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.
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