August 7, 2012

• Life in Sinaloa

   THE PERKS-

   Mangos!  I have finally arrived  at the “Land of the Mangos”, which Paco always described to me! We arrived at the height of mango season, and mango trees are dropping their fruit everywhere.  Brothers from both churches often give us mangos from their homes, and I eat about 5 a day!  One brother even invited Paco to go mango picking, and they returned with 4 different types of mango- some were huge!  The experience was impressive for Paco- the brother climbed up super tall mango trees to shake them down.  Though, mangos have a cost, because swarms of mosquitoes live around the grove, and Paco returned covered in bites.

  Sinaloa hot-dogs!  Not your normal hot-dog because it is packed with everything you can imagine.  Awesome! 

  Coconuts are also in season.  Paco dropped some coconuts from the palm trees right in front of our dorm building, and enjoyed fresh coconut flesh and milk. 

  Fish!  Since arriving in this fishing village, fish and seafood have been a common part of our diet- and we love it.  We can’t complain about the food here!(though cooking is sometimes difficult in our dorm J I laughed at Paco roasting quesadillas with his torch, because we don’thave a stove!) 

  Church family!  We already love and feel at home with the church staff here: Pastor Sergio, his wife Briseyda, worship/youth leader Luz, and others.  We have good times of fellowship with them.

   

  THE DOWNSIDE: 

  The ever-present reminders of drug violence in the area:  It is very common to see military vehicles driving along the roads with armed solidiers geared up with weapons drawn.  The violence is a common topic of conversation among the people. 

  The mosquitoes: we do not want to leave our room in the morning and evenings to go to the bathroom, brush our teeth, or wash dishes, knowing that the mosquitoes are waiting to attack us! They make even these simple tasks more of a chore.  

  Critters: a scorpion, big hairy spider, an opossum, and an iguana (which I thought was cool, but Paco not so much).  The church is a very occupied building!

  Slow internet! The internet signal in Boca del Rio is despairingly slow: too slow toupload blog sites or email pictures, or download ministry material online, or find videos for Sunday school, etc.  Sigh…at least we can check email and browse internet for information.  For anything else, we have to come 45min into town.

  • 11:32 am
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