so i was reminded last night that i needed to blog...which i already knew but it has been hard figuring out what to blog about. although tenerife wasn't fully a vacation, it was a bit and it is hard to write about that to people at home who are praying for and financially supporting my work when i'm not really doing it for a month. but the work the deck and engineering departments did during that "vacation" time was necessary so it all works together somehow. the rest and refreshment of the time was needed as we are about to enter a season of busy-ness. we arrive to benin on monday (and more about that monday i hope) to begin the medical work again.
for now, i'll wrap up tenerife for you.
highlights...we got to go for some beautiful drives. (apart from the motion sickness of riding up mountain roads that looked as if a child developed the road plan). the island is beautiful. i'm only half joking when i say i could retire here. there is the beauty of the spanish villages tucked into the mountainside. the mountains and the ocean, my two favorite terrains tucked up next to each other. often, the higher we got into the mountains, the more a blanket of mist settled around us making far sight difficult. but then, you would come through the mist and this lush green mountain would be backdropped by the ocean waves crashing into the beach. we also were able to eat at some seriously yummy restaurants. one weekend we drove through the misting rain up towards "el teide" the slumbering volcano from which the island was birthed. it was one of those days when the mist just lifted and wow...a snow covered peak rising above fields of a ragged rocky bed where the volcano had once upon a time spewed forth rock and lava. some of the more adventurous in our group climbed about half way up but i was content to scramble over the rock bed figuring out my way up this boulder and behind that one. my last weekend in tenerife was spent camping and hiking. it was cold and wet and a blast! it misted part of our hike up to the camping area and then it began to outright rain so we arrived wet and cold. after setting up tents and getting dry-ish, the guys got a fire going and we pretty much spent the rest of the day around it eating some fantastic food (thanks to cathy) and staying warm and chatting and having a worship session and playing silly campfire games and taking a walk in the dark. the next morning, it had dried up a bit and we had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes (thanks to daniel) and fried potatoes with eggs and toast (thanks to cathy and marylou for that) and coffee and tea. shortly after we finished breakfast and another worship session, park rangers showed up and told us we couldn't camp there, burn a fire there, or park the vehicle where it was. by God's grace we had a spanish speaker with us who was able to help us clear up the mess and the rangers were very nice to let us off with a warning b/c we had an old map that designated that as a camping spot. half the group went home at this point but the rest of us opted for a hike. it was beautiful and wet and muddy. at the top of the mountain daniel shared a bit from God's Word and then hiking down and a lunch of pb&j sandwhiches before heading down to the bus and back to the ship. and getting to meet amy's dad, miriam's mom and dad, and sarah's parents and sister.
lowlights...the aforementioned park rangers. my cabin-mate and dear friend having to be hospitalized.
below are some pics from el teide and camping.
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