I Was Surprised To Learn That…

Facebook blog from Nov 25:

A few weeks ago my family attended church with my mother-in-law as part of her birthday celebration. Unfortunately, instead of the normal sermon by the pastor, the church had a guest speaker who had come to share his experiences gained on a recent missionary trip. The guest speaker and his wife had recently served in a European country without receiving any training for their task, and without learning anything about the local culture or language before they arrived. I became amused when several times throughout the presentation, the pitifully naïve speaker would utter the phrase “I was surprised to learn that…” which would be followed by some obvious realization or what would be common knowledge to most American children over the age of 12.

Last week I had to laugh at myself as I found myself completely out of my element, constantly realizing that several clues to each new lesson I was learning had been heavily foreshadowed had I been more observant. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he loves new adventure, and he often persuades me into coming with him on activities I may never have chosen on my own. We have just returned from our first bareboat charter of a 35 foot keelboat in the BVI. In case, like me, you did not grow up speaking Boat, let me translate: After flying into Tortola, Keith and I just spent a week by ourselves on a sailboat, sailing (or slow motoring) from island to island in the British Virgin Islands, living on the boat, being our own captain and crew, and attaching ourselves to mooring balls (floating balls attached by rope to the ocean floor) whenever we wanted to park in a bay to swim or to sleep or to climb into our little motor dinghy to go ashore for a few hours.

I was surprised to learn that those gorgeous pillars of clouds reflecting all the lovely hues of the sunset which I so enjoyed snapping pictures of might have warned me of the violent boat-swinging thunderstorm we were to enjoy in the dark later that night. (Thanks for the U-turn tropical storm Ida!)

I was surprised to learn that everything you purchase at a resort that is only accessible by yacht is extremely expensive.

I was surprised to learn that our amused observation of the gathering crowd on the dock who were all leaning over and pointing down into the water may have prepared me for the most unpleasant nudges (3 touches before I could scramble up the ladder) from something unseen while I swam off the back of our moored boat by something I could only describe to Keith as “big and meaty”. (It turned out to be a tarpon.)

I was surprised to learn that we really did have a wonderful time, we worked through all the challenges, and I would love to do it again!