Day 5

So today was not all that eventful but a long day nonetheless. But first, I must update on yesterday.

Last night some of the kids from Tomas & Iris's youth group came to teach us this skit that is supposed to be a group of clowns. It was absolutely hilarious! Watching our volunteers try to do it was even funnier! I got some on video and I'm trying to store the files online so I can make it into one video when I get back to the states. It'll be hilarious! After that we were exhausted, but some of the girls learned to do a sort of sign language to music presentation. We'll be wearing all black and have white gloves on, and I guess they have black lights so all you can see is the hand movements. It sounds cool and if we can manage to pull it all together, that should be just lovely! We also had pizza for dinner last night, which was a treat because I could pretty much eat it every day of the week!

Today we went to church. It's almost an hour away, so we left after 9 and got there sometime around 10. First a few songs and then Don Pablo led the Sunday school lesson after the children and kids in the youth group left. We had a paper so I managed to follow along pretty well. First he read from Matthew 20: 26-28 about doing the work of the Father. (I think that was the one.) Then the lesson went into the importance of using your gifts and talents for the church, to help it and others grow. The gifts and talents that God gives us are not for ourselves, but rather for the benefit of others. Also, he went on to say that there are no gifts that are better than others. All are important to the Kingdom of God.

After that there were some more songs, they introduced me as a visitor with the Hospitals of Hope , and then a man came to preach (The father of one of the clown boys). He talked about missions and the importance of not being happy just being where you are, so if you can, to go and to teach other nations. He spoke quite rapidly so it was a little more difficult to stay up with him on the details but I got the main idea.

We left the church and went to lunch at a 5 star hotel! It was about an hour away from the church so by the time we got there it was at least 1:30 and we were all starving! They had a buffet and we ordered the main meat, such as steak, chicken or fish. I got steak but I had some of the fish and would totally get the fish, were I to visit there again!

There was a lake on the way to the hotel (which is in the middle of nowhere, so we were all not sure what to expect and were pleasantly surprise!) and behind the hotel there were some steps built into the side. It was a bit of a mini hike and was especially difficult if you consider that we were mostly all wearing skirts & flip flops, in addition to the challenge of being at a higher altitude here. It was definitely worth it because it was a beautiful view!

Not soon after that, we left the hotel and had a 2+ hour ride back. Finally I got a picture of our primary means of transportation with Don Manuel as our driver. I'll be sure to post it soon! He's such a sweet man and very patient with all of us. I asked him at lunch about the fish he had told me was good here and he ended up ordering it so I could try some. By the time we got home it was almost dark... it gets dark here around 6 I think I heard someone say. Much earlier than I'm used to at home!

Well, not much more to say for now. Tomorrow I'll be at the hospital in the morning so I'm sure I'll have more stories once the time comes! Adios!