Pre-script: I lied Oaxaca City is more like 700,000 (sorry it took so long to count), the church here has been established for 40 years and I am not Mexican.
I have finished my first full day in Oaxaca, and I am tired (not exhausted, but tired). I had forgotten the ache of legs that have walked and stood for long periods of time and the hind-parts that are sore from sitting on hard surfaces for too long. I am clean and in bed.
Yesterday I left Grandma and Dad after a prayer to enter the Tulsa airport. I checked my back and passed through security, forfeiting only one item (which I saw in a store today). I sit at my gate and read one of my assigned books. I fly and read the same book. I arrive in Houston and decide on a late lunch at Ruby’s diner. I had a Hickory Burger hold the Hickory (you just never know what “barbeque sauce” will taste like) so I had the Hickory in a side dish (which proved to be a good choice). I got to the gate and read, got bored so I played HMM3 (sorry Casey I didn’t take the cd out of my drive). I became more bored so I read some more, verified my passport and shortly thereafter bored the plan.
The flight was three hours with a brief view of the Gulf. We hit turbulence about 25 minutes before landing. It would have been much more enjoyable if I hadn’t been thinking how crushed my mother would have been if I would have gone down in a flaming blaze of Mexican airplane glory. Before landing I was able to see lightning in the sky while in the sky.
We landed at an all but abandoned airport at 9 pm. My bag was one of the first to arrive and passing through the remaining security was simple and quick (I think mostly because the ‘guards’ were to young ladies about my age who might have appreciated my smile so late on their shift). There were a few people waiting outside the portal of entry (sounds better than door) but none recognizable to my eye, so I waited since I didn’t have an address, phone number, or plans B through Z.
I saw a van pull up and a young boy get out and come inside he went to look through the glass at the portal of entry (still sounds good). I waited and later a man and his daughter came in; he looked like a the minister in a picture I had seen, and then a woman came in and as I looked at her she looked at me, thought about looking away, and then softly asked, “Are you Zach?” and as I embrace her I say, “Yes, I am.”
Stuff, stuff, stuff we go to the house have quesadillas with the Serranos and their visiting family (who were on the same flight); I get to know the family a little and then go to the place I will be staying for a bit: the home of Gerardo y Alma Rosa. Gerardo is a new member of the church and he has two children a daughter (who is married and I have not met) and a son Jonathan. Gerardo y Alma Rosa gave me the 10 peso tour of their home at 12 am and asked me if I wanted or needed anything at least 15 times. (Note: when Jorge (the minister) dropped me off Gerardo was walking him back to his car and I heard the word ‘gigante’ spoken a couple of times (I’ll have to ask Jorge about it))
Some sleep, crazy dream about military invaders, an old person close to death, and punching a person who really deserved it (the bad guy off of Australia (the movie)). The dreams were interrupted by Gerardo welcoming me into the new day. I dressed quickly and we drove to the family’s little roadside shop where they sell mostly foodstuffs. Alma Rosa made me a torta, coffee, and a tostada (I ate avocado and tomato on it neither of which I have previously enjoyed very much), but I ate gratefully.
Gerardo then put me on a bus after a call from Jorge back to Tule where the Serranos live (like municipality of Oaxaca City). My first experience on Oaxacan public transportation went without a hitch since Gerardo told the driver where I was to be dropped off and some older lady gave me the heads-up before the stop (I felt like a really newb (short for newbie (which means a person who has little or no previous experience with an activity))). I was to meet someone at the park of the Arbol de Tule one of the biggest trees in the world. I made my way to the tree and was completely awestruck by the size and permanence of the tree. It is truly massive. At least 40 feet in diameter and a couple of hundred feet tall the branch were as thick as trees and twisted in ways I would not have thought possible. It is truly impressive. Aaron (Jorge and Latisha’s 9 year old son) met me on his bike and we walked to the house. After a stirring round of a loose variation of football in the backyard with Emily (Jorge and Latisha’s daughter), some hide and seek, and cartoons we went to a restaurant for lunch across from the park of the Arbol.
Later that night we went to the baseball stadium and caught most of a Mexican Professional Baseball game. It was fun; I haven’t been to a baseball game in a while and it was fun to sit up higher with Aaron and try to catch foul balls. After the game Jorge dropped me off at Gerardo’s home where I got to meet his son (who was already in bed the night before and had school today). We all talked a bit, and Alma Rosa offered me a cup of coffee (I can rarely refuse), and of course coffee leads to toast and jam, et cetera, et cetera (it looks better spelled out doesn’t it?) Gerardo was pleased to find out that my ability to speak, read and write are about the same. He handed me some brief sermon notes on a verse or two and I found them really insightful. Alma Rosa who has not been baptized asked me if I had a testimony. I told her about my family and their involvement with the church as well as my decision to be baptized. I also told her about some instances where I have been able to grow through service to my homeless friends in Little Rock and kids in the projects there. It was a neat dynamic sitting there with the family at the table at 11 pm. I didn’t get to speak much with Jonathan but I feel like we will have lots of time together.
Again I am clean, am going to read a bit, and then sleep until 8 am. So I have written all of this to say, “No mother I am not dead (contrary to popular belief), and I did just remember again to take my malaria medication. (By the way the ATM card worked)” and also that I love and miss you guys.
Important fact of the entry: I realized one of my dreams in the first hour I was in Mexico. Jorge needed to move the cars so he would get charged for another hour, so he handed me the keys to one of the vehicles, that’s right, I drove in Mexico. One dream realized. I’m going to have another dream tonight.
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