Roatan Mission Trip 2008 - Day 6

DAY 6: Buenas Noches! I wasn't the only one staying up late tonight! Darla, Laurel, Adam and Ginny stayed up and played some games at the table next to me while Johan, Celanie and I loaded more photos onto my laptop. I also demonstrated Skype to Darla as I was able to call my son today and leave a voice mail for my daughter since she didn't answer her cell. It was so neat to talk to Javon from Honduras! It's still hot, hot, hot!!!! My ankles look deformed and I'm retaining water like crazy. Several of us are going off Gatorade and going to water only because the Gatorade is too salty and we think that may be contributing to our swollen legs and ankles. Funny quote of the day, again from Diana: Bill said we could pet some dolphins this weekend if we wanted. Diana asked "Do we have to go into the water to do that? Bill quickly replied "No, they drag them out of the water onto the shore and you can pet them there." We all laughed! Diana provides a lot of entertainment with her comments. There's been a lot of laughter on this trip. Perhaps the heat is getting to us but I think it's more that we are finding joy in simple pleasures. We had a typical morning in la colonia. A funny part at VBS was when we were trying to teach the children how to play some games. It would take 20 minutes before they could understand what we wanted them to do. We tried Duck Duck Goose and I got the giggles so bad when a little guy tapped someone and then took off running around the circle... then out the school door he went and up the road a few yards! Once he realized he wasn't being chased, he came back in but I've never seen anyone do that before while playing the Minnesota version, "Duck Duck Gray Duck." We took photos of each child today and as I watched them line up and smile, some very shyly, I got tears in my eyes because they are such beautiful children. Many times Johan turned around after taking their picture and his eyes looked misty too as he commented on how beautiful they are. These are little kids about kindergarten age that we've been working with at the school. When they do their memory verses they shout them loud enough so that people going by on the road can hear them and it's adorable. I had the pleasure of spending about 3 hours today with the Laird family, our hosts here in Roatan. We drove into Coxen Hole, the capital of Roatan and did some shopping. It was fun to go into the stores that the regular people on the island shop in and I found some gifts for my children. I also picked up some spices because the food we've been served here is so flavorful that I just savor every bite of it. I wanted to spend time with the Lairds because I don't know when I'll see them again and I have really enjoyed getting to know them. Thank goodness for Skype so we can keep in touch! After we got done shopping we had our baptism ceremony out in the sea. Pastor Adam baptized Laurel, James and Johan from our group and four others were baptized by Pastor Chuck. It was a treat to be a part of it and I'm sure the baptism ceremony sparked some curiosity in the minds of the two mothers and their babies who were in the water just yards from those being baptized. Afterwards we swam for an hour and then prepared for a fun evening. The rest of the evening was a grand island experience for me and everything I have imagined that being on a tropical island would be like. It's so romantic! We went over to the Bay Island Resort where we enjoyed a hog roast and dined under a thatched roof cabana on the beach with tiki torches lit all over. Throughout the evening the sea turned various shades of blues and it was so perfect. A band played popular music and music with a calypso beat. There was a demonstration of how to punta dance and a nice breeze cooled us off as we took in all the sights and sounds. We were served pitchers of ice cold water and it was such a treat to drink glasses of real cold water. We've been taking water with us during the day in plastic bottles and jugs and it's warm. I've sort of gotten used to drinking warm water but at first I gagged on it and had to add some flavor to make it palatable for me. Some people got crabs tonight. There was a NASCRAB race for education after dinner and several of our team purchased three sand crabs to race for this weekly fundraiser. They had three heats and a final race. The crabs were placed in the middle of a circle and the first one to get outside of the circle won. As soon as the dome was lifted off the crabs, they took off raising to the guitar solo from Johnny Cash's "Folsum Prison Blues." The crabs raced in the final round to the tune of "We are the Champions!" Apparently they raise about $24K for education from these races. It was really fun to watch -- again simple entertainment. We no longer tell "fish stories", we tell "crab stories." The tropical island fiesta continued on into the evening and we enjoyed ourselves immensely! I'd write more but it's late and "What happens in Roatan, stays in Roatan! Hee hee! :) After the fiesta was over, several of us piled into the back of a pick up truck as Miss Peggy drove us along the windy and hilly rode back to the Inn. As we sped along in the moonlight with the wind in our faces, we laughed about the evening and yelled "Arriba! Arriba! Adelante!" and laughed some more. Love, Gabra and Team Roatan 2008