Acapulco

A week ago, Abraham and I took an emergency trip to Acapulco. A friend of my brother-in-law had died unexpectedly, leaving some property in Acapulco to my brother-in-law who lives in the States. This friend who had died was someone Abraham and I met 11 months ago when we had chance for an expense-paid trip to Acapulco in January. Last week, my brother-in-law asked Abraham if he could go take care of the paperwork involved with the properties and also comfort the other friends who had lived with the man who died.

Abraham asked me if I could go too, so we found a substitute for the afternoon for my class and caught a bus for the seven hour trip. We arrived in the early evening, on time for the body to be brought to the house. What followed was, for me, an entirely new experience. People had gathered for the wake, and many had brought candles, pictures of saints, or flowers which they set around the coffin. One of the women began the velorio (wake) service which lasted about 20 minutes. After that, Abraham spoke about the story of the Prodigal Son from Jesus' parables.

Near midnight, after talking with the friends at the house, Abraham and I left for the restaurant where, 11 months before, we had eaten garlic shrimp prepared by the man whose life ended so suddenly in October. The restaurant had been closed for some time. We pushed two couches together and covered them with sheets, and that became our bed for the two nights we stayed.

Saturday morning, Abraham spent quite a long time sorting through legal papers and talking on the phone with my brother-in-law to find out what needed to be set aside and copied. We joined the friends to take the body to be cremated, and then we went downtown to make a huge bundle of copies. That took until evening, and then we returned to the house to talk again with the grieving friends until late night.

Sunday morning was our only chance to see the beach. We took the bus to a lovely beach called Caleta, and enjoyed the clear water, bright skies, and hot weather. We could only stay about an hour, however, because the bus leaving for Puebla pulled out at 12:30. Even though we hurried and the taxi ride to the station felt like Six Flags, we made the bus with only 5 minutes to spare.

Finally, at nine p.m. we entered our home in Puebla. It had been far from a vacation visit to the beach! I'm so glad we can sleep in tomorrow, since this week at school felt very long and tiring.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our health and safety. Your support is vital.