This and That for July

 Someone gave this bag of candy to a worker and told her it was for Hna. Crockett.  How sweet but we have no clue who it is from.

They are painting the top of the sides of the clinic by rolling the paint down from the roof.

Oscar and Teodora Meza kindly gave us this picture that she had made by shaping and coloring aluminum sheets.  They said they gave the gift so we can remember them.  In reeturn we were happy they wanted to receive our growing avocado tree.

We gave away our largest avocado tree to the Mezas but still have three more that need a home.  

Hna. Meza told us it was the custom here to wrap a red ribbon around the branch of a tree so that it won't lose its fruit.  It is interesting that after we are told a tradition here, we can find examples.  While ducking under a tree for a little shade, we looked up and saw the red. 

Walking by the local store, we enjoyed reading the lettering on their signs that were a mix of Spanish 

and English

An elementary school is getting remodeled and a nice cover being added.

Hna. Barrientos from the Guerrero State in Mexico  and Hna. Morales from Mexico City now serve our Jardin Ward as well as the University Branch.

Our Missionaries

We shared this trio of missionaries with two other wards for six weeks during June and July.  July 18th was a great day for them since they had a baptism that day in each of their three wards.

Hna. Pittam, Hna. Badilla, Hna. Morales

Hna. Pittam and Hna. Badilla came to the temple on July 14th with the group finishing their mission this transfer.

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We were invited to the "despedida" for Hna. Pittam at Berenice and Marcopolo's home.  Berenice made posole and we brought banana crush. Hna. Pittam was leaving the next morning and needed to be packed and ready by 4 a.m. for her trip from Tampico to Houston to Denver to Los Angeles to her home in Arizona.  She said she had cried for most of the day.

The Accidents

We aren't really sure how this accident happened.  It was a one car, low speed roll-over.  Maybe the driver over-corrected?  Somehow the car turned on its side in just a short straight distance in a residential area,

Paul was at the scene not long after it happened and saw the neighbors helping the occupants from the available windows of the car and directing them to rest in the shade.  The driver was in her 50's and the other two were in their teens.  An ambulance arrived shortly after the accident with paramedics but no one seemed to be seriously hurt though we are sure they were visibly shaken.

A few days later we went back to the scene of the accident and took an "after" shot of the short, 100 yard stretch of road.  The road curves sharply to the right just behind the dark car in the distance. 

Then just a week later we passed another wreck in the other direction on the corner while walking to the temple.  

looking forward at the wreck on the corner

looking back after we had walked passed the accident

Speaking of Mangos

We are learning that there are many different kinds of mangos and each kind ripens at different times.  We walk by this huge mango tree on our way to the temple each day.

Just one branch of our neighbor's mango tree hangs over into our yard but it has provided us with all the mangos we can use.

We are daily picking up the mangos that fall into our yard and we either eat them or are peeling and freezing them for later use.  

Just when we think we have taken care of all the mangos, we walk outside and find a few more on the ground waiting to be picked up.

Mango trees grow to an immense height and provide shade so people like them in their yard.  But huge trees also produce a lot of mangos.

People are willing to share their mangos and some put them out for others to take

 or they may set out boxes or buckets of mangos for anyone interested.

Some trees are located in areas where there doesn't seem to be one particular owner or person responsible for taking care of the fallen mangos.

Some mangos just fall into the road and the cars take care of them.

We remember well the football sized mangos from Oscar and Teodora Meza's house.  They purchased the house in order to get the mango tree.  These delicious mangos are growing and will be ripe in a couple of months

Tidbits From The Produce Department

Jalepenos were on sale for 9.5 pesos per kilo [28 cents per pound] at H.E.B. They were a little more at Arteli since they cost 13.90 per kilo [40 cents per pound]

We wondered just how many jalepenos are in a kilo so we decided to find out.  We can make one jalepeno last for several months but we have seen the locals buy large bags of them.

We like mushrooms and enjoy the large selection available.  We bought some mushrooms stuffed with cheese and the girl working at the store told us how simple it was to cook them.  Put a little olive oil in the frying pan, turn the heat on low and add the whole stuffed mushrooms.  Put on the lid and let it heat until the cheese melts.  Yum.  

We didn't know what these colorful produce were and asked a lady standing there and she didn't know either.  So we all asked a produce worker and he said they were kind of sweet and filled with seeds...so there we have it.   

What we didn't get a picture of was the mangos selling for 1.9 pesos per kilo [about 5 cents per pound.]  Even at that low price we didn't get any since mangos are currently being delivered to our front patio at no charge!

Sharing our Bananas

We didn't take care of our first batch of bananas very well this year and they split and were ugly before they were ripe.  Our second batch of bananas were beautiful.  Paul cut them into several manageable sections while they riped.  From those, we were very happy to cut them into smaller batches and bag them to give to friends and neighbors.

Our third batch of bananas is on the tree and looking good.