Midterm Break

Friday Morning: 

I feel like I have been run over by a train.  Ok well maybe not quite, but my whole body does hurt.  Yesterday was a busy day starting off with a financial workshop.  Afterwards I helped prepare lunch for the teachers and then all the teachers headed out to do Zumba together.  It was quite fun to see all the teachers dancing along.  At Zumba they taught us how to whine, although I don’t think I’ll be doing that anytime soon. 

            After getting back from Zumba, Abby and I headed to the beach to try out Splash Island Waterpark with some people from church.  The waterpark reminds me of the TV show Wipeout.  I literally couldn’t count how many times I fell into the water.  My back hurts, my legs hurt, my arms hurt, but it was worth it.  Afterwards we all went over to Pastor Bram’s for dinner and a nice round of Settlers of Catan.  I’m finally starting to understand the game!  I am definitely feeling more comfortable around the people at Trinity, and hanging out outside of church really helps with that.  

Group at Splash Island

Saturday night:

            I am so tired. Last night Mrs. Murray took us to Gros Islet night, which means I didn’t get to bed until after midnight.  Now I do like Gros Islet night, if nothing else than for the fish, but last night was very tiring.  Plus I’m always more tired when I know I need to get up early the next morning. 

            Today was the big day! Today we finally got to go on the day long boat cruise and man was it worth it!  This tour went down to Soufriere and only had 12 people on the way there and about 20 on the way back.  This is a lot smaller than the usual 50 people that are on the catamaran and made for a nice and relaxing day.  Once docking in Soufriere, we hopped on a bus to Toraille Waterfall.  The waterfall was smaller than I imagined it being, but the cool part was that we were able to go into it.  The water was so cold, but very refreshing! 

            After a quick dip in the falls, we headed on our way to the Sulfur Springs.  While most of the people in our group were tourists and enjoyed the mud bath, Abby, Tanya, and I decided to wait until another time to do it.  We were told that sometimes it can be very difficult to get the sulfur smell out of your swimsuits and well, we need our suits for a while longer!  Maybe when I go home, I’ll buy a cheap one that I won’t care about. 

            After everyone got a chance to take their mud baths, the group piled back into the bus to head to Morne Coubaril Estate which is a working plantation that still produces cocoa, coffee, and processes coconuts.  While here we had the option to go zip lining or go on the plantation tour.  We chose to go on the tour this time around.  We learned about different plants on the island, as well as tried cocoa and coconut.  Afterwards we enjoyed a tasty buffet lunch before heading back onto the boat for round 2 of the cruise. 

            On the way back we stopped at Anse Cochon to snorkel.  I think this was my favorite part of the day!  While we only had about 40 minutes in the water, I was able to see all sorts of fish and all gorgeous colors.  I think my favorite were the purple angelfish.  Some of the other people on the boat shared their bread with me, so I was able to feed the fish and have them right underneath me as I swam.  I found myself thinking, “Wow God! You made some really cool looking fish!”

            We finished off the boat cruise with some music and drinks.  I found it fun to learn more about the locals so instead of socializing with the tourists, I talked mainly with two of the workers.  Both were very nice!  While on the boat I also checked off a few things from Erin’s Bachelorette party scavenger hunt which I am missing out on tonight.  One of the things on the list was dancing with a complete stranger.  Yep, I did that for her.  Ducking by Fada Fox is a song that was popular here in February, but Abby, Tanya, and I just learned of it so it is our song right now.  The 2 workers and Abby danced with me to that song and I got my 55 second video to prove it. 

After a day filled with sun and water, I am drained.  Excited for church in the morning, followed by the Jounen Kweyol festivities afterwards.  

Beautiful day for a boat cruise.

Living the life in St. Lucia!

The gang: Kevan, Tanya, and Abby

The Pitons

The coconut guy at the plantation

Scavenger Hunt: Find a Vikings fan, wearing Vikings attire with his thumb down.

Sunday night:

            I am pretty sure I will be going to bed by 8 P.M. tonight.  Today again was another great day filled with great people.  After church, Abby and I went with our church family to Babonneau for their Jounen Kweyol celebration.  Upon arrival, we walked 30 minutes down some steep hills to get to where the actual event was happening.  We had the option to take a bus down, but we decided we’d much rather spend the money and take it up the hill.  While I didn’t get many pictures, it reminded me a bit of a county fair.  Lots of people were there and we were able to have food and drinks with the people from church.  The food that was being sold was all cultural dishes.  I was told I should try turtle, dolphin, sea eggs, and manitou, but I only braved up enough to try one bite of turtle.  It was actually not too bad, although it did make me think a little bit about Scruffy.  

Part of our group from church.

Here are most of the rest!