Saturday, January 6, 2024
This morning I woke up early and tried to get some work done. It’s been really hard to find a rhythm with my college and church work. Traveling is just difficult that way.
I also spent some time going over the budget -- and it’s looking pretty tight. I’m thinking a lot about our upcoming time in Europe, and just need to stabilize a bit. So Betty and I had a good talk, and I told her that I think we shouldn’t go to California for now. This trip to Mexico has been great -- and we have really been frugal, but it’s time to go back to Utah and re-group.
For breakfast today, Alma and Victor took us to the Birriería la Purísima in a little pueblo just outside Hermosillo called San Pedro el Saucito. It was much busier than the last birriería we went to. Ian was feeling frustrated because he’s just had about enough tacos on this trip. And now tacos for breakfast?! It reminded me of that great scene in The Three Amigos when Dusty asks the Mexican woman in Santa Poco if they have anything besides Mexican food.
Well, it turns out that Ian was pleasantly surprised by La Purísima. Not only did they have tacos de birria, but they also had something called a quesabirria -- it’s a quesadilla with birria meat in it. And it’s delicious. The tortilla is crunchy and the cheese that oozes out from the middle is toasted on the edges and gooey on the inside. When paired with jamaica or horchata or even Coca Cola, it’s just amazing!
After the birria, we drove out to the church of Nuestra Señora de Fátima again to see if we could find Betty’s father’s niche. Marco Antonio had given us very specific instructions, so we were pretty confident we could find it. Also, Alma’s sister Alicia works IN THAT CHURCH, and she met up with us to help us look. It was a tender mercy for us to have Alicia there to help us look and to find the niche. After a bit of searching, we found it! It is such a blessing for Betty to know where her father is buried, and for the kids to know where their grandfather is. And Fátima is a beautiful church. This is one of the great highlights of the trip so far.
I also took a little bit of time to learn about the Virgin of Fátima . It’s a fascinating story. There is also a shrine to Fátima in Empalme, where Betty grew up. In 1917, three shepherd children in Cova da Iria, in Fátima, Portugal said that Mary appeared to them. There were a number of prophecies and miracles associated with the event, and it’s a huge source of faith for many people throughout the world, and in this part of Mexico specifically.
In the evening, we had more friends over for a carne asada and another Rosca. This time it was Yolanda’s turn to visit us. We also had a visit from some of Victor’s family. It was just a pleasant night visiting and getting to know new people.
River and the other kids have really fallen in love with this neighborhood. There is a little park in the middle, and the kids are able to run around free and just have a good time. Tonight River met some pre-teen girls who just fell in love with her. She was leading them all over the playground like the pied piper.
While she played, I watched and listened to the broadcast of the BYU vs Cincinnati basketball game. I’ve loved watching and listening to the games this year. We have such a good team, and they play such an exciting style of basketball. Unfortunately, tonight was not our night. We’ll have some good nights and some hard ones this year.
I actually really enjoy listening to BYU’s coach, Mark Pope, talk after their losses. He is honest and direct, but he’s also really positive and totally focused on the process. I want to be like that with my family. We have good days and bad days -- good moments and bad ones. But as long as we stay focused on the process and excited about the challenges that we face, we are going to keep learning and growing, and that’s the point of this trip. It’s the point of life.