The Jonah skit is so much fun. Josias M is Jonah, Enid is the fish, and the rest of us are sailors on the boat with me as the captain since I am actually wearing my Haiti hat. As sailors we get to row the boat, then rock back and forth and otherwise react to the storm... and then throw "Jonah" overboard. It is hilarious to watch Enid "swallow" Josias with her arms as the jaws of the fish - especially since she makes fish lips the entire time we're doing the skit. The construction crew has had their own adventures this morning too - from transportation (can you picture Mark on Pastor Ws' lap? Ha!) to fortification problems. The latter refers to the moment Ken put his hand on a wall... and the whole wall fell over! The crew got to put the wall back up, brick by brick. The VBS people had three classes this morning - a young elementary-age one, an older one (middle school age?), and a young young one, about kindergarten age. All of them are sweet, cute kids - just like any other kids. I kind of wish I knew some of their language - it would make it so much easier. If I am serious about the Russia thing, my self-imposed language lessons need to start anew and with renewed vigor. It's a hard language to learn, between the difficult pronunciation of the words and their alphabet... and I haven't even started into their grammar yet (noun genders and verb conjugating - yum), just some simple basic vocabulary. Lunch was a spaghetti with lots of onions in it - which Willi absolutely loved. All our lunches will be made by Margareth, the wife of Pastor B of Good Shepherd, and a small crew she has recruited to help her out. Right now we are waiting for the next class of kids... and while everyone else is talking, I'm over here journaling. Yes, it is to get things down while they're fresh, but also know that I'm a loner in the extreme. Socializing with people has never been easy for me. How does one learn those skills as an adult? Our afternoon had planning for tomorrow's class (Samuel, as he heard God speak to him for the first time), an older (high school age) class, and some sorting and organizing of bible school supplies. For the last run-through of the skit, Mark was Jonah - and it was still a hoot to watch. A lot of the kids and several adults (including our own team) are very free with the hugs and other general displays of affection. People in general are that way - except me, I suppose. It's just never been my nature, I guess, even with those people I am comfortable with. Then again this is an exceptional bonding experience for people. I am hoping to do at least some bonding with people from the mission team while I am here.

Evening - The VBS people returned to the hotel early, and since the day was so hot I have had my own pool time and a shower. Corey got back after I had dressed, and he was sorry that he had missed me actually swimming in the pool. If it wasn't so hot, I probably wouldn't have gone - I'm still not the fondest in the world of water. So while the guys from the construction team did their own swimming, Jennifer "JJ" and I cut out the books for tomorrow's lesson. While I was sitting there at one of the poolside tables, a gecko came to visit. Cutest little lizard! I hope my pictures of him come out. He's so tiny he'll be hard to pick out of the shot. There are some good conversations to be had with the other team members. Half of my battle this week will be the issue I have with openness and risk-taking... daring to do, to jump in with both feet, and to show my emotions & my heart & soul. It will be hard, but I know that it is a lesson that I have to learn... no matter what we do with our lives.

Dinner was a very good chicken and mushroom dish - good enough to wish my appetite was bigger. One of the servers makes his own brew - some of it is potent! Now Pastor W and several of the others know about me and my feelings/tolerance (or lack thereof) for alcohol. I took one tiny sip of that rum punch and winced seriously... and immediately reached for the water glass. Blah! Wonder what they'd say if they heard my "first drink" story from the choir's Germany trip... I know it's worth a laugh or two. During Howard and Enid's evening devotion we ended up singing some hymns - and several of the people in the nearby restaurant were listening to us. Also along the wildlife side, there's been a bat flying back and forth over the pool. I don't see bats all that often - interesting.