#68 - Hosanna

10/07/2011

I slept SO well last night. The bed I'm in is so damn comfy and all external light is well and truly blocked by the blinds so it was a sanctuary.
I was awoken at 10am by Andrew checking that I was up and ready to leave. I wasn't, I had just been woken up from a dream.

I hurriedly got ready and obviously didn't have time for a shower - this means that yesterday's sweat was still well and truly on my body which isn't the nicest of thoughts. All I had time for was a cup of coffee.

As it is a Sunday, we chose to go to a church in the city. It's called Hosanna church and is absolutely massive - maximum capacity is around 5,000. We arrived for the 11am service but for an hour there was nothing except people talking and sharing mini Bible-studies which we obviously couldn't butt in on, and we couldn't understand them anyway.
After about an hour, a woman came to us and introduced herself as Siobhan. She was young and Panamanian and spoke brilliant English, and started talking to us. She then beckoned us down to the lower level (this is a massive venue, there are several levels) to be closer to the main stage/altar.

The service was very Pentcostal - the Indian preacher used dynamics to a ridiculous effect, the down side being that at times his English was difficult even for us to understand. It was nice to have a sermon in English though, very unexpected. We were there for three hours in total.

After the service, Siobhan and her husband talked to us and offered to show us somewhere to eat which was lovely of them. By coincidence, they ended up showing us where Albin and I had gone for food when I first arrived in the city. They had the amazing fruit salad that I had that time, and I still haven't and probably never will experienced a better one.

After lunch, the five of us went for a bit of shopping in the large mall. Jonny and Jarett went to get some souvenirs and I went to find the cheapest pair of shorts I could - one pair has lost a button and has paint on so I am looking to replace them with a very cheap pair that will be light to pack also.
After walking quickly past the Hilfiger store, I eventually found a Primark-ish place and located some $2.99 shorts - score! I think they're pretty cool though none of the rest of the guys agree.
Never mind, they're cheap and light.

We then said farewell to Jonny and Jarett. Five became three.
Jonny's off to meet the parents of his Chilean girlfriend, Rita, for the first time and Jarett is off to the Philippines to get married. As I said yesterday, we'll all move on from this experience so quickly and it's kind of a sad thought yet an exciting one.
Even if I'm not with my team anymore, what I have learned on this trip and experienced with them will stay with me for the rest of my life so in that way the future is very positive.
However, it's never nice to break up a group.

When they were safely on the way to the airport, the three of us (Me, Jess and Andrew if you've been paying attention) went back to Ann's house. We spent the afternoon and evening just talking to and hanging out with her - she's really cool and interesting to talk to.
We also watched the end of the Masters Golf - shame McLlroy bottled it.

We had Enchiladas and salad for dinner which was delicious. This house is just so lovely and cool - outside is humid but here is so comfortable.

Tomorrow we don't have much planned so hopefully I can sleep deeply without interruption this time.

JG