The Mangos are Back

 

The first couple of weeks we were here, we loved eating fresh mango from the little fruit stands around the city. Then suddenly there were no more mangos. We were told they were out of season. Thinking about how the fruit season works in Idaho, I figured we’d have to wait nearly a year, eleven months at least, until they came back into season. I was wrong, and I’m so happy! After just four months, they’re back. I took this video of a man at one of the stands peeling and cutting up a mango and sent it to my kids. Lalove replied back that she’d been buying a lot of mangos but didn’t like how messy they are to cut up. However, after watching the video, she realized she needs a screw driver and a machete to do the job properly.

    

   

        I thought you’d like seeing one of our favorite little shops in the pueblito. It mainly sells cheeses and deli meats, though it carries a few other groceries as well. The first time the Wrights went there, Jerry told the owner they wanted to taste every one of the cheeses. The guy didn’t balk; he cut off a slice of each cheese for them. Not only did they end up buying from him that day, they told the rest of the missionaries about that store as well. I’m not sure that guy knows how much business he’s received from those samples.

 

              I had a chiropractor appointment Thursday evening. I go to a chiropractor in a neighborhood called La Condesa, which is kind of a trendy area where a lot of young professionals live, and it has a lot of cute little restaurants. After my appointment, we went to one of them for dinner. One of the descriptions of La Condesa I read online spoke of the sidewalk cafes. Most of the restaurants are tiny and don’t have much seating, so they put little tables outside in front. However, to call them “sidewalk” isn’t entirely correct. They put up a barrier in what would be the parking spot in the street in front of their building and set their tables there. So in actuality, we didn’t eat at a sidewalk café, we ate at an in-the-street café. Music was playing from the restaurant building and the food was good, so it was a lovely evening despite the cars driving by within an arm’s length of our table.

          

     Today, Saturday, we decided to go back to Chapultepec Park and do a little more exploring. It is a massive park, which we could explore for days. We’d heard about a restaurant on a lake in the park, and the last time we went, that’s what we were looking for. We found what we thought was the lake, but the only restaurant we could find near it was what I can best describe as a Mexican food court—vendors all vying for our business. After that trip, we found out we hadn’t even been in the right section of the park. So this time we went online and found the name and address of the restaurant and had our Uber driver take us right to it. The Alsops and their niece came too, and we had a lovely lunch sitting by a wall of windows which looked out on the lake. The setting was lovely, but the food was a little high priced and just okay—nothing to write home about, though I guess I’m writing home about it right now.

This is the front of the restaurant Lago in Chapultepec Park. You can see Ron and Bob on the right.

The purple trees are Jacaranda trees.

    

     

         Following lunch, the others left, but Ron and I spent a couple of hours walking around the park. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and the park was filled with people walking their dogs, riding bikes and scooters, and just relaxing. Families were having picnics and groups were playing soccer. As you look at these pictures, remember this is the dry season here. The only evidence I see of that is the ground under the trees is bare. I’m sure during the wet season, even that will green up. The Jacaranda trees are in full bloom here and beautiful, and other flowering trees are starting to blossom.

The building on the left is El Lago, where we ate lunch.

   

    

I don't know what kind of tree this is, but its blossoms look and smell gorgeous!

   

   

   

We saw a place in Chapultepec on a map that was called "Jardin de Agua" (water garden.) We followed Google maps to it and came to this lovely building. We thought there must be fountains inside, but were disappointed to find that it wasn't open. So we peeked in the windows and to our surprise discovered it's just a pump house. However, it's probably the world's most beautiful pump house.

               We had a good week at the office. Ron is learning how to enter information into a program which keeps track of the contacts our department has with government and other officials. I’ve been doing a lot of writing. One day I was finishing up an article for the church’s Mexican website and had an article for The Friend magazine to work on next. I thought, I can’t believe that my mission call is to write! Through the years I always wished I had more time to write. Well, now I do!

   

            You may have heard that Mexico had an earthquake this week. It was south of us and we didn't feel it. Earthquakes seem to be very common here. Most of the missionaries who have been here longer than we have, have felt them, and the people here seem quite nervous of them. I've seen these green squares all over the place, but until this week, I didn't know what they are. They mark safe spots for people to go to during an earthquake. The idea is that they are out in the open where people won't be hit if a building or something like that falls down. Besides these squares, most buildings have signs posted telling people what to do in case of an earthquake. Even in the welcome they give at the temple, they reassure people that the temple is a safe spot during earthquakes. I get the idea that it's a pretty sure bet we aren't going to get through the next year without feeling an earthquake.         

         

      I'll end with a personal note to our grandchildren. Grandpa bought a treat to bring back to you when we come for a visit in a couple of weeks. Can you guess what these are? Get your taste buds ready!