Thursday, October 13, 2016

October 10, 2016

Dentist again!  When we were in the States, we had our cleanings.  My dentist said that I needed two crowns and a filling.  Oops!  I remember taking suitcases full of medicine as a child and now the long term effect of thyroid cancer treatment is keeping the dentists busy.  I am thankful that I have a good dentist here that is much less.  It still is not a trip to San Salvador that I like.  Anyway, we had major time getting going.  Dwaine wanted to check the oil for the car and then, the hood would not close.  He worked on it for a while.  Even Nelson walked by and offered to help.  In the end, he drove to the end of the road and had a little garage to take a look.  They did oil it well and it finally caught.  Dwaine said that they wanted to reopen it and check to see if it would continue to close.   No!  We had an immediate need to get on the road and it was secure for the trip.  So, we headed out and made good time, especially in Sonsonate where we thought traffic would be really heavy at rush hour.  A little before 9, I called to say we might be 10 minutes late and the receptionists said that the doctor was not in yet.  We tried a new route and that helped and we actually arrived at 9.  San Salvador is such a challenge.  It is easy to get off track in a maze of one way streets.  First, he felt one crown could wait.  It was a 11 year crown and he wanted to give it just a little more time before replacement.  The second, he thought he could refill a tooth instead of crowning.  And finally, he did fill the cavity.  So, in the States, I would have been looking at a bill of about $2000.  Here, I expected a bill of about $425 and I left paying $50.  What a difference.  It was quite a process though, two hours of drilling! We did go to Wal Mart and stocked up on groceries that we cannot get locally.  We ate a slow lunch….slow because my mouth was still asleep and then left for Santa Ana. Dwaine had asked Daniel Azucena if he could meet us and take us to a couple of pet stores to look for a kitty since it was on the way home.  He took a bus to the mall and took us to two shops nearby.  No luck.  One shop said they would get a few cats that were six months old the next day from San Salvador.  A day late and a $ short.  Finally, Dwaine said he wanted to drive through Ahuachapan to look at a shop that they have.  But, alas, it was closed.  He said he had seen kittens there before, but he knew it was a small shop and was not surprised it had closed.  No kitties today.  We got home close to 5 and as we were unloading groceries, when Kelly and Jose stopped by.  Jose did open up and say he wanted to have some private studies about some things.  He has a huge heart and wants to be faithful.  It is a lifetime of change for him and it is a blessing that he is willing to continue trying and to continue to grow in his faith.  He has a tremendous love for his family and wants to set a good example for them.  Dwaine took them home at 5:30 as school let out because it was pouring rain.  At 6:30 we went to Xiomara, Omar, Emily and Gisela’s home.  It was a great dinner.  Xiomara cooked pupusas and they were delicious.  Pupusas are definitely my favorite!  Her husband was there, as well as her brother so we got to visit some with them as well.  After our hunt for the day for kittens, they said they knew a lady down from us that had 30 cats.  They had 4 that were only 4 weeks old, so possibly this will work.  However, they did say we could not go see them.  They have family in the area so they can enter, but if we went in on a car they did not recognize, they would stop it and rob us.  Dwaine said he would just put $5 in his pocket.  They said then, they would follow you out and start visiting your home for extortion.  Well…..we settled on a plan that they could just take pictures and let us see the pics.  It was a nice evening of visiting and teeth were doing great!  

Passing some cows as we were leaving town....






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