Soaking Wet

Super awesome day! I guess today I'll post about getting groceries. As I mentioned before, we have no car ... so actually, this is a transportation post with a little groceries sprinkled in. Because I (I say I instead of we because Mike has a car come and pick him up and drop him off everyday) so because I have no car, I basically have four choices for getting around - walk, take the bus, take the train, or take a private taxi called a remis.

This morning the girls all had placement tests at the school, and it is too far to walk, so my wonderful sponsor, Solo, called the remis company near her house and asked them to pick us up and take us to school. Because I don't speak the language, I could not guarantee getting us to the Lincoln school in Martinez, instead of the Lincoln school in NYC, so Solo graciously offered to do it for me. The only problem I encountered here was when he came it was in a small sedan with only room for quatro passengers. I begged him if he would let all five of us go this un tiempo. Fortunately he agreed, so Lance and I double-buckled.

The tests were quick, so when we finished I went up to the guards in front of the school and asked them if they could call a remis with room for five. Oh no, there are no remises with room for five. Okay, so I had to get them to call two remises. Sally and Taelor rode in one, and Lance, Xani, and I rode in another. No problema. We arrived home safe and sound.

After lunch (food will be another post), I told the kids I needed to go and get some groceries. There is a little tienda (store) a few blocks away, so I decided to walk there, and only get as much as I could carry home. I grabbed a hand-held basket at the door, so I would know when it got too heavy.

After circling the store, trying to figure out what the heck to buy, I paid for it using pesos. Pesos seem like fake money - when you don't really understand the value of it, it's easier to hand it over.

I had about 8 bags in hand, some heavy, so it was hard to walk. The good thing about that is two minutes after I left the store, it started to pour. Remember, it is the middle of winter here, so it was  not a fun little spring shower. It was a cold, cold, shower.

The other super fun part is that I have a key to let myself in the gate, and I've been told if I'm alone and I see a man close by, don't just open the gate. So of course by the time I got to our gate, there was a man approaching me, so I had to walk a block past our gate, and then circle back, quickly drop my bags, get the keys out and throw myself and the bags into our yard as quickly as possible.

As the picture clearly shows, by the time I go home I looked like a drowned rat!

When Taelor saw her poor mother soaking wet on the surveillance camerea, she ran down and opened the door forgetting the alarm was on, so a minute later Post One called to make sure everything was okay. I debated whether or not to tell them that everything was not okay and that I'd really like a car, but instead I said cheerily, "False alarm. Everything's great!"

I know I said I would tell you about what happened to Lance, but this post on transportation is already way too long - so my next post will be about Lance and the train.

Adios!