Monday, July 6, 2009

Well, we have completed another hard day's labor, and with surprisingly little complaint.  Those who surfed yesterday are feeling it a lot more than others...they had about an hour's instruction, then an hour in the water with instructors moving among them to help them get started.  It was a nice set-up, where a kind of lagoon is created by the curve of the shore and the pier, so the waves were decent but not bone-crushing like the ones on the other side of the pier.  By the end, I think everyone pretty much had achieved standing up position for at least a few seconds.  The rest of us drifted among the shops and street vendors, then watched the wipeouts from the boardwalk overlooking the beach.  The weather was cool and overcast as usual, so no one was really sunbathing or anything, though Sarah did get in the water briefly.  There were some cool-looking, native, canoe-type boats made of reeds twisted together that vendors were offering rides on, but since both air and water were cold, there were no takers.

For church, we returned to the new church plant we had visited on Saturday, and the youth were very welcoming and happy to see us.  They performed a very cool drama/mime, and we sang a song for the congregation.  It was a fairly small, concrete building, so we sang "Glorify Thy Name" in beautiful, reverberating harmony.  Having been immersed in their high-energy, different harmony music for a couple days, our song sounded very different even to us, and a little too like a funeral dirge. : )  We tried to pick up the pace later when El Pastor asked us to end the service with a song, so we did "Lord I Lift Your Name in High," with the motions of course.  Dennis gave his testimony as well, and the pastor preached briefly, which thankfully was translated by our intern.  When service ended we mingled around, especially with the youth, who really took to Ashley.  They seemed a little surprised when she introduced Ben as her husband...I think they thought she was closer to their age. : )  We took our leave with many fun group pictures, and the youth girls even jumped on our bus to kiss everyone goodbye again.  Our youth (guys) think this is a great custom.

Then we all went to a local rotisserie chicken chain, Roky's, and had a wonderful time chilling together.  For dessert, we had a couple different local cakes, one soaked with sweet milk.  Yum!  Later some folks went out to the neighboring park to get whupped in soccer by some of the locals.

Today was another full day at the worksite, as tomorrow will be.  Pray for our physical strength, as that will probably be our hardest day.  Peanutt, Carolyn wants you to know she even took a real nap yesterday!  Little is planned for tonight, since we are working so hard today and tomorrow.  The elusive churro-vendor-lady has created a bit of an obsession, so there will probably be another expedition to attempt to find them tonight.  At least last time they found a hamburger vendor whose wares met with rave reviews.  So, we are off to dinner soon.  Hasta luego!