Island Tour (and a weekly update)

So Tuesday we went on a bit of a tour around the island of Barbados which was absolutely amazing! We started out at Codrington College which is where the Anglican priest go to become priests. It is one of the oldest buildings in Barbados and the grounds are beautiful and the view even more amazing. It is where one of the couples on the base here got their wedding pictures done. The ducks there were so friendly, the ducklings came so close to us that we could touch them, though when we did, they ran away, but the mother didn't get too mad at us. We were taking a bunch of pictures and joked that people back home would say, "You went to Barbados and all you took pictures of were DUCKS!!??" lol. It was here that I discovered that what I thought were goats I was seeing around the island were actually called black bellied sheep! That was interesting because they kind of looked like goats.

After that we went to a church in St. John. This church, as well, is very old and had some of the oldest tombs on the island. Some dating back even to the 1700's. We then went to Bathsheba which is a beach on the west side of the island which is known for its large rocks. It was so beautiful there. It reminded me a bit of the one lone rock at the farthest point along the Seawall in Stanley Park in BC. It was beautiful there. We then went to a place called the Animal Flower Caves. You had to pay to go in the caves so we didn't, but apparently there was coral down there that was alive and it was quite amazing to see. There were also cliffs here and that is what we went to see. It was very rocky, no beaches on this shore but the Atlantic water was soo blue. These caves were at the North-East part of the island and the waves had hit the cliffs so much that it hollowed it out in places, it was quite beautiful.

Then we continued on to a place called Farley Hill National Park which was just breathtaking. We had driven by some sharper rock hills but only caught a glance and didn't have a chance to take a picture but you could see them from the park. We went there to eat our lunch of cold hot dogs...we were hungry so everything tasted good :) Just before I had an opportunity to talk with fellow YWAMer Claudia. We had such a nice, deep conversation while looking over the valley. I really felt more connected with her. Also I just ask for prayers for her as she could use some. She's a beautiful person but she has trouble believing it herself.

We then continued our trek onto the 4 towns in Barbados: Speighstown, Holetown, Bridgetown and Oistens. We stopped at the jetty in Speighstown which is basically a pier and we were able to see schools of fish and I, along with a few others, saw a turtle swimming, very cool. We also stopped at another Paynes Bay between Speighstown and Holetown where we swam. There were locals with a boat and tubes as well as jet skis offering rides, which was a touch annoying as we were trying to enjoy the beauty and all I could smell was the fumes :P We just drove through the rest of the towns and back to the base. Solomon told us of a beach where you can swim with turtles and has promised to take us there one of the days on the weekend, so excited.

Wednesday we had lectures and more orientation.

International Day of Prayer/Testimonies
Thursday was YWAM's international day of prayer as it was the first Thursday of the month. So we skipped lunch and spent that time in prayer. We all got together, leaders and students and we all split off into groups of 3. Then we prayed and we were given 5 separate questions to ask God. After each question we shared what we heard from God with the other 2 people in our group. The 5 questions were: 1. What sin is there in my life that is preventing me from growing in relationship with you? 2. What do you have on your heart for me God? 3. What do you have on your heart for this YWAM base God? 4. What do you have on your heart for the church God? 5. What do you have on your heart for the world God? This session really stretched me to listen for the voice of God, we only had 5 mins pretty much for each question before we were asked to share in our group. The last 3 questions we wrote down our answers as those would be given to the head of YWAM to see what God was speaking to all of us. I did hear God speak somethings on my heart but a few of the questions I heard nothing, which is fine too. Janell (staff and worship leader) and Riikki (fellow YWAMer) were in my group. After that we stayed and shared our testimonies. We didn't finish through everyone so we continued Friday afternoon with that as well. That was a real enjoyable time. Some testimonies (specifically Solomons and Alefs) were very funny (well b/c they made them that way, they both had pretty intense things that they went through) and other testimonies we wept through. I really enjoyed that time as I think it really help us to bond more together and to understand a bit better where each of us have come from and how God brought us here to YWAM Barbados DTS.

Tae bo
We started Tae bo on Thursday with Solomon. I am so sore at the moment. Tae bo is an intense aerobic workout that had us all sweating especially because it does not cool down much at night here. It is still hot and by the end of the session our clothes are completely soaked in sweat! I don't think I have ever sweated that much before! But it is lots of fun! Kashama, Solomon's wife, joined us the first evening. I joked how mean her husband is, torturing us, she agreed, lol. Kashama has already become a special person to me here. She works only one day in the YWAM office and otherwise is in University. They live just to the right of the base so when she is not at school she is often around. We really click and I just love being around her and talking with her. She is such a hoot and add Solomon into the mix it's a barrel of laughter.

Friday we continued and finished with the testimonies as well as had another Tae bo session. We will be having one every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and going for a walk one night a week in the evening...not sure which night yet. Solomon and Alef - who is from Holland - go running every morning at 5 am. I wake up about 15 minutes later to go speed walking to the big hill, up and around and back. So far I've had at least one girl come with me every morning, which has been really nice.

Oistins Excursion
Friday night around 8:30 pm we left for Oistins and the fish market there, once again Solomon driving us. That was fun. I had flying fish, along with a bunch of sides including the Carribean Macarroni pie. We got a chance to look around the shops set up there and listen to the music - there were 2 dj`s and 2 separate stages - which was neat. We didn't stay out too late, which was fine because we still had fun!

Bridgetown Excursion
Today most of us spent the day in Bridgetown doing some shopping and getting some things we forgot. We took the bus in and though I started off sitting, it wasn't long before I gave up my seat for an elderly women and found myself standing, which was funny as it wasn't much before I made a comment there is no way I would want to stand on these type of buses. What a workout! Holding on super tight as those buses do not go slow and whip around the corners. Made for a great true Caribbean experience :) We started off at Chefette because the boys missed breakfast. Chefette is a local fast food restaurant - no McDonalds here, but there is KFC. So far I have only had ice cream at Chefette. Then we moved on to some stores. Cave Shepherd is a duty free store so we spent most of our time there and unfortunately it was here we lost part of our group. We looked around for them but couldn't find them. We headed out to check out the street shopping, which is much more up my alley. Feels more like being in the Caribbean, I can always go to a mall back home but the street shops we don't have. After we got all the household items and food we were missing we headed off to the beach. White as snow sand and crystal clear blue waters, just beautiful. We were there for a few hours, when Nicole and Riikka found us (two of the girls we lost). That was great. We stayed for about an hour and a half longer and then headed back to the bus terminal to go back to base. It was a great but tiring day.

Church/Dribble 2 Africa
Sunday we left for Church at 7am as it was clear across the island completely to the opposite side. It was a great service and Alef was the first to share his testimony in Church. Solomon talked about Dribble 2 Africa which is another program that YWAM Barbados is putting together in June/July 2010 to go to the World Soccer Championships in South Africa, where Solomon lived at one point. They will be working with orphans, young boys in high security prisons and evangelising on the streets. It sounds like such a great program. Solomon is going around the various islands getting the young Caribbean people excited to join. They are hoping to take at least 300 people!

The rest of the afternoon I just relaxed, uploaded pictures to Facebook and gabbed with the few people who had opted out from going to the beach again. Skype has been working well so I have had the chance to talk with mom and dad a few times which is really nice.

School/Work Duties
Today, Monday, we officially started classes with our guest speaker Claude Bonjour from Switzerland. Our first week is on The Father Heart of God. It was a great start. In the afternoon we parted to our "work duties" and/or ISCF, which is the school Christian intervarsity here. My work duty is actually in the office! I'll be able to put some of my design skills into play once again, helping out with laying out their newsletter, as well as helping plan the Christmas party for Children on the island that are infected or have been affected by HIV/Aids. Sadly, we will be gone for the party but I'm excited to be able to help with the preperations. Celina and Marcia were fighting over me in the office, which was funny. Celina is the accountant here (and she will also be coming on outreach with us) and she has soo much to do. So I will be helping her out as well, working on the Gov't VAT forms, going through the invoices and filling out and excell form so they can get their tax money back since they are a non-profit organization.