Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well. Things here have been a little crazy. We had our first service in the new building. Everything went well. We had sort of a ceremonial type of thing. The culture here has been greatly influenced by Catholicism. Thus, it’s important to have a nice building to attract people. We are all very excited about the new building.
Sunday evening John (another intern) and I along with three of the university students (Kani, Camilo, and Renso) set out to climb Punta de Damas, which is about a 10,000 feet high. To be honest, the only reason I wanted to go was to get to know the university guys, not to climb the mountain. Renso is a Christian, but Camilo and Kani are not. This mountain was not the hardest thing I have ever done, but it was pretty rough. Sunday evening we climbed about 4 ½ hours to a half-way point. The next morning we set off for the summit and climbed about 5 ½ hours. The majority of the path was very slippery, which made it difficult to climb. Imagine climbing through a field of thorn bushes and that’s about what it was like. At one point we got a little lost and had to climb through what literally looked like a jungle of thorn bushes and thorn covered vines. We all received a good share of cuts and scrapes. It took us about 7 to 8 hours to climb down. It shouldn’t have taken that long, but John was having a lot of cramps. Also, Camilo’s dog went with us. Of course we fed him and gave him plenty of water, but he got extremely dehydrated and I’m pretty sure he was about to die. So, Camilo gave his backpack to Renzo and he picked up his dog and carried him the rest of the way down. Overall, it was a pretty rough trip for all of us, especially John and I. I’m definitely glad that I got to spend time getting to know the guys, and I’m sure that I will be glad that I climbed the mountain after all my blisters and the soreness fade. I’ve now climbed to mountain in my life, and I think two is enough. I’m not trying to sound negative. For me, it’s one of those things that is terrible when you’re going through it, but afterwards you can appreciate it and even laugh about it. Like I said though, the climb really gave me an opportunity to get to know those guys better.
I started Spanish lessons this week. I think the lady I am using is going to be awesome. I like her, and she definitely pushes me. Spanish here is really difficult. Not only do they speak really fast, but they also speak terrible Spanish. They don’t follow the same rules as proper Spanish does, so needless to say, I’m having a difficult time with it. I can communicate most things that I want to say, but understanding them is a totally different story. I am sure that it will get easier and easier the more I am here.
I hope everyone is doing well. Please continue to include me in your prayers. I need them. Take care and God bless.