On the last full day of being in the Dominican we went to Catalina Island. First we drove about 45 minutes to an inlet where we boarded a small boat. On this boat we chugged along at a very snail-like pace, seeing the island as soon as we got out of the inlet. It was a beautiful day with white fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky above and the clear blue water below. We had about two hours to enjoy this before we neared the island. : )
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| The inlet. |
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| Can you see the island on the horizon? |
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| Denice and I. |
As we neared the island, the boat was stopped and we were able to jump out of the boat and go swimming and snorkeling.
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| My splash. |
The water was sooo salty! It tasted nasty! ; )
Then we all got back into the boat and went farther around the island where we got into a smaller boat and came ashore. The rest of the day we rested, sunbathed, tried to tan (it didn't really work for me...), bought stuff at the gift shop, splashed in the water, ate a wonderful lunch, and played volley ball.
Around 3:00 we loaded back onto the small boat that took us to the larger boat and headed home on very rough waters! It was funny because when we reached the inlet the boat just died on us. The workers were running around trying to figure out what was wrong and we were sitting there wondering if we'd drift back out to sea! Thankfully they got the motor started again and we were parked and headed back to the compound before we knew it!
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| Crowded on the smaller boat. |
That night we gathered around beside the pool and all threw a shoe or pen or something into the middle of the room. Then Van, starting us off, picked up a shoe and the person the shoe belonged to had to share something they learned or how God had grown them during the trip. After he shared he would pick up someone else's shoe and so on. We had a wonderful time.
One thing I learned is that the people in America are very self-centered and that we do not appreciate things like we should. Too often we get mad at how things don't go our way, or how we shouldn't have been treated a certain way, or how we should have gotten something better, and so on, and we don't even stop to think about how blessed we are. Most of the people in the Dominican don't have half what we do and yet they are so cheerful! Do they complain if they don't get their prescription as soon as they want it? No. Are they depressed because they live in a dump and only have a shack above their heads? Not that I noticed. They are a very cheerful people and I think we have a lot to learn from them!
I also learned that I don't have to be on a missions trip to be a missionary. I can do that right here where I am. Not that I don't want to go back to the D.R.! I hope to go back next year. I want to go back right now! ; ) But I don't want to stop spreading the gospel while I'm in the States just because it's not considered a missions trip.
