well...

Rain Rain dont go away...
this past Sunday I was just sitting in the dining room eating with Chris and Emma Cole ( a brother and sister pair that I have become quite fond of) and kendall when all of a sudden I looked out side and it was RAINING!!! i know i shouldnt be so surprised.. rainy season is starting, but it hadnt rained in a while... so in all my excitement I decided we should go on deck eight and play in the rain.. which we did. it was POURING! but it was so fun. we walked on deck seven, heading to the stairs on deck eight-- passing many confused faces... and then we bolted up the stairs and played in the rain. we were completely soaked through and decided we should just go ahead and go swimming. so we did. We swam in the pool while it thundered and lightninged (i dont know what word to use here.. so we'll just pretend thats right.. ) it was so beautiful.. the storm over the ocean. I know it prob wasnt the safest thing ever now looking back on it.. but it was really fun. and im alive, so dont fret! after we played in the pool for a while I looked over and there was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. okay, so every night its beautiful.. but tonight the entire sky was completely gray, but all of a sudden there was an opening in the clouds and through this random lil opening you could see the sunset! except it wasnt just your regular pink and orange and red.. there was purple and blue and green.. and yellow and red and orange and pink, every color you could think of almost! it was like a rainbow interspersed with the sunset. It was so beautiful, I wish I had had a camera. So we all sat there staring at it until we decided we should probably go back inside and get dried off. That is one of my favorite memories I've had here so far.

Yes Mr. President...
well, I went to the president of benin's house on Tuesday! It was really really cool. He invited all of the mercy ships crew over to his palace for dinner. We showed up and went through security, then we all went into this big room with extremely high cielings and were given drinks and just talked for a little while until they showed us into the dining hall. They had all the tables set up really nice for us, and the food was really good. The president had hired dancers from up north to come and dance for us while we ate and there was a ceremony thanking Don Stevens and Some other people for all they do for the ship and all they do for benin. It was a really nice time.

These are the days..
yes. im using really cheesy titles for all these things I'm telling you, but I'm in a strange mood. sorry. IVe just been realizing here lately that I don't have a whole lot of time left here. I only have about two weeks left here in Benin. I need to make the most of the time I have left here. I was pretty sick for about a week so i didn't get to get out much, and other than that I feel like Ive been working. Ive gone to the market and the hospitality center a few times, but I'd like to go work at some more ministry sites still. I have tomorrow off so Im hoping to go into the orphanage. The crew is busy preparing to prepare for the sail.. telling all of us what were going to need to do and such, it's about to get really stressful/exciting here on the ship. We have to secure everything because apparently its really rocky which I honestly believe will be quite fun. I wish I could learn to appreciate something to the full extent while I have it with me, but I dont know if it's possible. I realize how much I took for granted while I was home but thats because I'm away from it. I wish I could wake myself up... i think this may be a continual struggle for me. Im going to miss the simplicity of life here. I hadnt noticed before someone pointed it out to me.. but it is really nice. life is simple here, the only person who can really complicate it is yourself. I like it.
works been interesting, Im team leader now and three new people were put on my team. Its kindof stressful, trying to train three new people at once and still get the job done, but I haven't had a breakdown yet.. so that's good. I'm relying on God to give me strength to get through. I don't really know what else to tell you.. its just winding down here in benin (then we sail to teneriffe) so I'm trying to end everything as involved as I was when I first came. O! something random, I don't remember if i told you about Charlotte.. my friend from the prison? well guess what? she was set free! that is such good news! she had been in prison without a trial for about eight months.. and she's eighteen. I am so happy that she's gotten to go home... :) well.. i hope you all have a blessed week.