We spent Sunday in Yoli’s neighborhood.
We headed to her parents house first thing, and they showed us the new store and kitchen which are nearly finished. The old kiosko still stands, but it will be removed before long.
To get ready for lunch, we had to start moving some things into the new kitchen, like Doña Lucila’s little old propane stove. Her daughters all want her to replace it with a new stove, but she refuses because it was a wedding gift. And besides, it still works fine, she says.
Yoli was also surprised to see her Tio Emilio, Don Hector’s brother. I have never met him before, and Yoli hadn’t seen him since we married. He has fallen on hard times and is having many health problems right now.
Eventually it was time to head to Yoli’s old church, Esmirna, which is conveniently located right next door to her parents’ house.
The church has a new pastor now. The previous pastor, Adolfo, was a man Yoli and everyone loved. He died last year because they couldn’t find a kidney donor.
After church we got ready for lunch as the rest of the family began arriving. The new store is a big space, perfect for our big group to have lunch at one long set of tables. But before long it will be filled with groceries and supplies and display cases and such.
The biggest surprise was when Noemi showed up. She had ridden a train through the night just to see us. Like us, she had left her kids behind.
In the afternoon, I tried to help fix some of Don Hector’s computer problems: nonworking keys on his keyboard and a USB camera. I disassembled the keyboard and cleaned it, but ultimately all I had to show for it was a sore back and a cut thumb.
While I was doing that, Yoli had asked Jonathan (formerly known as Papicho) to show her how to use her new slingshot. But then her mom spoke up and said that SHE would show how. Yoli’s sisters were all astonished as Doña Lucila set up a bag as a target and hit it twice. Yoli knew from past conversations that, as a child, it was her mom’s job to shoot parrots and birds that wanted to eat oranges on her farm. Alas I wasn’t there, and have no photos of this. But one of Yoli’s sisters might.
Eventually it was time to go. Noemi had not yet bought a return ticket, and nearly missed her chance. She had to buy one from a reseller, at a more expensive price.
We spent some time visiting one of Yoli’s friends while a loud mariachi band played nearby. Them we ate ate some dinner at Hot Burger followed by some ice cream at Vaca Fria.
Either the vegetables on the lomito sandwich or the ice cream didn’t agree with us, because we both came down with stomach problems the next day. Oh well. At least we made it through most of the trip okay.