Villahermosa

There are several daily events that I love to chuckle about every time I stop to think about life in Villahermosa, Mexico. The following are several examples. Almost every vender has a way to attract customers to buy from them as they drive or roam the streets. They use bells, whistles, horns or loud speakers. For example, the people who sell propane gas, that everyone uses for cooking, have loud speakers mounted on their truck. As they drive around town they play a cutesy little musical tune which is periodically interrupted by the announcement that “we have gas” They extend the word gas to sound like gaaaaaaas!. It is all in Spanish of course, but the drivers sound like they really do have a personal gas problem.
Another example occurs at breakfast. Usually we eat cold cereal with fruit and milk. The fruit here is wonderful. We have fresh squeezed orange juice every morning. The biggest challenge is how to get milk out without spilling it or missing the bowl of cereal. The problem is that milk is sold in one liter cartons, that are opened with a pull top cover. When you grasp the carton it squeezes the milk to the surface before you actually tip it toward the bowl so you have to be very quick with the tipping motion. Almost every time you either don`t do it fast enough to prevent the milk from dribbling down the side of the carton or you do it too fast and miss the bowl of cereal. Either way the milk is spilled all over the table. Boy life is really tough here!
There are vendors everywhere. Many little fruit stands, taco shops and sidewalk taco bars. These people do a lot of business. It seems that everyone eats tacos or tamales at every meal. People find a shady tree by the side of the road and set up their business which consists of a cart, chopping block a canopy and start their new business. People eat the same meal three times a day i.e. cheese, beef, salsa, onions, and their hot sauce. I have been told that constipation is a national epidemic! I believe it.
The people here work hard. They push or carry furniture, candy, cold drinks, all over town. We have a naranja man that carries bags of oranges on his head. He goes down the street saying “narannnnja, narannnnja, narannnnja” People come out and buy oranges. There is the water man that comes by and yells Criiiiistal, Criiiiistal (you have to pronounce the i like the English e to get the real sound). That means Crystal water which is 20 liters of pure bottled water we use for drinking. It costs 21 pesos. Actually we are very fortunate to live right next to Oxxo. Pronounced like oak- so. It is the equivalent to mini mart or 7-11 in the states, but much better in my opinion. They sell water, milk, bread, a lot of goodies, and pastries that are very good. That reminds me, I have to tell you about Bimbo. Bimbo is really big in Villahermosa. When I first went shopping I thought why would anyone call their company and their products Bimbo? I can see them sponsoring a soccer team and the child wearing a “T” shirt with Bimbo on the front. Well I found out that Bimbo is the largest bread maker in the world. They make Wonder Bread and many other really delicious pastries. We love their cinnamon rolls, and wheat bread. They sell the best store bought pastries we have ever eaten.
We walk at least three miles a day. When it is too hot or we get tired of walking we hail a taxi. The taxi drivers are fun people but they really don`t know how to drive. Most are real friendly but they drive like maniacs and grind the clutch as they switch gears. What is most annoying is their habit of pushing and releasing the accelerator which gives us a jerky back and forth motion of head and shoulders as we ride to our destination. Most taxis are not air conditioned so we sometimes are crammed together as if in a hot sauna. When we walk to church, (which is every day because that is where our office is located) we are totally soaked with sweat. We cool off in our air conditioned office which is nice. We live in the hottest place in Mexico. Everyone here says that. Not only is it very hot (35-45C) it is also very humid. We are supposed to be entering the rainy season now but Mexico is in the grip of a drought. The worst in 60 years! Not much rain yet. Outside of our apartment is always like a sauna. We both have lost about 20 pounds each. I am down to 157 pounds. I had to buy new pants because the ones I brought with me are too big and squeeze together in the back making me look dorky. Not to worry about our health. I feel better than I have ever felt. I have shed excess body fat and do push-ups and sit ups almost every day. In addition I swim, and play basketball along with all the walking. Our office is in the stake center which is right next to the Deportiva. The Deportiva is a huge sports complex that has baseball fields, soccer fields, volleyball courts, swimming pools, and basketball courts. Our apartment is within easy walking distance from all this and also close to the temple and a large shopping center. We really are blessed to have all this available to us along with a really nice apartment at a very good price. So who is complaining? Well if I could speak Spanish pigs could fly. I mean I need a miracle to help me with the language. I keep trying,
The people here are great. We are still trying to find our niche even when the language is difficult. I am teaching the Gospel to a young man who says he wants to be baptized. He knows English so we can communicate. Life goes on. We feel greatly blessed
Love to all
Mom and Dad Murdock