3/27/24
It’s kind of hard to believe but today is our last “normal”
day at camp. We have one more full camp day after today but it will be followed
by the concert in Manta for the kids so that will be a fairly long day.
Today actually was the first day that I really struggled to get
out of bed. While my migraines have abated, I just really didn’t want to get
up. Instead, I found myself lying in bed until 6:45 am! I did read my Bible
during that time though so at least I accomplished something. Once I finally
knocked the cobwebs loose, I showered quick and headed to the cafeteria for
breakfast.
Once breakfast was over, it was time for my daily ritual of applying copious amounts of sunscreen and tossing on my bright blue camp shirt. Then, I headed to meet my team outside the auditorium. When I arrived there, the kids were in their normal state of happily flipping water bottles. In addition, some had brought their recorders from home and were sitting on the ground practicing while waiting.
Once our camp day officially started, it didn’t take me long
to notice one big difference from prior days: the kids were really getting
attached to me. Don’t get me wrong as they had always seemed to like me quite a
bit. Case in point, the relentless patting of my head and the nonstop stream of
excited Spanish directed at me. However, today, I saw them really wanting to
interact with me a lot. One way that they did so was by consistently asking for
the English version of Spanish words. I love learning the language so this was a
cool opportunity for both sides to really help each other.
Once our camp day came to a close, I tried to call Bethany
and the kids on Facetime to no avail. No worries though as it was about time
for dinner anyway. Dinner was an interesting experience if I do say so myself.
For one thing, I found myself sitting with the oldest members of our team (70s)
and one of the youngest members of our team (14) at dinner. Crazy generational
gap, right?
The biggest reason for dinner being interesting revolved
around one of the main dishes. We were served Ceviche. If you don’t know what
that is, I didn’t either prior to this day. It is essentially cold fish soup.
Chunks of fish are placed into a lime juice-based broth which essentially cooks
the fish via chemical reaction. Then, it’s topped off with onions and lettuce.
As far as my thoughts on Ceviche go, I honestly didn’t think it was too bad. I
don’t know that I need to eat it every day though. If I’m being honest, getting
to try new foods is one of the coolest things about traveling to new places. I
highly doubt the opportunity to eat Ceviche ever would have presented itself at
home.
After dinner, we had our final team meeting which was
highlighted by a devotional led by Matt and our final Northland breakout
session. After our meetings ended, it was free time until bed. Most of our
American team headed towards the pool where we turned off all of the ambient
lights around the pool and just enjoyed looking at the stars. I hopped out of
the pool though once some of our team started racing from one side of the pool
to the other.
I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the saddest part of our
pool adventure though. Obviously, we all had our towels and shirts laying around
the pool in various areas. While we were all hanging out, one of the camp dogs
came to visit. Oddly enough though, it made a beeline straight for Efraim’s
stuff, lifted its leg, and peed all over his towel and clothes. Then, as
quickly as it came, the dog left. As Dan put it, “If I didn’t know better, I’d
think that dog had a vendetta against Efraim.”
I guess anything is possible, right?
#DaddyWrite
Interesting post, Jesse,,, and glad that you ate that soup!! 😄. Barb.
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