Screams! There are many different types some outward and some inward. Growing up my Dad trained my brother, sister, and me to yell at the top of our lungs, no matter where we were, when he said the word “Pizza Raid”. I can remember him getting a few nasty looks from my mom especially when the timing of his word was way off! We would yell loud no matter what! If my mom or anyone else said it, we were silent! For those that know my Dad I’m sure this sounds like typical behavior!
One thing I didn’t know I would miss from living with Charlie and Brook last year was all the screams of laughter and excitement (well mostly excitement ha ha!) coming from my nieces! I should have recorded it.
So what does this have to do with my time here at Roatan!? Everything! Ha ha!! We (mostly talking about the girls but I’ve heard a few from the guys too) scream over everything so I’ll use those moments to take you through our month so far!
We experienced a miracle as we were traveling from Guatemala to Honduras. One of the girls on “L” squad had a connection with a lady that we could stay with that night before boarding our boat to Roatan. We screamed in awe!
We got a ride to the boat the next day and boarded. Once we started to move on the water the view and boat were quite a site to take in. We screamed life and praise and sang a few songs! God is so awesome!
We arrived in Roatan and were greeted by some great people here from FriendShips and drove to the compound. We got to see where we were staying and get settled in. Not too much screaming outward but we have to hike up a huge hill day in and day out to get to our room. Lots of screaming inwardly! Our FriendShips friends have told us it does not get easier! All of us girls are bunking together! We get beds, a toilet, a shower, and a sink. It’s a great set up! The electricity seems to have a mind of its own so will come and go as it pleases!
The next day we decided to hitchhike into town and see what the West Bay was all about! We screamed in excitement when we got our first ride part way into town, then again on the 2nd ride and finally the best was our last ride from a super nice man that drove us to a lighthouse and then to a beach! He introduced us to his friend that owned the restaurant there and we were able to hang out all day and relax! We screamed underwater when we snorkeled over some exquisite coral and saw DORY (and started following her)!! We met some great people Mark and Belinda from Texas and were blessed so much by their kind offer to buy us dinner, take compassion on us, and hang out with us that night (more screams!). They bought us small crabs that we cheered on during the crab race! We also experienced fire dancing and it was way awesome. (Charlie should try it sometime)! We also got a great deal on a ride back to the compound that night and sang and praised God the whole way home!
Some of our screaming at first concerned the guy on security but now he knows it’s probably just us freaking out over a new bug or something else harmless..we are living in a jungle and it’s dark. Need I say more!? Ha ha!
We scream over finding a spider in the shower, crabs hiding under clothes, cats whizzing by at night, crabs sneaking around at night causing me to scream run into Christin so she screams and we both say shhh to calm each other! bats..yes lots of them..flying around our heads, a fake tarantula in my bed that may have led one girl to pee her pants! Finding new bugs, lizzards, armadillos, being eaten alive by “no see ems”, falling out of guava trees, dodging hog plums (a yellow small fruit that’s pretty tasty) when they fall, machete-ing the grass, seeing Noah in his weed -eating gear, chocolate, brownies, cookies, any tasty snacks really, crabs planted in our toilet that may have also led a girl to pee her pants! Getting pushed in off the dock, getting water splashed on you, slipping on the rocks that lead to our room, getting scared by our guys at night, teaching newbies how to play Spikeball, and then losing to them, getting stung by jellyfish, screaming out and praising God in church! Screams of laughter and excitement (the kind I miss from my nieces) that come from the orphanage we helped at and the feeding program we attended. Excitement that Australia is back on our list of countries we are headed to! Screams of GRACIAS when we get picked up hitchhiking (everytime)! Screams of excitement from traveling on the back of a flatbed truck and it’s LEGAL! Finding random internet with no password, the sight of an American grocery store! The inward scream at how expensive the icecream is in the American grocery store and my desire to eat it all the more even though it’s doubled the cost here! WENDYS!
The inward frustrating scream of wanting that alone time, even though I am on a team with 6 of the greatest people on the face of the earth! I am learning to give it to God. Praying without ceasing is more of a reality than ever. I have frustrations that come up and I am learning to press on with those and talk about them. It’s not the easiest to cultivate new relationships but it’s worth the sweat and tears! The inward screams as we fight for our fellow teammates especially after they share their testimonies. The inward screams of how can I help when I see and minister to the children on this island. They are beautiful. My list of kids I don’t want to ever forget continues to grow.
Sidenote here to introduce our schedule:
Our days consist of getting breakfast from 6:30-7:15 then sticking around for group devo time! We then work on various tasks, the job of the girls has been to help out in the gardens and on the grounds and the kitchen. We then come together again for lunch 12-1pm then head out to do more stuff till about 4pm. We’ll do some physical training or have personal time and then join up with everyone for dinner from 5-6ish. We usually have a meeting with just our team Sweet Aroma from 7-8:30 or so and then we’re off to bed! We are here on the compound helping 10 others in their 20’s who are fulfilling their ministries here. They are led by an amazing women, Ms. Sharay. Tuesday is girls night and we’ve been getting to know the girls here on the compound and they are great girls of God! We’re free on the weekends and have been enjoying the island and our new friends on the compound! . It’s been so fun to serve them! I usually fall asleep pretty soon after my head it’s the pillow!
So here I am on a beautiful island sipping my tea and enjoying the view. Well that’s kind of right I am sipping tea and enjoying the view but I’m on lunch break and now it’s off to work some more!
Here are a few picks- Guava!! Hitchhiking, finding a starfish, new beautiful faces how can you not love them?! Noah weed eating, Nate kissing a lizzard, and not Dory-but close!!
