Guanajauto= Part II

After the tasty- 4 star meal, we then did the tourist thing more. Stepped out of Restauarant made right turn and walked dow the stores and along jardin til it gave way to centro district. historical, and full of shops, sights & sounds of a very beautiful romantic old world city, witht the buzz of a vibrant one, teeming with visitors, tours, and students.

                                          Churches dominate the town.
                                          Literally on every corner.

Saw French shops, with French cusisine and beverages.
Gitls window shopped and bought some jewelry from 2 sisters who operate small jewelry shops.

                         Elaine- again looking for the         jewelry she left behind in St. Charles!






Then we walked to the mercado for seeing all the small shops under 1 roof.




Mesquite fired chicken

                                           Found book store- but alas- all spanish- what was I thinking- english!

 Distant horizon the town is surrounded by hills.
There are many tunnels under town, that cars travel on, and seemed to be much construction & improvement to citys walks & roads.

Manual labor is not lost to machines & technology here in Mexico. But for every machine added, there would be a loss of jobs, and they have figured that out. Almost nice to see men working, and doing a craftsman job. And I haven't seen a lazy one yet. They have professional beggars, but by far they want to work and won't turn something down because its beneath his dignity. Bro Reed has  study who teaches high school math, and is going to states next month, to try to get a job as a food prep cook, minimum wage. But that $6 an hour job in states is equivalent to $80 pesos an hour here, when he mails back his wages for family. No one here makes 80 pesos an hour. They maybe earn 200 pesos a week.
We finally reached the "mercado". Basically large flea market.
Stacey & Phil at corner
looking for something.

Here is University of Guanajauto, very impressive. Very old.
Also they have an engineering school, and many other higher education schools.



How would you like to go to class here?

This is interesting, a "Y" intersection, reminded me of 7th ave & Broadway except the drivers are more polite! But this scene could be out of Paris, London, Hamburg, etc. Very much of a European flavor to city. Charm, elegance, and great restaurants.

Can you find Elaine? She's there, somewhere.

Well I could have blown the pics up more, but wouldn't do the Mercado justice. Just "stuff". 1 of my favorite shots was 3-4 old time vaqueros, sitting down to some tortillas, and food. Tortillas are served with everything basically.

So we had a very wonderful day playing tourist. Was a nice break, and the ride over and back was breathtaking. When we stopped & dropped off Stacey & Phil at their rancho, Tom picked up Marcus, 13, their oldest, whom Tom studies with, so he could spend weekend with Lipperds. He's commenting at meetings and seems to enjoy it. He's a lot like his Dad, 1st thing out of mouth is sarcastic- to get a rise out of you. But he is ok.
Went in service today and met a man back from states for holiday. The factory he works in shuts down between thanksgiving & new Years, so men come back to Mexico for a few weeks, and these ones can speak english better than most here, so we see if we can start some interest with them.
Found a young muchacho, about 12, who spoke & reads english. raised in N. Carolina. read a scripture, had YP ask book and left it with him. That was a good day for me. placements here are rationed. You use tracts usually first to see if interest is there before leaving lit. But decided to trust him. Made sure to let him know I'll be seeing him next week to check on his reading. So if you want to even come down on vacation, we could use the help to canvass, so we can make our time more efficient. Once we have canvass. We can then call on only the english found in census and cover about 4 territories in 1 day. Then we canvass again, to check on any move-ins or outs to adjust records.  Pass on Blog to others and maybe we will find some wanting to extend themselves this way.

                                      Sugar cane next to my "sugar". I'll take mine, no cavities!

Love,
Tom & Elaine

Guanajauto visit, Gorgeous city! Part I.

Took a fun day today, Debbie planned it several weeks ago, to have us join them & Lipperds study, Phil & Stacey, for a day trip to Guanajauto.
Of course we had to start our day with coffee, so stop by Quik Trip..... excuse me our equivalent.....

 Its the capital of the state we live in, Guanajauto! Spectacular setting from our direction from Dolores. We ascend some 2-3000 ft, then crest the mountain and drop down to Guanajauto.

 Here are some pics of the scenery on the way, It goes from high desert, to the mountain, then back to high desert.

This is a village on the way.

This is pic that doesn't do the scene justice! Worried I'd use camera battery up before we even got to the town.









The high desert here goes w/o rain many months in a row, the lakes, water has gotten dangerously low.
But the trees here are mesquite, and others whose root systems must be very large and/or deep.

As we got closer around the hairpin turns of road kept seeing this huge rock outcropping approach.



looks small but isn't. Maybe when knee gets better, and we can get Jeremy & Jared down, can climb this baby!

Off in distance, we saw this coming closer.










Beautiful High desert all around, you think you'd see, Clint Eastwood in his serape, riding a horse, with a cigar sticking out right? Come on work with me here!










Then we went past some villages, and more high desert. Just breathtaking.

Hillside village. Need 4 wheeler to go there.






Then we began descent to Gauanajauto. We were not dissapointed. you go from 6000 ft on 1 side of mountain, up thru Cavillo, where OPhil & Stacey live then on up past Santa Rosa, then start down toward Guanajauto. The top elevation maybe about 8-8500 before descending. But your ears pop up & down.

The driver can' take his eyes off road, both to watch for crazy drivers, and how road is a swicthback approach.

As we approached saw this huge mountain that has a large cross on it, similar to the famous one in Brazil. Many make pilgrimage there.

There is no shortage here in Mexico for the church to separate you from your pesos.
Shot isn't too clear, but trust me it is 1 high mountain, close to 10,000 ft I'd guess.

Now we are getting into Guanajauto.

Add caption

Phil in front of statue as we enter town.

As you enter from Dolores you come into this wall/fortress that is now a hotel.

As you enter from Dolores you come into this wall/fortress that is now a hotel.

Then we found our way up to the Big attraction that many Mexicans and as we found out other nationalities come to see..................

T

The man Pipila, was part of the Mexican army that attempted to overthrow the Spanish rulers, and their army. The Spanish held the high ground, and many Mexicans were killed attempting to approach the base of the fortress to plant explosives to open a way to invade fort. So 1, extremely strong large man, Pipila, put a huge rock on his back, climbed the approach, and as the Spanish tried to shoot him the rock protected him, so he could plant explosives and succeeded in blowing the gate. This victory was achieved, He dies I think in a subsequent battle, and became 1 of the heroes of Mexican Liberty. (got this info from a local historian, have not verified yet, but have sound reason to accept this)
Elaine, Debbie, and Stacey are dwarfed by the statue.


Took some shots from here down onto Town.

Town centro district which we took a outside elevator down the mountain side.


In the middle top pf pic, you'll see a gray/brown wall. Tom told us that was built to catch the rock slide from a mining operation, that would then be examined for ore content, gold or silver. Interesting concept. Build a wall, strong enough to support mining the mountainside above down!




Then we descended and explored the town below. If you didn't know your in a Mexican city, you might think your in 1 of any number european cities.

Tom, Stacey & Phil- front of theatre,




This is a large museum that had a lot of tourists by it.

This was a beautiful building. Houses the theatre here in Guanajauto. You sure your in Mexico???

Shot of the narrow streets, with the Pipila statue in distance.









Then we started heading to eat. Tom & Debbie had a 4 star in mind right off the theatre, & Museum next to the jardin, which was very upscale with shops, featuring all types of wares.

Had a fabulous meal, served by waiter who spoke pretty good english, but had Phil to interpret any questions. Elaine & I both picked tamales, with chicken. The rest had a variation of breakfast items, crepe/eggs, hash browns. Elaine had a wonderful fruit cup, which I regretted not getting. (tho I ended up with 1/2 hers)

From left: Tom, Phil. Tom. Debbie, Stacey, Elaine

 Then found a lime cheesecake dessert. Yum..........................

Debbie thought we had to get this shot for Emily, tho we are jealous/envious (well maybe not after new article on envy, but wished we were in Italy with her adventure, so we took pic to show her we too here in Mexico can enjoy some fantastic dishes/desserts!

Will post part II od the Guanajauto trip in future. Had a great time, Thanks Debbie & Tom, you are great tour guides!

amazing study!!!!!!part II

Came back from conducting study with man, is a teacher here in Dolores, and had his lesson all prepared. My 2nd time subbing for a bro. here that is gone for a bit. What a delight! he is a good thinker, and you can see his mind translating english to spanish & vice versa. Read about the issue of Job, and he claerly saw the issue. Compared how the ethnic people of Isael had pagan practices, i.e.- child sacrifice, and how Satan tried to get Jehovah to do similar with Job. satan baited Jehovah to strike Job, and he got the point, that Jehovah wouldn't do that. He allowed satan to strike Job, but it was against Jehovah standard to hurt his servant. Nice end to a long day, with a similar day tomorrow with La Paz plans. But reminds me of the feeling at Bethel, or when building a KH, the tiredness is a good one, right.? It is a satisfying tiredness that gives pleasure, as well as a satisfaction. knowing you've done all you can for that day. Doesn't elevate you from your brothers,  because I remember wanting to be able to do more but couldn't, due to circumstances. But seeing someone progress, and grasp is a reward to itself. Now to find, or develop one from the initial call, that is another goal we have.
Went shopping at market with Elaine at first, showed her 2 stores, then went to fabric store, which she knows how to get home from, left her there, went for some bread, fresh baked.

Oh the temptations present here. No preservatives. You buy it today, eat it today!






Then it was finding some eggs. Tom L. showed me the best place he likes. And told me that the egg girls always has a smile. tried to take picture of the girls, but 1 was shy.

Then went to find the limes for making the limonado.

Then just strolled thru some markets and stands. The interesting thing to me is the small carts that grow there own veggies, fruits etc. The climate here, if they have water grows everything.

siesta time, but still there to sell if anyone asks!

many different fruits, all grown here, or close by.

The flowers are almost as prolific as the food, or food for the eyes, heh?








Here is close-up of the wood grain on desk, really like it.

Time for bed, another full day tomorrow. San Luis de La Paz. Trying to work territory that mostly hasn't been worked for 3-5 years, from what the friends remember. Maybe that 1st Bible study will be found?