The Big Trip, Part 5

I have to say that Robert is the man. During this trip, he displayed such awesome leadership skills. He is not, by nature, particularly patient or pastoral, and he will be the first one to tell you that. Nonetheless, he was sympathetic and considerate to the whole group for the duration of the trip, and was quite flexible. He did all of this while in extreme amounts of pain from his heel spurs and from an injury he sustained while walking through the market, not to mention a major sleep deficit. I was amazed at how well he handled the whole thing.

The day after the market, I can’t remember exactly what we did. I think it was mostly getting the lay of the city, and time in prayer. The following day, the girls had a chill-out day with grandma in the hotel room (a nice break from the sensory overload they were experiencing) while Robert & I shot a video with his new Canon 7D camera. As we were getting ready to find a good location, we decided to test the sound equipment first. Turns out, that was a good idea, because one part of the equipment was totally dead. Once again, Robert is the man. He figured out that the problem was some corrosion on one of the parts, so he took a Q-Tip and some Diet Coke and fixed it right up, MacGuyver-style. Amazing.

I was in front of the camera for this one. We shot my part relatively easily. Of course, I had to do a number of takes, but it went pretty smoothly. An older gentleman did come up to us at one point and caution us not to film any women walking from the back (we were shooting on the street). This is a big no-no in their culture, so we were careful. Later, we met up with our friend, Jeremy, who was also in the country, and he shot his part. Afterward, we had lunch with him, Jared and Blake. Good times and good conversation. The plan was for Robert to be in front of the camera for the third part, but that didn’t work out, so I ended up speaking that part instead on the last day we were there. I think it turned out pretty well, even if it did end up being quite heavily edited.

Things get a little fuzzy at this point about what happened on which day, but I believe the following day was the one when we went to the city to the North of where we were based—the City By The Sea. It is a lovely place, and we were there to see some friends of ours who live there. We only got to stay for the afternoon, but I think this was the highlight of the trip for most of the group. When we got there after a two-hour train ride, the husband met us at the station and brought us to a coffee shop. We were joined not long after by his wife. They both seemed exhausted, a bit discouraged, and as if meeting with us was something they were doing out of obligation. We all headed back to their apartment, where their nanny was with their two young sons (pretty close in age to K & J). She quickly made an exit, and there we all were. The time that followed was amazing. They talked about their life there, the struggles, the spiritual growth, the great moments and the not-so-great ones. They honestly and vulnerably shared their hearts, and all that they’re learning. The kids napped and played together, and we ate some delicious food. Well, our group ate. They were on a week-long fast, but they graciously let us eat in front of them. We felt terrible, but they were totally OK with it. We were also able to bring them a taste of home in the form of green chiles and enchilada sauce, since they were craving enchiladas and can’t get that sort of thing there. I think it was nice for them that they didn’t have to be in full hospitality mode while we were there. We told them not to worry about serving us—we just wanted to hang out with them. Grandma even did the dishes for them! In addition, we were able to leave an unexpected gift for them. They were blessed, and we were, too. We left feeling encouraged, and it was clear that they were encouraged by us, too. After the train ride back, we all piled into one large cab together back to the hotel. David had to sit in Tim’s lap up front. They thought they were suffering. We told them that, last time we were there, EVERY cab ride was like that, so they should be thankful.

I think it was the next day when we went to the major landmark in the region. This is probably the most touristy spot in the country. It doesn’t give you a true sense of the culture or the people there at all, because everyone there is trying to take advantage of you and make money off of you. People will accost you to buy this or do that, and they can be quite insistent. Robert has an awesome strategy. When someone approaches him (it would be a man, as women and men don’t interact much there), he smiles, perhaps puts his arm around the other guy’s shoulders, and says something like, “I have a special deal for you, my friend. Today only, I will be your friend for 100 [currency]. Tomorrow it will cost you 200, but today, it is 100.” They usually don’t quite know what to do with themselves. They either walk away, or laugh and quit bothering us. We were able to get in and out without too many problems. It was, however, quite windy, which made it tough. Jillian was a trooper, and Katherine was very excited that she had stepped in camel poop. She still talks about that occasionally. Robert didn’t get to take the pictures he wanted to get, but he was pretty cool about it. God had other plans, and he went with it. He’s getting good at this whole surrendering thing. :)

Our last day there was pretty low-key. We did some prayer walking, some last-minute shopping, etc. Robert tried to shoot the last part of the video with himself (with David and Tim assisting), and it didn’t work out, so I did it instead (as I mentioned before). As we got ready to leave in the evening (our flight out was after midnight), that’s when things got interesting.