Monday, July 29, 2013
Waking up on this day was not exactly easy. Andrea and Kim had gone to bed so early the night before, that I was unable to warn them not to wake up at be ready to go at 8:00 am, like we had originally believed would be necessary. It turned out that we didn't have to leave until 3:00 pm. So I got up to tell them that they could sleep longer.
Hardly anybody was up yet, so I just went back to bed. It was nice to sleep more, but my sleep was really restless. Eventually I got up because other people were up and talking really loudly. I would have been irritated by their noise, but I was kind of relieved that I wasn't the only person awake anymore.
I talked with Richard and Christa for a little while, but I was so hungry! We hardly ate the few days before, and we had stressed our bodies out a lot. It was kind of nice to feel hungry, because I had lost my appetite a lot before. I was kind of afraid that there was something wrong.
We waited for everyone to get ready for the day, stretched, and just chatted with each other. It was a good, relaxing, morning.
Finally we were all ready to go find food. We walked down to a little shop that sold some kind of sandwich thing, that everyone loved. I didn't love it, so I didn't buy anything, but luckily it was right next to a small grocery store, so I stopped there to get some food. I bought some Pringles, a Coke (they don't sell Diet Coke in Brazil! Weird!) and a Kit Kat. Breakfast of champions, I know!
We walked back to the school where we were staying and relaxed some more. I had a nice chat with Christa. We decided to finally pack our stuff. It never ceases to amaze me how I can pack so nicely and perfectly before a trip, but for some reason I can't pack it at all when I'm leaving. This trip was no different. I hadn't even bought souveniers! Why didn't my stuff fit?
The group sat around for a while and found ways to entertain ourselves. We had a ball that provided a lot of entertainment. It's amazing how simple things like a ball mean so much more after all that we had been through!
I had an interesting conversation with one of the pilgrims, who was kind of having a hard time. I asked this person what would have made this trip worth it, and the answer surprised me. Nothing would have made it worth it.
That conversation left a weird feeling in me. Granted, this was not an easy trip, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't worth it. Of course it was worth it. No matter where you go or what you are doing, there are going to be challenging experiences. Things aren't going to go as planned. You are going to have to suffer. But you can either TRY to enjoy it, or you can just sulk about how awful it is. For instance: someday, I hope to get married. And when that day comes, I know that it will be difficult. But when it becomes difficult, I hope that I don't just sit back, pout, and give up. And I hope that my husband doesn't either. If you don't try to enjoy it, what's the point?
I'm not saying that I was perfect at trying to make this a positive experience. Goodness knows that there were times when I just wanted to give up and run home. But there were times that meant a lot to me. Those things wouldn't have meant as much if I had just stopped trying, stopped caring. I loved certain parts of this pilgrimage, and I will never regret going if I can keep those moments forever.
At 3:00, our bus came to pick us up from the school (thank God that Richard thought to get a bus to get us! Otherwise we would have had to take public transportation, with all of our luggage, for a long drive! This was a nice treat!). The bus took us to our hotel (thank God for hotels) called "Ipanema Plaza." It was lovely, and I'm not just saying that because we were so desperate for beds, showers and food. It was a naturally lovely hotel, almost right on the beach!
We signed paperwork and then went to our rooms. The bathrooms had bidets in them, which everyone talked about later on.
We had time in our rooms before dinner, which was something I loved so much. Christa and I were in a room together, and when we got to our rooms, we had internet, beds, showers, and silence. Christa and I are good friends, but we didn't talk to each other at all while we were in our rooms, and I appreciated that very much. I think that it was the first time in days when I didn't have someone talking to me. It was nice to have silence.
We walked to a Tex-Mex Grill for dinner, where we met up with our Vermont friends. It was really special to get to eat one last dinner with them.
I didn't eat. I did have a Pepsi, which was really good. I think that the group was really tired of hearing me say, "I don't like that" about food items. But the whole food situation actually caused me a lot of stress. It was something that I just wasn't willing to give into while we were there. Plus, the place where we ate was expensive, and I didn't have much money, and we still had another day! Maybe, just maybe, if the menus hadn't been so poorly translated, I would have been willing to try stuff. But there were words that I just didn't recognize, and I was afraid of what those things meant. I just couldn't eat.
After we got back to the hotel, I learned that the teens "reversed pickpocketed" me. I guess that some of them gave a little bit of money and had Christa slip it into my stuff, so that I could eat the next day. It was a really sweet idea.
We got back to the hotel and I was asleep within minutes! It was amazing how quickly I fell asleep! I really badly needed it, as we all did!
Thank God for beds!
