Friday afternoon

you can't push a string, don't expect people to jump into your lap, nobody bats 1000

 

I'm 100% today (I round up!)

 

Quotes from the experience

 

I'm feeling good about how things are finishing. I didn't get to the inet cafe last night--went for a bike ride before supper, then did a small group meeting on crisis management at night followed by a conversation.

 

The bike ride was cool--I did get back to the lighthouse and rode all the way up without stopping. When I got up there, I locked the bike and took a walk around the lighthouse--it is built up with a stone wall and a sign saying no entry. There was someone sitting on top of the wall as I walked by and I wondered who he was. There was also a monkey near the steps who was threatening me--just gestures and talk, no action. He/she had a little monkey alongside.

 

As I finished my circle and passed the entry, the guy on the wall (now sitting inside the wall on a bench) got my attention. When I looked, he made some offer and I showed my acceptance. The offer turned out to be to go all the way up into the top of the lighthouse! So I did. We could see 360 from around the large reflecting lenses, just above the electronic beacon next to us. Indonesia was across the straits, Malaka to the south, Port Dickson to the north, and the hills of Malaysia to the east. Up the coast I could identify about where the camp was. Very cool, though we shared very little language in common. He basically did not understand any question I asked! A cool experience, made me feel special.

 

On the way back I couldn't ride the beach because it was high tide--all the way up to the edge someplaces, no place to ride. The night before though, about 9:30 I went out on the beach under the full moon with the tide receding for a couple hours and walked a long ways up and back in the moonlight. Over the ocean on the other side I could also see the stars! But L was nowhere to be found! (And there weren't even any mosquitoes out there.

 

On the other hand, there were mosquitoes in my room. Every time I woke up that night I heard a mosquito humming over me. It turned out they were feasting on my chin and lips. I have about 6-8 bites there! At least they don't itch or swell a lot, just red dots. Last night I don't know if I got any bites, though, so I feel glad about that.

 

Since I was taking pics for L, they ended up on the "resource cd" for everyone. Including the pictures I took yesterday morn of the monkeys outside our session. Too bad I just had the dinosaur! Oh well, they take less space that way.

 

Today is the last day and it's good friday. Greg is doing a last session in which he communicates his heart and his respect for others as well. God has given him a heart of humility more than ever. They're about 10 years ahead of us in age.

 

My main task for today is saying goodbye to everyone. I started this morning as I know I won't have time to do it all at the end. Some people have developed a significant connection, but I'll make no assumptions about what will develop from here. (There is also a staff debriefing they want to begin tonight--G wants me to be a part of it and I leave here about 5:45 am tomorrow. And at least one person may still want to talk.)

 

This morning I had to ride out for more cash--just a few dollars short to pay the bill, which is to be paid in cash. The first machine didn't take my card, so I ended up going some 10-12 km, or at least that's what it felt like on the little bike. i need to remember to take a picture of it! Perhaps I'll ride it on the beach late tonight if I have time, one last ride. Maybe I won't have time.

 

If I don't get this out to you tonight, I'll look for an opportunity to do it at the airport. sometimes there are open networks there.... Hopefully I'll get over there tonight, though.

 

This afternoon we did a cd burning party--five or six laptops copying files onto cd from a 1 Gig thumb drive. This computer did it's share--probably five or six.

 

Dr. Steve and Laura Spinella, Sarah, Joey, Robby
Da Yi Street, Lane 29, #18, 2F-1, Taichung 40454, TAIWAN
011.886.4.2236.6145, of 4.2236.1901, fx 4.2236.2109, cell 9.2894.0514
USA: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, 719.528.1702, cell 719.640.1261
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60189, 800.343.3144
<www.team.org.tw/spinella>, <www.team.org.tw/ccg> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TEAMspinella/>
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu>, <lauraspinella@alumni.rice.edu>