Foeign Skies

Published 7/3/08
I've had a love affair with the stars for as long as I can remember. Night time was always my chance to climb up to the roof of the garage, house, car, whatever and just lie on my back, gazing up into heaven. I couldn't wait for night to fall in the Philippines. This close to the southern hemisphere, I figured it would look at least a little bit different.
Funny thing about monsoon season, though. The clouds don't leave the sky at night, and though I looked up for the first few nights, not a star was to be seen.
Sigh. I didn't feel sorry for myself, though. I was in the middle of the Philippine jungle. And if I couldn't gaze up, there was plenty to admire at eye level, or even downward.
Our weekend was filled with campers who came to the house and did crafts, games, swimming, manicures, spa treatments (the boys wrestled or hit each other with sticks or whatever boys do). We performed our dramas, talked about Jesus, got into conversations, camped out, took a trip to a beach that was the picture of paradise and simply invested in these kids. They left for home, and we went to work the next day as usual, then visited them again at night. It's been a packed time full of a little blood, a lot of sweat and a few tears. That's what made Tuesday all the sweeter.
At 4am we were up, dressed and on our way to find some dolphins. We ran out on a homemade boat for another island and floated about looking for dolphins. I was hoping for a whale, but I admit the dolphins were more of a thrill than I ever expected. For the last two years, our leader has made the same trip and not seen a single dolphin. Tuesday morning, though, we were met by armies of them.
Dolphin watching was followed by renting snorkel gear on a small island far out from the main land. This was the place paradise is photographed-- white sandy beaches surrounded by crystal clear water teaming with brightly colored fish, coral and all sorts of other ocean life of which I'm sadly ignorant. All I know is that diving down deep as close as we dared to the shelf and diving off the boat into water so clear you could see the bottom more than 12 feet down was more than perfect.
I can't imagine coming here and doing nothing but snorkeling; our day off was all the sweeter because we had been pouring ourselves out for children all week.
Oh, and, I finally saw the stars. They came out over the weekend. I glanced up and froze, awed by a sky I didn't recognize. I couldn't find a single constellation I knew. And it was perfect.