Day 42 in Itagui

It was pouring rain when I woke up at 630, which usually isn´t the best insipiration for early morning service. However I was about 20 hours behind on service time, so extra sleep wasn´t exactly a luxury I could afford. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by the time I was ready to head out. I was just going to go on my own for a bit, and then meet Daniel at the metro station at 830. But after a short time out on the streets I was joined by Mariluz Alvadan (Photo 90 of Photogallery Itagui) and another pioneer named Blanca. Mariluz said they would join me to the station to pick up Daniel, even though it meant getting to the service group a bit late. It took us a good 15 minutes to find Daniel, which made Blanca slightly grumpy, but Mariluz was super cool about it. On the way to the service group we discussed our dislike for arepas, which is basicly the colombian version of a tortilla except its thicker and you don´t put meat in it. It tastes pretty not good if you dont smoother it in butter and toss a couple chunks of cheese on top. We made it to the service group 15 minutes late. It was very interesting to see the chemistry between my grandpa and Daniel.

Daniel - "Hi im Daniel, whats your name?"

My Grandpa - "Danny´s Grandfathe. You espeaking espanish?"

 Daniel - "Well, no"

 My Grandpa - "Why not?"

 Daniel - "Well what kind of question is that?"

I tried to hide the huge grin on my face as I walked out of the room. There were about 14 of us and we all got sent of to a neighborhood around the corner. The groups are usually divided into 2 teams. Everyone starts at the corner of the street and each team goes in the opposite direction of the other until they meet in the center on the other side of the block. The individual partners do the leap frog method: if there´s already a pair at the following door, you just "hop" over them and do the next available door. If your ringing a bell for a second or third floor, one person stands by the door, while the other backs up into the street so that they´re in view of the balcony, in case the householder pops out through there. I spoke to a woman who is studying with the Jehovah Witnesses. She says she feels like shes backed up against a wall because her husband has been studying for over a year, and she can clearly see all the positive changes he has made since he started studying. But at the same time, shes getting a ton of pressure from her family, and shes hesistant on abandoning the religion her parents raised her with. We spent a good half hour talking while she battled with some stray roosters that kept trying to get into her house. It was a very pleasent conversation, and I really hope that I was able to help her.

Afterwards I walked Daniel back to the metro station. On the way back we stopped by a pharmacy to get some vitamins Daniel wanted, only I had absolutly no idea how to translate "zinc" or "magnesium sulfate". I tried explaining what it was used for and eventually we found it, but that took us nearly a good half hour. 

My glasses came in today. Now I finally look like Andres Cepeda on La Voz Colombia :D (google it)

                    -D.V.