View of Chihuahua City
This was definitely a week for trips. I left super-early Thursday morning with Mike, a member of our local staff, to drive down to Parral to visit an American in prison. It was a long nine-hour drive through the Chihuahua desert. After an interesting visit at the prison, we turned around and back-tracked to Chihuahua City, the state capitol (above) for dinner and overnight. Friday morning, we went to the state prison there to drop off some vitamins and other toiletries for another inmate, then headed back to Juarez.
This was my first prison visit, but won’t be my last. The U.S. government makes these visits to Americans to monitor their treatment, provide them with a list of lawyers, etc. I was glad I had an experienced local staff with me to walk me through the process. All went well.
Saturday morning, I got up early again and headed to Hot Springs for Memorial Day weekend with Mom. I stopped by Alison’s gallery on the way into town, then picked up Mom and headed out to Kay’s for a pot-luck dinner with family. I was happy to eat some of Aunt Gusta’s delicious corn bread, along with Lacey’s beans – yum! It was great to see everyone, and a perfect evening to sit on the porch and watch the hummingbirds and bunnies in the yard (along with Kay’s three-legged cat trying to stalk the bunnies). It’s been a rainy Sunday today.
Earlier in the week, we had another massage at home – what a great treat! The rest of the week was work as usual.
I finished reading “Three Cups of Tea” – very good book about an American mountain climber who falls in love with the children of Pakistan and starts building schools in the most remote regions of the country near K2. Great story and true. Soft power in action.