So much has happened since last weekend. For starters there has been an immense amount of sickness on the team. I myself have been out most of the week with an awful cold. Other people have cut themselves, developed infections, and other various strains of cold virus'. But a lot of positive things have happened this week as well.

            Starting where I left off last week when I was about to go to Hogar Crea. We walked to the Hogar Crea event which took like 20 or 30 min and I wore flats which was a silly idea because I have a nasty blister on my heel now. When we got to the facility I was surprised to find that our "stage" was nothing more than a cleared out dirt area in front of where the chairs were located. A lot of people showed up and even though I had become a tasty snack for the mosquitos I was enjoying myself. The youth from Quadrangular church and Torre Fuerte put on a few skits before we did our drime. A drime again is a drama and a mime put together and done to a song. The drime I was in went really well even though I was more nervous than I thought I would be. The funny part was that when the part came where "Satan" pushed me down on the ground I got dirt in my mouth which helped with the parts were I was to act as if I was in pain because in truth I was a bit grossed out! Two of my teammates Joe and Annie gave their testimonies and not only were they brave to do so but they also did a phenomenal job! I was very proud of them. The worship was a blast and we started a conga train and were just dancing for our Lord. The train ended badly when Patricia fell and broke her ankle. Patricia is the wife of Roberto who was running the whole night, so it was cut short when he had to take his wife to the hospital. We all gathered around and prayed for her. Then we hung out around for awhile and then made our way home.

            Sunday we went to church at El Puente. When I was looking around during the service I was surprised to see a man who has given me several verbal thrashings. I am curious if he will start attending El Puente regularly, I hope so! Then right after church we changed into some clothes that we were willing to get dirty because we were going to Mt. Mambacho (a volcano) to do a canopy tour zip line!! Money that was leftover from the world racers was given to us and so AIM paid our expenses to do the zip line. We took two Land Cruisers traversing over the bumpiest and primitive of roads. It was a beautiful trip up to the mountain although some people were a bit frightened and car sick, I was having a blast. I guess I have a stomach of iron :). When we got to the top it was a gorgeous farm area with a beautiful view overlooking Granada and another volcano in the distance. It was absolutely breath taking. We can see Mambacho from our home and lately there hasn't been any cloud cover and so we have had a clear view of a perfect example of God's handiwork. After my harness was and helmet was put on I hooked my camera on and took a few pictures of how funny we all looked. I was so pumped to get out there and get going. A few thousand pictures later we went out and were given a few safety tips before we went on our way. I went on a zip line in Mexico and it was a lot of fun so I had great expectations for this one as well, and I was not disappointed. There were about 8 or 9 different lines and the guys hooked you up and pulled you at each stop. I enjoyed this zip line a bit more than the one in Mexico because here they let me take my camera and take my own pictures. I got some good shots. I let one of the guides take my camera and he took pictures of everyone on my camera and even took a video as he went across. Then at the end we repelled from a tree about 75 feet. I told the guide to let me down slow but no such luck. I am glad though. I regret not telling him to go fast, it was an awesome adrenaline rush! Then we walked back to the farm. It was neat because up on the volcano they grow a lot of coffee beans because the soil is rich from volcanic deposit. It turned out that they beans they grow are made into the coffee that we drink at our house called Café Las Flores. The ride down wasn't nearly as fun but I still had fun.                   

            Monday we had class in the morning where we studied the chapter on "studying" in the Celebration of Discipline. Then I had ESL in the afternoon which didn't go so great. I feel like I am having a hard time getting through to my students. I am starting to realize why my teachers had off days and why they would get frustrated when people were not participating. There is nothing more disheartening than trying to teach a group of kids something and having them stare at you like you came from planet boredom. I need to find some way to reach them.

            Tuesday we had class in the morning and a couple came down from Costa Rica to teach us about community health. Then in the afternoon I went to class and was unsuccessful once again. It was even tougher to reach them because I had a really sore throat and the classroom is very noisy. I sort of gave up inside and just didn't put my full effort into it. 

            Wednesday I stayed home and tried to get some rest but the power went out and it was one of the hottest days this week. So I sweated and I was hoping to take a shower to cool down but the water was also not working.

            Thursday I went on an ATL with Mario, Becca, and Annie while feeling overly congested and having a fever.   But I thought I would be fine so I went along anyhow. We ended up walking way out in the barrios and past El Puente which is a far distance from our house in direct sunlight. All the way I was carrying my roll of toilet paper and sweating with a fever. We ended up talking to some kids at a bus stop and then heading home. We were all feeling convicted for not have introducing Christ into our conversations and I was just feeling like I was going to pass out, when God presented us with a second chance. There was a couple walking down the road towards us and the man waved to Mario and took off the bandana on his head and Mario realized that it was one of the guys from Hogar Crea. The man told him that he had left the program that day because he was having conflict with some of the other guys there but he still wanted to stay on track. In a mix of Spanish and English we were able to pray for him and it was a good reminder to the four of us that God always has an overall plan and that he will bring people to us even when we are not out looking for it. I felt very humbled but very sick as well. I went home and plopped in bed with the fan on and stayed home from class. I was able to take a nap which helped but I was still suffering from a lot of congestion and a runny nose. 

            Friday I was still feeling pretty awful. I woke up for bible study at 7:30 and then instead of going to Sisters of Charity for the daycare Heather took me out for a smoothie and a bagel at Euro Café. Heather and I agreed that it wouldn't be good for me to walk out to the orphanage in the heat and be exposed to all of the bugs the kids might have while my immune system was down. Then I had class in the afternoon where we had discussion on the chapter we had looked over on Monday. Jamie sent us out to study nature and observe God's wonder. The idea was to see the purpose of it, description and just study it! Well I decided to study the wind and ended up writing a poem instead. If you would like to read the poem you can email me and I will send it to you but I would rather not post it. It was a nice creative outlet for me and I really enjoyed the exercise. Then Friday night some people went to the movie on the corner and I went with some people to go get some ice cream and plantain chips. My voice was getting pretty hoarse so I went to bed pretty early. 

This week has been a tough one with all of the illness that has been in the house. But I have had the blessing of some great teammates who are always doing their best to comfort me. I am so thankful to have such amazing brothers and sisters in Christ that are praying for me and lifting me up while I am not feeling the best. Hopefully I will start to recover so that I can be strong for this next week. Please be praying for health and safety on my team. We are in need of a lot of prayer. Thanks for always keeping up with my adventure here, it means a lot to know that people are reading my blog and just being a part of this experience with me. I couldn't do it on my own!! You will hear from me in the coming week.

-Melissa