Getting over being sick

It has been an interesting and challenging first week. I got the chance to talk with my mentors here (Fr. Ron and Vicki Robertson) about what my main responsibilities will be for my time here. We have decided that my focusing on the Casas Hogares would be best. There are two Casas here that are under the church's responsibility: Casa Hogar San Jose (younger kids) and Casa Hogar Sagrada Famila (older kids). 

For now I plan to help out at each one twice a week. The older kids stay at Casa Hogar Sagrada Familia, and they have an interesting schedule that may permit some different dynamics to take place.  There are a few kids that only have classes on Saturdays, which made us think that I could do something special with them on a regular basis like have a Bible Study during the week. I am still working on my schedule keeping all of this in mind.

I got to spend my Wednesday afternoon with the kids at Sagrada Familia. This was the first time that we got to hang out since I've been here. It was their idea to go play basketball! This was my kind of talk. We went out to a "park" which was basically a slab of concrete with two goals and had a lot of fun. It was a good way to break the ice and for them to realize that I was the same old Joel as 3 years ago. 

After that we went to Ash Wednesday service at the church. I sniffled my way through the service and at the end I realized that I may need to rest for a couple of days and recover from my traveler's illness (I have had some stomach problems too). That's where I am today. I have one more pill to take tomorrow and hopefully by then I will be healed up.