No hablo espanol

That's a phrase I utter frequently. I really wish I knew the language better. The language barrier makes everything so much more difficult. Yesterday, the maid who works for Paul and Tamara told me that they were out of gas and asked me if she should order more. So I said, Si (which means yes, for those of you who have no Spanish history!) The gas guys showed up in a truck a few minutes ago. The first obstacle was herding four barking, jumping dogs into the house so they wouldn't knock over the gas guys or escape into the streets of Arteaga. What a fiasco! Then the guys kept asking me a bunch of questions in Spanish that I didn't understand. Finally, they filled all the tanks I thought may be empty. Then he wrote a note with the price - which I thought was like a bill we could pay later. No. Apparently they need the money right away. I guess I should've known that. I don't have very many pesos right now. So I was able to explain that I will have the money tomorrow. Well, at least the dogs will have something to look forward to tomorrow. They bark everytime they hear someone walk past the house - and when someone actually knocks on the gate... Oh boy!

On Sunday Michael and I went back to our house and met some of our neighbors (two families). They don't live very close to us - but its just a little walk away. Oscar is our only neighbor who speaks English and he speaks it very well. We have decided to stay at Paul and Tamara's house for a while longer. They have two dogs and two cats and its good for them to have people here. Paul will be returning to Mexico soon. Tamara will stay in Michigan with their four children for a while. Tamara's father passed away a few days ago. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Sunday night Michael and I took a walk to the market here in Arteaga. The market is here every Sunday. We sampled some of the food and enjoyed looking at all the booths. It can be very busy and I get a little clostriphobic at times when people bump into me. If you know me, you probably know how well I handle large crowds of people encircling around me! But going to the market is a lot of fun. If you're planning to visit us, this will most likely be on our agenda.

I'm going to walk over to Steve and Rebbeca Grant's house in a few minutes. Rebecca has to get her wisdom teeth out today. She has been struggling with a lot of pain for the past few days because there is an infection in one tooth. So I'll be playing with her four children for a while. Pray that the surgery goes well.