Sunday 27 May 2012


Day 19 – Fun with the Mississippians!


I decided again today that I didn’t really want to go to church for two reasons. One, I don’t understand anything they say or sing, and two we kinda had church last night at the talent show. In between acts they gave a message and sang worship songs so it was good. I did have a pretty good quiet though just reading my Bible. I just finished reading through Acts which is an awesome book by the way. I felt like the whole time I was reading an actual story or book.

After a little bit of sleeping in, some Bible reading and breakfast, I packed a quick lunch and headed to Gringo Land (the fenced area where all the white missionaries live), and got ready for a day in Hola Vida or something like that. We loaded a bus around 11 and drove about 45 minutes to this place in the Amazon. Eric, one of the missionaries here, told us that the place we were at was called the secondary forest because it was what was left after they leveled the entire place. This was cool because there were a ton of huge trees and bushes. It didn’t look like anything had been cleared out.

We paid a small fee to a man standing there, (not sure if he was really legit or not but we paid anyways) and then we headed on a 45 minute beautiful hike into the woods. After the hike, we settled down at this beautiful really tall water fall. This one was different than the one I went to Friday because this one you couldn’t climb but it also had a lot of water at the bottom that you could swim in. I swam under the actual water fall several times which was really cool. I even tried to stand directly under it for a few seconds but never lasted more than 2 because it was super painful. It was a ton of fun seeing another part of God’s creation though. I had never really seen waterfalls before this trip and now I have seen two in one week. It was beautiful.

I got to know several of the team members from Mississippi better too which was cool.  I walked back early with an older gal, (80ish) that just talked the entire time complaining about everything, all in good taste though. It was funny walking and helping her back across all the skinny rickety bridges. Then, once we got back to the gazebos we started at, we all sat around and laughed as her and this other younger lady, (50ish) just talked. They weren’t trying to be funny necessarily but they were hilarious just being themselves. 

We had a lot of good laughs and then headed home around 4. Once we got back, I took Taylor who is a guy on the team that just graduated high school, to play basketball. The locals loved it because again, they had two Gringos to play with instead of just one. Also today, a younger guy came out and played that was lot better than the others. He must have played for the high school team or something. I got to guard him so it was a bit more competitive than other days which was nice. It was more than just me and the one big guy this time, much more like a more evenly spread game. We played until about 7 when I walked Taylor back to Gringo Land. We got to talk a little and he seems like a nice kid. He is in a group of a lot of very diverse people and no other guys his age so it was good he got to come. It was good for me too because I love company. I think I am going to go tomorrow to eat dinner with the group and hang out some too so that should be more fun. 

Once in Gringo Land, Taylor left, and I headed back for more basketball. I played until about 8 trying my hardest to not get frustrated at the differences in play style (with not the best success). Again, I let my competitiveness get the best of me. I didn't say anything this time but people definitely knew I was frustrated when they did dumb stuff. That's definitely not how I want to be because one, it's not Christ like and two, I do dumb stuff all the time. To receive grace, you must give grace. 

Following basketball and the walk home came a quick snack, shower, blog writing and then will soon end in bedtime. I haven't got a hold of Dwight yet but I assume he is getting up for another 5 am wake up. This time I don't have an alarm clock though because my phone is broken so we will see what happens. God is great!

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