the adventures of scott & abby.

These are our last days on the boat and they have been full of action.  Here are some highlights:

Visitations:  We had visitors!  Our very own Nick Brown (ex-housemate from Seattle and Point Loma Graduate) drove down from Mexico with his brother-in-law to spend a few nights in the Catamaran Campground.  Nick was visiting his brother-in-law, who is a house parent for an orphanage in Oaxaca.  They were greeted by an authentic Guatemalan experience as they completed a 16-hour drive only to find the river separating us from our boat (and bed) had swelled to uncrossable proportions.  So, we were forced to wake up a friend from town at 11 p.m. who led us-shotgun in tow- across a bridge upstream. 

It was a strange, nice feeling to have friends visit.  Abby and I have been in our own secluded world and it was a new experience to actually share it with somebody else.  We realized that we weren’t being babies about the heat when Nick said, “I feel like I can’t breathe”, referencing the humidity.  We also had some fresh perspective for the uniqueness of our lives here when Nick (someone who hiked from Mexico to Canada) kept saying, “I can’t believe you guys are doing this!”

Under Construction: The bathroom renovation is underway!  There were some tense moments when the town flooded and it looked like we may not be able to get the supplies in.  But, the truck came as far as it could and the students shuttled everything in through the flooded streets on canoes.  The flooding will probably prevent us from finishing completely, but the progress thus far has been exciting.  You would never think that the sight of porcelain toilets would make a child’s face light up.

Separation Anxiety: One of the difficult parts of living in the middle of nowhere- for me at least- is being so out of touch with sports.  This is usually a peripheral annoyance, but when the Tigers are in the playoffs I get a little antsy.  When they are on the verge of eliminating a certain overpaid team from New York, I start to wish I was in a sports bar in Grand Rapids.  Our weak internet on the boat prevents us from even listening to an audio stream.  After one horrific game of watching the box-score go by, I was able to find another solution.  We skyped with my Dad, who played the radio feed of the game next to the computer. Through a 3-hour call, were able to listen to the entirety of the game that sent the Tigers to the ALCS. 

We leave the boat next week.  From there we have a few days to acclimate to sub-90-degree weather in Antigua before returning to the States for long weekend to attend a friend’s wedding.  We are excited for both these trips; and to see what the next leg of our trip has in store for us.