Shopping for electrical supplies with a girlfriend - why oh why do the guys send us to a Mexican electrical store where nobody speaks English? Oh yes. I know why. Because we were able to get just what they wanted and they didn’t have to go shopping. Then they can complain about how much shopping we do and how much money we spend. Hmmmmm.
We have a Senor named David (pronounced Dah veed) who lives at the end of our road. He has a mini market and is also a great woodworker and concrete guy. On Monday we asked if he would build us a shelf and a set of steps (I’m too short to get up on top of the house from the loft.) On Tuesday he delivered them. Wow. He did a great job! I’ thrilled with both of them. Of course I haven’t stained them yet, but maybe manana. He’s currently moving our mini palapa on the beach about 4 feet. A big project that took 6 guys to lift it. It’s a much better location!!!
This afternoon was my first time volunteering at a school in Playa del Carmen. We get a group of about 6 students in grades 1, 2, or 3. Then we are given materials to read a story to them. Girlfriend Jaime and I were both assigned to the First Grade. We were given a book that had about 20 words in it. A typical first grade reader. However, I knew there was no way I was going to keep them engaged for a hour. I’ll have to bring a bag of tricks next week. But it was fun.
I also volunteered to pick up another girl at the mall and take her with us. She was a young, very cool kinda girl. Short blonde hair and athletic. And her name was Credence….as she said….as in Credence Clearwater Revival. Cool. Different. It fits her.
Oh but I forgot to tell you. I couldn’t find the place. Because I had no directions. Someone was supposed to send me directions, but they didn’t. We stopped at an OXXO (mini mart) and asked for directions, but they didn’t know…so I pulled up behind a police car and he said follow him. However, here in Mexico, the police cars drive around with their lights flashing. So I had a police escort with flashing lights. And then we had a police car pull behind us, so I was kind the middle of a police sandwich. Wasn’t that nice. Really, people here are so very kind if you are kind to them. I guess it’s that way most everywhere.
There was quite a crowd at one of our neighbor’s palapa. (Dennis from Gary, Indiana) One of our other neighbors (Rich) stopped over to say hi and found him on the floor. It is possible that he had a stroke. Security was called, an ambulance was called. And his friends rallied together to go with him and to secure his belongings and palapa. That’s just the kind of community we have here. I know he feels better to know that things are being taken care of.
Update: Dennis’ wife, Peggy arrived yesterday. Dennis is not doing well at all. The doctors said he had a double stroke. He was taken to the hospital in Cancun. He has been able to open one eye and squeeze her hand, but he remains paralyzed on one side. It’s very sad to know how life can change in the blink of an eye.
And Dennis is probably alive only because a friend stopped by to say hi.
No comments:
Post a Comment