Turks and Caicos Islands (Day 4)

Sunday, May 24--We visited Pastor Stephen's church on Sunday morning. He had mentioned how lengthy and expensive it is to ship things to the islands, so Scott decided to give him our other copy of Brennan Manning's book, The Furious Longing of God.

We went back to the resort and I headed straight for the beach. Scott decided to go work out in the fitness center in The Spa and make another appointment for a massage.

The beach.

My view of the ocean (and my toes) from my lounge chair. I could not believe the beach service at this resort. Two guys from the Philippines were there to serve us. They gave each of us a cabana for shade, covered our chairs with towel covers, gave us beach towels, brought us cold bottled water, and would bring us drinks or food from the pool bar. So I sat there feeling spoiled (again) to have someone wait on me and drank virgin pina coladas with this view!

I loved getting to know these young guys from the Philippines. They were incredibly friendly and hard-working. (All the people on the island were SO FRIENDLY AND NICE--much more so than Americans, even Southerners. It's hard to believe that people could be friendlier than Southerners, I know.) We learned that about 20-30% of the people on the island are from the Philippines. In their country it is considered "the ultimate sacrifice" and very honorable to go away to find a better job and send the money home to your family. The Philippines are over-crowded and the jobs do not pay well (and their currency is not worth much, so the money from other countries will go further in the Philippines). I met two mothers at our first hotel who had left their children behind with in-laws to come here to work. They had not seen their children in two years because it is too expensive to fly home. (None of them had visas to enter the U.S. so they have to fly through London and it makes the trip cost about $1000 more for them!!!!) They talk to their children every night online through skype and email. My brain can't even wrap around that.

Scott and I had lunch at the swim-up bar in the pool and then he went to get his massage. I went back to the beach!

A picture from my walk on the beach. Scott came and joined me later and we took some sea kayaks (of the resorts) out on the water, which we both loved. Scott spent most of his time swimming laps out to the buoy...while I watched. :) I tried that once on the first day and realized that this pregnant body is out of shape!
Later that evening we took some pictures on the beach before we left for dinner. (You can click on it to enlarge it.)

Isn't it interested how the water changes colors as the sun begins to go down or dark clouds roll in? We are standing in the same spot as the pictures taken above.

At Magnolia Restaurant. We both loved this restaurant. I read on http://www.tripadvisor.com/ that it had the best view on the island and it was right. It sits up on the hillside (most of the island is very flat) overlooking Turtle Cove Marina and the ocean behind it. The food was also amazing. I forgot what Scott ordered...some type of steak. I had Sesame and Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna. It was cooked perfectly, even the rice. (Have I mentioned how much I like to eat out and not have to cook or clean up the mess?)

I'm being indecisive. I like the other picture better overall, but this one is better of Scott (and he likes it better) so I just put them both on here.

We went back to the resort and borrowed some movies from the front desk. We watched My Cousin Vinny in bed. I forgot how hilarious that movie is!!!