Saturday, after spending the morning at Richard and Julianna's and playing outdoor games with Chandre, Jamie-Lee, Ishmael and Smithley, we decided to spend the afternoon along the coast which is about 60 kilometers west of Arandis. We invited Elaine and Bradley, two of the older teens, and drove towards Walvis Bay and Dune 7. Now I had climbed one or two of the dunes here before, but not Dune 7. Driving up to the dune, it seemed a bit larger and a bit more vertical than the ones I had sauntered up before. This one here was definitely not a dune one just saunters up.
I found it odd, a day or two before, when I heard many of my generation here say, "Dune 7, yes, I've done that once and that's all I need to do." So naturally I was curious as to what Dune 7 was like. Now with it looming in front of me, I think I understood. After making the wise decision to take off my sneakers and socks, we headed towards the dune to begin our ascent. If I were better at angles, I might be able to better describe the relationship of my body relative to the incline of the dune that I was attempting to climb. Ankle, and sometimes seemingly calf, deep in sand you would typically find at the beach at home we climbed. After far too many breaks than I would like to admit (Note to those snickering: I don't believe there was a person there, young or old, that made the climb without stopping), we made it to the top.
After catching our breath, I continued to sit at the top with Elaine trying to get a conversation going. Kat decided to follow along to the next higher dune by walking along the ridge, as did Bradley. While it certainly was no Mt. Washington, it did offer a splendid view of the desert and other dunes. Surprisingly, the trek down was quick and painless; much easier than the hike up. We then headed back towards Swakopmund, stopping first at an area along the South Atlantic for Kat to at least dip her toes into the cold water. As I waited for Kat, Elaine and Bradley to finish shell hunting, I looked around and was once again amazed at the site of desert dunes meeting the ocean.
Today was spent at the church service this morning with more home visits in the afternoon, to take more photographs to update the HPOM website. Then, I brought Kat and Marlena to the youth group service/meeting that Boniface runs over at Pastor Tresford's house. During that time, I was able to get some conversation time with Tresford and Fabiola.
Tomorrow begins our final full week here in Namibia. I think I am scheduled to head into Swakopmund with Mike Dunne and bring the mommies for their monthly grocery shopping. We also need a bit more food here to finish out the week. I continue to work on updating the HPOM website, which was to be one of my focuses for my time here. I might even need to get into a little bit of computer maintenance as well toward mid-week.
All in all, it's been another good trip, though we still have many days left. Kat seems to be enjoying her time here and it is my hope that she will be able to take away a few things that she will hold on to for a lifetime.
I should be much more afraid of being mistaken and then finding out that Christianity is true than of being
mistaken in believing it to be true. (Pascal)
We all want to get to heaven but nobody wants to die. (Unknown...still looking)
God hasn't given you the events of your life to hold in your own hands. He is allowing you to watch them
unfold in His. (Shannon Kubiak, "God Called a Girl")
")
All I can say is..............OMG!!