How about this for winter weather?
Caught this screen capture about 3 p.m. today!
Archive for February, 2009
yum, yum
Let me start by saying that this post has nothing to do with our work here in Sonora. But I thought it might be fun to share a bit about our life here, especially some of the things that we have really learned to enjoy about Sonora.
Let me also say, that it’s the first of the year and like just about everyone else, we are on a diet and exercise plan. The IMB requires us to meet certain criteria in regard to our BMI. Honestly, I am pushing the limit. So, time to lose a few of those pounds that I gained over the holidays.That being said, this post is about food. I really like food. I like to eat. As Jim Carey said in Dumb and Dumber, “I like it a lot.” However, we are learning to eat healthier.
Here in Sonora it’s citrus time. Although we live in the desert, we are in full-blown orange growing country. There are also grapefruit, citron, tangerines, tangelos, mandarins, limes, and lemons. I guess that winter is prime orange harvesting season. There are vendors everywhere hawking sacks of oranges on the street corners. They are just dirt cheap. On Friday, we went to the city produce markets to see our favorite citrus vendor. She’s a middle-aged woman, very much in charge of her little corner of the market. Her citrus is always fresh, and cheap. And she always hands us a sample to get us to buy more. We ended up with an assortment of oranges and tangerines–about 4 1/2 pounds in all, for the sum of $2.09. That works out to about to about 46 cents per pound. That’ll work.
On the way home from the produce market we passed a really nice seafood market. I decided that some fresh crab meat might be good for my low fat diet, and it might be tasty to boot. A quick stop and I was on my way with a kilogram of the flaky white stuff for about $4 per pound. As I said in the title, yum, yum.
We’ve been snacking on oranges for the last several days and I am sure that’s better than Oreos or vanilla ice cream. Donna toasted some corn tortillas in the oven. We topped them with fresh crab meat, some pico de gallo, and a splash of hot sauce for tostadas de jaiba. And as a Valentine treat, Donna prepared some fresh crabcakes with wild rice on the side. (Yes, she used a low-fat recipe.)
I can almost feel the pounds melting off!
the quest for the visa, part 2
Well, maybe Friday the 13th is my LUCKY day! We got up early, had some coffee and devotional time, got dressed and headed back to the immigration office. We walked in and there was no one waiting. The same lady was working the front desk. She seemed a bit more laid back. I chuckled and said, “Otro intento”. (Try again) She smiled and began to sort out the papers and photos. She asked a couple of simple questions and had us sign the back of one paper and then assembled them into two neat stacks–one for me and one for Donna. She got out her stamper and stamped a few documents and handed two of them to us, saying, “These papers will be your visas until your FM3 visas are ready. It’ll be about 30 days, maybe sooner.” I asked if she would contact us or if I should return. She said, “Come back in 20 or 25 days to check and see if they are ready.” And with that, we THINK we have successfully submitted our application for our residency visas that will be renewable for 5 more years. Praise the Lord! (And please Lord, don’t let them call me to tell me that some of our documents are filled out incorrectly! Amen!)
the quest for the mexican visa
If you’ve never lived in a another country, what I am about to write may seem strange and illogical. If you have, you’ll identify with me, quickly. As Americans we may moan and groan about bureaucracy, but let me tell you, there are government offices that’ll make you thankful for your local DMV.
Such it is in Mexico. We’ve had our fair share of adventures with vehicle registration. This year was actually easy. I went online, paid the license fees by credit card, and in about a week my 2009 stickers were delivered to my front door. Alright then! However, in December 2008 our Mexican visas came up for their 5 year renewal and it’s off to the Immigration office to see what we can accomplish. After all, we now have five years of Spanish under our belts, right? Right……
The mission office in Mexico is quite helpful. We could have opted to go to Mexico City and have the mission attorney walk us through the whole process. But that means a 2 or 3 day trip to Mexico City, with overnight stays, meals eaten out, and several long taxi rides. All in all, not what we would prefer to do, having done it in 2003 for the original visas.
This year we sent our old visas, our passports, and some signed documents to the mission office and the attorney got the process started with the main immigration office. Yesterday, we received the packet with a handful of forms to fill out, and verbal directions to go to the immigration office here in Hermosillo to finish the process. Please note that I said “verbal directions.” That always ramps up the excitement in Mexico!
So off we went today. First we had to find the office. The internet gave the office’s address as something like “mile marker 9 on the highway to the airport”. Gee, that’s precise, huh? After about a half an hour of searching, we found the office, but not where we expected it to be. We went in and waited briefly at the front desk. There were several others waiting already, and several walked in just after us. The clerk behind the desk told us to sit down and she’d be with us shortly. She was stamping documents for the customer ahead of us. Man, she must have stamped about a hundred papers and then sort of shuffled them more or less into a pile and he was off. We were next. I told her what I wanted and she began looking through my papers to see what I had. Then she began rattling off a verbal list of what I’d need….copies of every page of both passports, the immigration forms filled out in triplicate ONLINE only and printed on legal size paper ONLY, a couple of other forms filled out by hand, a copy of a utility bill from our current address, and a copy of the identification of our landlord. So far, we’re up to about 40 more pieces of paper.Oh, and photos. We had brought a sack full of passport style photos—yes they would be ok, but we needed to go back and get a set of photos of our right profiles.
I calmly asked her to slow down and repeat all that as I scribbled it on the back of the envelope I had. She did, and we left the office, not surprised at what had just happened.
Well, as it turned out, we had most everything we needed, it was just a matter of getting it. We found a place to do the profile photos on the second stop. Then back home we went and started making copies. I filled out the forms online and switched paper trays on the printer to get them on legal size. We were good to go…..
Back in the car, we made the 20 minute drive back to the immigration office. As we neared the office I said, “I hope they are not closed for the siesta”. As we walked up to the door, we could see someone inside in uniform and a new sign on the door. Open 8am-12noon for immigration applications. I rattled the door and the guard made a motion with the hand that meant, “You’ll have to come back tomorrow.” To be continued……………..
what goes around, comes around
Nearly three years ago we began the Casa de Dios church in north Hermosillo. Well, actually, God did it. But we helped! After a few months of home visits and Bible studies, we held our first public services under some tents in a public park. Soon, we rented a small house across the street from the park and had a handy place to store our “stuff”. Then a few months later, we moved to a larger rented facility and have happily met there for nearly 2 years.
Recently, the landlord decided to raise the rent, and then decided that he wanted to sell the property. We were excited at first, because the church really desired to buy some property and not continue paying rent. However, the appraisal on the property was not exactly what we expected–real estate practices here are not like the U.S. Bottom line is that the asking price was nearly twice what the property is really worth (at least in our opinion). After some negotiation with the owner, we decided the best thing to do was vacate the property, find a more reasonably priced rental, and begin saving for the purchase of a building or a vacant lot.
Today, the Casa de Dios church met under the tents again!
We rented a house just down the street from the other one. All the members of the church pitched in as we literally walked our chairs, tables, etc. up the block to the new house. Today, we put up the portable tents again and enjoyed a brisk morning service. (A cold front passed through last night. Temperatures were in the 50s this morning with broken clouds and a moderate breeze. Brrrr!)
Please pray for the church as they seek God’s will in regard to a more permanent home. Here’s a photo from last Saturday’s block party that shows our current setup!
Block party at Casa de Dios
thankful
We are thankful for how God places us in the hearts of some people. About three years ago we met two delightful couples from the Texas panhandle. They were part of their church’s mission team to Hermosillo. That group was at the forefront of our efforts in the planting of the Casa de Dios church. Since then, these two couples (Jerry and Donna, Larry and Charlene) have kept in touch with us. Not only that, they have returned to Hermosillo on several occasions to work with us.
We were happy to receive our friends recently and enjoyed working with them for 4 days. They continue to bless us with their attitudes, their love for the Mexican people, and their extreme flexibility. We wish them well, as they departed Hermosillo southbound for some vacation time in Mazatlán. As we say here, ¡Pobrecitos!
