This past Saturday took a little of a detour from my usual Saturday activities. A group from the church which I attend here in Trujillo, the Larco branch of Peru Mission, took a group out to the orphanage to help out for the day. It was definitely a wonderful day of work and play and exhaustion :)
Let's get you a small vision of my day:
The plan... as had been announced at the church as well as been said through the many mouths of authority through the week... was to leave the church on a bus at 7 am. So naturally... friday night I had nightmares about being 3 minutes late to the church and them having left me with their bus full of excited helpers. This was a worry for me... only because I had never gone to this place before, on my own or with anyone, I had no idea where it was. But my nightmares were completely unrealistic... as I knew... I KNEW! that every other function it didnt matter how late I had been... there were always those that were later....by 30 minutes. I learned this lesson well, the past month that I started to attend a girls Bible study at the church on Monday mornings at 7 am... which later had been changed to 7 am for the peruvian girls and 7:30 am for me ... as I had been continuously surprising the Hermana (sister) which was leading the study... for a personal visit for 30 minutes each Monday while waiting on the other girls :D
So... this past Saturday morning... what convinced me to show up at the church at 7 am? Incredibly unrealistic yet guilt inflicting night mares. What did I meet when I got to the church? Well a closed door and no bus for starters... which I naturally first assumed that I just missed everything. What was the reality... I was again... la primera (the first) ... and I waited patiently for the others to arrive. :) I don't know if I will ever learn my lesson. I am inconsistent. I show up late to the things people show up on time for, and early for the things every ones else know somehow to show up 30 minutes to an hour late for. Why can't I grasp the culture!!!! haha
Well, eventually we left the church, and were at Albergue in time to start cleaning near to 8 AM.. we gathered in groups and spread across to all corners of the orphanage, soapy bowl in left hand, cloth to scrub in right hand. We spent the morning cleaning then gathered together midday to eat lunch with everyone. It was fun to have the kids help us... well... hmm.. well yeah help :) But even more fun to spend lunchtime with them then spend time with them after playing. The boys played baskettball and the us girls gathered around to watch, talk and cheer. I met a cute girl with the same name as me... what can I say? :) It was fun to spend time with both the group from the church, the kids, and the combination of the two. Some of the kids come to our church, so it was great to see their faces to be able to spot them and focus on them. One of the boys I recognized because one of the guys in our choir gives him drum lessons on Saturdays before choir. Well... he (a teenager, or preteen) had a sandboard and somehow i was the girl selected among the little group of guys he chose to go out with the board into the dunes nearby. ...What a treat! I went out with the guys, and a few little boys... including Franklin... precious kid with the goofiest classes... and... I can confidently and securely tell you... that even though there is no evidence.. I completely rocked out the sandboarding better than the the three other guys there my age.. thus winning over the privelage of conversation with this kid that had previously ignored me in church. So now I get to pick on the guys and I get to talk to this kid because now he thinks I'm cool enough.
Following the cleaning and playing... we headed back to the church in the same bus... where... well more cleaning was left to greet some of us. Our youth group has split up into groups that takes turns cleans the church on Saturdays.. and... of course it was my groups turn! And well it's not the lightest of cleaning. But doable. That day, followed by choir practice and a despedida ( a going away party) for one of the missionary families that is returning on furlough, was a hard core day ending with a serious visit by the sandman. But I enjoyed every minute of it. And I'm excited for some of the doors that I think were opened for me by going with that group.
Some of the kids....
Some of our group...
Where we spent our day...
No comments:
Post a Comment