Sign-less (is that a word??) streets and Starbucks

The title of this blog is brought to you by my roommate, the one and only, CeCe.  :)

I consider myself to have somewhat of an ability to know where I'm going, how to get there, and stay on the right course (we're talking driving here, people, not life....that part I have NO CLUE about).  Today I got lost.  Of all things, I was leaving Wal-Mart.  I've left Wal-Mart many times and gotten home perfectly fine.  The problem is that, today, I parked in the parking garage underneath the store because it was really busy.  So when I saw the sign that said "Salida a Periferico" I took that exit because, well, I wanted to get on the Periferico.  Assuming (we all know what happens when you do that!!!) that the road I would come out of out of Wal-Mart would be the Periferico, I started driving.  I quickly realized that I had no idea where I was.

After a brief moment of internal screaming, I calmed down and prayed.  "Ok, Lord, please help me get back to where I need to be.  And please help me find a retorno!!"  A retorno is a break in the median where you can make something like a U-turn and go the other way on the major road.  There was no retorno.  See, Guatemala has this one problem...okay two.  If you start going the wrong way on a road, you are TOAST.  There is no place to turn around, there are streets going this way and that, nothing is straight, and you basically just end up crying.  The other problem is that there aren't street signs, usually.  I don't even know what road I was lost on.  BUT, I passed over this bridge that I remembered from a few weeks ago when I was with some friends (I was not driving at that time or I would have known what to do at this point!!).  So I called them a few times and did not get an answer.  Then the "major" road turns into a "not major" road going into a little town.  I made a few turns, hoping and PRAYING like crazy that it would get me back on the "major" road going the other way, eventually running into the Periferico.  I made it, only by the grace of God!  The good news is, I'm sure this will help me in the future.  At some point, I will go that way again, and this time I will know where I'm going...all because I got lost today.  :)

Mom, if you're reading this, you can stop breathing out of the brown paper bag now, I'm OK.  ;)  

While I was gallivanting around the city, my roommate texts me.  "Hey, the Starbucks is open at Oakland Mall!  Let's go this afternoon!"  Sure, sounds good, IF I ever get home!  But I did, so we went.  Apparently, I was bad luck to her because we had to turn around several times because of road blocks on our way to the mall.  We made it to the Starbucks and had a great photo shoot...I mean, we enjoyed our drinks.  :) 

"Sisy" and "Jenny"...whoever they are, I'm sure they enjoyed these...how do you get "Jenny" from me saying, "Amy"??

Yum.

Missionary quote of the day- I won't say her (oops) name to protect her identity:  "Oh, I like this one...and that one.  Let's get out of here before I steal something."  (We were in a shoe store at the time.)  :) 

I laughed so hard.    It was a good day.