Gloria a Dios (Glory to God)

So today was a day of rest and orientation for the new people that arrived yesterday. Gabriella is from Canada, originally from Switzerland. She is here for 3 weeks. Jennifer is from Michigan but was living in Atlanta working as a nanny and is here for 3 months. They are both very nice! So this morning after breakfast we did orientation, introducing ourselves and the 10 principles of OO. After this we had time to hang out with the kiddos. I went out to the playground and played for a bit before lunch.

It was very hot here today so for 30 minutes before lunch I went to my room and read a chapter in a book that was recommended to me by a past volunteer. It was written by a surgeon and it is about the three key principles in being an effect doctor/worker in healthcare. It is pretty interesting!

After lunch, I worked a litte on trying to organize how I am going to be spending my next 11 weeks. I have to figure out when I'm going to work on certain things, and also how often I want to go to the bateys with Dr. Garcia. Right now, I'm going to try to go with him on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon to the bateys and then work here the other mornings planning and writing health modules. I need some away time to not get too bored with always working at my computer!

I went out to play with the kids after siesta and talked with Leonel, one of the oldest boys here. He was in Esperanza when I used to go there and his Mom worked at the orphanage there but he lived at the orphanage instead of at home with her and his sisters. He is a very friendly, loving kid and I enjoy talking with him. At the same time, I had Luis Alberto in my lap who fell asleep with his mouth wide open. It was precious! I spent 2-3 hours hanging out with the kids until dinner time. After dinner, I showered and got ready for church.

So typically the showers here are really cold but since it has been so warm and the tanacos (large canisters where water is stored) are black the water is actually pretty warm. Not hot but warm enough and sometimes too warm to be refreshing from the outside heat. So, I'm saying this now but come later in the fall/winter when the evenings cool off and the days aren't so warm I'm sure the water will be chilly again! Also, I think it helps that there are so few of us here using the water.

The reason for my title is because they say "Gloria a Dios" all the time here in church. They talk, preach and then throw out "Gloria a Dios" in between words or sentences. Tonight there was a guest pastor. He started out pretty interesting, talking about how his uncle has killed a lot of people, his Mom was cured from AIDs, and the cops used to come looking for him and how he ended up in jail (not sure for what reason), and how now he is a preacher but then he kept talking and talking and talking. Typically Bryson translates so we understand and this guy had Bryson translate but would talk so fast that you couldn't hear Bryson translate because this guy kept cutting him off. It was frustrating and I felt bad for him. Then at the end, he called people up to the front and started praying for each one individually. He would place his hand on their head and scream in their face. Several of them fell down to the ground, it almost looked like they were hypnotized. Not sure if they were faking it or it was real, but it was bizarre! No speaking in tongues though and no snakes! :) This lasted forever. Typically we go to church from 7-8ish and we left at 9:40! It was way too long and frustrating because he was so disrespectful to Bryson who was trying to help.

We finally arrived home from church and were all sitting around drinking water at the comedor because we were so parched. Guess what we found!?? A tarantula! Luckily it got stepped on and killed but that is the first one I've seen. Not too fond of them! :)

Well that is it for today. I tried to get some pictures of the orphanage kids today and got a few but they often will cover their faces or turn away when I try to take pictures! I'll keep trying! I did take some pictures of the orphanage grounds so I'll post them sometime tomorrow for you guys to see where I'm staying.