To San Miguel, With Love

The pack diverged for the weekend. We have now reconvened, and the universe is at peace once again. Nick, Zoe, and Bob adventured in San Miguel and ventured to Guanajuato, where they painted the town red, and Bobby did some light gardening.
Actually, they went there with Cher and Steve, who had a public talk in Guanajuato English. Their visit intersected with a music festival, much to the boys' delight.
There are underground passageways all over the city. It's not creepy or anything, except for the occasional abominable caveman.
Overall, they said Guanajuato was amazing. But what do they know? They are total abombinable cavemen. I'm just jealous. (There was no shortage of music back home either. Nils, our friend in the congregation, has a seriously sweet band called The Sharpies. Motto: All Rock, No Roll. He had a show the night before, rocked the entire town, and rocked the camera so hard that if I tried to upload the pictures, the computer would explode. Check them out: The Sharpies)

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The next day, the Nahuatl hosted a get together in our honor. A basketball tournament, followed by a feast. Tara and I were trying to get back from Puebla to no avail, so the three amigos had to carry the torch for us.
Zoe, one of the guests of honor, had expressed to them her great liking of corn. And therefore, a feast of corn it was to be!
Corn, corn, corn for all. Corn for big! Corn for small.
Corn was it. Corn was all. I'd love to tell you more about it but I can't. Because I wasn't there. I'm totally jealous.
Nick came back with this picture of him and his self-described "Grandpa". He has adopted so many new family members on this trip, I don't even ask questions any more.
One of the sisters in the Nahuatl congregation is pregnant. If she has a baby boy, she is going to name him Roberto Nicolas, after our companions of the same name. Perhaps one of us will name our offspring Huitepol, to return the favor.

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Somewhere in a parallel universe, Tara and I hit the road to Puebla. Bus travel is suprisingly comfortable. If you have the right frame of mind, and use the stale ham sandwich they serve as a pillow, you can travel in relative luxury.
Speaking of luxury, the hotel sent a car for us, complete with laminated sign! I've never felt so prestigous. The sign was for Mrs. Chelsea Sexton, so they either know something I don't, or they were very optimistic about the odds of me wedding someone on the way over from Mexico City. There are mad amounts of VW Beetles in Mexico. Accordingly, there has been an ongoing game of Slug Bug between various parties. In honor of this, we captured the most radiant Volkswagon on the road to our hotel. Blinding, radiant pink. You know that lady in pink on the corner was lusting after it at that very moment.
We stayed in San Pedro Cholula. The hotel was gorgeous. The grounds were fabulous, and the library vast.
We had grand plans to explore the town, to view the local pyramids, and to read every book in the library. Logically, instead, we stayed in, jumped on the bed, ordered room service, and watched Bollywood movies.

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The next day, we enjoyed the 2009-2010 Oaxaca English Special Assembly Day and catching up with old and new friends. The time left is certainly reduced, not only for this system of things, but our time in Mexico as well.
Friends from the Puerto Escondido Congregation. When we visited, they were only a group. They were announced as a congregation at the assembly.
We frolicked around the enchanted gardens of Puebla that night, eating crepes and laughing at a future day. We deemed our weekend a success.

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We converged today for one last day of delights and a final Theocratic Ministry School/Service Meeting. Tara busted out an awesome #3 Talk, and we all lingered in the Kingdom Hall until we had to take the lingering elsewhere.
Bob, Nick, and Nils (from The Sharpies), in his plebian clothes.
Dave & Jodette D., long standing pillars of the SMdA Congregation.
We all lingered until the deep hours of the night, no one really wanting to say goodbye. Now, we're going home. Well, we're taking a leisurely, scenic route; the two week long route, including Mexico City, Mexico Bethel, Palenque, and La Paz.San Miguel and our friends within...we love you always!
Hasta luego...gracias.