New Years Eve

After our adventures with the glowing plankton we cleaned up and walked down the beach into the town of Esperanza (less than a mile down the beach). The beach was VERY dark and I must say it was a little unnerving walking down the beach with it being so dark, especially since we'd had encounters with thieves once already. I kept looking into the foliage up the beach and behind me. I guess I was a bit paranoid but its hard when you're unfamiliar with an area.

We arrived at the cute little town of Esperanza. There are only two cities on the island of Vieques and both are fairly small. Less than 10,000 people live on the island which is about 21 miles long and 3 - 4 miles across.

The town's main street was blockaded in anticipation of the evening's festivities. It was a very fun atmosphere with music playing and lights lining the street. People were beginning to arrive and it was very fun. I tried taking a picture but it didn't turn out very well...but you get the idea.

After perusing our options, we found a nice open air restaurant that seemed calm enough and we decided to eat there. A lot of mainland Americans live in this town and this restaurant was very American including those who worked there. We sat down and ordered our food and were just talking when we were approached by one of the guys we had seen while waiting for the ferry. He was alone and didn't seem quite as drunk as he had the day at the ferry. He asked if we were Mormon and we told him we were. He then said, "I'm working on it". I was confused and asked what that meant. He than told us he was a returned missionary but was working on getting back. He kind of laughed at the beer in his hand. We wished him luck and he left.

A short while later he returned with two bottles of water and said he just wanted to buy us both a drink on New Years Eve. He then asked if he could join us at the table and talk for a while. The conversation that came next shocked me. He told us that he could tell at the ferry that we were LDS but that he was embarrassed by his state of being so he held back. He expressed how he'd just been partying while in Puerto Rico and felt really alone. He shared that he had decided that morning to get back and then he'd seen us at the ferry.

He was glad he had found us in town because he really needed some support to get back to where he should be. He knows the church is true and wants to do what is right. As we had this amazing spiritual experience, I looked around us at all the worldliness going on. God is great and it was a great experience. I got his email and we've been corresponding since.

We finished dinner, walked back to our campsite and enjoyed the beautiful evening. We watched the fireworks shoot up over the ocean to celebrate a new year and then I went to sleep!

What a great ending to 2007 and a great start to 2008!