Midsummer Random: Day 2 of the Convention: Saturday, August 23, 2014

It was an early morning. I say this very sadly. We had to be ready to get on our bus by 6:30 am. As usual, we all met in the dining room for breakfast. Most of us have been ordering the scrambled eggs of toast. Yummmmmm. We boarded our bus a little early actually. So proud of us! You can tell that most of us are not morning people. Myself strongly included.

We arrived at the stadium a bit earlier today. I was swarmed in the morning by people wanting pictures, and I was separated from Daniel first, and then I was pulled apart from Sasha and Ali. Normally, that is not a big deal, as I can just text Daniel and find him quickly. Or I can walk around a bit and find more friends of mine. I couldn't here though, and there were so many people already there. I searched of a while and finally found Daniel towering above searching for me. You have to be very careful, as a lot of people that come are not Witnesses. We decided that somehow we have to lock hands or something so we don't get separated again. If people swarm you, they find any opening they can and before you know it you are far away from your group. It happens instantaneously. I did find Misty, Jessica, and Maria minutes later, so I wasn't too nervous, but it's still frightening to be in a foreign place and not be able to find your husband.

We got to our seats in section 10, and decided to walk around a bit. You really can't get very far when you are visiting as a delegate. I handed out one bag of candy to a child, and I was mobbed by children. They all were holding out their hands for more candy. I ran out of the children's bags I brought within minutes. I finally understand what happened at he Indianapolis convention. They delegates are so swarmed by people, they can't give everyone something, and they run out quickly. I really took that for granted. It's sweet to feel so loved by strangers, but it's a bit exhausting.

Finally ran into Jeremy and Val!

Many brothers and sisters have expressed their appreciation for us coming, but really we are just so appreciative to be able to be a small part of their lives. The people are so happy and loving. They have put so much into this convention, and it certainly shows.

If you can believe it, I have never had to wait so long for bathrooms as I have here. They even brought in portable bathrooms for the extra people. They were complete with flushing toilets and sinks, so it wasn't like a port-o-potty (haha). But the lines were so extremely long. And there were many difficulties with all of the bathrooms. Many of them would run out of water, or they would have to pour a bucket of water I to the toilet to get it to flush, or you wouldn't be able to throw toilet paper in the toilet. It certainly was an experience. The rented toilets came with their own workers, and they wouldn't let the sisters help. They cleaned them very well, however. I think most of the program that I missed was just standing in line. It's completely normal to miss an entire talk or more just by waiting. Then, of course, the friends try to talk to you in line since we are visitors. It all takes a lot of time.

We sat next to a young sister and her nephew Amesly. He was so fun! She let me hold him for a long while. He was fascinated by my badge and my front facing camera on my phone.

We were able to get lunch today! They had to put up guards around the tents to make sure you were a delegate getting food. They also had to put up tape to signify lines for food and water. At our hotel, you can drink tap water because of the boreholes. At the stadium, you cannot. It must be bottled or brought from home. Most people bring their large liters and buckets full of water to drink since it gets so hot. They provided water for us, and they did provide water for others who needed it as well. They have gluten free boxes and vegetarian boxes, in addition to the ham and roast beef boxes. Each of them comes with a sandwich, bag of chips, juice box, fruit, and dessert. Today I had a veggie sandwich, pumpkin muffin, lays cheddar chips, grapes, and a peach juice box. I saved the chips for the bus, in case it took a long time to get back to the lodge.

Daniel and I wanted to walk the whole stadium. Mostly those around our section were delegates and a few others from the local areas, and we wanted to see the locals. We got around the Shona part just fine, but as soon as we hit Ndebele, we were mobbed by people wanting pictures. They would grab your arm and pull you this way and that. A man had his Nikon camera and was printing pictures for a fee. Not sure how good of an idea that was, but when in Rome. I had so many sisters pull their baby off their backs and hand them to me to hold for a picture. It was so sweet. We were there for well over an hour, and the program had already started again. We missed the first two talks just by being in that area. You couldn't get away easily.

On our way back to our seats, we saw a few brothers standing off to themselves. Daniel waved and they ran over. After a couple of minutes, we figured out that they were deaf. We tried to communicate as best we could, but ASL is so different than ZSL. It really is derived from culture. They thanked us and thanked us and thanked us for coming over. (A brother from Bethel had shown us the sign for thank you - like a salute-, they also use the ASL version). Daniel and I both teared up because they had been so secluded in a crowd of people. While I was in line for the bathroom minutes later, it had a young boy come up to me and sign that he wanted a picture. He spelled his name for me. In my Instagram post, I accidentally put that his name was David, but his name was actually Wayne. I met a deaf brother named David right after Wayne, so I had them confused. Wayne's didn't have a camera, so we took one on mine, and he thanked me and ran off back to his seat. It was one of the sweetest things I have experienced.

After the convention, we made our way back to the bus. Again, it was a long ride home. We made two stops to local stores for a sister to get bread. We were able to get some local candy (hooray!) at the bon marché. Then we ordered take away from Shah Indian Restaurant, ate, and went to bed.

This little boy kept getting onto the field. The first time he was doing cartwheels. When his mom started to run after him, he took off in the other direction. I wish I had gotten it on video, but I was laughing way too hard.

Poor big sister had a time getting him off the field. She would try to pick him up and he would go completely dead weight. The older sister had to go and help.