Monya Moments: Bora Bora Day 9 & 10

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Bora Bora Day 9 & 10

Friday Day 9
Bora Bora, is so commercialized most people hear Bora Bora usually think it is the most beautiful of all the Islands, in my opinion it was very nice but not the most beautiful, definitely the most expensive and most commercialized. There are many celebrities who visit this Island and I think this is the enticement--I am not easily impressed by celebrities, so this was just another Island.
Woke up, said a prayer that I would be able to enjoy the day, this is officially the longest we have ever been away from our children, and we have no communication with them at all.
We took the 2nd tender into the Island and immediately Eric was talking to the local people, the ship charged $199 each for what we did and more for only $40 each. We went in a 4x4 up a very steep mountain, they wanted us to see the canons from World War II, that were never shot off, the story was amazing. There were 7000 men waiting on the top of this mountain, bunkering in waiting to be bombed, ready to shoot the cannons for defense of their land. These men hid out for 7 years, I was astonished as the locals showed us the ditches they hid in. The bunker they kept the food in was still there, and I am not quite sure how they kept it cool and good enough for eating, they ate a lot off the land with all the fruits in season and fished for fresh fish--as many of them still do.
On this adventure we were joined by Maria and Antonio from Barcelona, and Jesus and Conchi on their honeymoon from the Canary Islands. Jesus spoke very little english, some french and they all spoke fluent Spanish. Eric of course spoke all of the languages at once--ha ha--one thing I can say about Eric is he tries so hard to understand and learn the culture and languages. We spent the rest of the cruise with all of these people, they were amazed at how much money they could save on excursions, and we loved the company. For us the language was not a barrier, we tried to speak as much as we could in spanish and they asked how to say everything in english.
Today is Friday and I cannot stop thinking about my children, Kaitlyn is off work, more than likely spending the day with Kayla and the boys. Jeremy is now working in Prescott and is only able to come home on Friday and leave Monday 3 am to be at work on time--I worry about them, but the blessing is that Jeremy has a job. It may be difficult on Kayla but she will manage, she is strong.
Eric, and I have had some good conversations on this trip, we are happy with all the desisions our children have made so far. Being an empty nester has been extremely difficult on me, there is a time and a season for all things, I've learned that even at our age it is important to reevaluate decisions and goals, that Satan works on the strongest and will take the weakest link in them to make it sound intising and glorious--in this time of my life my goal is set on nothing less than the Celestial Kingdom--how do we do that? serve others, even your spouse, encourage them in all they do and have done to help you, sharing the gospel with others, and sincerely living the attributes of Christ, this for me, is the only way to return back and hear those words "well done thou good and faithful servant"


ONE OF THE LOCALS WHO TOOK US ON THE TOUR

THE OTHER TAHITIAN ON THE TOUR

ERIC AND I ON ONE OF THE CANNONS

ERIC IN THE LOOKOUT READY FOR FIRE

THE OTHER CANNON

THE BUNKER WHERE THEY KEPT FOOD

THE BEAUTIFUL OCEAN VIEWS

ERIC READY TO SWIM

ANOTHER VIEW OF ONE OF THE BAYS

This is a famous restaurant, celebrities come sign a $ and staple it to the wall

Today was a great day getting to know our knew friends from other countries, we are looking forward to tomorrow with them.

Day 10 Saturday Bora Bora

I am excited to spend the day with Maria, Antonio who have been married for 40 years, they do not drink alcohol and are just fun to be around--they try to hard to learn English everyday, I have to admit I don't try as hard as they do--but we are able to communicate well--Jesus and Conchi are adorable, and have invited us to stay with them in the Canary Islands, which happens to be a place Eric would love to go. Jesus is in the supply chain management business with pharmacueticals and has the opportunity to speak with people from different languages and backgrounds so communication with him was much easier but not perfect--it was funny at times because our translations are not quite the same and could even be considered offensive so we were easy to explain those times to them as well as them to us. We took a boat ride out to see manterays with 12-15 wing spans--don't even ask if I got in the water the answer was NO, there were lemon sharks and even some tiger sharks--Eric and the rest of them had a great time while Maria and I visited on the boat and took pictures. We were able to go around the entire Island, go to the motu and have lunch and then back to the ship to get ready for dinner. The ship only had 186 people on it, including the crew, so most of the people wondered how the Americans, ended up being such close friends with the people from Barcelona and the Canary Islands--We laughed all night, in fact we were the last to leave the restaurant.