after a marvelous chat with sarah phillips last week, i was invited to come to banana island for a weekend getaway with a few other people. i jumped at the opportunity, since i have not been able to successfully get off the ship in just about two months.
woke up bright and early saturday morning, had breakfast, made a sandwhich and joined the group on the dock. took a bit (2 hours?) to get to the beach by Kent. our water "taxi" (a LARGE canoe with a small engine) was running a bit late (african time) so a couple of us decided to jump into the water. had fun swimming for a bit, then climbed out and into the boat. after about 25ish minutes on the water we reached banana island.
the island was gorgeous. quiet. comparatively secluded. and our lodgings were wonderful. not wonderful like the Embassy Suites. more wonderful like rustic and relaxing. beach. jungle. oh man. anyway, after unpacking and having lunch we all went to the beach. some tanning (or sunburning for the more scandinavian of us), some swimming, some exploring. just super relaxing. for a while jeff was having a good time tossing these little seed/nut/things at everyone, and then the rest of us had a really entertaining time watching jeff try to throw left-handed. seriously. if you are on the ship and you ever get the chance, ask Jeff Locke to show you how he throws left-handed. hilarious.
anyway. after some time on the beach i decided to head back up to the main area and go up to the roof. i was fairly intrigued since there was a sign on the stairs that said "bear feet only". yes. bear. like grizzly. anyway, i conquered my fear of heights and walked out on the roof. then sat. then layed down. then took a nap. haha. it was so relaxing. the roof had no guard rails and looked pretty sketchy, but napping up there was SUPER relaxing. some of the others came up and we had a good time chatting. kayleigh had a good time drinking from a coconut, and we had a good time watching her spill all over herself while she tried to drink from said coconut. haha.
after a while we all migrated again, most of us back down to the beach. the sun was starting to head down, and so the evening was cooling off a bit. jeff built a fire in a fire pit on the beach, and he and i each roasted a hotdog while we waited for dinner. jeff's burned then fell in the sand, but he ate it anyway, describing it as "crunchy". mine was pretty good though, but not near as good as dinner ended up being.
the sun set completely and we turned on some worship music, laid next to the fire, and watched the stars. at one point i felt my eyes well up with tears a little bit. i have missed the stars so much. it has been one of those little things that i've missed and didnt think too much about it. then when i got to see them again, i realized how much i really missed them. you could see thousands of them. not a cloud in the sky, no light anywhere except occasional lighning across the sea and the small light inside our fire pit. at one point i even saw a shooting star. the beauty was overwhelming.
for dinner we had fish. fish freshly caught by other guests. mackerel, barracuda, something the owner called "chicken fish", and some other kind. all that grilled fish, plus pasta with some really good tomato sauce and some rice. so delicious. and some of the best fish i have had in a long long time.
after dinner was bed time. the sunburn drained me a bit, but i was also just SO relaxed that i wanted to read and sleep. somehow i ended up with a room to myself. something about being bigger than everyone else. not sure what they were talking about...lol. anyway. i slept amazing. for the first time in months a had a double bed all to myself! when i woke up, i woke up to the sounds off the waves crashing on the beach. although, i did wake up RIGHT after i fell asleep to the sound of rachel bethke praying over the bed so that there wouldnt be spiders in it...
woke up. had breakfast of toasted bread (but a small personal loaf, not like a slice of bread), 1 or 2 fried eggs (not really sure how many), and french fries. so delicious. hung out some more. read some more. walked the beach some more. enjoyed the waves some more. you know how is. lol. then it was time to go. so we packed up and came back.
total cost: 88,000 Leones.
converstion rate: ~ 4:1
translation: ~ $22.00
God knew exactly what i needed. He knew that i needed to get away from things and spend some time being able to enjoy His creation and His beauty. He knew that i needed to relax and get away from some of the stresses of "normal" life. God is so good. He continues to teach me things every day. i would say different things, but i have a hunch He is teaching me the same things over and over, making sure i am learning them. lol. it was good just to get away and feel His love. to see it. i miss the sound of the water already.
God please continue to show me Your love. take me on wild adventures and help me to trust and follow You. thank You for everything You have done and continue to do for me. You are amazing.
i hope you all have a most marvelous day.
ciao for now.
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