don't worry, we can get Amazon to ship it.  NO!  NOT POSSIBLE!  In Mexico, Amazon only deals with Kindles. 5:  American made/style stuff is very expensive.  We found a Bed Bath and Beyond where we can buy stuff for our home--but the stuff is expensive.  Also, electronics are pretty high here.  We needed an LCD Projector.  You can buy one in the US for $200.  Here it would be over $500.  Not a problem, we just use the President's.  7:  The Metro is fast, but if you take it during "rush hour" (most of the day) be prepared to be a sardine--literally.  People continue to push into the train even when there is NO room.  We got on the train at 9 am on Wednesday morning, squished against the doors and with hardly room to breathe.  At the next stop, 5 more people got on.  At the next stop, 3 more people got on.  Like, REALLY?  No more Metro rides before 10 am.  8:  It IS possible to find shortening, you just have to go to an importer (Aladino's) and pay $10/can.  (It is worth it.)  9: Not all panaderias have great bread--some have stale or so-so bread.  BUT, because there are panaderias, no one uses their oven (if they have one) for baking--they just buy pan.  We will probably have to buy a tabletop electric oven.  There is no other way to get our oven over 300 degrees, and Mantenimiento doesn't understand.  10: This is a beautiful place to live.  The climate is perfect--rain comes mainly at night, with warm temperatures all day.  We were told we needed coats--but the days we see people wearing coats are days when it is in the upper 50's.  The homes (inside the high walls) are beautiful and colorful.  The side streets look like they were transported from the 6th century and are charming.  There are 500 year old buildings everywhere--along with gardens, sculpture, plazas and tons of flowers.  11:  The people are wonderful.  We have yet to meet someone who doesn't welcome us to Mexico and try their best to help us.  Things are different here--but not that much.  12:  There are WAY too many cars.  Oh, for rush hour in KC!  Driving here is something else--lines on the road are truly suggestions, and lights are generally obeyed, but not always! 

 

Until next time! 

The picture below is Plaza Hidalgo, Coyoacan.  Notice the fountain has coyotes on it--for Coyoacan!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 It has been a long time, but we finally have some pictures, so I will post with them.  The pictures above are our apartment complex with its cobblestone streets, beautiful gardens (all 3 windows belong to our apartment--and looking outside at the gardens is always beautiful!), and our kitchen.  The kitchen is a tight squeeze for two, but they managed to install a washer/dryer combo and refrigerator/freezer combo--so we are happy.  We are working hard on teaching English to the 77 Latino Elders/Sisters in the mission.  In another week, we get another 14 Latino missionaries--so we are trying to get ready for them, too.  We don't have internet or phone service yet, but we can talk with the missionaries through the mission "red" (Spanish for internet).  Reception is iffy, but we can usually get hold of them when we need them.  We are traveling everywhere either by foot or taxi--getting a lot of exercise.  We live in Coyoacan, which is a tourist spot (it is where the Spaniards settled initially when they came to the area to challenge the Aztecs).  There are a lot of beautiful homes (all hidden behind walls), churches, parks and streets.  People are friendly, and speak muy rapido.  We are members of the Pedregal Ward, and I (Joni) am playing piano for Sacrament Meeting--since there was no one in the Ward who could play.  It was a really humbling experience to listen to their voices the first Sunday being raised in familiar hymns--minus organ or even piano.  Their hymnbook is about half the width of ours, and a few of the hymns are different--but I am enjoying being at least a little useful.  It is an interesting Ward, being composed of people who live near the Universities in Coyoacan (there are a lot of Universities in Coyoacan).  We have students, professionals, and a lot of very humble people.  It rains here all the time--but because of that it is very green with beautiful flowers everywhere.  The sidewalks and roads are (often) moss-covered, adding to the beauty of the area.  We are adjusting to the constant 60-70 degree temperatures--as my mother would have said, it is always "sweater weather" in Mexico City.  It is a beautiful city with just about any and everything you could want to find.  Archaeology, History, Architecture, Modern conveniences, Malls (with more expensive merchandise than we have at home), Tiny tiendas, etc.  3 weeks into the mission--and so much more to learn!

Just thought it would be a good idea to show you our Mission Apartment.  Not really!  We arrived on Monday afternoon with only short (15-20 minutes) delays with immigration.  When we had passed through customs, we met Presidente Valadez and his wife--who were most gracious and helped us get our bags to the car and loaded up.  They took us to our apartment, which they had never seen, but no one was there to let us in (in Mexico, all apartmtents/homes have locked entry doors--you can't just walk in).  They called FM (who was in charge of finding the apartment) and they weren't anywhere near, so we went to dinner and then on a shopping trip to the local super WalMart.  Much larger than our super Walmart!  Having never seen the apartment, it was tough to know what we needed or could do, but we bought some basics and then headed back.  FM was there, and let us in.  Above you see the apartment.  It was less than 200 square feet and extremely cramped.  But we were tired and stayed and unpacked while everyone left.  The next day we were picked up by the Presidente and taken to a training/transfer meeting.  17 new elders and us arrived on Monday!  10 were from the US, 7 from other Latin American nations and Mexico.  We went into the training session with the Assistants while the Presidente interviewed the Elders.  Sister Valadez arrived halfway through for pictures with the new Elders (for them to send home, I guess), and afterward she and the President cornered us to let us know they were horrified by our small accomodations.  Apparently President Valadez called FM and reamed them about the apartment--and they got to work looking for a new place.  Meantime, the Valadez' told us to pack up, because we were moving to their home that evening for as long as it took to get a new place.  We spent Tuesday getting acclimated, Wednesday looking for apartments.  Very discouraging--we found one 5th floor walkup, and no others that were within the range we could spend (Church rules, no ours).  We walked and drove all over Coyoacan, writing down telephone numbers for "For Rent" ("Se Renta") signs, but didn't have much luck.  Most were either too expensive or too far away. Thursday we went back to the chapel for more training, but this time the President placed us with the Latin Elders, not the American ones--which means that ALL the instruction was in Spanish.  I think Tom got most of it--I probably got 60-75%.  Afterwards, the FM people buttonholed us and showed us an apartment they had found.  We then went with them to look at it.  The apartment is a 2 bedroom, ground floor  apartment (apparently there aren't many elevators for apartments in Mexico).  It has a pretty good size "sala de estar" (living room) and area for a dining room table off the living room.  It has a small kitchen with room for a full size refrigerator (apparently in Mexico, apartments are fitted with small refrigerators and separate freezers--not good) and a place for stackable washer/dryer.  It also had space for a dishwasher--but there were no hookups for one, so we will not have a dishwasher.  Not many people in Mexico have dishwashers.  No disposal--that is also rare in Mexico.  We will have to separate our "basura" (trash) into organic/inorganic and then take it to the front of the complex.  Haven't had to do that since Heritage Halls!  There is a tiny bathroom, all in green (Tom's not-favorite color), but it is pretty marble.  There are MANY apartments buildings in the complex.  It is very well landscaped and maintained, and has security at the gate controlling access--also many security guards roaming the grounds to keep things safe.  Once inside the complex there were lots of people out strolling, playing with kids, etc.  There is NO furniture, but FM is going to strip one of the temple apartments of its furniture to furnish our apartment, and will but the washer/dryer and refrigerator.  They are also spending today fixing all the broken outlets, rescrubbing the floors, disinfecting and (I hope) debugging it, fixing broken fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen, etc,  We think it is a very nice apartment and are looking forward to moving in next Wednesday.  We have a problem with transportation--doesn't look like we will have a car--but there is a Walmart Supercenter a few blocks away (across a VERY busy highway)--and we can always take taxis--which are everywhere.  It is also a long way from the Mission Office where we will be working--but there is a Metro stop a few blocks away, so we will probably use that.  It continues to be an adventure!
Last night I attended RS with Sister Valadez and watched the Ward Family History Specialist teach 8 sisters how to use Family Search--also very interesting.
Have to get to Missionary Work now--we have been asked to design ways to more effectively train the Elder on how to use Mormon.org, FamilySearch and learn English.  Apparently it is as high a priority in the Church to teach native speakers English as it is to teach English speaking Elders the language of the country they serve in.  None of the above are being done very effectively right now, so that is our charge.  Life is certainly interesting!