Amy Heckman Serving with New Tribes Mission in Mexico 
Tenacos on the rooftops
One of our friends from church, Hector, works for the internet company, so on our 4th day here, he took us to get signed up for internet and a house phone. He led us to the store, and walked us through the application process. He said they would come and install it in two days. However, later that day we received a call saying that they could come install it now. So, they came. As the man was installing our internet, our neighbor came over and asked if we had water. We didn’t and so he went up on our roof to check out the tenaco (back up water tank). We learned that the city shuts the water off from 10:00 am to 3 or so in the afternoon, and if the tenaco is working then we will have some water, even though there is not much pressure. We didn’t understand what he was saying, so we called a missionary friend and she translated for us. Crystal was out with the neighbor trying to figure that out, while I was inside with the internet installer. They both spoke fast so it was interesting trying to understand what was going on. Our neighbor came down and gave us a part, but we thought he would get the replacement. They both left (after the internet was working!!) and we went on about our day. Later that night we didn’t have water, (the neighbor had turned it off), a friend came over and talked to the neighbor for us. We found out we needed to go buy the part. So we did, and then he came over and replaced it, and so we had water!!
We had some plumbing problems, too. When the men delivered the washing machine, that we had bought when out furniture shopping with our host family, the Vargas’, they installed it for us. However it is american washing machine, and so the water is the opposite. When they hooked it up they put the hot water on the cold and the cold on the hot. Also, one of our toilets, would leak out the bottom everytime you flushed. So one day, after we had called our landlady about it, a man came and we showed him these problems. He told us that someone would come back tomorrow to fix it. So the next morning another man came and we showed him the problems. He worked for awhile while we finished up a meeting about our first week. We were thankful, as we watched him, that he took the toilet off, and fixed the ring, and not just the outside sealant. When he finished, he took me around and we tested the washer, and then he told me (because of the little Spanish I know, I was able to understand) not to use the toilet for 4 hours so the cement could set up. We paid him when he finished, and he left. Because the toilet was a problem before we got here, we will be able to take it off our rent.
Another problem was when the natural gas to our house got shut off. The same day that we finally got our plumbing fixed, we went to buy a refrigerator from a lady at church. We had heard at Bible Study the day before that she was selling one. With the help of some friends we got it and it worked wonderfully. Because we hadn’t had a fridge the first week, we had been eating out a lot (don’t worry it’s cheap 
). So, to celebrate having a fridge Crystal decided to make pancakes. She mixed up the batter and went to melt the butter, but the stove wouldn’t turn on. We didn’t have gas. That meant no stove and no hot water. The weather is still pretty chilly here and we weren’t looking forward to cold showers. Crystal call our landlady several times about the problem, over the next couple days, and after several of our friends coming and looking at it, they finally figured out the problem, the last gas bill (from before us) hadn’t been payed. This took 5 days to figure out. Then our friend Hector (who helped us with the internet) went and paid the bill. He has a brother in law who works for the gas company, and said he would turn it on. We tried to pay Hector back (especially since our landlady will take it off our rent), but even after offering 3 times (culturally appropriate) he refused, and told us to go watch a movie with it . God has blessed us with wonderful friends. The next day we tried the gas and it still wasn’t on. So we took the bill that showed up at our house, and the receipt that Hector gave us, and we went to his house. He was gone on a business trip but his wife Esmerelda (Esme) was home. She called her brother in law, and they got it turned on!! Also, we spent the rest of the afternoon “visiting” with Esme (who doesn’t speak English) and her daughters, and we were invited the next day to their mom’s house for a family comida (big afternoon meal).
These were the main problems we got fixed. Although they were inconvenient, we were able to look at them as adventures, and we are so thankful for the experience and relationships we gained through them.
