26/05/2011 (posted 28/05/2011)
I planned to visit the Virgin Mary statue which is on top of a hill this morning, but felt really ill so skipped that (although ironically, some Catholics would maybe say she could have brought me healing by saying her name a few times or something).
Instead, I went to an internet cafe to do something relaxing. The form my illness is currently taking is stomach cramps around half an hour after I finish eating, so I thought that one solution to the problem could be only drinking stuff for today. So I decided to try that out, and started the day with some chocolate milk and orange juice.
Unfortunately, these also gave me stomach cramps so I abandoned the 'no-eating' idea and decided to eat something at lunchtime.
This led me to think 'Where better to go for a decent sandwich and maybe a nice sweet hot drink than Starbucks?', and when I couldn't think of anywhere better I decided to go. I ordered my speciality drink - Caramel Mocha with a bit extra of this or that, not going to disclose the recipe to the public domain.
In the afternoon, I still was feeling far from 100% so went back to a cafe and had a Skype with Amy and my family which was really great. Makes home feel even closer - less than a week now til I will be there.
I met Rita again in the evening, though not after almost being crushed to death trying to ride the Metro system in rush-hour. Before I could board a train, four came and went and each time took on a few more people into the madness as a few people scrambled to get off which looked truly difficult.
But anyway, I met her and she took me to a group she goes to on Thursdays at a local voluntarily-run place where they have people working and doing various bits of ministry to the community. It sounded cool, and when I got there I was taken aback at how amazingly bouncy and happy everyone I met was - it was clear that this is both a special place and a special event. The atmosphere was contagiously positive and it was great to really feel surrounded by people and in God's presence at the same time - is probably the first time since Panama with this amount of fellowship and it was flippin' awesome.
The evening itself felt and ran very similarly to First Sunday, which is probably another reason why I loved it so much. We started by eating and just all hanging out, and I got chatting to a few people in a mixture of English and Spanish. There was then an open mic time and a few various individuals/bands came forward and performed some songs - 'You Never Let Go', 'Take It All' and 'Indescribable' were all played but in Spanish. There was then a talk given by a guy called Greg, which I partly understood (it was in Spanish obviously).
Afterwards, everyone hung out chatting and clearing away so I got talking to some more people. There are a fair few Americans here that are either studying at one of the Universities or are full-time staff here.
I got on so well with them, in fact, that I'm going to go back tomorrow and hang out with them and see more of what they do.
So I walked to the Metro station with Rita and we then went our separate ways. It has been really nice to hang out with her and for her to take the time to show me some of the city - although our link is through a third-party, we have got on really well and I hope to see both her and Jonny in the near future.
JG
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