Happenings

We finally got er' done! Early afternoon yesterday we finished getting the washer and dryer online. It is a great feeling to have that done. There was nothing there when we started, except the washer and dryer of course. So we installed the conduit and wiring to power them, then we "Teed" off from the water heater and ran copper tubing to the washer. Then we had to make a small connection from the propane tank to the dryer, and wah-lah, we are in business.

After getting that big job done, I ran around town a little bit trying to find some mesh of some sort to block our upstairs balcony from a certain toddler. I had success, and later installed it after our welcome party.

All of the Alas de Socorro de Mexico staff we there, and we had arachera, a cut of steak here that is simply amazing. I can't wait to eat it with my carnivorous father and father-in-law. I think they will be impressed. It is a far cry from the beef we have been eating the past few years.

A few days ago while downtown, Brooklyn sat down in front of this huge church. Oaxaca has TONS of things to take pictures of. I honestly haven't been taking many pictures. I haven't had time. Hopefully things will begin to settle down a bit. Our internet connection is still very poor. We have decent success late at night and early in the morning with our connection, but all other times are not good. Improving the signal strength is another project that I might get to this afternoon. We'll see...

Only a Week

Whew! We have been working hard. It seems like we have been here a lot longer than just 8 days. We do have a lot to show for all the work which helps.

I made it back from Mexico City yesterday night at around 11pm, after having left on Wednesday night at 10pm. Overall it went really well. I had to attend a course put on by the Mexican FAA. The quality of the course was actually very surprising. I left the course glad that I attended. I actually learned some things, and was reminded of some minute details of the aviation world. In order to get a Mexican pilot's license, you have to attend one of these courses. Thankfully, there was no test, attendance was the only requirement. I went to and from Mexico City (about 6 hours away) on a public bus. It was a much different experience than what we were accustomed to in Ecuador. Very clean, very quite, very efficient bus service. Even the bus stations were clean and gleaming white! Strange! This country boy even rode in a subway for the first time in his life while in Mexico City. (Not so clean and quite!)

Today I worked with our pastor friend most of the morning trying to finish the plumbing and electrical for our washer and dryer. We are getting close. Hopefully tomorrow we will finish. We also cleaned and serviced our water heater. It was in horrible condition. Now it is working MUCH better. In all of it's 8-10 year life, I don't think it had ever been serviced.

In the afternoon, our car was finally ready. I went and completed the paperwork and things, and then drive home our "new" car. While there are more requirements here in Mexico to owning a car than there were in Ecuador, the used car lot that we bought the car from took car of all the details. I only had to show up, slap down some cash, and sign a few things. Buying a car makes me nervous in English, I guess because of the amount of money involved and the reputation of car salesmen. It makes me even more nervous to do it in another language. Thankfully, I feel like I was treated well and fair. Now, we have to see if our Nissan Pathfinder is faithful. I think it will be.

I start "work" on Monday. Being able to get a car, lots of furniture, washer and dryer plumbed, (maybe a cell phone), groceries, trip to Mexico City, etc, etc. makes it feel like we have been here a lot more than a week. We are slowly getting settled and are even getting a glimpse into what our "routine" might be. We still need to get our Mexican Visas (we are on tourist visas at the moment), get my pilot's license, get a Mexican driver's license, and who knows what else.

I heard in a sermon one day that when a rocket is launched, it uses up around 70-80% of all its fuel in the first few minutes just trying to overcome gravity. Once it is on it's way it uses the remaining fuel to complete it's mission, which is exponentially longer than the first few minutes of flight. I say that to compare what it has been for us as we have lived in three different countries in that many years. It always takes so much time and energy to get things rolling, and then finally you get established enough that you don't have to use as much energy to complete the same tasks that were required at first. Needless to say, the next few months we will still be in the "overcoming gravity" stage of getting settled here in Mexico. The plan is to have me flying solo to most of our airstrips by the latter part of April. (i.e. lots of work and details) It will only happen with your prayers. Thanks!

Man in the Moon

Our last night in Shell, I tried my hand at taking pictures of the moon. I just got a new lense that I have been experimenting with. It has been a lot of fun, and I thought this one turned out pretty neat.

Our ability to upload pictures has been limited since moving to Mexico. We obviously have internet, but it has been marginal at best. This morning I just got lucky with my connection lasting more than 3 minutes. Hopefully we will have some more luck and we will put some more pics of Mexico, family, etc.

Another Beginning

For those of you who were readers of the Jungle Aviator, welcome to my new blog. Being that we don't live in the jungle anymore, I was going to have to change the name of my blog. Rather than do that, I just made another one. Be sure to put it on your bookmarks, and check in from time to time, and even comment so that we know who is out there.

Well...we made it! We got off the airplane yesterday here in Oaxaca tired and beat, but happy to be here. The girls traveled pretty well, and even all of our baggage made it intact. There isn't a lot to report at the moment, at least not cool flight stories and tales from the bush. We are just in the process of getting our house ready to live in.

We spent much of today cleaning and prepping our house to be lived in. I think we will be sleeping there tomorrow night. For the moment, we are staying with some co-workers who live very close until things get ready a little more in our house.

It looks like things will be busy next week, as I am already planning on going to Mexico City to start the pilot's license process. I have to admit, I am a bit nervous to travel to one of the world's biggest cities, but I will have a Mexican co-worker with me to help.

Thanks again for all of you who have been praying for us in this transition. It no doubt has and is helping. Keep it up!