Family Mellmann

They made it!  Some of them have more facial hair than when they left, and they look a little...wrinkled, but not bad for a midnight arrival.  And they're home. A couple of families came to get their guys, but the rest of them (3 of the 4 seniors, 1 of the 2 juniors, and the pastor who accompanied them) were stuck riding home with me (Boston MA to Williston VT).  The pastor stuck it out for the first couple hours of the drive, but eventually even he fell asleep.  Meanwhile, the boys were long gone. We arrived back at the school at 4:00 AM and by 4:15 Patrick and I were home and crawling into our own beds.  Tonight we will celebrate with a dinner out and hopefully hear some of the stories of their trip.

Today the boys come home from their journey to Dominica.  They have worked hard, met new people, served a missionary family and their community, and experienced a culture very different from their own. Patrick sent me this picture from his last morning on the island; a glorious display of color during sunrise.  Not a bad send off as they pack for their journey home.

It's their last full day in Dominica; tomorrow the boys begin their journey home.  After working all morning they had an opportunity to do some shopping at a Dominican market.   In the evening, the best place to hang out is the balcony of the Cornelius home where the boys enjoy the "cool" breeze off the ocean and some evening conversation.

The boys have been working really hard.  It's nearly 90F and sunny most of the time, yet they have rebuilt a home destroyed by hurricane, and reconstructed the yard, and they have dug through soil and rock to cut out this space where a building expansion will go.  All that dirt and rock has to go somewhere so Patrick has been on wheelbarrow duty hauling dirt. They do get time to relax and cool off.  Here, they found one of Dominica's black sand beaches to cool their toes and make their mark.  The black sand is a reminder of Dominica's volcanic origins.

 This is the couple hosting the Trinity boys.  They are missionaries Tony and Martha Cornelius.  Tony is the senior pastor of a church and they have lived on Dominica for twenty-five years. In between working and trying to cool off in the shade or some waterway, the boys get to meet local people and experience island life and culture.  They met a young man who, armed with a spear and goggles, brought in his lobster dinner.  Like many Caribbean islands, the people of Dominica are generally poor and live off the land for many things.  Mangos and bananas are plentiful here (Patrick reports that the mangos are amazing) and there is some farming.  While we consider lobster to be a luxury dinner, here they are as commonplace as crayfish in the bayou.

Sunday - church service with their host family (missionaries).  That's  Patrick's left shoulder there on the right edge of the picture.  There wasn't much reported on today's activities, but it did involve playing in the ocean.  I'm guessing they will go back to work tomorrow.

It seems that today was a work day of a different kind.  Dominica is divided into political regions called parrishes, similar to Louisiana and similar to how many states have counties.  Today the team did some hiking and technical climbing in the mountains of Saint Patrick's Parrish.  Their reward for three hours of climbing in Caribbean heat was the Boiling Lake (that sounds refreshing after 3 hours of climbing, doesn't it?).  The Boiling Lake is roughly 3 miles (uphill) from the nearest road). Nestled in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, the lake is actually a flooded fumerole; an opening in the planet's crust which emits steam and gases.  By nature, fumeroles are typically located within close proximity to a volcano.  Doninica's Boiling Lake is the second largest hot lake in the world at roughly 200 x 250 feet.  It's called Boiling Lake because it is in a perpetual rolling-boil state. Generally I would say that I'm jealous of these guys spen...

Today was Katherine's spring piano recital.  Katherine has pretty bad stage fright so just getting on the stage is a feat, but she got up there AND played her song.  Despite trembling fingers, she finished the whole thing.

It looks like the guys are really getting stuff done.  Today they finished the house they have been working on.  Ouillie now has a proper home for the first time since his old house was destroyed by hurricane. I haven't heard anything from Patrick directly but it looks like he's still walking and talking so things must be fine. 🙄 In the evening they held a gathering of church folks and guests.  The fellowship was well attended. Interspersed with songs, Patrick and Ian (two of the seniors) gave testimonies and there was a short message.