I'm super behind in blogging my current adventures...so here is a bit more of Tonga. =)
Sorry, no pictures yet (I know, I know!!), but hey, I have like 8,000 pictures sitting on my hard drive just begging me to go through them. And I'm super busy having fun right now. My bad. =D
July 9, 2012
My face is so riddled with
mosquito bites it looks like I’m breaking out. True story.
Today was another full day. It
was a little different though because we went to the Hillard SDA School to lead
out in their Chapel in the beginning of the morning. There were over 300
elementary school kids in the room and that wasn’t even all of them! They had
sat them all down according to what age or class they were in as well as
separated them into guys and girls. We did our VBS gig, singing songs, doing
the mime thing, and since we were short a few people due to illnesses, I helped
out with the improv skit. It was still hilarious even though they had done this
one before.
We gave out stickers at the end
to all of them and I was afraid we were going to run out because Sophie had
only handed me 200 stickers but thankfully someone had brought more! We ran into
Bella, the little girl that had the really strong astigmatism in one eye, and
she came up to all of us and gave us hugs and then wouldn’t leave us till we
had to leave for the eye clinic. Since the eye clinic was only a few blocks
away, we all walked over to the Queen Salote (or however you spell it)
building. Well, some of our group stayed at the school to help the teachers and
help teach. God bless their souls. There were about 30-40 young kids in each
class and our group ended up having to teach a few of the classes themselves
because some of the teachers hadn’t come back from break yet. Oh, I forgot to
mention that it was their first day of the third session (they had just come
off of break), so that’s why there were only 300+ kids instead of 400+ kids and
some of the teachers weren’t there.
The eye clinic
went really well that day even though they were shorthanded in the morning
since a bunch of us were doing the Chapel at the school. We managed to see 153
people!! Amazing!! I had to train
Stephanie since she had only done the distance charts and meters previously. So
after she shadowed me a few times, I let her do a few with me, and then I threw
her to the lions and made her do it on her own. Lol. She’s a born natural.
After eye
clinic we went back, got washed up, had dinner, and then we were off to go to
another church to start the evangelistic meetings and do VBS there. It was the
Vini (vine-ee) Church, the one that we went to the first day we arrived to eat.
The VBS team was confined to a small room in the back of the church. Our team
filled almost half of the room and the rest of it was left for the kids that
came. Lol. We did our whole spiel again – sing/play, mime, improve skit, memory
verse, talk, sing some more. I was supposed to play at the end of the meeting
after Pastor Paul spoke, but I mistimed it and got there a smidge too late b/c
his father got up to speak and then they had a long prayer session and by then
our VBS team had finished and were on the bus. Whoops.
Here’s a
random story I forgot to write down. So the other morning, since we get up so
early, we’ve been able to witness all the beautiful sunrises in front of the
house we’re staying at. So Netanya and I were watching it from our window and
she goes, “Awww, that’s so sweet, there’s a couple there watching the sunrise.
Oh wait…I think that’s Bryan…oh shoot, that’s Arody!” And then both of us died
laughing. We have this ongoing joke that Bryan and Arody have more than just a
bromance going on. I keep on telling them that they could legally get married
in California…or Massachusetts. =)
July 10, 2012
Sophie tried to wake Netanya up
this morning by pulling off her covers and Netanya responded with, “I’m gonna
slap the red out of your hair!!” Lolol. I love those girls and I thank God that
they’re on this trip with me.
After breakfast and worship the
VBS team once again headed out to do a Chapel service for school, except it was
at a different school this time. It was the Beulah Primary school a ways away.
There were probably about 150+ kids there grades 1-6 and they were the cutest
things ever!! (Not that the other kids weren’t…lol.) Bryan and Arody got some
super sweet shots of the kids.
After we were done there the eye
clinic people headed back and saw a whopping 177 people!! PTL!! That’s the most
we’ve seen this trip and we’re excited!! It really never gets old helping
people be able to see clearly again. Seeing their smiling faces the instant
they can see clearly, now that’s something to make your day.
So apparently on our way to the
eye clinic from the school I somehow got married to Arody. Still not really
sure how it happened, but it did. And if you know me, this happens quite
regularly. Lol. Pretty sure he’s like my 8th husband. Lololol. And if that’s not twisted enough for you,
apparently I’m having an affair with Sophie and Bryan separately, but at the
same time….Don’t ask. Things like this happen to me all the time and I’m not
really sure how it happens. Lol. (And please, for those of you who don’t
understand this kind of humor, don’t get offended or think I’m some bi person.
I promise I’m not.)
On our way to the meetings we
were teasing Netanya and Henry about “steaming rice.” Hahaha. Pastor Eroll and
Mr. Darren are hilarious. And then Sophie taught us how to play “Zip” which is
a really weird game and we’re pretty sure it’s because those Alaskans have
nothing better to do with their lives. Lol.
Since attempting to play at the
end of the meeting didn’t work out so hot the other night, Pastor Paul had me
play at the beginning of the meeting and thankfully it went well considering I
hadn’t really practiced. There were a lot more kids tonight since we told them
the previous night to bring a friend. So we were jam-packed into that little
room and there were even some looking in from the widows and doors. It was
crazy! Anyway, they all had a ton of fun.
At the end we were told by Finau that
a little boy, around 7 or 8 years old, who was coming to the VBS program, got
hit by a car and had to go to the hospital. Apparently his mom dropped him off
on the other side of the road and when he was crossing, his mom called out to
him and he turned and got hit. So we prayed for him and he’s doing better but
he has swelling in his head still.
July 11, 2012
Woke up super early again with
more mosquito bites on my face. Mosquitoes love my right eye. I’ve discovered
that over here I’m a morning person. It’s great. I’m wondering how long this is
going to last. Lol.
So anyway, after breakfast and
morning worship the bus took the VBS team to Beulah College (which is actually
a high school) and did their Chapel service in the morning. Afterwards all the
girls from the school wanted to take pictures with the boys. We have such good
looking guys in our group…bahahah. No, but seriously. We’re all a good looking
group if I must say so myself.
The eye clinic people went back
and we made it back right before lunch, but we were still able to help a lot of
people. The meeting once again went on while we ate lunch and then Finau,
Netanya, Sophie, and I slipped out before the eye clinic started again to go
get material for our tupenus or whatever the whole dress thing is called. We
walked a few blocks to the first store and then went to three other stores
before going back to the first store to get the material that we wanted. Ok, I
partially lied, Netanya got her material in the third store and it was quite
loverly. Mine is blue (like the ocean…duh!) and has sea turtles on it!!!! And
it looks super tropical. Lol. When we were walking back to the eye clinic Finau
flagged down someone she knew that was driving past us. Turns out it was her
coworkers. We thought she was just going to say hi to them, but she pushed us
into the car and the guy in the back got out and we kind of just left him
there. Lol. Paul, the guy driving took us back to the clinic and in return got
reading glasses right then and there. Haha.
At the end of the eye clinic we
asked Theo (Thee-oo) how many we had seen today. The number floored us:
240+!!!!!!!! I can’t believe it!! God is good!! All together since we’ve been
here we’ve seen over 900 people and with tomorrow that number will be close to
1000. We have a wicked team and I’m so glad I got to work with not only people
from our group but also some of the local ladies who so graciously helped us
out and translated for us. Anna and Finau even learned how to fit glasses,
which helped immensely.
After we had one last prayer to
close off the eye clinic and took our obligatory team picture with crazy
glasses, Henry, Netanya, Sophie, Stephanie and I all went to town to go find
ice cream. Ok, so it was more like they were trying to find ice cream since I
can’t eat any. Lol. After walking around a while, finding out that the bank was
super full, and then running after someone we saw that had ice cream in their
hands, we finally found a place that had it.
When we got back we ate dinner
and then headed out to the Vini church for the meetings and VBS program. I
asked Pastor Paul whether he wanted me to play and he said yes. Cindy, who hadn’t
been with us the whole trip, offered to play the piano with me. I agreed. Call
it kamikaze-ish, but we decided it would be a great idea to just wing it. Ok,
I’ve winged it many times with Patty at church, but it’s never really a great
idea to wing it with someone you’ve never played with. Just as a general rule. Well
we went for it, God blessed and thankfully it went really well!!
During VBS we sang tons of songs
which the kids really enjoyed and did a really funny rendition of Jonah and the
Whale for our improv skit which hopefully I can upload. The kids went crazy at
the end trying to take pictures with people from our group, especially our
hottie guys…snicker, snicker. Lol, no but seriously we really do have a good
looking group. =)
When we got back we had worship
and a bonfire. Earlier in the day Sophie and I volunteered – well more like I
got volun-told – to do worship. So we planned a good portion of it on the bus.
Have I ever mentioned that Sophie is my bus buddy and she is super crazy and
weird?? Those gingers…smh. Lolol. I love her though so it’s all good. Anyway,
we sang a few songs with Bryan and Pastor Eroll on the guitar while I played my
violin, and then Sophie gave a talk about how the Bible is like a recipe book.
Apparently I ran away to put my violin in the kitchen at the wrong time b/c she
needed me to read the Bible verses we had picked out and I was nowhere to be
found. Lol. Sorry Sophie. I ran back as fast as possible of course. =) After
our part was done, Pastor Joedy had a few words and had us stand in a circle
saying things we were thankful for on this trip.
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