Garden Party

Today we didn’t get picked up from the bus until 11:30. I slept in and Kristin woke up early and went to do some more shopping at a market near our hotel. Kristin purchased a lot of things and is glad to have items for the people on her list.

Once the bus picked us up, we went to Padre Juan’s Indian Parish in Guangopolo to celebrate Mass. Let me say, this was a very interesting experience. First of all, the drive to the Indian Parish was amazing. There is so much green and it was so just to pretty. Once we got to the parish, Kristin and I took the stairs to the top of the building, outside of the bell tower to take some pictures of the city. This view was also amazing. We then celebrated Mass with a full house. There were many people standing. My favorite part of Mass, was the fact that when the people came into the church for Mass, dogs from outside would follow them in. There were about three dogs walking around the church during mass. The people were very welcoming of us.

After Mass, we loaded back up on the bus and headed to Sir Peter and Maruja’s country home for a garden party. This garden was beautiful. There were lemon trees, avocado trees, and a lot of gorgeous flowers! We had a wonderful lunch full with h’ordeves, main course, a delicious dessert, and wine. Peter Maynard has been one of the major donors of the Center and has a great relationship with Padre Juan and Madre Miguel and was so gracious to host us. Kristin says that Peter had something for me, as every time he would come to our table, he would put his arm around me and when we took a big group picture I was standing next to him and he had his one arm around his wife and then wrapped his other arm around me and Kristin said he was looking at me while the pictures were getting taken! HA!

We came back to the hotel and took a much needed siesta and now we’re about to eat dinner. We’re looking forward to eating at the Center Restaurant tomorrow and seeing the Center store!