Mucho Caminar

The title of course means 'much walking,' and that's certainly what we did today. We caught a bus to the Hall to attend the 9:00 a.m. service arrangement and, in stark contrast to Friday evening when our bus to the meeting crowded to capacity, this morning Carol and I were the only passengers the entire way. Below is a photo from the back of the bus. Saturday mornings are slow here.

Probably 40 persons gathered at the Hall. Practically everyone had prior arrangements which was interesting. The one solo sister was assigned to Carol and the one solo brother to me. We were given territory in Centro (the downtown core) and off we went.

One street was named Cuauhtémoc and it was decorated with a bust of the man who bore that name.

Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec ruler in Mexico (1497-1525).

 
 The first hour we walked from one Mom-and-Pop business to another, and for the rest of the morning walking in the sun increased as we went in search of addresses where English-speakers were known to live. Along one street a Mexican man sitting on steps called out to me, "Hello Sir, where are you from?" And that was the beginning of a half-hour conversation and the reading of several scriptures. People are clearly concerned and willing to talk about where they see this world going.

At the end of the morning we were exhausted but we had planned errands in the area, for example picking up my adjusted pants at the tailor (job well done) and bringing my service bag to another shop to have a split seam repaired (also well done, and by a brother). So, forcing one foot in front of the other, we soldiered on in the sun, the humidity, and the heat. The heavenly aroma of freshly ground coffee impelled us to pause at a coffee boutique and purchase a bag ...

We also wanted to bring back cold beverages, namely Penafiel Limonada and Naranjada, our favorites, but could not find it in the shops nearby. We simply had to give up and bus home. So, as if our walking marathon wasn't enough, shortly after our return I walked to the neighborhood OXXO convenience store because we were completely out of cold drinks and needed some desperately.

You may get the picture that this day produced fatigue. It is an accurate picture. I'm glad our meeting tomorrow is at 5:00 p.m. because ...

tomorrow morning I'm sleeping in.