On Mexico City

El Angel de la Independencia

As noted in my excuse for posting the letter from TMFKATB, I spent all last week in Mexico City for work. Can I just go on record on how much I enjoy this sprawling, chaotic world capital? It's an amazing place. It is a place that never disappoints and that was certainly the case again this trip.

The days were long and busy, but when you are working with some really great people and have a view like the one in the picture to the left, you get by. My company's office tower sits on the Plaza de la Reforma, one of the main drags in the city, and overlooks the famed statue, El Angel de la Independencia. Meetings took me to different parts of the city and it was fascinating to take it all in.

It is city, like many big metropolises, where every street, every corner tells a different story. Perhaps due to TMFKATB eight months living in this country, I was a little more sensitive to what was going on around me. This was particularly true as I walked through the area around my hotel each night. This led to dinner one night at an amazing Yucatanese restaurant and then on my last night there, a gorging dinner at my favorite taco joint in the whole of the city, El Caminero. The tacos there are about a buck a piece and they are nothing like the "tacos" one gets at Whack in the Crack for .99 a piece. No, the ones at El Caminero are, unlike those from the aforementioned Whack, in fact delicious and are not a lump of carne misteriosa that looks more like a sebaceous cyst in a sealed shell. They are amazing.

I was the only Americano at el Caminero the night I ate there and I loved taking in a futbol match on the TV with several other patrons. It was fun to talk with them about the game and to have them ask me if I was Cuban (my DNA may say otherwise but in my soul, I'd like to think si, soy un poco Cubano). As I spent time there and with my Mexican colleagues, I was reminded of the many letters from TMFKATB speaking of his love for this people. I get it.

Speaking of TMFAKTB, while he was still serving in Tuxtla Gutierrez, he sent us a picture of some cookies that he insisted we had to try. Over the next few months, we tried to find them everywhere, except of course here in the state in which we live because we live under the iron fist of Martha Stewart and there's no way that would be allowed. No way. Anyway, after a tear through several straight out of Mexico markets in the Phoenix-area, I was told that the maker did not import that specific cookie to the States. So my only mission on this trip, besides El Caminero, was to find those friggin' cookies. I tried for three days and every tienda or bodega I went into did not have them. Finally, on my fourth and final night, in a driving rainstorm in which the side streets of Mexico City turned to rivers, I went into an OXXO and there they were - the last two bags of said cookies in the whole place. Here's the proof:

Mission Accomplished!

They really are good, by the way. One package will make it's way behind the Zion Curtain to a certain young man here sooner rather than later.

As I left Friday morning, I got a little emotional in the Mexico City Airport as they repeated the final boarding call for the first flight to Tuxtla Gutierrez no fewer than four times. I thought of what was going through The Boy's mind nearly one year ago when he first stepped foot in that same airport awaiting a flight to Tuxtla. He was a brand-new missionary, barely speaking a word of Spanish. He called us one final time from that airport that day and it was safe to say he was a little overwhelmed. What a difference a year makes! The eight months he was in Mexico will benefit him the rest of his life.

And I, for one, am looking forward to years of playing "Whose Spanish is Better?" with him. Bring it on!

Better

All smiles with his companion

After last week's letter and its opening salvo, "I'm dying," we were more than a little curious about the news we'd get from TMFKATB today. Happy to report that his letter, entitled 'i feel better,' was a most welcome read. Aside from the statement, "I feel so much better," he spoke no more of last week's dream date with chikungunya. Check here for a huge answer to prayers. HUGE.

The rest of the letter was pretty pedestrian, quite frankly, with the exception of a little run-in with some 'possessed' people. There is nothing like a mission experience when you find yourself constantly seeking to serve others that you see people in their best and worst moments. He had one of those pretty scary moments where he encountered someone who was convinced she was possessed. He didn't give a lot of detail but suffice to say, it's a heavy thing for a nineteen year old to experience. These are lessons that you wouldn't pick up in a college classroom. Based on what he said though, he's growing up in ways that are hard to describe. I'm amazed at the faith that he's demonstrating. Amazed.

One of the fun things that he and I have going is his weekly report of the best thing he ate. When he's feeling especially cheeky, he'll send a picture. He did it again this week, with some delicious looking tacos al pastor.

Clearly he was feeling more than well enough to feast on these. And I couldn't be happier for him.

It's a little warmer

Sadly, I've stayed in worse places

Last week's letter and spot communication from TMFKATB reflected a young man who'd been served a heaping help of change with a side order of surprise and how he was trying to deal with it. The Boy, or TMFKATB, does not like the unknown. Surprises are not his friend. He's cool so long as he has an idea of what's going on. So we knew last week's changes had the potential to rattle him. We were more than a little anxious to get today's missive.

Today's letter was a literal ray of sunshine in an otherwise dreary day. By dreary, I mean non-stop snow for 12 hours which meant 12 inches of snow and a couple of nightmare shovel bonanzas. His letter, although written in his rat-a-tat stream of consciousness and ever worsening English, showed that he's stepping up to the challenges that his new assignments and new area are giving him. He's also recognizing the rewards of working hard. He's learning about working hard to earn the respect of others that don't automatically grant that respect. I have to hand it to him though because his sense of humor continues to shine through.

He was kind enough to send us a picture of his bathroom. It's safe to say we breathed a collective sigh of relief when we saw that toilet paper was present and accounted for. Of his shower, he said, "The bathroom here has a little warmer water. It's still freezing but not ice cold haha." Nice perspective. He also let me know that he had powered down 13, yes 13, carne asada tacos at one sitting. One of my aortas constricted with joy and envy when I read that.

With some of the missionaries and members in his area

He just looks happy. And tan. He's getting a little George Hamilton-esque! Ironically, The Boy and I ran into Mr. Hamilton when we were in Miami last year. Suffice to say, all that tanning did George zero favors, but I digress. That smile and that tan on our boy made our day. He's happy, he's outside working. He's loving the people he is serving. Couldn't ask for much more.