Friday, May 22, 2009

News Update

Greetings, Gringos! I hope your week wasn't as interesting as mine. "Godly Grandma" attended a very strict church in the area; loved by many, she had quite a large family, all the way down to her many great grandchildren. She went to be with the Lord last week. Her teen-aged granddaughter had rebelled against the church rules, and  now, four illegitimate children later, she is trying to live for God. She lives with the father of the last two children, who is trying to be a good father and a good Christian. But he can't marry her, because he can't afford to divorce his wife. He is working at the orphanage now, and she is working at another orphanage, but they are having financial problems.

The funeral was held at the strict church, where hardly anyone would talk to them. Her grandmother, however, had never stopped loving her. I was the only Gringo at the funeral, and I was also the only friend they had there. Unable to afford cars, they usually walk to the cemetery for the burial, where the grave had been dug by family members. I drove my friends, as well as the grandfather, to the cemetery.

While I obviously am not as uptight as the strict church, I admit that they have a point. They had warned the teen-aged girl about not living for God, she had rebelled, and she has reaped what she has sown. Television presents sin as being glamorous, but in real life, television is lying to us.

The government lifted the swine flu quarantine, and we were able to pick up 36 kids on Saturday. Altogether, Community Bible Church had 75 people in five services.

We had another incident at the dog shelter. Same old story: a dog attacked someone, they knew that reporting it meant the death penalty for the dog, so they didn't report it. The next day, the dog attacked me, biting me three times, but without injury. As a dog-lover, I hated to report it, but we can't have people adopting a dangerous animal.

Meanwhile, the orphanage is a garden paradise. Gringos have formed a group that pays for upkeep, and they have got all the gardens looking bright and cheerful. "Kitty," the German Shepherd watchdog, is large and friendly, and the older kids love her. They have built a large, sturdy tree house, complete with rooms, along with swing sets, rockers, sliding boards, and
athletic fields.

Last Friday morning, the Taliban ambushed a convoy that my son was in. The usual procedure is to drive through the ambush, then return to fight, but the Americans chose to fight it out where they were. Using a light machine gun, my son held down two fortified Taliban positions while other soldiers advanced on them. They found blood, but no bodies, as the Taliban had fled. The Americans took no casualties.

Adios, Vicente