Juan Dolio Beach!

Over the weekend we went to the beautiful Juan Dolio Beach!  We were all starting to go crazy here in the apartment without power so we packed up and escaped for a couple days.  We stayed at a hotel right on the beach!  It was a lot of fun and so relaxing.  I got to soak in some sunshine.  I got a little bit of a tan (and am still one of the whitest people I know).  One of the highlights there for me was that the hotel provided dance instruction!  So I got to learn the Merengue and the Bachata (the national dance here).  The dance instructor's name was Melvin.  He was so helpful and enjoyed teaching me because I'm dancer.

The internet at the hotel wasn't working for most of our first day there.  That was a huge disappointment since one of the reasons we had gone to the hotel was to be able to contact our families and let them know we were okay.  Thankfully it started working again and we were able to get in touch with everyone later that night.  

That evening Aunt Lori and I also went to the show at the hotel's theatre.  It was...not great.  Most of the show featured three singers.  We spent a lot of the show laughing because one of the singers lit up every time she had solo and every time someone else was featured she looked bored and miserable while doing her dance steps and back up vocals.  After that the "dancers" came up on stage.  The highlight of their part of the show was that a man from the audience decided to jump up on stage with them and was doing all the dance steps with them a beat behind but with a lot of gusto.  Toward the end he even started inviting his friends up on stage too!

The next day we spent more time on the beach.  The boys rented snorkel gear and got to do some exploring.  I went for a swim with Aunt Lori and Isaiah.  The water temperature was perfect.  Isaiah found an orange floating in the water.  We played catch with it for a while.  Isaiah tasted it and said it was gross.  We had so much fun! 

The beaches here are so beautiful!  The sand is white, the water is clear and when you lookout over the water it's a gorgeous aqua color!  There are palm trees everywhere and the weather was perfect!  I took a few walks up and down the beach searching for shells and enjoying the view.  Ever since I was a little girl I have loved the ocean.  I love standing next to something so much bigger than me, feeling so small but unafraid.  I feel the same way in the presence of God and the ocean has always had a way of building my faith.  I love letting the water wash over my feet and feeling amazed that something as big and powerful as the sea can be so gentle.  May you all be washed over today with powerful but gentle presence of God.