Indian Ocean

Today we took Miranda for her first visit to the ocean.  It was also my first time to see the Indian Ocean.  The water was a beautiful blue and the waves were huge.  It was also quite windy.  The beach was very large with fine sand; unfortunately, the strong wind blew the sand.   I took Miranda down to the water’s edge but she was scared of the waves and wanted me to hold her.

There were permanent bamboo umbrella structures along the beach so we sat in the shade and played with the sand toys.  This was much more to Miranda’s liking and she had fun mixing the sand and water in a bucket. 

We played for a while and then Miranda got up and put all the sand toys back in the bag.  I took this as a signal that she was tired and spread out a beach towel for her.  She laid down for a nap but the sand was blowing in her face.  So, I positioned myself as a wind barrier for her and that allowed her to take a brief nap.  After her nap we played again in the sand and I took her back to the water.  This time she stood in the sand as a wave came up and swirled around her feet.  She seemed to like it but didn’t want to do it again.  We continued to play in the sand until she got up and put the toys in the bag a second time.  This time she even took a sand toy that Dad was playing with and put it back in the bag!  Then she put on her flip-flops and picked up my flip-flops and brought them to me.  We got the hint that she was ready to go!

We ate lunch at a Wimpy restaurant (I think we have this chain in the US, too).  When the waiter brought our food Miranda was very excited and immediately folded her hands to pray.  The waiter noticed this and commented that she was ready to say grace.  Then he stood by our table while we got ready to pray.  We weren’t sure what he was doing, but then the waiter prayed and thanked God for our food and that it would bless our family!  Wow!  That’s quite the service.  I’ve never had a waiter pray over our food for us. 

Afterwards, another patron came up to talk to us and he said how he noticed that we prayed for the food.  He commented that food is always a gift from God and that whether it is much or a little we should always be thankful for it.

I ordered a cream soda with my lunch because I hadn’t had one in a long time.  I was shocked when it came out because it was bright green!  It tasted a little like the cream soda at home but also seemed to have a mint flavor (a trivial, but interesting cultural difference!)

The waiter was very attentive to Miranda throughout the meal and came back to give her a second kiddie prize with her meal.  Then at the end he came over and did high fives with her.   Perhaps he knew that paying lots of attention to the child usually results in a higher tip :)

After lunch we walked along the piers and the paved walking path.  It was a beautiful area and not crowded at all.   I loved the sound of the crashing waves, now we have to get Miranda used to the waves!

Miranda’s house mother told me that Miranda is scared of cats (which may be a problem since she will have a cat as a pet).  Anyway, there is a little gray cat that lives at our lodge.   It came over to our door today and Dad was petting it.  After much coaxing we were able to get Miranda to pet the cat.  She was hilarious.  She would touch the cat for a split second and then pull her hand back like she’d just been burned.  Another fear we’re going to have to work to overcome…