We have been “off” the past two days. Basically that means that we do not have any planned ministry events. All of team A met up in Palenque to do some grocery shopping and to use the Internet. Clinton treated our team to Burger King; it was the best BK I have ever had. Then we drove to Palapa where we would spend the night. There is a big open gazebo, bathrooms, and some tables situated beside a beautiful river. The river is about 50 yards across and has a one foot ledge waterfall and then the water slides down about a 10 foot drop. There is a cave in the slide that you can climb into if you duck under the water. It was creepy to put my face into the waterfall, then to climb in, and then even more disconcerting to be sitting in a little cave and only see water pouring out in front. I loved it.
Pastor Samuel has been our local contact and has organized each of our ministries. The first evening in Palapa he invited us to dinner. We walked down the dark road and gazed up at the blanket of stars overhead. Eventually we came to a candlelit table set for 4o complete with chips, salsa, and Coca-Cola. It was so fun to reunite with the other teams and great to hear all of their stories. I was comforted by the fact that a lot of us are dealing with similar struggles; mainly the communication barrier.
I slept in my tent for the first time and had a great night with only the sound of the river; no chickens, roosters, horses, cows, or dogs to wake me up. We spent the morning swimming in the river and relaxing. My team discussed the fact that we were really excited to get back to Cenovia Aguilar, so we left in the afternoon. My mom will not be happy to hear this, but Cenovia has really begun to feel like home for us. Well, maybe just a home away from home. As we passed familiar stores and houses we were greeted with smiles of friends glad to see us return. Our neighbor told us that her boys missed, “the gringos” very much. So tomorrow we will begin a new week with renewed energy.
