Category: Mexico

The rain gave us a break!

Today we had a big activity planned. Nothing really important, only that we wanted to get together with some friends at a park. If we got rained out, it would just mean that we would try and schedule it again in the future. But, we had been psyched up for this for a couple of weeks.

With all the rain we had been having this week, we were concerned that we would not be able to eat watermelon and throw a football together. However, it did not rain today and only got up to 90 degrees. When we got to the park at 5:00 this evening it was a nice 84 degrees. It cooled on down to 81 by the time we left, four hours later.

There was one complication with the rain though. This is a two level park and has a small lake in it with lots of running trails. You can go up the hills to the upper level which is even with the ground level of the area, or go down to what looks like an area that had been strip mined years before. The lower level was totally flooded! It was a huge lake. The difference in the two levels is probably 20 feet and the water level was up maybe 5 feet higher than normal.

We had a good time and I got to have a short chat with one of the elite runners from the area. This park is a very popular training spot for runners. I saw Joel running for the first 2 hours we were there. He ran with different people at different paces and was doing some sprints during this time too. He ran the 10K with me this weekend and won in a time that was 21 minutes faster than my time. This is the first time I had met him and he invited me to train with them and their coach. He assured me that there were old people who trained with them as well and that I could find a pace group that would fit my speed.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We have had 32″ of rain since Sunday morning! There is usually a pattern to the rain during rainy season. We expect it to rain a couple of hours in the late afternoon every day. Previous to Sunday we had not had any rain in 2 weeks.

Sunday it rained just about all day. At least off and on most of the day. Monday it just rained in the afternoon. Tuesday the rain was torrential. After we dropped our son off at his Tae Kwon Do class, we went to the grocery store. It rained so hard that I could not carry on a phone conversation while in the store. It was just too loud pounding on the roof of the store. It then sprinkled on and off all night. It was even raining this morning when we got up. That makes 2 days this week that it has rained in the morning, which is very rare.

It has not gotten over 90 all week. Sunday’s high was only 84. That is very nice. Our projected highs over the next few days will be between 86 and 92. Sweet!

He was here first

Yesterday in the impound yard, to finally get my truck back, I was shocked by these words, “He was here first.”

I try not to be a skeptic of the Mexican culture, but one thing that has always bothered me is the total inability to make a line and wait their turn. The way it works here is you have to be the first person with your hand on the counter. Even though there was a sign that said “Form One Line,” and I was attempting to do so, a man walked in and pushed his way to the front. He proceeded to mark his territory by placing his hand on the counter. After one of the attendants finished with a customer, I proceeded to the counter. That attendant left and we all had to wait a while (no surprise).

When the lone worker got ready to take the next customer, she turned to the man who forced his way to the counter. I was ready to speak up and make a show since I had been waiting 10 minutes longer than that man when he said to the attendant, “He was here first.” I was absolutely shocked! I made sure to thank the man for his kindness.

In my three plus years in this country, I think that was the very first time this has happened.

The fallout from the falldown

I got to the judicial building this morning, after having gone back to the police station where I was held last night. This was to get my truck out of impound. I knew that I needed copies of all my documentation and worked to get it together. There was one paper that I could not find and figured it must have been in the truck. I did have a copy of it though.

At the judicial building I was to find out if I could get my truck out and what further proceedings needed to take place. I expected to go in there and find that the family was bringing a lawsuit against me and the taxi driver. Instead, the tables were turned. They offered me the chance to sue the boy for any damages to my vehicle and expenses incurred. I did not see any damages on my truck and the expenses incurred for having my truck towed and impounded will not be too significant. I suspect less than $100. This was simply a terrible accident and I have no plans to sue.

Since I did not have the one paper, I had to get permission to go to the impound yard and retrieve it. I would have to be accompanied by an employee of the government to look for the paper. Just after I had waited for 1.5 hours in the office and they finally got all the paperwork in place to go look for it, my wife called and said she found it at home. So that the office could justify all the paperwork, and so that they would not be in trouble for having gone through the process to get permission, we still went through all the motions. I went with them to the impound yard (15 minutes away) and we “looked through” all the papers in the truck and did not find it.

I returned home to get the papers and grab a quick interview for Missionary Talks. I was also told that the paper had to be translated into Spanish and notarized. It was then 3:00 and I took everything to a friend’s house to start the translation. By 6:00 I had the paperwork in hand, in Spanish and under the seal of a Notary. And, $30 poorer for the process.

I understood that the impound yard would be open 24 hours a day and that I could go get my truck tonight. I returned to the judicial building, which is open 24 hours, with my family. I finally got to give my official statement and signed it along with giving them a nice thumb print.

The impound office was closed by then, but I now have all the paperwork to get my truck out in the morning. I spent approximately 11 hours in the process of all this today and I still don’t have my truck. Furthermore, I will have to pay extra because it stayed in there another day. But with that, it should all be over. Whew!

The boy is still in the hospital and is pretty badly hurt, but not at all fatal.

It wasn’t Holiday Inn Express

A bizarre turn of events landed me in jail this evening. Yes. Really. For several hours.

I was taking a group of people to church tonight when we pulled away from a traffic light. I felt something bump or push the back of my truck, but it was not anything strong like another car hitting me. I pulled away and looked back in my mirror. To my horror there was a person lying in the road. I made the corner and came back around to the place where all the excitement was.

I cannot give a detailed account of what really happened because I did not see anything. The 16 year old boy is stable and has some injuries, but not life threatening. Apparently he was hit by the taxi beside me and knocked into me.

It took over an hour to get everything to a point where myself and the other driver got hauled off to jail. We waited for a while and were finally taken to the doctor so that we could have our breath and urine tests. I have never had a breath test before. No problem. The urine test was not so easy. I was not concerned about the results, but having the female nurse stand there and watch me give the sample gave me a bit of stage fright. I was instructed to return to the holding cell and drink water until I was ready. Needless to say, I am well hydrated. The second go around I had a male nurse.

Me and the other driver were finally released about 7 hours after it all started. We were released with no traffic violations. But there is still a probability of a lawsuit from the family. At least I get to sleep in my own hammock for the rest of tonight before I have to face that. Believe me, the holding cell in a Mexican jail is not a Holiday Inn Express!