You're so Manky

Today we could have slept in, since we’ve been packing a ton of adventure into this trip. We just had to be at the meeting for the ministry at 2:00pm. Great.

So at 7:30am, just like good construction workers, work commenced RIGHT NEXT DOOR on jack hammering the hillside away to build, probably another apartment building. Ugh, we managed to deal with it all morning.

I got a nice surprise in the mirror this morning - my left eye completely blood shot. It turns out Lauren started us off over the weekend with the pink eye, then Corey had it for a day. Now its me, and my eyes were scratchy and puffy all day.

We washed some clothes in the tiny washer…. It took about 2 hours for one load. No, that’s not one of my typical exaggerations, the girls threw their clothes in before they left for a walk on the beach, and came back to find the water just draining. And they’ve been hanging out on the line since lunch and they’re still not dry. I made applesauce with the two bags of softening apples. It turned out great! We ate it for lunch, along with some ham & cheese paninis. Then off to service!

They cleverly split us up, so Lauren headed off to do telephone witnessing with Peter and Anna, Corey and Nicole went with Watson and Wilma from Holland, and I was with Doug and Sharon and Robs. We all had a blast! Just listening to everyone talk in their British accents was cracking me up! And no one could read a map, so we were lost for most of the time. I did get to pick some oranges off a tree, and an almond, and a pomegranate. There are loads of orange trees, just full of oranges right now. Mmmmmm. Robs told me about the “poor” law, that you can’t get in trouble for picking just one fruit off a tree.

We were out in the country, the villas are spread far apart. The one house had some ducks and chickens, and Doug called them “manky” - but it sounds just like “monkey”. I’m like - monkeys- where?! And they all laughed. So now everything is “monkey” to us. We also passed a field with a shepherd and a herd of sheep! So quaint! And then up the road were some sheep, each with a little lamb! And I also so a few kittens running around.

Oh, and poor Wilma couldn’t say any of our names, so we are now known as Corrinne, Terri, Nickel, and Lori. I also got called Chloe. And Manky.

Sharon told us to head over to Silves later, and there was a huge Moorish castle from the 12th century, we got there too late to tour, but it was neat to see the outside. Then we drove around town and finally ended up at a wonderful restaurant recommended by Peter and Anna. We all shared a huge plate of pork and potatoes, corn porridge, salad, bean soup, and a fruit plate for dessert. Oh, and the best red wine I’ve ever, ever drank! I’m going to try and find a bottle of it at a store…

What is everyone’s favorite quote from today?

(Lauren) Always know where your glass of wine is.
(Nicole) Its not everyday I get to pick olives and almonds with an older Dutch lady speaking Flemmish.
(Corey) The man I talked today said “I’m Roman Catholic, but I believe we came from monkeys. I don’t belive there is a God.”