I Made It to Chihuahua::
Our caravan of three cars with a total of seven people made it to Chihuahua City last Friday in the afternoon! Thank you for the prayers as all driving & checkpoints went very well! After we arrived in the city, we drove over to our apartment – which was found for us the day before we arrived in Mexico! We unloaded my car & then went with our friend & fellow missionary, Glenn Urquhart, shopping. We also ate dinner with the Pastor & his family of the church we are attending here.
What I’ve Been Up To Since Arriving::
:: Shopping :: the apartment has a stove, and on loan 2 mattresses & 4 lawn chairs, so we have to get some things in place for us! Yesterday we went to find some furniture & appliances, we came back with a washing machine & 2 comfy chairs. Hopefully soon we will get a fridge! I am also working on figuring out the Peso to Dollar ratio, it’s a bit confusing for me.
:: Orientating :: I received a day & a half orientation in Texas before I crossed into, and also a bit more once I made it to Chihuahua. I attended a meeting with the missionaries that are currently living here in Chihuahua!
:: Living :: I am learning to adjust to what I would call “problems”, but Amy & I are starting to think of them as inconveniences! Our water is only on for certain times during the day, so doing laundry or taking showers only happens during certain times of the day!
:: Driving :: The first 3 days I didn’t have to drive! But since Monday I’ve been driving! In a city of 1-2 million driving was not something I was looking forward to! I’m doing okay, and I’m still trying to understand the way they drive & how the traffic works here. So far no accidents & that helps a lot!
:: Eating :: Since we don’t have a fridge it makes it difficult to store groceries & leftovers, so we have found a couple of places nearby to buy some meals until we get our fridge. We’ve eaten quesidillas, tortas (it’s like a warm sandwich), burritos, corn on the cob (elotes), & ice cream! There is this awesome ice cream shop near our home, and in the last 4 days we’ve taken our friends 3 times! It’s really rough, because an ice cream cone is $1!
:: Meeting Lots of New People :: whether it’s our neighbors around us, or the store owners, or other missionaries, we definitely stay busy meeting people! It’s been lots of fun working on remembering greetings, new names & how to pronounce them!
Prayer Requests::
:: Adjustments :: I am learning to adjust to new surroundings, my neighborhood, & living in a huge city!
:: Opportunities :: I am praying for more opportunities to meet the neighbors that live around us. Yesterday in the grocery store & at a nearby small store, I was able to greet our neighbor Elsa, and she helped me pick out laundry soap!
:: Love & Patience :: as Amy & I live together & we start heading into learning Spanish, in a few more weeks.
Thank you for all your prayers as I adjust to this new location. Y’all are also in my prayers. Thank you also for the email replies. I’m trying to work my way through them all!
Adjusting to a new location: Mexico!
Crystal
Pictures:
My packed car – which you could still see through the rear view mirror, so it’s not that packed!
Quesidillas!
It’s probably terribly cold for the dogs, so this one is modeling a sweatshirt!
Corn on the cob with: butter, chile, cream & cheese. It’s definitely something new!
Ice Cream Flavor: Ferrero. It tasted a lot like the Ferro Rocher chocolates! So good!
This is the price in pesos for peanut butter. $52.90 pesos = $4.18 dollars! We are working on adjusting to the prices down here!