Spanish Church

Sunday was another relaxed day (I am beginning to enjoy those!). In the morning, we went with the only group left to a local church. Because of the language barrier, I do not get much out of the sermons, but I am still able to get something good out of the Bible verses read, and it is an enjoyable experience. Afterwards, we all went to a pizza joint for lunch and wow was it good! I guess it was Brazilian style pizza. Next, we went to the orphanage and played some soccer. It was a bit different than last time because a lot of the younger kids played too, which was nice. After a little while there, we headed to Pastor Hubert’s (he works at SCORE) church, which was in the area. There we had a Sunday evening Bible study. Like church, the language difference made things difficult, and it was especially frustrating that I could not engage in the conversation, but it was still a good time. And finally, we headed back to the Villa for some dinner. Another group of about 21 was supposed to come in tonight, but their flight got delayed or something, so we have an extra day before things get crazy again.

Soccer Trip, Day 6, Saturday, June 20

Saturday and Sunday of the soccer trip was by far the most interesting experience I have had on my trip so far. Saturday morning we headed out for a different city, around Naranjo. There we went to a church for lunch, and then went to play in a tournament with two other local teams. We lost both games, but we did play the best soccer as a team of the whole trip. It was also an interesting tournament because the reffing was very loose, almost like a scrimmage. At halftime of the first game the ref even switched with someone else and came to play for us. After all the games were over and a local pastor gave a short Gospel presentation, we headed back to the church, where we found out we would each be staying the night with a host family. None of us knew that was the plan, and we were all taken off guard. Originally it was going to be one player with each family, but luckily our coach was able to make it two to each. That really helped make things less uncomfortable, and in a way, scary. So, they split us up and sent us on our way. Me and Dan, the other guy from the team, stayed with a great family that lived right next door to the church. They did not speak any English, which made things very difficult, but they were very accommodating. Once we got settled in, the father, Diego, offered to take us around the city in his truck (it took a call to the interpreter to figure out that was what he was asking us). We drove around Naranjo for a bit, and then got a very impromptu, afterhours tour of a local coffee plantation. Diego even got a lady to open the gift shop after it had closed so we could buy stuff. Afterwards, we headed back to the church for a Saturday evening service that included games and dinner, and then went to our host’s house for a second dinner with two other guys from the team.