Since Saturday sooo much has happened. On sunday I went to the North congregation meeting and yah, they have a much bigger group and they actually do have several people who speak very good english. Then I went to see a house! There's a sister who lives like 4 blocks from the south kingdom hall who had once offered the summerville family to live there rent-free in exchange for just being there to watch the house, plus pay the simply utilities. She lives mainly in the US and only comes every now and then and stays for a few weeks maybe 2 months at a time. So I went to look at it. There is lots of cleaning I want to do before I would feel completely comfortable living there, plus there are a few handyman type things that I want to get looked at. She's gonna be here for like a month or two more so I'll have time. Then Monday I went in service with south congregation and had a good long day. Tuesday I went in service with the north since the south doesn't have a meeting for service, and I had a great morning! We went out to Cholula and I got to see the pyramid and the centro over there. Right now they're having feria which is exactly what we think of as a fair. Carnival rides, lots of artisan stuff and little booths where people sell sweets, cultural items, etc. September is a big political month for Mexico since it's there independence month, so there are lots of red, green, and white things EVERYWHERE! Lots of cultural dresses and flags and all kinds of patriotic things. Then we did some territory and found several really interested people. I found a lady who I basically started a study with using page 16 of the watchtower and then her sister took a picture of me, the lady, and the sisters who were with me. It was cute! Then that afternoon I went over to the house to clean some before the meeting. This is where it gets interesting! So first of all yah, I'm gonna get my fill of cleaning and organizing in that house! She's not there so much time that there are certain things that it doesn't matter if she just throws stuff in random drawers etc, or if certain things don't work. So that will be an adventure. Anyway, the fun part is where around 6:15 I was gonna get ready for the meeting but wanted a popsicle from the corner store. I didn't want to go all dressed nice for the meeting so I decided to just walk real quick with some change in my pocket. The sister had left to go deal with some stuff so I just cracked the door behind me and on my way. Came back, first bite of my popsicle mmm then BAM!!! Realized the door had closed behind me and was now LOCKED!!!!!! I had nothing on me: no cell phone, no nothing, except like 20 pesos in my pocket. The neighbor had seen me arrive so I explained to him what happened and asked if I could try to jump his side of the fence to get in the courtyard of the house. He was like "I can't authorize that unless I talk to her. I know her and I just can't let you do that. There's a payphone over there you can call her on" Me: "But sir my phone is inside the house and I don't know her number by memory" Him: "Well I'm sorry. I just can't help you". JERK!!! Completely not willing to help, not even the least bit sentimental or understanding. Just shut the door and left me standing outside on the curb..literally. Except yah, at this point I'm starting to cry and wonder what on earth I'm gonna do with our first meeting with the Circuit Overseer, well, the substitute, beginning in just 45 minutes and me locked out dressed in jeans and tennies with no books, no cell phone, and no idea when the sister is gonna get back. I waited outside like 30 minutes then deccided hey, I'm just gonna to the meeting and sit in the back. Better be in the house of Jehovah with nothing in hand and not dressed appropriately than here crying on the curb. As I approached the hall several brothers and sisters saw me and were like whaaaaaaaat?!?!? Why is she crying? One brother later told me he was about to go fight somebody cuz he thought somebody did something to me! LOL! Then one brother is a locksmith so he got with me and a sister took us to the house for him to look at the lock and know what tools he needed. Right as we drive up, literally like 6:57 the sister was arriving. She saw me and went, "What are you doing out here, crying?" So I explained what happened and she opened the gate then the front door and I changed real quick and went to the meeting. On Saturday night at the gathering we all agreed that tuesday we would wear pink to the meeting so I went in a pink dress, and turned out with all the crying my whole face and eyes were probably pink too LOL. All the brothers and sisters were so kind and understanding and it was so nice to see the love within Jehovah's organization. Now I have a copy of the house and gate keys so no more getting locked out!! Anyway, the meeting was great, even though I have a feeling it's the same information I got from my CO visit back in June. It should be the new service year so i dunno.
I'm still waiting for them to call me and say we've got the all clear to go to the school so still not work. I just talked to my mentor teacher and she said they sent my papers off today so I'm supposed to start Monday. I thank Jehovah that it just worked out such that I don't work during the CO Visit! Hehe. I enjoyed today in service with the CO's wife. Once I move in to the new house I'm probably gonna have to give myself at least an hour to get to work on the buses just in case of traffic or if I miss a bus, so that will be frustrating since I'll have to get up so early, but it'll be nice to be so close to the hall for service and meetings. Very convenient for those of us depending on rides/buses!
A few observations about Poblanos and perhaps Mexicans in general: I learned that when catholics pass cathedrals on the bus they do the little cross-their-chest-then-kiss-their-hand thing; here when you say thank you people respond "de que?" meaning "for what?", something which really super confused me at first but then I got it that it just means no big deal or don't worry about it. Lastly, one funny thing about some streets here: because many areas which were once considered their own little communities far from city limits have now been consumed by the city, many streets may have two names. It may have been, for example, 3 Sur, but it could now also be considered 127 Sur. So this happens in some cases, while in others, such as we found today in service, some streets just plain out or two things. On the map, on the very same people, there are two different street names: 3 Sur and 5 Sur. Talk about confusing!!! LOL...fun times, mexico, fun times...
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