Mexico: Checking it out...

Armando, a friend and brother in our congregation was speaking about how he was going home to Mexico to visit his family in Colima, Mexico. He generously offered to take us around and show us around and hook us up with a place to stay with him. We just could not pass this up, the next thing we knew we were buying our plane tickets.

Here is the rest of the story in picture form :)

You can tell we were super tired after a 17 hour travel day and very little sleep we arrived in beautiful Manzanillo in the state of Colima, Mexico. First stop: Armando's childhood home, where he grew up. His warm and hospitable family had a meal waiting for us. It was great!


A local Colima drink it was somewhat sweet and kind of tasted like tortilla and spices


A beautiful sunset view from outside the casa we stayed at


Yes, that's me (Dane) ridin' a rooster


The local volcano. It actually is active, it blew a bit in 2005. Neato!

Some birds on the way to the volcano

Mmmmm .... guava. Fresh from the tree!

Some pics of the volcano and surrounding areas. Unfortunately it was cloudy that day



Mosquito! Damaris found a mosquito on Armando, she frequently did :)

He he. This farmer was herding his cows down the road.

All of the streets were made of cobblestone - even in the city.


Yes this spider is creepy and yes it was HUGE! If it was in my hand its legs would have stretched to about the palm of my hand.

Here is a video of them in webs, which we saw while driving...

Here is a close-up video of it having lunch [[[shiver]]]


At first we thought this would be their local Starbucks, but then we realized they had a real Starbucks in the city. Still, this place grew its own coffee beans on their property right behind the stand.


Burro!


Siesta time anyone?


This was a local sister that let Emily use the bathroom. Thanks :)


Some scenes from the white washed quaint town of Comala. First stop? Mmmmm ... Mexican bakery. Fresh and hot from the oven. Delish!










We spent a day at the river with our buddy Armando. On the way we picked up some of Mexico's REAL fast food, cooked on an outside grill and delivered right to your car window!

The cervezas and roasted chicken tacos were a needed break from trying to spear fish with a homemade spear gun thingy. It didn't work but it was fun.


Lady in the water = Emily getting a natural river massage

The river scene and Emily getting a water massage :)


We met up with some dear friends from the local Spanish congregation. The Solano family. Pictured below from left to right: Jose (AKA Pepe), Rosario (AKA Challito), David and Damaris (AKA Damaritas, she's taking the pic)

The food that night was especially delicious - yes that is a bowl of melted cheese :-p

Don't judge me. They were all out of Corona.


After dinner we checked out one of the local museums highlighting the city of Colima. Damaris is the one cuddling up to Armando ;-)



A night on the town with the locals proved festive. Here is a typical Sunday night in the park - live music and dancing.


This guy was just trotting around

This little guy was the Cock Of The Walk

The Colima Kingdom Hall. We attended the English meeting and one Spanish as well with the Solano family. The kingdom hall has about 30 publishers, 13 pioneers and 5 elders (all of which are pioneers)

Service in English was fun. Here I am with "Bro. Bill" after one of his RV's. The ministry work was not what we expected. I thought we would be preaching to retired Americans, Canadians or Brits. But the receptive ones who speak English are Mexicans who were born in Mexico, moved to America, then learned and became comfortable with speaking English. They are more receptive when preached to in English.

Along the streets and around the local parks were food vendors everywhere. Here is a cart selling different varieties of shredded, sweetened coconut. It was tasty.

At the local Farmers Market, in Spanish known as "The Tianges"


I do like crab legs. I;m not so sure about the squid though.

The Tianges sold hadhome made fireworks (some would have been illegal in Oregon). Later that night while visiting with the Solano family, David lit these off. They had quite an impressive bang!

Actual size of Mexican women

More from a museum

This seemed creepy

We were fed well. Thank you Challito and Damaris! By the way, that homemade tortilla is the "fork". That's how the real Mexicans eat, none of that fancy proper Brit silverware.


A change of scenery. We head to Manzanillo, the beautiful coastal town 40 minutes west from the city of Colima. After Emily and I attended the Sunday meeting we had lunch with some of the local English brothers and sisters. They were encouraging and zealous for the ministry there. They have not even finished 1/3 of their territory.

Mmmmm ... refreshing Coconut Juice brought to me fresh from the tree, deeeelicious. We spent part of the day after the Sunday meeting with Challito, David, Damaris and Armando at the beach. The water was magical.




Video of me in the water at Manzanillo - Me vs Wave = FAIL

Damaris is learning English and is coming along quite well. She has some funny quotes she says that Americans are familiar with. Here is her "Best Of"


Heading home to Portland where 20 degree windy coldness awaits