Home!

     Well for any of you out there who are still following this blog even tho we are home...this goes out to you. Needless to say we are home. It's bitter sweet. We all feel like we have some underlying unfinished business to tend to. Sort of an obligation to our new found 2nd home in a sense. But at the same time, so nice to be home & see our family. The flight was a success, & despite a semi rocky beginning, so was the trip. Thank you to everyone who supported us, it was certainly encouraging to us to know ppl were thinking of us back home. So sadly this blog comes to a close, but this adventure is most definitely not our last.

Sincerely, Crapauds

Day 27 "Were goin' out with a Bang"

     So today, we decided to do something special in celebration to our wonderful stay in Dominica. We are going snorkeling! The Mikel's had reccommended we visit Champagne Beach. Its called Champagne Beach because the natural bubbles that come up from the ocean floor because of volcanic activity, make it look like your swimming in a champagne glass. Only problem was, after taking the bus there, we came to find out its closed for the month, accept for cruise ship days. Didn't leave us much to work with given its our last day. But Jemimah pulled a few strings & found a place we could rent the gear. Marchet wasn't digging the idea but today is when shes getting her hair done. We are anxious to see it. Special shout out to clingtomemories and jgall927...who are you?

Day 26 "Hate Goodbyes"

     We went to meeting today. Bev interpreted the Public talk, i looked up the scriptures for her, & Alyssa & Marchet glossed the Watchtower. It went very well. Its a shame that just when we start to get the hang of things, we have to leave. The fact that we leave in two days is finally sinking in. After meeting we said our goodbyes to the ones we wouldnt see for the rest of the stay. Exchanged information, & snapped some pictures. Were really going to miss everyone.  They all want to know when we are coming back...hopefully real soon.
     After that we walked half of the way home & then ran into Brother Thomas who took us up the rest of the hill. Saved my life. We went upstairs around 2:00 for a goodbye lunch with the Thomas' and the Anthonys'. It was delicious & then we talked for awhile afterwards.
     We said our goodbyes and went back downstairs & relaxed.

Day 26 "Mero BBQ"

This morning we went out in service in Jimmit @ Naima's house. It rained pretty hard for awile but it felt good because of the heat. We covered the territory pretty quickly & after that we went home to wait for a bus to pick us up & take us to Mero Beach for the BBQ brother & sister Harps planned. It was so wonderful & such a nice group of ppl. We swam, & ate till we felt like we were gonna pop. Well, at least i did. We did some exploring around piers in the water & saw some awesome fish. We met a korean bro from cali named John. He was cool & seemed to get our humor which was nice. After a little while we all practiced singing the new kingdom melodies...will definitely need more practice.  Sister Harps printed out the lyrics so we could sing along. We did some more swimming & then had a "hard core" :) game of boys vs. girls volley ball game...with no net.  There was a lot of  shouting, alot of cheating, & a ton of laughing. It was hilarious. The boys "beat" us. So to redeem our selves we had a relay race in which the boys got wrecked. We watched the sun set & i pet some more pups that were begging on the beach. I've gotten some sort of reputation with the animals i guess. Its hard not to though, they are everywhere. Very cute. We waited for brother Hogan the bus driver to come pick us back up & take us home. It was an awesome day. Ill post pictures later. Didn't get to download yet.

Day 25

     We woke up super early & saw ourselves out of Jeff & Sangs so we could catch a bus in time. From Castle Bruce we met up with Christine from Ports Mouth, about an hour away. With her she took us to meet some of her friends along with her hair dresser who is deaf. His name was Philsber & he was so awesome. He knew probably the most sign out of every one we met. He asked Marchet if she wanted to get her hair done for very cheap. We all said go for it & we cant wait to see what it looks like. Shes getting it done monday.
     We met another deaf girl, and talked for awile. After that Christine took us to her place and fed us & gave us each something she hand weaved herself. She was just so hospitible. We loved her. We gave big hugs goodbye & got a bus back 2 Roseau to meet sister Feagin who made plans to take us to a spa. (every body needs a little pampering right?)
     The spa she wanted to take us to was closed till October! perfect timing, but she took us to another one right next door which to me was so gorgeous. A remote setting in the jungle with 3 hot sulpher spring pools to choose from. There was a little river right below that lyss & i crawled down into to cool off & got our feet nibbled on by tiny little fish. The woman "Tia" who owned the spa had a little black & white pit puppy who was probably the cutest thing iv ever seen. It was hard not to take the puppy & run. Just kidding. I also saw down by the pools, a little cat crying. I sat on the ground & it imediately crawled up into my lap & started kneeding my legs. I pet her for awile, gave her one of sister Feagins crackers which she gnawed on & then headed back to the car. The spa was wonderful & we felt like a million bucks afterwards. We slept like rocks. Again.

Day 24 "Rough Waters"

     Today i woke up freakishly early (as usual) to crying outside the window. I walked out the back door to see 2 little puppies shuffling around in the dirt. Couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old. They were so adorable & mom was no where in sight so i picked them up & they franticly started sucking my thumbs off. They just needed a little tlc because after that they zonked out in my lap. My legs were falling asleep & there were literally ants in my pants so i put them in a box with a crumpled up blue tarp lying around.

     It was time to get ready for service so we ate breakfast & headed out to the territory. It was so hot & i wore a very sweat-revealing shirt which was not a good idea. We did a little bit of english but then all 4 of us went to meet a deaf girl Germaine. She was so sweet & we got to talk to her for a little while. Her grandmother made us thee best guava juice ever. She also gave us some cinnamon. & we met a guy with probably the coolest shirt we've ever seen. Look @ the picture!!!

     After service, Sang took us to the beach right below their house. It was the Atlantic so it was rougher & pretty scary @ some parts, but totally awesome. Snapped some pix, rode some waves & went back home to eat. We talked even more & really got to know Jeff & Sang a little better. They are awesome. We were all beat so we hit it.

Swimming through there was kinda scary

Day 23 "Stupid Buses"

     We got a bus to Craib Territory today. We went to Roseau, found the bus, but proceeded to sit on it for about an hour & some before we even left. Poor planning on our part, but alot of the times its unavoidable. Many of the buses dont leave until they are completely full. So we arived a tad late, but everything worked out ok. We met up with a missionary brother from the Marigot congregation, Todd Gibson. He's who took us out in the service. He took us back to the special needs school that we had made plans to visit back on.
     There were some new kids, some we already met. Axel, the teacher, welcomed us in. Even though he preferred us not to use the Learn from the Great Teacher Book, he had a copy of the dvd in asl, if ever he changed his mind. We did a little review of what we taught them last time & also some new signs. Everyone really seemed to appreciate it and we truely had so much fun. Bev did alot of cheezy acting which they loved. We were sad to leave but we didn't want to wear out our welcome. We said our goodbyes and after that, brother Gibson let us stop @ some stands in Castle Bruce where they make beautiful hand made baskets & other things. It was hard to decide.
    Next stop was Jeff & Sang Mikel's who we had arranged to stay over with for a little while. We put our things our room & crashed. We listened to some of the new Kingdom Melodies on Jeff's laptop, ate dinner, & then headed to meeting awaiting our demonstrations Jeff asked us to present that day! The meeting was held at sister Duran's home in Petite Soufriere. We walked part of the way & then packed about 11 or 12 friends into a pick up truck the rest of the way. There were 20 or so ppl in the tiny room, but it was such an intimate setting being with such a small group of wonderful ppl we weren't even nervous for our parts which went well by the way. Some of the meeting was read in Creole as well to accomodate everyone which was awesome too. After that we went back to Jeff & Sangs, talked for awhile & hit the hay for alot of walking the next day.