Spent the night out on the hedgies with Jeanette. Have to say I slept about as well as I have any other night this trip. It started out pretty hot even though we were moving, but by morning it had definitely cooled off, not unbearable, just a chill in the air - especially for any uncovered body parts! In the morning, I woke up just as the sun was peaking over the water...it was a magnificent sunrise. Sunrises and sunsets always seem just a little more beautiful on these trips. Yesterday I noticed a res spot on my arm, but this morning, it looks like a blister in the middle. Ruth Anne said it looked like this bug that is
irritating to the skin and then causes blistering. Haven't really had too many bug bites, but at least when I do, I get the cool one! We had a quick devotional this morning as usual and I'm going to miss hearing Lynn's words of wisdom to start the day. Today he spoke from John 1 where Jesus asks 2 of his disciples, "What do you want?" He challenged us to ask ourselves that question each morning, knowing that we might not always pick the right thing, but each day is fresh and new. Time is dragging this morning without work to do. We laugh ever time someone looks at their watch and says what time it is because it feels like hours later and is usually only minutes. I'm trying to be present in those moments instead of wishing them away. I know soon enough I will be back in my busy life and wishing for some down time. The girls and I sat out front catching some sun and talking for a little while. I'm also pretty far in to the book Lynn gave me to read. Might actually have it done before we leave Brazil. Jeanette gave me a book to read by Mark Batterson so I should be all set. I'm actually looking forward to reading it. I've read another book of his and really enjoyed it so this one has to be just as good as Jeanette has really talked it up. I found Batterson's book "Wild Goose Chase" to be quite challenging. Quite a few of us have been trading and recommending books to each other. Going to have to start borrowing more books from the library or I'll go broke! A few more hours to Manaus and then we get off the boat to go shopping!!
Part 2:
We just docked at our final port back in Manuas. About 18 more hours and we will head back to the airport for the long journey home. So today was our shopping day in Manaus. Jander walked us through the port where we docked and then through the streets of Manaus. First we headed to the Opera House in the heart of downtown. I think some of the team was hesitant and a little scared, but I actually enjoyed it. Its nice to get to experience the city this way, by walking the streets and being up close and personal with the people. It was your typical town, lots of little shops and people walking around. Jander walked us through this small warehouse sized building which was the fish market. I can't even begin to describe the smell but one of my fellow ER nurses said it smelled like rotten crotch and that's pretty close! (Sorry my nurse friends will truly appreciate this!) It was neat to see but not sure I want to eat fish again for a while. Next we took a quick tour of the Opera House. There wasn't a whole lot to it, but it was interesting. After the tour, we headed over to the market for some shopping. We were given an hour and well split up. Jeanette and I decided to tag team and Caffe headed out with us. Most of the shops were filled with trinkets you can find in most markets of the world, just with a different city/country on them. A popular item that most of us bought were the Brazilian brand Havaianas flip flops. A little more than I would spend in the States, but its true Brazilian! Plus mine were on sale of course! They do seem to have more cushion too. I also found a Brazilian soccer jersey too, so I was all set. The market was a little crazy but scary in the least. We did have a funny
experience though. Jeanette had told Caffe that she was looking for t-shirt that said "Brazil" so he took us to a clothing store. Once inside, Caffe spoke to the lady and the next thing we know she is motioning us to follow her to the back of the store. We follow her back where we expect to see t-shirts but instead she starts showing us bikini tops and bras. Jeanette and I just look at each other puzzled then thanked the lady and walked away. I wondered aloud what the store lady thought of the nice Brazilian bringing not one but 2 young white girls looking for lingerie! Apparently sometimes Portuguese doesn't translate well in to Portuguese either! Once we all finished shopping we started the trek back to the boat. We took a quick detour through the butcher's area and I swear it smelled worse than the fish market. There were slabs of meat just lying on the counters in the sweltering heat. I'm trying to push that memory out of my head, otherwise I won't be eating fish or beef! We loaded every one back on the boat for our final journey. We are docked near a hotel so once we arrived, a few of us headed up to check out the "mall." It was about 8-10 shops near the hotel. Of course everything was marked up by about 50% compared to the market. We were still on the hunt for the elusive plain Brazil t-shirt. It did appear that 2 soccer teams were staying at the hotel. We walked by as they were loading up the team buses. Ruth Anne told me I could have probably gotten a picture taken with them, but I'm not sure that anyone would want to stand that close to me. They must be trying to get us ready to head back to the States because we had hamburgers and fries for dinner tonight. I finished packing up and LOVE how much I've gotten rid of. Just one checked bag for me - so much easier to drag around the airport. Home is sounding more wonderful!
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