Sunday: Church and Then Beach

This will be a shorter post, because it was a log, positive day, and we start work at the village school tomorrow.  Since it was Sunday, we (of course) went to church.  We attended the 7:00 mass at the local Catholic church.  They knew we were coming, and had roped off the first three pews for us.  Good thing, because the service was crowded! It was a dynamic service that clearly resonated with the congregation.  The music was energetic and had everyone standing and clapping.  At the end, the priest invited me to the pulpit to say a few words, with Penelope Prendegast translating.  No pressure, though.  When in doubt, remind everyone that it's Eastertide:  "He is risen!  Allelujah!"

We made the short trip back to the hotel to change into casual clothing and had breakfast, then filled our water bottles, lathered on sunscreen, and began our trip to the beach.  It took nearly two hours heading north to the Atlantic coast, but the journey was worth it. We arrived at Playa Grande, a large public beach.  I'm glad I'll be attaching photos, because the beauty of this place is beyond my words.
The ocean was 12 different shades of blue, with large rolling waves crashing onto a pristine sand beach under a cloudless (blue shade #13) sky.  Rita and her helper had arranged for a long table in the shade overlooking the beach, with chairs for everyone.  Many of us immediately changed and headed to the surf.  The water was warm but not summer warm, and it felt wonderful.  Soon all of the students and a few others were wading and swimming out to meet the waves and try bodysurfing.
After an exhilarating first session, we all gather back in the shade and were served an amazing meal of fish, rice, yams, vegetables and fruit.  There two types of fish.  One variety stared back at us, a delicious grilled local fish that was best eaten with fingers.  The second was a different variety, poached in a sauce flavored with coconut.  We all ate well, and many of us rested in the shade, while the more adventurous headed back for another swim.  Eventually, almost everyone enjoyed with swimming or wading, and the afternoon quickly sped by.  We enjoyed a final snack of pineapple and melon, and headed back to the bus.

Before he returned to Cotui, we went to the town nearest the beach and were introduce to the amazing GriGri Lagoon.  It's an amazing body of water in the center of town, fed by a crystal-clear spring gushing into one end of the lagoon with considerable force.  It's a very popular town swimming hole, and most of the students (and Rita) took advantage of the opportunity to take a dip and wash off the salt from our beach trip.  We then piled once more into the bus and headed back to Cotui.  Some of us may have gotten a tad too much sun  (despite ample nagging from chaperones about sunscreen), but it was a hugely successful day, and gave us a final chance to bond and relax before the work of the trip starts tomorrow.  We'll head to the village school tomorrow, eager to meet the children and start work on installing their library/learning center.