02/03/2011 (posted 06/03/2011)
So I tried to begin the day with an open mind despite yesterday's mishaps. This outlook was put to the test straight away when I was woken up by a menagerie of animals - dogs barking, birds twittering and goodness knows what else chorused together which was nice of them. The dogs bark particularly aggressively here as all they are kept for is to be a guard dog, so they're chained up all day.
I went downstairs for a shower which consisted of pouring a bucket of water on my head, which was actually very refreshing and got rid of the stench I accumulated through travelling and sweating yesterday.
We then went to a local's house for breakfast which was the same as last night's dinner - fried patacones and fried processed meat. It was actually nice, maybe I'm developing a passion for Spam and its derivatives.
Apparently each day we go to this house for breakfast,
someone else's for lunch and the church for dinner.
In terms of work, this week's is a packed schedule - school programme each morning then we spend the afternoon inviting people to an evening service which we then lead.
I led group devotions which finished BANG on time at 8:30, and this gave us time to practise a drama. We then went to a local school.
Didn't realise we'd be walking to the school and accordingly didn't put any sunblock on - it was unbearably hot. All the girls except Jess got driven there, not that I'm bitter.
We had a half-hour slot in which we sang songs, did a drama and I told a story. However our programme finished with ample time left so we had to entertain the kids for ages which we did by giving high-fives, taking pictures and playing with an inflatable globe.
We then ALL walked back and as soon as we got to our room, shirts and shorts were off - it was just too hot. My armpits are sticky and there's constantly sweat in my brow but I'm trying to ignore it. It'll be mostly annoying in the evening services where we have to wear trousers.
We then went to someone's house for steak, rice, onions and plantanes which look like bananas.
I haven't had a banana for about 15 years so I ate it quickly with onion to mask the taste and washed it down straight away with juice.
They have an awesome 3 year old called Devan who has ridiculous amounts of energy - we left Jonny to play with him which worked well until he threw a ball at me just as I was nodding off to sleep in a comfy chair.
In the afternoon, we went to a poor neighbourhood called Finca 43 where we handed out leaflets and invited people to an event this evening at a member of the congregation's house.
We ended up walking to and from Finca 43 about five times in total as we had to come back for dinner and then back out again and stuff - the hot weather made this experience not so great.
We had a service planned for the evening which ended up being almost completely rewritten to suit a younger audience. Afterwards we were giving high fives and piggybacks and playing with the kids and it was a real wrench to leave knowing that we could have done so much good if we'd have stayed.
In other news, I haven't shaved for quite a while and am getting a full-on beard.
It's tough getting to sleep here - the open window means that all outside noise pollutes the room, and it's also very hot and humid.
On top of this, some Panamanian chavs are blaring music our of a powerful speaker - at least they're considerate enough to know that the music of choice for most people in this neighbourhood at 11pm is reggae.
But I shall attempt to sleep now.
JG
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