So mostly of day 2 consisted of us traveling from Manaus to the village which was about a 30 hour trip, give or take an hour. The captain sailed all night and the boat is still moving. We swayed all night, knocking into each other like bumper cars. At one point courtnee and I were swaying in rythm but then I would crash into Richard. We only got about 3 hours of sleep due to breakfast being served and as I mentioned before, top deck had to get up and set up for breakfast. Not really sure what was in store as far as food went, I came in with an open mind.... Yeah, I havent eaten better in my life! Eggs, fried banannas, Pancakes, cinnamon toast, fruit and coffee or juice. There was always plenty for seconds but we rarely went up there for them. I was coming in assuming we were eating beetles and snake fat but that definately wasnt the case....thanks mom. Youll have to forgive my ignorance, this is my first trip outside of the country. We cleaned up and prepared for morning devotional. I went to jump into the shower and thats when I realized the bag that had my soap, deodorant, and toothbrush was in Dallas. So....I had a decision to make and I still stand by it. I went downstairs and raided the villagers bags for soap and deodorant and a toothbrush. Dont judge me, we had plenty of everything and I was in desperate need. I went to take a shower and the boat had four closed door showers along with three outside shower heads. I went into the closed door shower and found out that the boat doesnt have hot water. One thing Im not very excited about is a cold shower. I mustered up the courage, and jumped in. Its was one of those take your breath away showers. I would find out later that you really appreciate the cold shower but thats for later. I will confess that I did go all day without deodorant because I was too proud to ask. I probably would have went the whole trip but Hollie made fun of me so I broke down and asked Joey and Travis to borrow the rest of the trip. I live with Chris Lillie, dont act suprised....Ha
We all sat in a circle on the top deck and Rick went over a devotional and then we went into a worship. The day was spent mostly hanging out talking to people. It ended up being a blessing that the villages were so far away cause we all got a good chance to chit chat and settle in. We got some folks together and started some card games, all in which I lost. I dont know if any of yall played nerdz before but if anyone asks for you to play, make sure your blood pressure is in check. Its pretty much solitaire on speed. Im terrible at fast thinking games, or actually thinking games all together. It could be slow and I would lose. But we had a good time. We spent a good amount of time watching the shore. My ignorance got the best of me again as I wonder why the river was so wide. In some areas, its well over a mile wide. When I think river, I think 100 feet. There wasnt much as far as trees so far either. There are alot of wooden houses with wooden fences. And then we started to see cattle and horses. It looks just like lonesome dove, except for the ginormous river flow next to it. Yes ginormous is a word. It really looks like the states did back in the 1800's. Then after some short conversation, we were still along way off from the jungle I assumed it looked like but we definately would get there. We then came upon the meeting of two rivers. Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes come togther and they dont mix. Rio Negro is black while the other one is brown. Its awesome to see in real life. Why they do that is beyond me but I have a good idea who put it there. We then spent the remainder of the afternoon dividing supplies that we brought to make family packs and groups got together for what ministry they would be apart of. I took Mens ministry and we prayed over the village, the villagers and our team. Watching the sunset on the amazon river is something I can not describe in words, so I wont attempt. We got our first taste of it tonight while also playing "Hey Cow". This game im pretty good at. Its simple. You yell "hey cow" to a herd of cattle and then count how many cows look at you..... It really is amazing how much fun that game was. Try it before you knock it... ok I didnt graduate college but whoever came up with the game did. Anyways, dinner was great and we got to watch dolphins follow the boat. We spotted our first pink dolphin which was pretty cool and then we asked what the ugly dolphin with the broken fin was and none of the brazilians knew. Weird. I took my first shower on the back of the boat and after that I never went back into the closed door one. The back of the boat had a balcony on the second floor that had three shower heads. The captian makes you go in pairs, that way if someone slips off, they would know. It was well barricaded so I didnt see how that happened but you didnt argue. The crew contained all brazilian people and one in particular I was concerned about. He looked like a could body slam a bear and really looked like a bjj fighter. So I didnt ask questions. You had to have a bathing suit on to be back there obviously. You would get a random cold glass of water poured on you every now and then but being back there was worth it. I layed down for the night with questions still but with an overall feeling of "who cares". All the stress at work, home, bills, money, relationships, and every other distraction wasnt here. I was away. I looked on a map to where we were and I couldnt be father away from the world I knew. Im on a boat. In the absolute middle of the Amazon river in the heart of Brazil surrounded by death (gators, fish, panthers, giant man eating bats) and Im completely at ease, ha. Here comes that oily musk again......
No comments:
Post a Comment