Hello Boston!

Good Evening from Boston!

We are excited to have finally arrived at our housing site for the week, following a great couple of days. As many of you know we left Niekerk quite early Saturday morning and headed down to the Boston area. We had GREAT drivers and could not have asked for a smoother trip! After just 4 stops we arrived at our hotel in Danvers, MA around 8 pm. We grabbed a quick supper of pizza before the kids decompressed a bit in the pool.

This morning it was up bright and early for a quick drive to Gloucester to 7 Seas Whale Watch. We checked in and boarded the boat just a few minutes before departure. It was just over an hour long trip out to the area where the whales feed this time of year and we were able to have some of the most amazing whale watching! There were people on the boat with us and guides who said this was one of the best trips they had ever been on! We saw whales feeding and also logging, which basically means sleeping. They were so close to the boat that we could feel their spray when they came up out of the water.

After our boat returned to shore we had an awesome lunch at the Gloucester House. Some of the students got brave and tried some sea food even! This was a very cool old restaurant right on the water. The room we sat in had all old lobster buoys hanging from the ceiling. It felt good to sit, look through pictures, and talk about all that we had experienced during the morning.

Following lunch we got loaded back into the vans for a trip to Good Harbor Beach nearby. The students all got their suits on and had a chance to swim in the ocean, as well as climb on the rocks of a nearby island. While we were at the beach some of the leaders had a chat with the lifeguard about the weather and the area around the beach. He told us about the winter storms they get and about how they effect the areas near the beach. He also told us some about the culture in the area surrounding the beach. It was obvious that today we were seeing a very different part of Boston than the areas we will be serving for the remainder of the week.

We arrived at our housing site around 5 pm to unpack and have some time of orientation. We also had a delicious supper of Salvadorian food. We got settled in, said goodbye to Matt and thanked him for driving us out here, and had a group time to chat about the week and do devotions together.

This is going to be a great week,  it we are going to be very busy!! PleSe pray for cool restful nights, comfortable weather for serving during the days, open hearts and minds, positive attitudes and that Gos would use us each in a special way this week and also work in each of our hearts.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Laura J. Bosch