what a day!

Soooooo yesterday (Saturday) was a very interesting day here in GDL. Friday night we didn't do much (we are old ladies who sleep a lot) so we were excited for a fun Saturday.

Emily is a runner so she wanted to go to a park to run. We found a great park for running because one of the nurses at our clinic is a marathon runner. The bus stops at the block behind our house, so we took a 30 minute bus to the peripheral part of the city and found the park, Parque Metropolitano. It was HUGE. I didn't realize how it would be so I wore sandals, but if I ever go back I'll take my tennis shoes and walk along all the paths. It is really beautiful too. It is surrounded by mountains, as GDL is in a valley. I sat under a tree and read while she ran for a half an hour, and then we took the bus back to our house. Since a lot of the streets are one-way, it dropped us off right in front of our house!

Our house is prime real estate in GDL. It is located in a good neighborhood and is only 20 minutes (via walking) from Centro, or downtown. It is also really close to all of the bars and clubs that the PA volunteers go to. And, its close to the office and movie theatre! Very convenient.

So after our trip to the park, we walked down to the Centro to meet Heather (the staff member at the office), Virginia, Jennifer, and Lisa for lunch and for shopping in the big cultural market. We went to lunch at a vegetarian buffet for Emily, who is an herbivore, and it was really good! For $37 MXN ($3.70 USD) we got a big glass of flavored water, 2 types of vegetables, a choice of several soups, tortillas, a dessert, rice, vegetable casserole, and salad. None of us finished all of our food and we think we'll bring tupperware next time to take home the leftovers!

After this, we went to the bus stop to wait for a bus to the market. This is where the fun started. It took 20 minutes to wait for the bus and Heather had pulled out a movie schedule from her wallet and was showing me movie times for later that night. Suddenly we saw our bus pull up, and we all started running to catch it. As we were in line to get on and pay our $5 MXN ($0.50 USD!!) this super sketchy guy got off the steps and let us all infront of him. We were all mixed between thinking it was chivalry and thinking he was weird. It turns out our suspicions were correct. He never boarded the bus and as the bus pulled away I saw him running off. Heather, who habitually grabs for her wallet when she gets on a bus (she has lived here for 2 months already so we tend to follow her lead) couldn't find her wallet. She immediately searched through her purse and got off the bus at the next stop, running back to where we had caught the bus. We didn't get off until the next stop, where the market was, but we were worried. We found her and it turns out that as she had put her wallet into her purse, the weirdo guy had reached in and grabbed it from her, which is why he didn't get on the bus afterall. She pulled out her Canadian cell phone and immediately got her parents to text her the numbers for her bank and for her credit card company. She cancelled the debit first and then credit. When she was on the phone with the credit card company, they told her that someone had already tried to take out $1500 MXN but couldn't because it wasn't a debit card. She took care of it all quickly and within 20 minutes of losing her wallet had everything cancelled. Her ID and birth certificate were also in her wallet, so she has to get new ones from the Canadian Consulate here, but the credit card and debit card are being sent to the office here in GDL in priority mail. She only had $600 MXN ($60 USD) in her wallet, thankfully!

While we were sitting in the shade of a bank (banks are closed Saturdays so we could sit on the steps) and she was taking care of her wallet situation, we were looking around when suddenly a guy was crossing the cross walk and a car didn't stop for the red light and hit him! I literally saw a man flip over the hood of a car and land on the ground. We all screamed as it happened. Thankfully we were in front of a bank, which all have armed guards on patrol 24-7 here, and he had a walkie-talkie to the police. The police and ambulance showed up quickly and the man actually walked away from it all uninjured. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it happen! Of course the man who hit him got a ticket and I'm sure a lot more from the police, but we were all glad the man walked away from it, after lying on the ground in shock for a few minutes.

After that, Heather, Lisa, and Virginia went home. We all gave Heather some money for bus fare because she had more cash at her apartment. Then Jennifer, Emily, & I tried to find the market. An hour later we were still lost in what was slowly becoming a bad part of town. We turned around and tried to find a bus back to Centro but we ended up walking home (an hour of walking) in the heat of the day. Even with SPF 50, I managed to get a 1500th degree burn on my chest. My arms are slightly red, but look much better than my chest.

Once we got home and I took a very cold shower, we met Heather for the Sex and the City movie (yes, I saw it again...) at the theatre 10 minutes from our house. She has to ride the bus there becuase she lives about 40 minutes away, but we were lucky we didn't have to. She was over her panic from the credit card situation and was in great spirits. If I were her, I would have been sobbing for days. After her incident, I took out about half of the cash in my wallet and all of my credit cards and put them in my suitcase, just in case. I am not going to go through what she went through! I instinctively check for my wallet too, but now I'm extra paranoid.

This morning I got to sleep in, which was glorious, and now Emily and I are spending a lazy Sunday doing nothing. We might go to the Centro Magno, which is the big Americanized shopping mall here with Heather, but nothing too adventurous. Yesterday was enough for both of us.