Zocalo, Place or Plaza

While we are traveling we get to see a lot of different cities. In many parts of the world each city has its main square, in Latin America it's called a plaza (Alameda and Zocalo are also popular names for these public squares). I thought it might be fun to show you some of the plazas we have seen. The night picture is the Zocalo in Puebla, Mexico. The other one is from France, the Place de la Comedie in Montpellier. Check back for others coming soon.

Cabrito, uuumm good!

This is one of the things that I miss when we are away from home in Mexico. Baby goat cooked over an open fire. Delicioso!

Fellow servants

One of the great things about having to travel so much is getting to work with many great people, others of our Savior's servants. This is missionary Mike Hartman, field counselor for our mission work in Mexico. Good friend, perceptive counselor to the Mexican national church and its pastors, and a good listener when needed. His wife, Rachel, does a great blog on life and mission work in Mexico which you can see here. Their six-months-old daughter also happens to be our godchild, Trinity Rose.

Obstacles to preaching

There are occasional unexpected obstacles when I preach in a mission chapel, this one in Humacao, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico

We arrived in Puerto Rico a week ago and have been busy getting on with the teaching and getting settled in to the Martens' apartment (Thanks Ralph and Roxy). Today I had my first day off so we decided to take a drive and see some of the island. We drove west from Caguas up into the central mountains. Very narrow roads, closely hemmed in by the verdant vegetation including lots of bamboo, but stunning vistas when we finally got to the top. We found this little road-side restaurant and had some mofongo (fried plantains chopped up with cracklins). It was a fun excursion and was Marlene's first time to get away from the house except for a couple of grocery trips. Maybe next time we'll try to get to the coast somewhere.

Relaxation

Here you see Terry, Marlene's brother, and his wife Cheryl, together with Marlene. They were excellent hosts while we visited New Hampshire before going to the church's New England family retreat. They showed us rural NH with its trees (just beginning to change color), rivers and rocks. We also got to see the beach before we drove up to Maine for a fantastic lobster dinner.

Fun old hobby

I even had time to get back to an old hobby, wine making. This latest batch I bottled just before we started our trip. Elderberry wine, made from dried elderberries plus a few raisins to give it a little more body. It is delicious, my compadre missionary in Torreon agrees. It tastes like a cross between a good port and a madeira. I will be trying more of this as soon as we get back in December.

Al fin

Well, at last! It took me over a year, but it's finally done. We installed the fireplace last fall and began the entertainment center at the same time. I sure didn't expect it to take so long. Too much on my plate, I guess.

Still not too quiet.

One would think that after a trip of 11 days teaching in Colombia that one's life would quiet down just a little. But not so. Now we're busy getting ready for our next trip. Both Marlene and I will be presenting at the New England family Labor Day retreat in Massachusetts. From there we go to Chicago for a Latin American Missionary Conference and from there to spend three months in Puerto Rico. So I have a few studies to prepare and course material to get ready.
My trip to Colombia was a real treat. Two weekends in Bogota and the intervening week in Medellin. You can see from the pictures how many students we have in both cities. I also got to see one of my old members in Medellin, Ofelia. She was in the very first group of students that I confirmed in Medellin. It was a treat to visit with her and later with two of her daughters, one of whom I also confirmed--with my daughter Naomi--our last year there.

Not again!

The last three times that Marlene has visited the States, her flight back here to Torreón has been canceled and she has had to come back on the next day. Last night I got a call from American Airlines telling us that one of her flights today was canceled. Fortunately, she was able to get all her flights rebooked for tomorrow. And all three times it was the same airline!
The worst part of the deal is that tomorrow I have to go to Cuidad Juárez, Chihuahua for the annual church convention of the Iglesia Evangélica Luterana Confesional, so we won’t see each other till Saturday, God willing. It will have been twenty-six days since I’ve seen her. Even after 41 years of marriage, I still miss her when we are apart that long.