Three New "Firsts" For Me:

From October 5th
Today, I experienced three more FIRSTS, here in Oaxaca, Mexico:
1. I’ve been living in this apartment for a week & a half & today I ran out of gas. No, I’m not driving here! I mean the gas I need for cooking on my gas-powered stove & for heating the water. So…at least I had a good reason for putting off doing the dishes! A few times a week I hear gas trucks driving down my street. (For those of you who don’t live here, let me quickly explain the word “hear” ~ The gas trucks don’t just drive down the street. They either drive down the street playing one tune extremely loudly OR they drive down the street honking their horn & dragging metal chains.) But, I didn’t know when the next gas truck would be going by. AND, I didn’t know WHAT to buy from him. AND, I didn’t know how to get it up on the roof. So, since I wasn’t sure what to do, I walked down the street to my landlord’s house. She calmly told me she would call the gas man. She walked in the house & came out a minute later to tell me he would deliver gas tomorrow morning. Of course, that presented a problem, because I’d be in school at that time. She offered to let him in, so I gave her the money.
(Update: when I came home from school the next day & turned the knob on the stove, there was gas.)

2. I was invited, by my Mexican landlord, to her church. When I rented this place, I knew she was a Christian believer. (That was ONE of the deciding factors for me to rent this place.) But, it was just so neat to be invited!


3. I cried today. I’ve been here in Oaxaca almost a month & I haven’t cried… Today, the landlord’s brother was asking me questions about my family. I pulled out the big family picture I brought along & was pointing to each one. He asked a few questions & I answered them, with a smile. Then, he asked me if all of them were Christians who loved Jesus. That brought tears to my eyes…for a few reasons...