Did you know that the Basilica of Guadalupe is the second most visited Catholic site in the world? Vatican City is number one. The Basilica in Mexico City is number two.
This means that more people visit the Basilica than any other Catholic site other than Vatican City.
We spent four hours in the car yesterday driving from one end of the city to the other to attend the missionary Christmas party. The traffic was horrible. We had a good time at the party, and Nathan got a mega block train. But, four hours to cross the city! Wow!
Traffic will be the death of me. Either that, or it will be the thing that makes me leave Mexico. There’s never a direct route to get anywhere. You can’t watch for signs and stay out of the way of taxis, other cars, busses, and pedestrians all at the same time. Most of the time, you cannot turn left. You are forced to take 3 right turns in order to get where you need to go when one left turn would have been plenty.
Traffic is my number one sermon illustration. If I’m speaking on anger, I use traffic as an example. If I’m speaking on being nice to others, I use traffic as an example. If I’m speaking on just about anything, I can use traffic. It is my biggest gripe about Mexico City. I don’t understand the roads. I don’t understand the “rules.”
Today we went to the World Trade Center. It was a fun day. Except for, you guessed it, the traffic, or the traveling to and from. Anyway, if you want to pray for me. Pray for my patience and calmness in traffic! Seriously. Please.
According to this article, the protest has ended in downtown Mexico City. They were forced to take down their tents by this morning in order for a military parade (for Independence Day) to be able to pass through. This doesn’t mean that the protest is over.
The president isn’t going to be doing the annual “grito” in the main square because of safety reasons. And, tomorrow, I think the protest will continue with possible decisions made by Lopez Obrador (the guy who lost the election). Please keep praying for this situation. At least they left peacefully for today.
Today, we went up to the Walmart that sits on a tall hill outside of the city. You could see a lot of the city pretty clearly, so I took these four pictures and merged them into one. Check out the larger picture here.
Well, they officially declared Felipe Calderon the President-elect of Mexico. That doesn’t mean that the problems are over. They could just be beginning.
