March 14

Today was a very full day. An elder from one of the churches came and picked a group of us up and took us to the big weekly market in town. The rest of the students came a little while later in a van that we were able to rent while we are here. There are not very many tourists around here so the market is the real deal. The fish section was very interesting. Any kind of fish you can think of, and eels, and shrimp, and squid. The crabs are tied up so that they don’t walk away. And then there was every kind of vegetable you can think of. The green beans were 16 inches long! There were a ton of clothes and booths selling fried everything. And there was a guy pressing cane surger. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. Next week I think we are planning to go to an even bigger market in another town.

William brought his unicycle on this trip, so some of the other students are taking advantage of the opportunity and are learning to ride. Melody is by far working on it the most. By the end of the week I am sure she will be a pro :)

This afternoon I got to go with Ryo and Bethany to their church. We left early because their translator wanted to show them some of the area around the village. Their church is further up on the same road as Michael and Cara’s church. We stared by crossing a suspension bridge over the river, and then headed up the mountain on the other side. It was very steep. We pasted a Durian tree, and small pineapple bush and two rubber tree groves. At the top we were blessed with an awesome view of the village below. We were also able to check out how they get rubber from the trees. And we were able to harvest some of the left over sap that was already dry! It is really stretchy, just like a rubber band. On the way back we got to go swimming in the river!!! And the water was really warm. It felt so nice. We hung out in the swimming hole for over an hour then headed back to the house and had supper and got ready for the meeting. Ryo preached a powerful sermon the righteousness by faith. Then we got home and went straight to bed. We were whipped out from a very full day.