Today was our beach day with all the translators and the
people from Pastor Robby’s church who have been helping with the VBS all
week. We started out early, leaving the
base at 7:45 to get to the church at 8, where we were supposed to meet all the
other people going. The church people
had slept at the church last night, so that they could cook the food for lunch
today and also so that they wouldn’t be late.
However, when we got there we were still waiting on a couple people, so
we didn’t end up leaving the church until like 8:30. Then we all piled into a big bus (I think
there were 44 of us) and headed out for the beach. It took about an hour and a half to get
there, but it was worth the drive. The
water was beautiful! It wasn’t much of
an actual beach, like with the sand and all, but the water was fantastic. It was cool but not cold, and super
clear. We all swam around for a while,
even the Haitians. Most of them didn’t
know how to swim so they stayed in the more shallow water, but they enjoyed it
too. Some of the guys played futbol
(soccer) in the pavilion area nearby, and the girls played a clapping sort of
game in the water, and we joined in.
After a little while a group of us decided we wanted to swim
over to a nearby island. Some Haitians
came with us, and we set out. Turns out
it was slightly farther than we thought it would be, so we were all pretty
tired by the time we got there, but it was a really cool island. There was some coral around the beach there,
and a really cool drop-off into the ocean.
After that we walked back to our
original beach, because we were too tired to swim that again.
It was a good day at the beach overall, in my opinion. We got to hang out with the people we have
been working with all week, without the pressure of a VBS to run or any little
kids running around and creating chaos. And
even though we still had the language barrier, we have all gotten progressively
better at pantomime and charades and facial expressions, so it was okay. That’s one of the hard things about leaving
here – we have become comfortable with the people and formed relationships and
it’s hard to leave behind. This week has
been really awesome, to hang out with the Haitians and experience their world
with them. They’ve been very hospitable
towards us, gracious regarding our cultural mistakes and giving us a fantastic
welcome to their country. The
translators especially, I think just because we’ve had more time with them and
because they speak our language and we can have conversations with them.
Alicia, you now get to write the ending. J
The End J
just kidding…we are all in various stages of getting ready to leave. Between
writing letters, packing, and playing a very violent game of spoons we are
ready to come home! It will be an emotional morning tomorrow as we lead part of
the service and say good-bye to the many friends we made over the last week!
Can’t wait to see you all!
Alicia and Hannah
Praying for a safe trip home. Kids are missing mom and dad and they are ready to see them. So are we. Thanks for the updates and pics. Melody L
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