Our First Weekend

Our posada in downtown Guadalajara

I'm sitting cross-legged on our middle double bed, savoring my mug of coffee.  That was one of our purchases of necessity made last night (along with some chocolate cookies).  Apparently, most Mexicans don't miss their morning coffee...or afternoon coffee...or evening coffee.  It's pretty bad when the place recommended to us for a cup of "cafe americano" is McDonald's.  Recognizing our reliance on so much material comfort, Chris and I tried to make do with Nescafe Instant. If you have ever tried instant coffee you'd understand our mission last night....

Fortunately, we remembered a store that had a few coffeemakers in the window, and last night we determinedly made our way back to this store!!  On the way, Chris confessed that he did not know the word for a coffeemaker in Spanish, but was confident he could learn the word if he could explain the process of making coffee.  Once again, humor presents itself in every interaction...

Chris (in Spanish):  How do you say "to make coffee"? (meant to say "the thing that makes coffee")

Girl: To make coffee.

Chris: Oh, you just say 'to make coffee'?

Girl: Yes.

Chris: Good.  We would like to see the 'to make coffee' over there.

By the time we walked out of the store with our cafetera (the correct word) we had all had a pretty good laugh.

We spent most of our weekend walking around the streets of Guadalajara, trying to bring some sense to our mixed-up mental map.  Taco joints and Chinese restaurants abound, along with so many shoes stores!!  I have an affinity to shoes, so you can imagine my excitement.  I laughed at Chris' reaction, "So this is why you wanted to move to Guadalajara...how do women have this intuition?"

We've enjoyed good eating out...mostly tacos.  I'm learning most Mexican cuisine consists of meat, corn tortillas, and a variety of sauces arranged just a little differently.  However, there is variety in the sauces and the way the meat is prepared....and it is excellent!  So savory with a nice hint of picante spice!

Worship at El Rey de Reyes

We were encouraged to find a presbyterian church yesterday - El Rey de Reyes Iglesia Presbiteriano.  We navigated the bus system, paid our pesos for the bus ride and managed to get off at the right stop.  After a bit of walking through the neighborhood, we stumbled upon a large group of well dressed Mexicans pouring out onto the street with bibles in hand...it was a welcome sight!  There were probably close to 200 people at the service we attended and we felt very privileged at the opportunity to worship together with them.  Although I have a very limited amount of Spanish (nada), the praise songs were familiar and the body of Christ is able to connect regardless of language barriers.   We're looking forward to next Sunday already!

This brings us back to the coffeemaker.   One thing we overlooked in our desperation to get some good coffee, was the less than ideal electrical situation in our hotel room.  With the TV, alarm clock, lamp, and cord for our laptop using up all the available outlets, we had no place to plug in the machine!!  No worries, the coffeemaker had to replace the alarm clock....and the aroma of coffee woke us up to face a new adventure this morning!  Ahh.....