Already Friday

We woke up this morning with the forecast high to be around 65 degrees.  Since being here, we have only had about 3 rainy days.  It has been unseasonably warm we are told.  Rain is in the forecast for this weekend, but things can change in a heartbeat as they usually do around here.  

After arriving at the office, Rich got his affairs in order to make a trip to the banco.  The Elders needed to take the car to do some errands, so Elder Kroff decided to walk to do his errands. There are some transactions he can do at the bank in San Fernando, and some he has to take care of at the bank in San Isidro near where the old offices used to be.  Hopefully, everything will some day be transferred to the banco here near us. 

So while all the brethren were out and about, I continued on with my work getting packets and things ready for the transfers that are coming up. I am really brave now, and we don't have to turn the phones to "night" mode anymore when the Spanish speakers leave. I have some things written down that I say if I do not understand what is wanted.  Sometimes I can understand a little of what they want, but cannot answer them.  Many times it is a missionary on the other end, and when they hear "Misión Norte" in a feminine voice, they pause and then say, "Sister Kroff?"  I like those phone calls.  

When lunch time came, the Elders were going to be around, so we decided to go home to eat the sandwiches I made and brought to work. We always take food for lunch because we never know if we will be alone and can't leave.  But it is nice, sometimes, to leave the office for a little while.  It refreshes me to walk home and get some air, so we take advantage of doing that when we can.  

Besides, we wanted to go to the correo to mail the birthday gift for Urban.  It will be late, as his 4th birthday is Tuesday, but it will make me feel better to know that it was mailed before his birthday. I had packaged it up really nice in just a small box. I taped it thoroughly with clear strapping tape and secured the mailing address well, so it wouldn't come off or get damaged.  We have to walk about six blocks from our apartment to the correo, and it is a good time to go when everyone else is having their siesta. There was only one person ahead of us. We were excited that we wouldn't be there very long.  As our luck would have it, they wouldn't accept our package because we didn't have it wrapped in brown wrapping paper.  They said it was the law.  Rich thinks that maybe it is for security reasons because it might be harder to get into with paper around it. . . less chance of stealing the contents.

So, they directed us to a paper store nearby where we could purchase some brown wrapping paper. Of course, that store was closed because of siesta time, and wouldn't open back up until 3:00.  We had no choice but to go back to the office and try again later.  At 3:00, Elder Kroff walked back to purchase the brown paper, then brought it back to me to wrap the box.   He, then, took it to the correo after we got off work. Finally, the gift is in the mail. We will get the system down shortly.  We learn something new all the time.

On our way back to the office after our failed attempt, we walked by this orange tree.  They are all over.  We have seen them up at the Capital, in San Isidro, and a few here in San Fernando. We are told that the public can't pluck the fruit from the tree while walking by because it is against the law.  The trees are owned by the cities, or some form of the government.  If the fruit is not harvested, we wonder if it just falls off and rots on the ground.  Now, that's a waste.

For days now, crews have been going up and down the streets cutting all the lower branches off all the trees that line the street.  At first we thought they were cutting the foliage out to accommodate power and phone lines, but it seems they are mainly concentrating on the lower limbs.  They look okay, but it gives more of a topiary look to the trees.  We don't know if this is a yearly event or not.  We can't imagine where any growth would sprout out from the way they are being trimmed.  They just use long extension ladders and chain saws to reach the branches.

When we got back to our office, there was a man up in one of our trees in front of our gate.  His ladder didn't look very stable where it was.  I was worried.  When I started to snap a photo of him cutting, he stopped to pose for the picture.  We love taking pictures of "local color" around our area.

Elder Kroff went on a teaching appointment with the Elders after work.  It was to the same young student of mathematics that they visited earlier this week.  Rich learned that this young man backed out of baptism the day before he was scheduled to be baptized several months ago and would not let the missionaries come back.  Just this week when they were prompted to go check on him is when he finally reconsidered and let them in.  He offered the prayer at the end of the discussion, and said that he was grateful for a second chance.  How wonderful!   I came on home to fix us some dinner.