We went to visit Heather in the hospital this morning - she still seemed to be quite weak, but should be going home tomorrow. Then we tried to find one of the other shopping centres nearby - either Portones or Montevideo Shopping. We caught a bus, which was going to one of them, but missed the stop, and ended up at the Rambla. We then walked along for 3-4km before we got to a bus stop where we could get a bus back home.
This morning we had a time of prayer in the chapel, which I found very difficult. After this we went for a Spanish lesson with Gerry, which was really helpful and we did a lot. We then helped him to get things ready for the Alpha course. We stayed for the start of the Alpha course and then went home. It was interesting to see the way they ran it here - they started of with the food, then had a couple of songs before the talk and afterwards split up into smaller groups to discuss things.
We had another Spanish lesson with Daniel and then we went for lunch at McDonalds. After lunch we went to Tres Cruces to have a look round, but there didn't seem to be much there.
We got our flights changed first thing at the American Airlines office by the seafront, so we will now be travelling back at the start of July and having a one-night stopover in Miami on the way back to break up the journey. We then went down to CASA to meet Daniel and have a Spanish lesson - which was interesting as he was teaching one person English, and 3 of us Spanish at the same time! After the lesson we went for lunch together.
We went to the English service at the cathedral this morning - it was strange, as it seemed to take more effort than the Spanish ones we've been to! We got the bus back home, and then had lunch with Miguel, Martha & Gonzalo. In the afternoon we went to the dedication of the new church building for Espíritu Santo. It was a really nice service, with so many people that there were lots of people standing outside!! After the service, there was a reception with lots of food where we met Gilberto.
We got up early this morning ready to leave with Miguel at 9 o'clock to Espíritu Santo Ô?? we were ready quite early, so I went to get the bread for us all. We went by bus to the church, and when we got there only the workmen were there. Miguel showed us around. Gradually more people arrived to help with the preparations for tomorrow and we joined in helping. We then caught the bus back down to the cathedral to have lunch with Paulo before going to San Esteban. San Esteban is a house where the church looks after people with AIDS and today they had the introductory session of a course about looking after people with AIDS (which was very hard for me to follow, but interesting still).
We went to the British Embassy with Steve & Miguel, as they had a meeting with the ambassador, and so that we could register as being in the country. After we'd registered, we waited downstairs forthem to have finished their meeting Ô?? when they'd finished they camedownstairs with the Ambassador, whom Miguel introduced us to. After thiswe went down to the diocesan offices, where we waited for Paulo to take us to CASA Ô?? where we went to meet the team there at their weekly team meeting. After the meeting finished, he took us to the soup kitchen??, where they were currently serving pasta, which we had forour lunch. We then went back to the offices where we joined in with thecelebrations for Lillian's birthday. Afterwards, Ana told us thedetails of the apartment that Gilberto had found for us in Salto. In theafternoon, we went with Liz to Espíritu Santo to help them with thecleaning ready for the dedication of the new chapel on Sunday. We alsodelivered some leaflets to the neighbouring blocks inviting them to theservice.
Today I went on an errand with Fabio to move some plants from someone's garden to church of the Holy Spirit Ô?? They were big plants!! Then wewent on to the airport to meet Miguel and Martha as they arrived backfrom Cuba. Their flight was delayed for about 30 minutes and then whenthey arrived, we went via Espíritu Santo, and the British Hospital, as Miguel wanted to see how the building work was doing and to visitHeather in the hospital. We then all had lunch together back at thehouse.
Went to Punto Carretas Shopping with Tricia, Jonathan and Isaac. We had a chat and a drink with them Ô?? I had a Licuado, which is liquidised fruit, topped up with fruit juice, milk or water. We then went shopping on our own for a bit and got lost on the way back. This turned out to be good for ourSpanish though!!In the evening we cooked dinner for Daniel and ourselves. We were goingto make pasta bake, but ended up with just pasta in sauce.
Today we wentto the old city (Ciudad Vieja), we visited the church of the Most Holy Trinity (Santísima Trinidad) and the diocese offices, then went to see C.A.S.A (Anglican Centre for Solidarity & Help) where we met Billy, who Daniel is teaching Spanish. We did a bit of Spanish together, and then we went for lunch with Paulo & Sandra. After lunch, Paulo showed us some photos, we rested for a bit and then I drew a dove for them to use with the Alpha course. In the afternoon Luis showed us round the old town. In the evening we prayed together with Luis & Daniel in the chapel which is part of the house. We went through the service for daily prayer from the Book of Common Prayer in Spanish and it was really good.