Week 8 – And Eighty-Six Days Left

My crazy roommates, left to right, top row: Jesse (Singapore), Leslie (Kalifornia), Maeve (Maryland), Jessica (England), Emily (England); bottom row: Lauren (Canada), me, Kirsty (Scotland), Nicole (Brazil) and Victoria (Canada)

Honestly, guys, I could start every new post with the following words: It’s Sunday afternoon, I’m updating my blog and I don’t know what to write. So let’s hope I can think of something in the next five minutes :) 

This week was very controversial for me. The lectures were challenging – the topic was called “Love For The Word Of God” or “Study The Word” – and I had trouble understanding some of the interpretations the speaker explained to us but also accepting said interpretations and views. Then again, being challenged isn’t a bad thing and even though I don’t necessarily agree with the man in the front, he made me think about the Bible in a different way, widening my horizon in the process. Sometimes I think that DTS is just personality development in time-lapse mode.
Apart from lectures, I felt very restless at the start of the week which got better with time and processing but kept me from being very productive. Then again: I might not have read as much as I meant to during the last seven days but I certainly did have some good conversations with people I hadn’t talked to much before. Plus, I am now officially over the three month mark of keeping a diary :D
Now that I’m trying to remember everything, I have to say that this week has been pretty quiet. On most nights, I just stayed at the base, either reading, talking or watching a German movie with Lena.
Wow, I’m sorry, this is becoming really boring and reflecting my tiredness today. I don’t know what’s wrong but maybe I’m just going into hibernation…Anyway, let’s get to the fun stuff:

On Wednesday night, we had our first outreach prep night where Cheyne talked about expectations we should and shouldn’t have, as well as telling us some stories of his outreaches and showing us videos of children learning to catch Tarantula for dinner (NOT on Vanuatu!). Afterwards, we met in our outreach teams and talked about our expectations, as leaders and students, and apprehensions, such as lice, food and giant centipedes. That night, we found out we’re going to the island of Tanna which is the island that my host father Rod told me about four years ago – isn’t that crazy? Overall, my worries are turning more and more into excitement, with just a bit of nervousness remaining that I’m going to call healthy for now ;)

For Saturday, we managed to organise a trip to Mount Maunganui (lovingly called the Mount) so after having slept in, eaten a nice breakfast (banana pancakes) and a leftover lunch, we got into a van and mentally prepared for the usual two hours outside the base. But the amazing Aimee offered to let us stay out for dinner and just pick us up at 8pm giving us six wonderfully long hours to go to the beach, shopping, take ocean photos and eat in the cute coffee shops lining Maunganui Road. From the afternoon of looking into the little shops to watching the sunset at the beach and conquering the playground in the park next to it, yesterday afternoon was practically perfect in every way!

Today, I spent most of my time reading, resting and writing, I guess you could say mentally preparing for the coming week...

I hope I can get this uploaded before the dinner bell rings :)

Have a lovely leftover weekend!
xx, Annika