I am pleased to say that last night, I got ten hours of sleep. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that much sleep in my entire life. It was glorious. Since I woke up before Charmaine, I grabbed my IPod and Journal and sat out on the balcony, soaking in the sunshine and the country music. I can’t even describe how good that felt. To be honest, this trip has been very hard on me in the way that there’s absolutely no 'alone time'. The only time you’re alone is when you’re in the shower. But even that’s not good enough because you’re so time constrained. Since I have a bit of introverted blood inside of me, I need my solitude in order to recharge, and when I don’t get time to myself, I go insane. You can only handle so much socializing and people and expectations and masks for so long. It’s exhausting. I had just under 30 minutes of this “me” time, and unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but at least it was something.
Today is our free day! (Which explains my sleeping in, and my relaxing minutes on the balcony) So Charmaine and I decided to take a taxi down to Coral Reef Beach with John and Becky, to do some serious snorkeling! This was so much fun. But snorkeling is definitely a process for me. It takes me a good half hour to get used to the whole “breathing through a pipe” deal. I have a hard time trusting a pipe! This happens EVERYTIME I go snorkeling, I start hyperventilating underwater, all scared and panicked. But eventually, I trust my new pipe friend with my life. Snorkeling is amazing, it’s so peaceful, almost like a form of therapy. The fish here aren’t as pretty or strikingly colorful as the ones down in the Caribbean, but still, the Israeli schools have a MASSIVE attendance. (Bad joke?)
The rest of the afternoon was spent by the hotel pool with some of our tour mates, under the scorching hot desert sun. It turns out Jim’s friend Maggi won the Old Navy Supermodelquin contest and also $100,000. The story behind her winning is so cool; there's no one who deserves that money more than Maggi. You can see her page by clicking: Here
At supper that evening, Sonya came up to me and asked if I needed a motherly hug. And only while we hugged did I realize how much I DID need it. I was so touched by this, she is a wonderful woman, and I miss her so much!
Then we all rode the bus for a few minutes to a little outdoor church called “The Shelter”. It’s this ministry that offers a soup kitchen and church services every Friday night for everyone of all races. It was so cool because Mr. Wee was preaching in English and after every sentence said, we’d hear translations of Russian, Spanish, and some African language going all at once. So there was never a moment of silence. It was actually so awesome. I feel like I’ve never paid so much attention at church in my life. He/they spoke on Matthew 20, and I finally understood what it meant! (The first shall be last and the last shall be first) This means that God gives grace to anyone, no matter how hard you’ve “worked” for it, or how early in your life you accept him as your Christ and Saviour.
[The children singing at the shelter. There's so much joy here!]
haha well thats pretty neat about the old navy modelquin. its cool that they actually have a story behind the plastic people. haha it sucks being an introvert eh? except i think i definitely need more time to myself than you do. haha. i do spend the majority of my days alone. its quite refreshing.
ReplyDeleteI could really use a hundred thousand dollars.... :)
ReplyDeleteI remember snorkeling in the Caribbean and in Bermuda. I would totally get all panikey in the water too! The worst would be when you do finally get used to it, and then a wave comes and splashes water into your pipe! haha!!!