Lorca Lorca Lorca (& miscellaneous).

So the last few days have been a bit crazy with the group being here but it has been a thrill as well. Sunday I met up with the team in Lorca where the earthquake hit this past year. It was crazy to see all the damage that had been done to this old and beautiful Spanish city. Later we went to the church service of the Baptist church in Lorca. Because of the earthquake, the church had been destroyed, so until they are able to complete their new church they have been having in someone’s very large and nice backyard. It was really cool to see that after all that had happened to these people they were still able to come together as a church and worship the lord. You would never know the hardships thee people have endured, they are just so thankful to be alive and in the presence of the lord.

Damage done by the earthquake in Lorca.

More damage, this is the outside of someones apartment!

Today we had kids club and it was so nice to have the whole team there to help because a ton of kids showed up! After Kids Club we all went to Mojonera to eat lunch with a large group of African guys that are friends of the Whitleys and play soccer with them. These guys are all from different parts of Africa (duh) and have come to spain to work in the green houses to make better money. They all live together in this tiny apartment and the whitleys have reached out to them because they really miss their families and Africa. These guys really need some people who will just show them love and kindness. The African guys made us an amazing African meal in thanks to the team making them dinner on their last visit to spain. The meal was amazing for numerous reasons. First of all the guys made the food which is a big deal because African men do not cook. In Africa while the men work all day the woman spend their day cooking, ALL DAY. So for these guys to take their own time to cook a meal for us really means a lot. The other thing was the amount of vegetables and meat they put on the rice. Typically is they are just feeding themselves they have a lot of rice and maybe a small fish and a small piece of meat with a few veggies that is shared with maybe 8 guys. I have never seen so much meat and veggies on an African bed of rice in my life and in the past month and a half I have eaten A LOT of African food. They must have spent so much of their money on us and it was just heartbreaking and so touching. The generosity that Africans have is just incredible.

The African guys cooking for us.

After lunch we watched African wrestling with the guys which was quite entertaining and nothing in any way shape or form similar to American wrestling. After that we headed down towards a soccer field to play soccer with the guys. This was so much fun. If the Spanish kids thought it was a big deal that I could play soccer and was decent at it, these African guys were just blown away. They could not believe that a girl not only knew how to play soccer but could play it well. They called me “the best woman soccer player in the world.” So obviously that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But given the fact that African women only where long skirts and dresses, I believe its safe to say that there are less than 10 woman in all of northern Africa who play soccer. So in their world, maybe I am! ha.  I had such a great time with these guys, they were so nice and upbeat and always smiling. They were also quite funny when they scored a goal, each had their own way of celebrating the achievement of getting the ball in the American teams goal (which happened quite often believe it or not).

Us and the African guys after soccer. (yes, I had to play in pants!)

So far the teams visit has been great and has enabled me to do some really cool things. It is refreshing to see these students excited about what Amanda and I have been doing the last month and a half. It really makes me appreciate the experience I am having this summer even more.