Madang!!

School on Christmas Break + In between construction projects + Super nice missionary family willing to share their vacation with us = Trip to MADANG!!

Madang: a city on the coast about a 10 hour drive from Kudjip
Climate: Hot and humid
Scenery: Beautiful blue ocean in one direction, misty mountains in the other direction
Best known for: HAHA, well, I’m not sure but they have some pretty sweet resorts and great snorkeling
Duration of our trip: 1 week!

Those who went:
- Jordan and myself (HA! Hopefully you already had that one figured out!)
- Andy and Judy Bennett (Missionaries who are now known to us as the King of Coffee and
the Queen of Snorkeling!!)
- Alanna Watton (volunteer staying with the Bennetts…and she’s super fun to vacation with)
- Dave and Rosie Kerr (Missionaries over at the Bible college…also fun to vaca with!)
- Grace and Anna Kerr (Children of Dave and Rosie…these two girls have more energy than I
can ever hope to have in the rest of my life combined)
- Sparkles, Sweetie Bear, Cinderella, and Pretty (misc stuffed animals belonging to Grace and
Anna)

Our trip down:
- Miserable for some and only slightly miserable for others. The roads aren’t really that great but in addition you have to factor in car sickness and certain people already being puking sick before we even left. I would try to describe some of the potholes but you wouldn’t believe me!

Our stay in Madang:
- We stayed in a house that belonged to Pioneers Bible Translators. The house had 3 bedrooms and air conditioning…yay! We ate a few lunches and one dinner at restaurants but we ate in the house most other nights. We also had some pretty amazing neighbors who felt the need to share their music, conversations, and arguments with us by doing everything at very large decibel levels! Most nights, after dinner, we would play a game…usually Settlers of Cataan! If you have never played…you’re missing out! If you’ve played as much as we have…you’d need a break from the game for a while!

The fun stuff:
- SNORKELING!! Three of the days that we were in Madang we went to a resort called Jais Aben (pronunciation is debatable) where they have AMAZING snorkeling! AND this was my (Rachel) first time ever snorkeling…I picked a good time to start! After much convincing from Jordan that the tube was actually wide enough to provide a sufficient amount of air to my lungs…I started out on my first snorkeling adventure. We saw all sorts of BEAUTIFUL fish and coral!!
- PIG ISLAND!! A remote island about a 15-30 minute boat ride off shore. I pretended like I was stranded and had to think of ways to keep myself alive. After smashing open two rotten coconuts, briefly trying to start a fire, and gulping salt water…I realized I would probably die if I was really stranded. BUT I had a great time…it was probably my favorite part of the trip!
- CHILLAXING (chilling and relaxing)!!
Conclusion:
- We are so grateful to the Bennett family for including us in their trip! We feel very blessed to have gotten the chance to hang out with the Kerrs, Alanna, and the Bennetts! God has placed some really sweet people in our lives!!
- Our trip was super fun and we hardly even got sunburned!!