Cities I've visited

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Italian

Surprisingly for, the most exciting thing about being in Italy has been learning Italian.  The sister's husband, Benezio, does not speak English even a little bit, so that has been a great impetus to learn the language quicker.  We can carry on pretty simple conversations.  I know the words to tons of food, interrogative words, how to conjugate the verbs "to be" and "to have" and various other words and sentences I learned under fire.

Before coming, I had very little desire to learn Italian, because once you know one romance language you kind of know them all.  But, Italian is a very nice language and, as always, the most exciting part is being able to communicate with people that you otherwise wouldn't be able to.  so for me, it has jumped from being an academic exercise to a living language.  Fun!

We have reached Italy!

Vanna and her husband have given us a warm welcome and I can already see we are going to have a great time!

New change...

I have now opened up this blog to the general public for two reasons:

1. Blogger is a poopyhead and makes "friending" entirely too labor intensive, and
2. I realized nobody I don't know will probably read this anyway.

I'm not totally crazy about this, but...c'est la vie.

Day Two in Mexico

Today I just happened to wake up at 8:01. No alarm and definitely no light. The hotel we're in has blackout curtains that are so effective that I wondered if the time was wrong. I opened the window and light poured in. Then, we ran around like a chicken with our respective heads off to get to the bus, which was leaving at 9. We managed to do it in sufficient time that we actually made it to breakfast. Great yogurt with granola and toast. Yum! The coffee tasted great too.

Turns out the mystery brother is from North Carolina and...get this...IN MY DISTRICT. Crazy. And when I see his wife, I recognize her too.

We meandered through the city as our (very knowledgeable) tour guide told us an abundance of fascinating stories about Monterrey, Mexico and, surprising, the United States. He's been a tour guide for 40 years, which, based on his touring skills, surprised me none. Our first stop on the tour was a chapel of a bishop from a million years ago that had been turned into a museum. We didn't go in, but were taught briefly about the Rococo/Baroque architecture. We also saw the huge cactus used to make tequila, some hardcore ants carrying leaves four times their size and the kind of water barrel found in Mexico that provides. It used some kind of fascinating engineering that went completely over my head. I might have a vid of the guy explaining it...in English no less. All in all, a nice stop.

Next we went to one of three of the municipal museums in Monterrey. This one, apparently, was on the city's history. We all went it to find that our tickets were actually for another museum, and while we couldn't tour, we were welcome to use the bathroom. Waiting outside for the rest of the group, I met the darlingest sister from Washington State, Macalynn, but we had a delightful day together; she's just super sweet.

We had possibly discussed taking the fames boat ride of the Paseo Santa Lucia (a deal at $40 pesos, or about $3 USD) but we discovered that the state paid for the boat ride as an act of hospitality. The Paseo is right next to the museum, and we waiting a while so we could all be in the same boat. The boat ride was very interesting: if you can imagine a possibly man-made river flowing through a circle with various monuments and artifacts to both sides, that's what it was like. It highlighted Monterrey's history, including their history in steel production, earning the city the nickname "The Mexican Pittsburgh." I believe there may have been some type of school nearby, and several young people were seen walking along the paths along the river. It was nice.

By this time, I was so ravenous I could have eaten the shoes that were cutting off the circulation to my feet. As we were walking back to the bus, a man stopped Maclynn's husband, Larry, and asked him some questions. Since Larry doesn't speak Spanish, I walked up to translate. He inquired about our lapel badges and I explained that we were in town for the international convention at the baseball stadium. He excitedly asked if he could come, and we told him he could. He gave us a warm welcome and told us to enjoy our stay in Monterrey.

As we got back to the bus, we informed that the next stop was an arts and crafts store. It was some cross between a gift shop and a Mexican artisan store, with rebosos (Mexicanish afghans), silver jewelry, dolls and the like. As I hadn't changed any money, I didn't purchase anything. There wasn't a lot that I liked anyway.

Finally we went to go and eat. We went to a place called VIPS. It is a restaurant reminiscent of Denny's in atmosphere, but serving a hybrid mix of Mexican, general Hispanic and American food. My sister, two other sisters and I were so starved, that we ordered enough food to feed ourselves and the next two tables over. But our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we left a lot uneaten. One thing that stood out was Moros and Christianos (Moors and Christians) that was basically a Mexican version of Cuban congris. I ordered a club sandwich (among other things), since the menu was hard to figure out, and I was feeling a little sick. I know...I'm a loser. When we went up to pay, I was shocked to learn that among the forms of payment they accepted was Wal-Mart gift cards. Apparently, VIPS and Wal-Mart are affiliated in Monterrey. Interesting.

Finally we came home...or back to the hotel. We rested for a very short time before the brother informed us that we would be heading back out. Sure enough, around 6:30, brother came to come and get us. We had a delightful ride with a brother and his wife. They were both regios (persons from Monterrey) and they had been in full-time service for close to fifty years, and married for almost as long. Turns out, his son and daughter-in-law had provided the transportation for us the night before. They had been special pioneers before they had their son. They had even served were the need was great in Arizona several years back. The brother had a working knowledge of English, but didn't speak fluently. They were hospitable, friendly and funny. They also gave us an inside on some things about Mexico and Monterrey, including the death-dealing driving you see there. They were a lot of fun and an excellent example in decades of faithful service. They also took us past the Kingdom Hall in Apodaca--or should I say Kingdom Halls. There were four Kingdom Halls on one property that served a total of 16 congregations, which included a Nuhautl and Tenek (I have to learn how to spell that) congregations.

We made our way to the gathering. It was at a reception hall, and there were easily 200 friends there. However, these were different friends from the first night. They were rotating the friends from the seven congregations assigned to host us. One highlight was seeing Betel, the girl that had greeted me in such a friendly way at the Monterrey airport. She introduced me to her family and best friends. In the middle of the hall was an elevated, circular stage/dance floor. The brother gave us a warm greeting before we could eat. There was another mountain of food, with many of the traditional Mexican dishes. After eating was underway, we were treated to another performance of many of the acts we had seen the previous night by the local brothers. Additionally we saw a traditional dance, performed by four girls, that we later learned was a dance from Vera Cruz. The MC invited us to come up and share our names, what congregations we were from. Then, came the mariachi. This band was made of Jehovah's Witnesses, and they were really good. Soon the dancing began; I danced with one of the sisters from the Vera Cruz dance who enthusiastically led me around the dance floor (SO much fun) and Armando, a great brother who we became friends with (he's a fellow Coldplay fan...'nuf said).

The friends, once again, showered us with gifts, and one young sister even took her earrings off and handed them to me after I complemented her on them. It was just more wonderfulness. The brother and sister took us home and informed us that they would pick us up for another party on Friday.

When we got back to the hotel we packed up all the regalities, books and everything else we would need for the next day of the convention and then fell soundly asleep.

First Night!

The eleven of us who came together on the plane arrived by caravan to the party hall. There were several brothers standing outside, when we arrived, dressed in the typical Mexican costume. As we entered, the entire place erupted into applause and ushered us to seats. There were roughly 200 in attendance. From there, they treated like we were family and ate till we couldn't eat another bite, including the most famous dish from Monterrey--cabrito (or kid). We discovered that seven congregations in the Apodaca area had been assigned to give us hospitality, and they would be throwing us three parties throughout the week.

From there we were treated to all sorts of entertainment that was representative of Mexico. The first was a piña dance, performed by the little girls of the local congregations in Apodaca (a borough, so to speak) of Monterrey.

There was a couple dances by the teenagers that showed the dance of Norteña (the region that includes Monterrey) and the state of Oaxaca (pronouned Wa-HA-ka):

As we talked, a sister turned to me and said "You are going to see charros" one of the local style of dressing. And then through the door walked a FULL MIRIACHI BAND! It was thrilling! A sister came up to me and asked if I liked to dance. I told her I did, but that I didn't know how to dance to miriachi. No problem, she grabbed me and led and I fell in a couple seconds. Ella me dijo que yo traigo la musica en mi cuerpo. :)

Then a highlight. The work of preaching the indiginous populations of Mexico is really increasing, and several friends showed us presentations and statistical information in two languages in particular: Nahautl and Tenek (sp?).

There was a dance by the adults that was incredible. I later learned they had practiced for only three weeks!

All told, they put on a spectacular production, we met several families that night that would go on to become our friends throughout the trip and quite possibly forever. We got back to the hotel around 1:30 and, after unpacking and getting in touch with loved ones back home, we hit the sack.

Day One

Tuesday was (in a word) awe-inspring.  But first things first.


DISCLAIMER: In the off chance anyone in the world is actually reading this, I will be putting forth more effort to post in English and Spanish.

My sister and I woke up at the unnatural hour of 4:00 AM to finish packing and get ready for our plane ride.  Our shuttle left to take us to JFK at 5:30.  When we arrived, we seemed to be the only people at our airlines, save for a few chapparitos on a nearby bench.  Around 6, a few others arrived and began to queue up, so we joined them i line.  We were not in line 20 minutes before a sister behind us (Laurie) spotted us in line be our Costamar travel agency lanyard badges.  We quickly made freinds in line, and gradually more and more friends came, and we all chatted excitedly.  Even the man who took our tickets noticed and said he remembered a similar group of Jehovah's Witnesses that had come through the previous week.

When we reached our gate, we continued to get to know one another and, to my surprise, they began the gift exhange, the first of many creative, thoughtful and practical gifts from the friends.  One sister even sent a gift with us for our mom, who she said she knew she loved without meeting her because of the way she raised us. We sang Kingdom Melodies off of her cell-phone as well, and just had a really nice kick-off to the trip.

The plane ride to Mexico City was long but peaceful.  For breakfast, I had an omelet with juice, coffee, tater tots and a pastry. I wrote my blog, slept, read the in-flight magazines...just tried to pass the time.  When we got to Mexico City, we were thrilled that the agent at the security checkpoint was a Witness.  We hugged and she walked us through the checkpoint.  Finally, she opened the double doors that lead out to the airport lobby...

There were probably 30 of Jehovah's people standing out there, clapping, telling us welcome, hugging, kissing, and just showering us with love.  I was gobsmacked! It was the first time I broke down (wouldn't be the last time).  They were eager to tell us that we were welcome to Mexico and that they were happy to have their brothers with them.  They took pictures of us and gave us little gifts that had their contact information on it.  I can't explain the joy of the moment.  And this was a layover.  We still had the last leg to Monterrey.

On the plane ride to Monterrey, we had to fill out customs and immigration forms.  All or naught, because my sister and I had crossed out some much stuff that the woman made us refill out the forms when we got to the desk.  The airport was only moderately full, which was good.  By the time we arrived, it was late, at least after 9. We went to the domestic baggage claim, because our "carry-on" luggage was checked at the airport because there were too many ppl on the plane.  However, when we got there, we found no luggage.  A man who worked at the airport looked at us and said, "Are you with the Congress?" We said yes.  He answered.  "You need to go to international baggage claim.  Your brothers are over there waiting for you."  We were so excited to hear this, especially from someone who isn't even a Jehovah's Witness.  Sure enough, after going through customs, there were no less than 40 Witnesses standing there, waiting for us with hugs, gifts, directions, letters and just a ton of love.  On teenage sister, Betel, immediately took me under her wing.  She showed me where I could sign up to let the  brother in charge of the "Welcoming Committee" know that I had arrived, adn she introduced me to several of the friends.  She recommended some sight-seeing places and just made me feel very welcomed.  The brother told us that the branch had assigned their circuit (one that would not be actually attending the international convention, I later learned)O  Apparently the name Kimberly sounds very pretty on Mexican ears, because I dare say 60% of the times I told someone my name, they would say it was pretty, with varying enthusiasm.

The friends carried our luggage to a waiting bus and waved as we rode off into the direction of downtown Monterrey.  Our tour guide (a local man who told us he had done tours for over 40 years) told us a little about Mexico.  The bus was the one we would be riding our entire trip--Bus #2.  We quickly met other friends from all over the country, and I just felt the electric excitement as I saw that I was about to begin a wonderful week.  When we reached the hotel.

Guys, this is a five star hotel.  We received the royal treatment.  They loaded the luggage off the bus and take it up to your room.  We milled around the lobby, as the Welcoming Committee set up a table IN THE HOTEL where we could get help from local friends all day long.  The first couple night there were there virtually around the clock, welcoming friends as they came in the hotel from the airport at all times of the day night.  they assured us that no matter what we needed, they would bend over backwards for us to get it for us.  And, to boot, the friends manning the desk are the friends from the local English congregation.  They all spoke English to varying degrees, some barely and some near native, but they were all friendly and hospitable to an amazing degree.  We were there for no more than 20 minutes before the friends whisked us off in seperate cars to a party they had planned for us.  I will tell you about this amazing event in the next blog.