Day 10

Journal Hebrews 12:1-12
Today we got to sleep in and go to breakfast. OK, here’s the deal, we hade to look high and low for a place that was open before 10am, these Spaniards start late, stop for siesta between 1-5 arbitrarily for two hours or so, and then work until 6 or 7pm. Anyone with a little initiative could come here and start a business and clean up (I’m convinced). I digress, so we find a place that is open and our able guide and translator Josep, who plays the perfect Sancho Panza to Ray’s Don Quiote, orders some meat looking thing and some pastries and some bubbling hot “café con leche” which is coffee as thick as molasses with a touch of milk to make it look brown and not completely black. Josep is true Catalonian and can speak in either Catalan or regular Spanish, but his Catalan commands respect even from the most boorish coffee baristas. So half way into this managerie we are downing the meat and all the grease in which it was fried. Picture triangle pieces of bacon about 1/4'” thick with lots of grissel and running with its own grease (that looks like about 10-40 weight motor oil coming out of my old Ford pick up after 10,000 miles too many). Only then does Josep tell us that the meat is fried pig’s ears! I knew I tasted wax.
So now we are on our way to the Expo in 80 degree weather having shot down blistering coffee to get the taste of pig ears out of our mouth and we’ve got donut schmootz hanging on our “ministry beards” that we grew to impress the muslims. I could swear I saw Josep smiling.
The Expo was an incredible place. I do not think it an exaggeration to say that it is a couple miles in length and has the appearance of a small town in and of itself. 158 countries have pavilions (read that “buildings”) here so we walked aimlessly through the exhibit pavilions looking for two things- a line shorter than a mile and some futuristic cars. We never found either- not even at the bathroom (the line, I mean). So after some quick pictures we headed for our place of service.
We meet a hard working and well trained group of Spaniards who were escorting people through the pavilion and showing them a 5 minute presentation in video of “Christ the Living Water” (water is the theme of the expo). We got to stuff materials together, hand them out, usher in the theater and generally do what we were told by the approximately 100 people who thought they were the boss. There is a simple beauty in just doing what you are told. There were over 5,000 people (yes 5 thousand) who came through the exhibit today the second highest day of the expo so far. Spaniards, French, Arabic, Brits, and a variety of others- each of them covered by your prayers and ours. They expect 6-7 million people to come to the expo before the end of August and many will have come through the Agua Viva pavilion were we are working. Can you even imagine how crowded it is. Like Disney on its best day. We are pumped for tomorrow and will be in church before heading to the Expo. We are hoping to avoid fried ears of any kind. Pray for us!