Sunday, July 10, 2011

July 7, 2011 Welcome to Paradise

Welcome to Paradise
Imagine those prize puzzle trips on Wheel of Fortune, complete with white beaches, beautiful blue water, and mouthwatering food in abundance. Now picture our team in the video clip. Although I’m sort of exaggerating, that was how it felt today, going to the beach. It started out with 3 hour ride on a bus that looked like it was just yanked out of India. We took a few Dominicans with us, including Alex, the pastor at Buenos Aires. Many of the kids were very shy and the day’s challenge became getting them to open up. Language barriers were a pain as usual. When we got settled on the beach, we were introduced to Big Mama, who Rick knows and who “took care of us” while we were there. She made sure to crack everyone’s neck before we got going and sometimes provided random massages. The day was mostly spend snorkeling, swimming around, riding the pathetic waves, building sandcastles, burying Paul and I, and eating awesome food. Josh and I showed one of the Dominicans, Fernando, how to build a sandcastle, and Ben Mannenbach discovered a crab in the sand when it pinched him. Before we left, we all made sure to waste a small fortune on some souvenirs, some of which are quite spectacular. The bargaining that took place was fantastic and refreshing (Stanley and Oscar are pros), and we later found that most of what we bought was cheaper than the breadsticks on Pizza Hut’s menu. As we left the beach, our only regret was that no one took ANY pictures of the paradise. Evan failed us (Just kidding). As previously mentioned, we completed a crazy good day with a trip to Pizza Hut. I was shocked at the elegance of the restaurant, as well as how much better their pizza is here than back home. I plan to complain to Pizza Hut as soon as I’m back. All in all it was a great day, and we got a chance to not only get to know some kids from Buenos Aires better, but also got a chance to catch our breath after many exhausting days and sleepless nights. Pray for endurance for the team in our last few days here in the DR.

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