Behind the wheel

I did it. My first outing by myself in the gigantic truck on the crazy streets of Mexico. I have been nervous about driving here since we visited in October. People are crazy! I don't quite understand.

The Mexican culture is very laid back - sometimes too laid back if you ask me. If someone says they'll be there at 6 pm - they'll saunter in around 7 pm and consider themselves early. No one seems to be in a hurry here - except for practically everyone behind the wheel of a car. They weave in and out of traffic, cut people off, honk, veer left, veer right, slam on the brakes...

Add on top of that, the strange streets I have never driven, traffic signs I don't understand, and a truck the size of a US Army tank - for me it was a recipe for disaster. But I know I have to get used to driving around here, so yesterday Michael left me with the truck after his lunch break. I squeezed through the tiny streets of Arteaga with the giant beast on wheels and made my way toward one of the main roads. I was the timid Dutch girl among a sea of Nascar Mexicans. I slowly gained confidence, though. It wasn't too bad. I headed toward our house to see if I could find it on my own - I somehow missed one turn but was able to maneuver into a U-turn without too much trouble - those are legal here, by the way. I went to our house, then explored another street, stopped to look at some plants, then headed back to Arteaga. I think I only received one honk.

On another note, I'm getting tired of waiting for the rest of our things to come. All the stuff we had shipped down here is still in Laredo, Texas. We were planning to go there today to pick it up, but Michael decided to wait. He wants to make sure everything is there and that we'll be able to get it across the border. It can be quite a fiasco to take a full trailer into the country. Rafeal, a guy who works with Michael, was going to come along. If you have a Mexican with you, less questions are asked. But Rafeal can't get across the border right now - something to do with his visa. We are hoping that Rafeal's brother, Oscar (who is also our landlord) will be able to pick it up for us. He has been in Texas for about a week and plans to return on Friday. It would be nice to save us a trip - although, I was kinda looking forward to something to do during the week. Please pray we can get our things soon.