XICO Day Trip

Famous for it's Mole and this Waterfall

 left to right
The Ratz, Bickmores, Hiltons, Pietrafittas, and the Yanez
This picture we are standing by the top of the falls

It's quite a hike



Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed here



At the bottom we were grateful for this shade tree

Lindy cooled down in the water




The girls hung out for a rest



Lovers





This little Catholic church was decorated
with all fresh flowers & plants

take a closer look

We found the famous restaurant for Mole


Presidente Hilton making and cooking tortillas
The men cooked for the women

 

Presidente Bickmore

Our friend Tony from the Club
A tennis partner.
Not a member of the church

Presidente Yanez

Now I will educate you on Mole
 16^th Century nuns from the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla de los Angeles, upon learning that the Archbishop was coming for a visit, went into a panic because they had nothing to serve him. The nuns started praying desperately and an angel came to inspire them. They began chopping and grinding and roasting, mixing different types of chiles together with spices, day-old bread, nuts, a little chocolate and approximately 20 other ingredients..

	Mole Poblano: Pollo con Arroz

This concoction boiled for hours and was reduced to the thick, sweet, rich and fragrant mole sauce we know today

My personal opinion----it tastes like something you burn accidently, scrap it off the bottom of the pan and eat, only if your straving to dead

April Activities

A second visit to La Antiqua established in 1574
Home of Cortez





Florals are abundant everywhere in Veracruz

Mango Tree

Trip to the Fish Market

Preparing for Dinner

You can buy a whole fish cheap






The local aquarium is home to 3000 species
of Marine life native to the Gulf of Mexico




These beautiful creatures can kill you



Family Home Evening with the Torres Family
Both Hermana & Hermano Torres
are temple workers

JOSE ANGEL JUAREZ MARTINEZ

 Meet Jose Angel Juarez Martinez

This young boy I first meet at the Club Britania. One day in my very best Spanish, I asked him if he went to school.  His answer was NO.  When I asked why, he said he had not been to school since he was 11 yrs. old.  He has to work to help feed his family.  Rob and I discussed the situation and decided we would try to get Jose back into school. We visited the town where he lived and found a school he could attend on Sundays. (This picture we took for Jose Angel's entrance into school, he has on Rob's shirt)



Jose's Family:

Marie-Age 32 Jose-Age 16 Luis-Age 11

Gabriela-Age 5, Yoselin-Age 3

 By attending school and passing six exams, he will be able to catch up the past years. He started attending the above school and took the first three exams successfully, then his family was forced to move and by fate moved into our ward boundaries. Without us saying anything about the church, but only from the family being curious about the temple, Jose, first and then his family became interested in the church. They came to church with us a couple of times and then took the missionary lessons.

At the request of Jose, Presidente Hilton baptised Maria, Jose and Luis

The Family is very happy together




Yoselin in front of their casa





They don't have much

This is the street going to casa



Just 2 weeks after their baptism, the ward formed two new branches (ramas)



the sacrament table





now Jose and his family meet
 in this small casa.





The complete membership



Jose is always tired. He has to get on a bus at 4:30am to be to work at 6:00am. He works six days a week. Sunday is his only day off and when he can get back into another school in his new town he will again go to school on Sunday.  I might note that when we meet Jose he was a gardener, since then he has had two promotions and now works in the weight room, which is airconditioned. We told him he needed to smile, hold his head high, give a firm handshake and look people straight in the eye. He took the advise.....He is an exceptional young man. He reads very well and is now reading from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, he also loves reading the Liahonias.

Day trip to Cordava

The Noriega's (a wonderful couple who work in the temple)
invited us to thier Cuidad for dinner.  They told us about a zip line there
and of course we found it

Zip line went over this valley

Two of Noriega's grandchildren came with us



Dave, who is afraid of heights, was a hoot
He didn't want to go, but we made him



Mayrene is extremely adventuresome
Ready to do anything, anytime

Feel that adrenalin rush



It was quite a hike out of the valley floor

Noriega's had a great dinner ready for us.
This is fresh tomatoe juice in a chilled glass
with the rim coated in course salt. with
a celery stir stick



This is where we learned to play the spoons.
Noriega's daughter and grandchildren were
our maestras





Day Trip to Tuxtla, Mexico



Now if you want cheap pineapples
you want to buy them right out of the fields

It was our day off, Monday, March 8th so we took off on an adventure
We were looking for a waterfall, which was to be about 2 hours south
of Veracruz.  This was not it

You don't have to travel far to be out of the city.
Where is the picture taker?



Oh! there he is

This cuidad was beautiful.  It's name
Tuxtla

We bought more pineapples right in town for the same
price as out of the field, but they were much larger

We found it!

Had a nice dinner on the way home
We're overlooking a lake, which has an
Island in it called Monkey Island.
The monkeys there dive into the lake
No other monkeys do that.
Will check it out on another trip

The dinner was complete with music. 
Might mention Lindy had Camerones, as always

CLUB BRITANIA

After walking on the beach almost everyday for a month, we decided we needed an additional form of exercise, so we joined Club Britania.   Now we play tennis at 7:30am the days that we do not work mornings--every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  We also play the other morning when we are working the afternoon, evening shift.  Usually we get in four days a week.  Many times we swim after and in addition walk the track or use the treadmills, workout with weighs, etc.  So far, we have been able to maintain our normal weight.  By the way Lindy only weighs 54--figure that one out.

Getting no where Fast

Let's pick up the pace!!

Working Hard





Our favorite is tennis.  For Lindy, her tennis is improving much faster than her Spanish



A dip in the pool is always refreshing, even in November

Parable of the Bird

Arriving in Veracruz, settling into a new life, living in the heart of a large and noise city, being nervous about the responsibility of our new calling, leaving our family, friends and quiet life in McCall behind....You can imagine my already problem of  NOT SLEEPING escalating.  Friday nights were especially difficult as we had to be in the temple very early on Saturday mornings.  One typical Friday night, I had gone to bed early and was fighting going to sleep.

The neighborhood rooster was crowing

which  started the neighborhood dogs barking

It was after 3:30am when I finally fell asleep and at 5:00pm, the rooster started in again.  It was one lucky dog and rooster that I didn't have a machete.  That Saturday we were in the temple for every shift and session, which is one long day.  The next morning was Sunday and I really looked forward to sleeping in.  At 1:00am the rooster started in, then the dogs, but as I laid there I heard a bird and as I listened intently, my mind shut out all of the annoying noises and soon all I heard was the bird.