Day 18 A Great Day...Mexico Day

In the morning, Katie and I had to do a little grocery shopping at HEB, and Katie had to be tested for another type of driver's licence, that to drive around one of their motorized shopping carts. That was fun.

We were scheduled to meet Sister Maureen and Ken and Vickey at circa 2:00PM. I dropped Katie off at the front of the store near the parking kiosk and went and parked the car. Sister Maureen came shortly after. Katie managed to get in the crew cab without too much difficulty and we were heading over the bridge in a few moments.

On the other side of the bridge...cars coming back from Mexico and getting checked by US customs, there was a continuous line-up across the bridge which is pretty long, continuing onto the main street of Neuvo Progresso and down for about three blocks. Very glad we were not in that line-up. Vickey and Sister Maureen told us that it would likely not be that way by the time we came back. I crossed my fingers and toes at that point.

Then we were off to Vickey's house, after having no problem at all at the Mexican check point, unlike the last time.

Vickey came running again, and we both got our great hugs! The last time we were there the kids were playing with a soccer ball which had outlived its usefulness and just went thud when it hit the ground. Katie and I brought them a new one, and Vickey, Jorge, and Jose Maria (Pancho Villa) were into it in no time flat.

The last time we were there Vickey had a piece of paper wrapped around her finger for a cut, so we brought her bandages. We brought a little something for each of the kids Jorge, Maria, Jose Maria, and of course Vickey.

We sat down and had a coke, and had fun watching the kids...

Then we got our adiós hugs and kisses from Vickey and we were off to see our newest little one, Libby, who did not yet know that we were going to sponsor her.

more coming......

We got to Libby's place and Karily and her came running. All the kids know who it is when Sister Maureen's red truck rolls up. We got immediate hugs from Karily and Libby. It is amazing to me that even though Karily has never met her sponsor Durga, and Libby had no sponsor, that the kids remembered us from last visit, and were so glad to see us.

Katie and I had some presents for each of them, but a lot more for Libby. Libby was told by Sister Maureen that we were now Padrino and Madrino her sponsors...she basically said Me? in Spanish and then a great big smile came over her face.

We started then to give her the gifts we had brought for her...



We brought her a book bag, crayons, markers, pencil sharpeners for each, pencils, colouring books, rulers, and erasers...all for school. Libby is in "kinder" now but will go into grade 1 in August.

We brought Karily a couple of books with english numbers, colours, and puzzles, as we know she is very anxious to learn and curious. She immediatly rattled off her english numbers up to 25 like it was nothing. Then she started pointing out the various colors and said them all in English. She is so smart!!!
Katie gave mom some $$ as she will have to take the baby "Eric" to Monterrey again to see the Doctor.

Karily and Libby obviously really like each other, and their personalities are great! You can just be sitting there one minute and the next one of the two will just walk over and give you a hug for no particular reason, other than they like you. What a feeling!

Libby had all her gifts spread out on the bed and then proceeded to put them all in her new bookbag.

Mom(Erica)showed us an outfit that Libby will wear at school for spring time. Libby will be a flower...

and what a cute flower she is...you can't see the dress in the photo but she is going to look adorable.

Katie showed Karily a picture of her sponsor Durga on her phone. Karily immediately started going through the pictures by swiping her finger across the screen as if she had been doing it all her life...she also knew when she came to a video that you had to press a button to get it started.

I had her saying Katie and Jim in no time flat.

Katie gave Erica bottle of her favorite hand cream and she was happy. We also gave mom a jar of peanut butter as it lasts and the kids like it. We also gave the kids some easter eggs, and some mini marshmellows.

Karily also liked my phone, and said she wanted to keep it and started walking away with a big smile on her face. What a tease!

We had a lot of fun with those two, and I can't say enough about their personalities. We are lucky just to have a small part of their lives.

Libby grabbed both our hands and wanted a photo with all three of us taken by Vickey. Amazing how she would think of that.

When it was time to go, and without prompting from anyone, Libby walked over to Katie, took her hand, and proceeded to guide and help her to the truck because of Katie having a cast on her foot. How cute and considerate. After more hugs, we were off again. Here are some other photos that we took while we were there. To see captions or larger photos, just click on the photo you want.

more to come....

Now it was time for the red truck to journey to Canalas, Mexico, another settlement of shacks, to pick up a mom and her son. This mom is 52 years old but doesn't look it and has 14 children. This is her youngest who is about 8 or 9. The boy was suffering from an ear infection and the mom could not find anyone to treat him for a month. She was trying all sorts of home remedies, but he was still not better. So Katie and I managed to shove over in the back and drove back to Progresso, about 15 miles, to see a Doctor that Sister Maureen deals with for the kids and parents. Here we are, going to the Doctor's office.

Unlike Katie's previous experience over the last few days with Doctor's, we were the only ones there, and the office was clean and cool. We did not have to wait but a few minutes, mom and son saw the Doctor, and came out with two prescriptions. Sister Maureen paid the Doctor who obviously gives her a break for the work she is doing, $10. Back to the truck and off to the pharmacy just down the street. Sister Maureen went in to get the prescriptions filled, while we were entertained outside by music and a dancing pharmacist. The man inside the suit is a real Doctor of Pharmacy and owns it. He had every dance move that you could imagine, and never stopped the whole time...it was hilarious!

Shortly, Sister Maureen came out, with the dancing continuing, and we were off again back to Canalas to drop mom and son off. then it was back to Progresso again where we returned to Karily and Libby's house as Sister Maureen had forgotten to give Erica something. More hugs from the girls while we were still in the truck, and with them throwing kisses, we were off again.

We stopped at a little store where we always go, and where Sister Maureen drops off clothes, and the ladies there distribute them. Here was a sight...two of the little ones having a swim in a plastic tub, barely big enough for the two of them, and they were having an absolute ball. Just shows kids don't need fancy pools, sliders, and hoses with sprinklers to have a great time.

Katie snapped some other good photos there as well...

After Sister Maureen finished off giving all sorts of clothing, and some food to the kids and mothers, it was time to head back to the good old USA. Sister Maureen paid the toll on the Mexican side.

Now when we got to the bridge it was about 6PM and there were no cars whatsoever. We even had an open slot to pull into US customs. Passports were produced, then the border agent said they would so a secondary inspection.

We pulled in right beside an SUV that they were tearing apart. They had a guy in the back, one in the front seat, a dog, a long mirror to see underneath, a woman guard on her hands and knees looking underneath, they had screwdrivers and tools inside.

For us, it was open the engine lid, tap the sides of the truck, look in the back, produce passports again, and we then we were allowed to go. They were virtually pulling almost every vehicle over for a secondary inspection so they must have had some information.

Sister Maureen dropped us off a our car, and we were on our way home, after a great rewarding day.

Here is one of the best pictures...one of Vickey....

and now it was out for a bite to eat, then home so Katie could put her foot up to get rid of the swelling and put an ice pack on her lower back as it was hurting. What a trooper!

And so ends another great day in the Valley!