i spent my anniversary day in all of its sunday glory. today; today was a good day.
woke up this morning around 6, not even with an alarm, but laid here and forced myself to stay in bed til 8. went down for a wonderful breakfast of grits, pancakes and bananas. worked on trying to get the internet to load/print ... again. and then we loaded up the van and headed north. to the fort!
freeman took us all tap-tap (taxi truck) style in the back of the pick-up and dropped us at the base of the mountain/hill. it was a huge group of us: me, bryan, dave, joshua, molly, amy, karen (nurse at the clinic), grace (nurse here with mercy ships), ben (french guy - YWAM LA), andy (from seattle, not current YWAM), shane (hawaii YWAM), zach (on DTS here) ... i think that about covers it.
okay ya'll: if you understood the severity of my sunburn from yesterday, you'd understand my reasoning in wearing a long sleeved shirt (rolled up, and it was a vented colu
mbia shirt) in spite of hiking in 95 degree heat. yeah, i know. it sounded like a much better idea at the time. but it did actually work out sunbrun wise.
however, a combination of the sugary goodness that was breakfast and the heat totally got to me, and i nearly had a heat stroke. i don't think i have ever been so hot in my life. i thought i was going to throw up, and almost did. i had to stop a few times, and i felt so bad for the rest of the people that were staying back with me; i hate attention like that, that detracts from what they are doing. luckily, mama karen was watching out for me, and gave me an ice pack for the back of my neck and kept a quick eye on me after we made it to the fort, forcing water, crackers, and hot-shot electrolytes on me, in the shade, the entire time.
i did manage to get a few great pictures that really captured the awe and beauty of this place. it was unreal how gorgeous it was; how turquoise the water, how steep the incline. seriously, something you have to take in for yourself because these pictures can't even begin to do it justice!
the hike down was cake, despite its rocky and slick dusty declines. once we made it down to the road, we hung out for a while waiting on freeman. joshua and i went across the street to this little girl that had been screaming "blanc! blanc! (white)" for about 30 minutes. she shied away, but had brought half the neighborhood with her cries. managed to get one great shot; you know, the shot you take the trip for. this is it, un-edited.
the rest of the day was spent recovering in the pool with everyone (AMAZING!), playing 500 (and trying to stay as far from the likes of bryan, andy, and karen as possible! they are relentless!) and taking a football straight to the face. took a cold shower (should go without saying), and snuck in a 20 minute nap before 4:30 dinner. after dinner, i got to make a phone call before church at 6, and dang. the service rocked. i wish i could be more descriptive, but it was so good, and it is so late. (read: i am falling asleep as i type!) jeremiah 29:11 was the springboard verse for the message tonight and it just reminds me that this, me being here, is part of the Lord's plan for my life. its encouraging and refreshing knowing that, and also knowing that it is part of the plan that works in others lives. thats powerful stuff right there.
after church, we went out for andy and tiffany's last night. ku phai (spelling? word? no clue) was closed, so we went to ... epi-d'or ... again ... this weekend. but it was a good time had by all (tiff, andy, reanna, bryan, dave, amy, molly, karen, joshua, jaysen, edward, ben, and phillipson (i made him promise not to get sick again!)
i'm sad that i'm going to start seeing people leave. i hate cultivating relationships just to never see them flourish. c'est la vie; ne pas finis.
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