Puebla

We arrived in Puebla well before sunset. At the gated RV park, there were 2 empty swimming pools, one small slide and one big monkey bar structure. On the other side of the courtyard was a 2 story apartment complex.

When we arrived an Indian man came from the apartment side and offered to help us get ahold of the manager. He invited us into his small apartment (leaving the door open), and was very kind. After we made the connection, I chatted with him a bit more. He said he has been all over the US and studied at U of I Champaign Urbana.

We also met the other folks at the RV Park before the manager arrived to take our information and payment. Staying at the park was a couple from the Canary Islands, who were in town to visit some friends. On our other side was a lovely German couple, who told me that one of their adult kids and their grandchildren had just got back from a trip to the Canary Islands. Interesting. We’re going to have to learn more about these Canary Islands.

Tetra played with a young Indian boy from the apt. side. After he and his family left, I sent Matt to retrieve beverages and dinner. While he was gone, a sweet young couple came over with their 3 year old boy, Max. Max brought a book to play with and Tetra had a ball. They had a lot of fun together while I chatted in English and Spanish with the couple. The husband had learned English in one year of public school. I told him I had taken Spanish in High School, but most of what I retained was from our time in Belize.

Mostly, the people I encounter speak a more proper Spanish. Maybe they see that I am not a native speaker, and expect me to know formal Spanish. It caused for a bit of confusion at first, but after I convinced myself that I must be able to comprehend if I listen closely, and if I –well, then it started coming together.

I see that folks appreciate our attempts to speak Spanish, and it makes me feel good. After a nice evening watching the kids play, we lost the cat, then found him, then went to bed. The next morning we decided to get the a/c looked at since it had broke again, en route.

The folks at Zacaula auto-climas were so friendly and helpful. They diagnosed the problem and told us they had to order a new filter. Unfortunately it could be Wednesday before it arrived. We were eager to keep moving and the technicalities of taking taxis around, and picking up the RV each night were not particularly appealing. They charged us approximately $50 and were so kind to give us the phone numbers of some relatives in San Miguel de Allende, should we need any help or information of any kind while we were there.

I think this is a good example of how kindness is contagious. We showed respect by attempting to communicate in Spanish. Even though one of the employees was fluent in English, and was our main man throughout the communication process, in the end, I thanked the elder owner in Spanish, and showed much gratitude. It was then that he offered the phone numbers of their relatives, and it pleased me to know that we did the right thing.

So then we got back on the road, where I am typing this. The only other news to report is that Tetra was a very good girl this morning. She was a real trooper. She resisted booby, and didn’t even mention it. When she saw that we would be back on the big road, she quietly shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep without a peep. And there, she rests.