Photos and Stories

The intent of this post is to give a small collection of photos, hopefully with a short story on each one to give some background to my life in Taimati (note: SMALL collection of photos, the internet has been slow so it has been plenty difficult to get these few pictures out here). So let's get started!

 First off we have the day I went to clean the mountain paths with my host mom and another kid. This is a picture of one of the paths and the dog. We spend most of the time spraying pesticide, chopping plants with a machete, and waging war against the jungle which chose a full frontal assault of humongous mosquitoes and spiders.

Next up is a collection of photos from a day of harvesting a shellfish known as piangua. I was eating breakfast this day when I heard Matt yell "Austin! Come out and play!" so I promptly went out to see what was up. He and a collection of ladies/girls from his village were going to get these shellfish, so of course I joined for the adventure. We walked far far far, to the ends of the earth...or at least the end of the beach...and then delved into a mangrove swamp. The harvest involved getting on all fours and drudging through the mud and the muck to put your hand down coin-sized holes and pull out ping-pong ball sized shells. The day was filled with fun, laughter, and plenty of mud!

 Entering the mangroves in the beginning

 Matt with our harvest of piangua in a bag

 Like I said, a plenty of mud!

 

 Our harvest (the two large shells are called Kuka Leka and were from a different day of harvesting on some mud flats)

You may recognize this next photo. A helicopter! It was quite the spectacle landing in Taimati. There is a project going on here to give people gardening equipment and chickens in an attempt to provide sustainable food. On this day they distributed all the equipment and had a little speech shindig with some politicians from the nearby regional capital of Las Palmas.

Last but certainly not least is a photo of the sunset. Most evenings are pretty cloudy on the horizon so you don't get much of a sunset, but every once in a while you get something really photo-worthy.

 

Psalm 27:4 - One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.