Villa Vanilla

None of use were too psyched on our stay at the Full View Villas homestay.  Not the least of which was the full view from our villa.

We had another "Oh, the shower is only cold, get the hot from the pipe" experience.  The girls decided to make it 3 days in a row without showering. I was in the process of joining them until my nostrils were filled with the stench of my own feet.  Tara's are one thing, but you must understand the tree from which that apple fell.  I am becoming a master at pipe showering.  Trickle the cold one, trickle the scalding hot one, splash some cold on, splash some hot on quickly before your hand burns.  Soap up a body part, contort yourself under the cold, being careful not to enter the hot, especially with your head, that hurts.  To be fair AirBnB did list this place with a shower, but there is no qualification as to water temperature of said shower.  Also listed were a refridgerator, coffee pot, great breakfast spot on the roof, none of which materialized.  This guy was not honest.

The owner just seemed a little off to both Patti and I which we concluded independently.  It started with the 'breakfast included' = 'breakfast not included' and what was included was not so special.  There was interaction between a man and Riley in this jewelery shop that the owner had insisted on taking us to, it really made my Dad protection radar go up. 

It may have been nothing, but this was far outside the norm given our interactions to this point.  Once in the shop this man made a beeline to Riley and just started talking to her.  When I placed myself very clearly in the conversation line he ignored me and continued with Riley.  Maybe I have seen Taken one too many times but this really bothered me.

Last year Patti and I took a class at church titled Justice in Action.  In this group we read a number of books, had speakers, and learned about injustices around the world and in our own backyard.  There is a very clear call in the Bible to followers of Christ to stand up for those that are not able to defend themselves.  One of the books we read, Half the Sky, addressed the marginalization of women and one of the focal points was sex slavery in India.  Young girls are lured away from their rural homes under false pretenses, or sometimes they are sold, and they end up being trafficked.  Make no mistake, sex slavery thrives in the US as well, although the girls take a differnt path in.  This is heartbreaking.  It just crushes you the more information you get and the more you process it.  These images are running through my mind and my imagination as this conversation Riley is unfolding.  We needed to get out of here.  Patti wrapped it up and we rolled out.

I am sure this was nothing, but our host at the homestay did something that we have not experienced yet.  He keep wanting our pictures.  Which is fine, but multiple pictures on multiple occasions seemed a bit off.  Then, of course my mind wonders about the guy at the jewlery shop.  Where were these images going and for what purpose.  Was that man there by coincidence?  I am sure this was nothing but as a Father of two daughters in a foreign country where I have little to no power I was very relieved to get to the airport and leave that whole situation, if there was one, behind.

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