Blessed be the Nombre del Senior 1/8/12

We got up pretty early to ride in to Boca Chica to go to church. I really kind of expected it to be boring but I was pleasantly surprised. It was in the top floor of a school which had 5 stories.  When we got there, we were greeted by a Cuban woman who was very nice and very talkative. She was raised in the states so she could speak perfect English as well as Spanish and since I happened to be at the front of the line, we talked as she led us up the stairs.

The church's original building had burned down a few years ago and they were planning on moving in to their new building next year. My church is actually planning on doing the same thing at the same time next year so I thought that was cool.  She asked if any of us were fluent in Spanish and I told her that Buck was and that myself and Marcott could pretty much keep up. It turns out she asked that question to find out how many ear pieces we would need. They had this awesome little personal PA system that had an earphone attached to it and a translator would speak in to a mic in the tech room that went directly to the system. The actual sanctuary was a very modern, contemporary church with a two camera system, multiple HD flat screens hanging from the ceiling broadcasting the message as well as two projectors on either side of the stage. We got those PA system things and when the service started we turned them on and off we went. The music started with the song Blessed Be The Name, but it was in Spanish. The next song was a song by Hillsong that I've never heard, which was also in Spanish, and then was an old hymn in Spanish.  It was really cool, the message was about Paul being in jail while still spreading the message of Christ.

I actually didn't need the PA sys very much. When I got behind I would put the earphone up to my ear and I would be caught up. When the service was over we went back to the bus and encountered a few beggars on the street saying "digame algo" which means give me something. They followed us to the bus.  I have never experienced anything like that before and I didn't know how to react. We left soon after that. When we got back to the complex we had a light practice. I hit pretty well. After a shower and a swim with most of the guys, we made some bracelets and played this charades game thing. Tomorrow we play ball and then were going to a supermarket to buy food for a village. The only irk I have with it is that we weren't told to bring money for this. I only have like 800 pesos left which is like 20 bucks. I would have liked to have a little notice before coming, I would have brought way more money.  Anyway I need to save money for the market and the baseball game so we will see what happens.