Craziness...

I would like to introduce you to the craziness that we call life…  I can’t think of much else to call it right now!! 

Two weeks ago (11^th), a team from Biltmore Baptist church in NC came in.  We worked at an orphanage across the city, pouring a cement driveway and laying down pavers for the same driveway!  There were a lot of buckets of sand and stone to be carried, and let me tell you, they got heavier with every trip!  We also had to transport quite a few pavers from one place to the next, not long trips, but still exhausting!  And then, of course, whenever the kids weren’t in school, you could pretty much guarantee that part of the team was out playing soccer with them, which both the kids and the team loved!!  We worked Tuesday-Thursday; they went to Antigua on Friday and flew home on Saturday.  This was really a fun group to be with and a lot of work got done!

Doing cement and pavers...

Lots of cement transport!

Hmm, how many buckets did we fill?

Only a fraction of what needed to be (and what was!) done!

Horray for cement!

Inside of my arm...  gotta love pavers!

In the meantime… on Thursday (14^th), a high school team from California flew in.  They were working at an orphanage very close to our house (which is SO nice!), but it was a lot of hard, manual labor!  This team started a project that the rest of the teams will be working on this year, building a ¾ mile long fence.  Now, we’re not just talking a little chain linked fence either, this is a cement wall.  The wall is pretty much prefab, but we do have to clear the land (with machetes), level out a 3 foot strip the entire distance of the fence, dig holes, place 80lb posts in the holes, and then (after a few more steps), slide 40lb+ blocks down the posts.  Anyways, since this was the first team working there it took a little while to get into a groove that worked, but quite a bit of work was still accomplished!  We worked Friday, visited another orphanage Saturday, church and visit on Sunday, worked Mon-Tue, Antigua on Wednesday and they left this morning (Thursday).  Again, this was a very fun group to be with and really easy to interact with, which is always nice!!  =)

Clearing the area

Fence (so far) at the end of day 3!

Lots to do!

Digging holes

Positioning blocks to hold the fence up (for now)

Chicken BBQ for lunch on Saturday!

Two of the little ones to play with on Saturday...  Michelle (in front) is almost 4 years old, her little sister is 18months. 

 We (my dad and I) were out working with the team pretty much every day and Abby and Risa came along a few days as well.  Sometime in the midst of the teams, we also did our regular morning at the clinic, trips to Fundaniños, and everything else.  Oh, and I finished my senior year of high school, actually, my last day EVER of high school, small thing.  =)

Right now it’s Semana Santa (Holy Week), so the country had kind of gone into a low-key mode, which is kind of nice!  Traffic is minimal, stores are closed, and there aren’t many people walking around.  I think tomorrow will be even quieter because it’s Good Friday, but I guess we’ll see!!  We’re just staying close to home and enjoying the quiet right now.  We have the rest of this week and next week “off” and then teams start in again!  Teams really are fun, but it does get exhausting! 

I think that about sums up the craziness for right now.  Next is to enjoy the Easter season and remember the amazing sacrifice that was made for us!  Happy Easter!!  

A cute face, just because...  =)