Advertisement
Published: February 14th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Mariachi dancers and musicians
The orchestra behind the dancers is the college group. The performance was at the U of Texas Pan-American campus in Edinburg. Jan 14: NOMADs only work four days a week, so we have Friday's off! This morning I rode with Olan and Lola to an Rv show being held in the area. I spent a little time looking at new fifth wheels, motorhomes and trailers. The more I looked, the better I liked the one I already have! I didn't see anything that looked any more comfortable or had a floor plan that equaled mine. Not to mention the prices!!! I bought a rug for my step and lunch and that was all!
I can't say the same for the flea market we visited afterwards, though. I bought several things there, including some fresh fruits and vegetables, a lap-top table and some audio books. I like to listen to them if I am driving on the interstate or someplace without much interesting scenery.
Before heading back to our Rvs we drove by another church where a NOMAD project is going on. I met all the workers there and discovered some of them will be at the next project that I will be going to in Marshall, TX. Nice to know people ahead of time.
Jan. 15: Today was a
Three Young Guitarists
These young teens were amazing. Look at the blurry hands to get an idea of how fast they were moving! busy day. We decided to go to a Mariachi show at the U. of Texas Pan-American campus. There were two full Mariachi groups performing. One was the college group, but the other was made up of middle school kids. The latter was absolutely incredible! They looked and performed like adult professionals. The group has won all kinds of awards and performed at the White House. Looking at them and listening to them, I could not believe their ages were between 12 and 14! I was more than impressed—I was blown away by their talent and presentation. I thought they were much better than the college group! There were, in addition two pair of dancers. I enjoyed their Mexican folk dances and their colorful costumes.
Did I hear you ask if I took pictures? Silly question!!!!
After the show we rested for awhile, then went to a Presbyterian Church for a chili supper. The chili served from the church kitchen was very good. It also turned out, however, that there was a chile cook-off contest at the event. All eight entries were available for everyone to taste. I skipped the hot and spicy ones, which don't get along with
Mariachi Dancers
One of several dances performed at the show. me, and tasted some of the others, including the winning recipe. I could see why it won! There was a “white” chili which didn't win, but was different and good. It was made with chicken and white “Great Northern Beans” and had a chicken-based white gravy. Lola got the recipe.
Jan. 16: Today the group attended the San Juan church where we are working. It is a much smaller church than the one we attended last week, and the population is much older. The minster's name is Danette, just like my niece. We don't come across that name very often!
Jan 17-20: Back to work another week. This week was much colder than I expected it to be down here. Some days it was only in the low 40's during the day, with a damp atmosphere. Keeping my hands in wet mud didn't help to keep me warm, either! I took breaks from filling cracks to help clean the bathrooms and showers as well as the dorm rooms. Those times I could warm up a little before going back outside again. One day it was really foggy, too. We could hardly see across the street. Strange weather, but
Young Mariachi Singer
Another one of the middle school performers. Beautiful and talented. we just kept going!! By the end of the week all the cracks were filled and some had dried enough to paint with sealer.
One of the couples, Don and Evelyn mentioned in the last chapter spent all their time replacing broken windows. The prep work for that is very tedious. Besides all the measuring, the old glaze that hold the windows in had to be removed. We never did find out what the previous window repairers used, but the stuff was hard as a rock and it took a lot of time to cut, chip and grind the old stuff away. I had never done any of that kind of work before, so it was all new to me.
Hey, all you reading this, are you learning more than you want to know about fix and repair of buildings?? He-he-he.
I was hoping I might lose a little weight working like this, but alas, it is not to be. We seem to be eating all the time! Someone always comes in with donuts or a cake, cookies or brownies some one at the church baked to say thank you. On Wednesday night (the 19th) the church
Chili Bake-off
The crock pots of chili in the contest at the chili supper. gave a pot luck dinner in our honor. Oh boy, did I eat too much! (groan.)
Jan 21: Today I just rested, cleaned up the RV a little, read and worked with photos. As a team leader Olan is putting together a little booklet for each team member and I did a collage of photos for him to put in. It was fun and turned out fairly well. He and Lola are also in charge of the annual meeting for NOMADS in Texas which is tomorrow, so they were getting ready for that. Busy people!
Bootsie—yeah, Marty was home all day! She played with me, trailing my favorite rope and playing “patty paws” under the bathroom door and in my box. I sure like it when she is around! Jan. 22: I went with Olan and Lola to the church where the meeting was held and help them set up. I also took more pictures for the organization, including some more portrait shots for the web-site. Just in case you haven't already learned more than you wanted to know about NOMADS, their web site is www.nomadsumc.org.
There were 80 some people there and we had
A Pair of Painters
Lola and Dorothy doing their thing with the brushes. a great lunch. (Yeah—I know, eating again!) I sat by a couple who had just recently joined and we exchanged the reasons we had for joining. I hope I run into them again.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.225s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1034s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb