this morning, we started afresh by waking up at 8am for the first time in the past three days. knowing that we only had half a day left to get things done, we set off to work right after a breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs (which most of us weren't so fond of except for this one Asian kid in the group who found soy sauce in the kitchen to go with the eggs). fast work was put into taking off the forms for the Fugada's stone benches and the slide's runway. everyone did a brilliant job in working together to get things done in time. aside from that, finishing touches were made on the "green" cement (firm, but slightly soft on the surface) by grinding off and polishing the rough edges (although it left most of us with backaches after wards).
after lunch, most of us made our very last dip in the ocean while the rest of us took long naps till we had to get up to get ready for the big day, today... Julio's WEDDING!
to whom? his long-time girlfriend, Beth :)
oh, and many thanks to Campamento del Caribe for our last go at the mega awesomely, super duper, salivatingly delicious and bombastically fantastic frappes! and MUCHAS GRACIAS, Theresa Marshall, for picking them up for us! much loves :)
the wedding was scheduled to start at 3:30pm. but in Puerto Rico, everything starts a half hour to an hour later, just like back home, in Malaysia :)
we left camp for Ponce and reached the church at 4pm (as per to Puerto Rican timing), making it in time for the wedding.
as expected, the whole procession was done in Puerto Rican Spanish and because of that, most of us couldn't understand what was being spoken. but i'm sure most of us, if not all, were able to get the jist of all that was going on during the wedding.
the wedding started off with a slide show of pictures of both Julio and Beth, accompanied by a medley of the late Hawaiian musician, 'IZ' (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)'s "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World". the facial expressions the couple made for the pictures, along with the soothing strum of the ukelele, created a perfect reflection of the love between Julio and Beth - a blend of deep-seated love and future promises. when the time came for the couple to read their vows to each other, Beth revealed a little of what she had for Julio to us by speaking in English all of a sudden.
"You are my best friend. You are my teammate. And I thank God so much for taking the time in creating you into the man fit for me, for the rest of my life" (not exactly what she said, but still along those lines)
tears were shed and cheers and hoots erupted as well, when both Julio and Beth kissed and tied the knot for a lifelong commitment for marriage and a few of us from the SAU-Puerto Rico team cried tears of joy as well.
*Julio looked so fly dressed up for his wedding yo!
tonight, because of the adults being gone for the wedding, we babysat the Marshall kids, Paula (from the neighborhood), as well as mommy Carla and one-year-old baby Jamel (pronouced Jamuel) and at the same time, some of us took our last walks along the beach of Puerto Rico, chilled around the Marshall's, had pizza for dinner ("FINALLY!", said some of the Americans), sang a ton of worship music to Caleb's strumming, and watched a couple of movies to kill time.
at this time, most of us are packed, the girls are sleeping till we have to get up and leave for San Juan at 2:30am for our 6am flight back to Michigan. and the guys? they (excluding the Asian) are up on the roof of the girl's dorm having a "let's see who can spit the furthest" contest... among other things...
at this time, i'm sure we all are going to miss Puerto Rico. we came with anxiety, accomplished all our tasks and some of us are actually leaving with heavy hearts of missing Puerto Rico and all.
these ten days here in PR seemed much longer to me and i'm really glad i got so many chances to make friends with people from within and outside the group, form bonds and do some crazy stuff here in Puerto Rico (like cycling a child's bike one mile away from camp to the frappe stand with Caleb) although i'm not really fond of the sun poisoning.
thank you, God for making this whole week so awesome and i'm so glad i got so much more experience than i actually deserved out of my very first mission trip.
now, it's time to head back to the Arbor :)
and homework :(
-Moses Law-
(aka: "The Asian Kid")
As Emilio Estevez would say, "C'mon ducks! We're goin' home!"
ReplyDeleteSo proud of you guys. I can't wait to hear the stories! Praying for safe travels and rest as you fly!
Awesome posts by all who contributed! Great summaries, well done grammar and spelling(!), and captivating highlights! We pray this experience will give all of you a desire for more of this - loving Jesus through serving, fellowshipping with believers everywhere and giving glory to God by becoming more like Jesus. These experiences give a little glimmer of our hope and the Kingdom to come.
ReplyDeleteThe Shaw's (Carrie's parents)